The national heroine of China: a girl with a basketball instead of legs became a famous athlete

13 years ago, photos of a Chinese girl Qian Hongyan, who had a basketball instead of her legs, flew around the world. Now Qian has grown up and, thanks to perseverance and willpower, has become an outstanding athlete and participant in the Paralympic Games.

The story of Qian is a vivid example of how an indomitable desire can overcome any vicissitudes of fate. In 2000, when the girl was 4 years old, she got into a terrible accident and lost both legs. The Qian family lived in the village — they were poor and could not afford to buy prosthetics.

The girl was carried in her arms, but one day Grandfather Qian found a way out. He asked his relatives for a basketball, cut it up and put his granddaughter there, giving her two construction tools in her hands as a support.

Photos of the girl on a basketball flew around the covers of all Chinese newspapers in 2005, when she was 10 years old. Qian attended school in a 7-minute walk from home, but spent almost an hour on this road. As she herself later told, it only strengthened her fortitude.

Basketballs replaced Qian's legs for 5 years, during which time she wore out eight sports equipment. In 2007, thanks to the constant attention of the press, Qian was invited to Beijing, where she received real prostheses.

Qian came from a very poor family, and when she was 11 years old, she found out that she could not continue school education with her peers. But the girl found a way out — she joined a swimming club for the disabled, the first such section in the country.

At first, it was very difficult for the girl — it seemed to her that she would drown. But she continued to train and swam every day for 4 hours, dreaming of one day getting to the Paralympics.

In 2013, when Qian turned 18, she received new "adult" prostheses.

Every day, Qian swam 10 kilometers, regularly participated in competitions and repeatedly became their winner. In 2016, the girl was invited to the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In China, Qian became something of a national hero, and with the development of the Internet, the whole world learned her story.

At the Paralympics, the girl did not enter the top three winners, but she got into the top ten. Now Qian has a new goal — to go to the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo and win the long-awaited medal.

It is very possible that soon Qian will be known not only as the "girl on the basketball", but also as a great athlete, the winner of the Paralympic Games.