On the Fifth Congress of Dalian Disabled Persons’ Federation, when Fu Liang was unanimously elected as the delegate of the DPF of Liaoning Province, his mother could not help weeping. Moreover, Fu Liang had been recommended by CDPF and finally been designated as one of the torch bearers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games just before the meeting.

The 19-year-old Fu Liang is a child with intellectual disabilities and weak hearings; on the other hand, he is an excellent SO athlete, with the title of “the fastest running child with intellectual disabilities in the world”.

I am a champion from China

Wang Nan, Fu Liang’s mother, is a woman with tall figure and bright smiles. “All my happiness and sorrows come from my child”, she said.

Every mother-to-be likes to tell stories to her upcoming child. In these stories, the child will get to know his/her parents and grandparents, and hear about the hopes of the families hold towards his/her future. But the life may well be unfortunate, for not all children listening to stories in their mothers’ wombs are healthy and smart.

Wang Nan is a person who encountered such adversity. She used medicines to treat tumour during pregnancy, which influenced her son. Fu Liang lost all hearing of one ear, and had only little hearings of the other. He scored only 46 in language disorder test.

The adamant mother was once crazy for the adversity her son suffered. She recovered soon however, and insisted on teaching Fu Liang to walk and run by all possible ways. The road and the play field recorded the remorseless figures of the mother and the son – the mother led the way by a bicycle, and the running son followed. At the school, a teacher Xu confirmed the sports talents of Fu Liang, which stimulated more rigorous exercises by Fu Liang. “Liang Liang went to the Amateur Athlete Institute of Dalian Soccer School to start SO track and field training in 2002,” said Wang Nan, “Since then, he has never missed a single class whether how cold or hot the whether is.”

Persistent in training

Fu Liang kicked off his sports life in 2003 when he first participated in sports events. Since then, he has gained four gold medals in national games, including the 2nd National SO Floor Hockey Games, and the 100m, 200m and Standing Long Jump of the National Special Olympics Games; he participated the International Special Olympics Invitation Tournament in New Zealand on behalf of China, and won two gold medals of 100m and 4x100m relay; on the 2007 Special Olympics Shanghai World Summer Games, Fu Liang won the 100m world champion.

On the field

At the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Fu Liang cried out “Mam, I am the first!” and run to hang the medal on his mother’s neck. “My heart was melt at that moment. I think I was the happiest mother in the world,” said Wang Nan in trembling voice.

People who do not understand Special Olympics would ask what’s the meaning of SO. The mother said: “Special Olympics has great influences on my son and me. From his childhood on, I was making great efforts to maintain the amour-propre of my son. I was afraid others would know I had such a son. But now, I will take initiatives to tell others about SO. My son changed also, he is more self-confident and self-dependent. I want to tell all children with intellectual disabilities and their families, never give up, and persist in until you obtain success.”

Listening to the mother enable us to better understand the significance of Special Olympics. It’s a great cause to cultivate stronger and more self-confident children, and enrich the lives of their parents and families. While the children gained happiness and value in sports and games, their families would experience unlimited pride and joys too.

“Never give up”. Yes, just as what Fu Liang’s mother said, the children, their families and we, as well as all people supporting SO, should be more persistent for the simple while beautiful hope!