It is true that all people are different, especially for the special group in our society – most things we consider ordinary are austere challenges to these people. Bai Yongchao, male, born in December of 1987, is a student of Guancheng Hui Nationality Special School of Zhengzhou, Henan Province. He is a young man with intellectual disabilities, and is also a representative of SO athlete who has been selected as one of the torch bearers for the coming Beijing Olympic Games.

Bai Yongchao on football field

Six years ago in May, the school in which Bai Yongchao was studying received an invitation to send some athletes to participate in the third National Special Olympics Games. The School started to set up a football team, and Bai Yongchao was selected as one of the 13 players. As a sufferer of Down’s syndrome, Bai never touched football, and had to begin with the basic skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting. As the member of the football team, he sacrificed the two-month summer holiday to conduct hard training under sweltering sun. Time and time again, he struggled up after falling over; if injured and bleeding in exercises, he would just treat the wound with liquid medicine and continue training. Even under a temperature over 40 centigrade, he never stopped trainings for one single day, including the 5000m fitness training every day.

As a student with intellectual disabilities, he had to work harder than ordinary people to gain progresses in skills and physical fitness. Looking at his tanned face, wounded feet and wizened figure, his mother was worried so:” Chaochao, can we stop it?” But he always replied in smile, “Though working hard, I am very happy”. After three months of tough training, Bai made great progresses and grew from a stranger of football to a remorseless football athlete. On September 6, the team started their journey to Xi’an for the Game. On the field, Bai performed outstandingly in the fervent contest, and gained individual silver medal, which is also the first medal won by the Henan Delegation. On the medals podium, he was awarded with applause and supports of leaders, that made him tearful in excitement and joys, for the hard-won medal, for all efforts and endeavors he had made.

Six years are but a short time. In the past six years, Bai never stopped the step of progressing; in stead, he insisted in training as ever, and presented himself in various sports events. In the Third Special Olympics Games of Guancheng Hui Nationality District which was just ended, he was evaluated as the “Best Athlete” for his outstanding performance.

In addition, he mastered another tour e force, Dou-kong-zhu (playing diabolo). To master this skill, he gets up early everyday, and went to the city wall to train with old men for morning exercises. At beginning, nobody was willing to teach him, for aplaying diabolo is a difficult skill for normal people, and he is an intellectually disabled child much more. But Bai did not give up. He let his father to buy him a diabolo, and went to the morning exercise field early every day to observe the wy by which others playing, and then exercise the skills himself. At the beginning, he always played in the wrong way and got wounded. Finally, his behaviors moved an old man who was exercising there, and he was willing to take Bai as his apprentice, and teach Bai the diabolo skills himself. Under the old man’s patient instruction, Bai exercised even harder; now diabolo playing has become one of his stunts. When you see the diabolo flying in the air, like playing Erhu (a traditional music instrument of China), or carrying a sedan-chair, or like pulling Chinese noodles …… can you believe it’s played by a child with intellectual disabilities?

Special Olympics changed Bai Yongchao a lot, transformed him from a dissocial child to a self-confident, lively and helpful child. Now he can take initiative to communicate with other children. SO created new life for Bai, and offered him many new opportunities to go out to the society and even the world.

As the old saying goes, “No pains, no gains”, all achievements are obtained through hard work. Due to his outstanding performances in the SO events during 2001 – 2005, and he was commended as the national SO athlete. This year, he was honored to be assigned as the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch bearer, which made him, his families his teachers very proud of. He sincerely wishes the Beijing Olympic Games a great success!