Needless to ask, you know whom he wants to dedicate the gold medal to as the Beijing Paralympic table tennis champion burst into tears in the mixed zone when his family called on Thursday.

"Dad, I finally made it. Tell mom. I love you!" he was shaking when he heard his parents' voice through the phone. They were just on the way to Beijing from the neighboring Hebei Province.

Ge Yang of China celebrates after scoring. He beat his compatriot Ma Lin 3-1 and claimed the title of the Men's Individual Class 9-10 of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games table tennis event on September 11. [Xinhua]

In the men's class-10 individual event on Thursday, Ge Yang edged teammate Ma Lin 3-1 in the final to win his first Paralympics singles gold medal. Four years ago, he had a good chance to win, but only saw it slip by his hands.

"I am definitely the most hard-working player in the whole team. I have been preparing for this moment for four years," Ge said, still with tears in his eyes.

"I have been through ups and downs during the past years. I have thought about giving up and retiring. I have thought about going to universities. It has been really difficult for me, and I am really, really happy now," he said.

In the Paralympic table tennis tournament, players are separated into 10 classes depending on their disabilities. The lower the number is, the more severe their disabilities are.

Ge belongs to class 10, the closest category to abled athletes. A firecracker accident took away his left forearm when he was only 6-year-old.

"I grew up training with abled players. In this category, all the players are very close. It happened I drew into the toughest group. I have been nearly eliminated in the group stage," he said.

Yet a strong desire for the gold inspired him to move on. The somewhat stubborn player just wanted to prove he could still get up from where he fell down.

"I have been pushing myself extremely hard. I train myself more than nine hours a day. I practice when my teammates are resting. I train when others are playing. I have given up almost everything else I liked to do.

"I know I am not a born table tennis player, and I know I can only improve myself through tremendous trainings and practices," he said.

But just a couple of months before the Paralympics, Ge was told to stop playing. "My heartbeat was only 42 times a minute, and my doctor told me to give up sport. For two months, I daren't play at all and I couldn't sleep on any one of those days," he said.

"I used to play in an abled people's tournament, and I never conceded a single match. But after those two months, I couldn't win a single match, just because I haven't trained for too long," he added.

Medical experts eventually cast off his worries with a conclusion that Ge just had a strong heart. One heartbeat would pump him enough energy when it usually takes other people twice - something makes him a unique athlete.

"I love Wang Liqin's techniques, and I like Ma Lin's persistence on the court," Ge said, referring to the best two table tennis players in the world. If he had learnt anything from them, he learnt the very essential spirit - not giving up.

"My biggest difference as compared with four years ago is that I am more mature now. Without all these ups and downs, you just cannot be a mature athlete," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12,2008)