China keeps top position in gold tally at Tokyo Paralympics

TOKYO - China took nine more golds on Thursday to continue leading the medal standings at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

After nine days of extraordinary performances, world records and emotional moments, athletes from more than 80 countries and regions have stepped upon the podium at the Games.

China leads the medal count with 77 gold, 46 silver and 44 bronze. The Russian Paralympic Committee stands at second with 97 medals, while Britain is in third place with 96 medals.

Jiang Yuyan, the youngest Chinese athlete at the Tokyo Paralympics, claimed the women's 400m freestyle S6 swimming gold with a new world record of five minutes and 4.57 seconds, smashing the previous record by more than eight seconds.

"I've never done a time like this before, it's so much faster than anything I've swam before," said the 16-year-old, attributing the performance to the last two years of closed-door training.

"It's given me a very solid foundation. I just need to find the momentum of a competition, and do what I've trained, and I'll be able to perform," she said.

Ukraine's Yelyzaveta Mereshko swam the second fastest while Switzerland's Nora Meister placed third in the event.

In the track and field competition, China's Wen Xiaoyan powered to another gold in the women's 100m T37 final, adding to her victories in the 200m and long jump.

"I am really happy and very excited. I can still improve my performance. I want to be faster and stronger, just like the Olympic motto," said the 23-year-old.

On the table tennis courts, Chinese players swept all five gold medals up for grab on Thursday.