Xu competes in the Paralympic Games on March 11. [Photo/Baotou news network]

Xu Xiang, the only athlete from Inner Mongolia autonomous region selected for the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, participated in the snowboard slope slalom and snowboard obstacle course.

Xu was born with abnormal legs in a village in Shiguai district in the city of Baotou.

He made the Inner Mongolia disabled weightlifting team in 2009. Though the training was strenuous, Xu never thought of giving up and has won medals in national competitions multiple times.

"Because the poor economic state of our family, he is strong and self-motivated. He is the best child a mother could ask for," Xu's mother said with a smile.

Xu's sports career began to stall in 2017. His friends and teammates urged him to retire, but he chose to challenge himself by following the advice of a professional coach and moving to the snowboard field.

"I started skating late. When I was training, teammates skated twice, but I skated three or four times," Xu said.

Due to his perseverance, Xu now has a series of achievements under his belt: he won fifth place in the men's LL2 slope slalom at the Dubai Para World Championships in 2018, third place in the slope slalom at the Netherlands Snowboard Disabled World Cup in 2019, and one silver medal and one bronze medal in the 11th National Paralympic Games snowboard competition held in 2021.

In this year's Winter Paralympic Games, Xu won 10th place in the men's snowboard slalom (LL2) competition. Although he didn't win a medal, he performed to his own standards and said he has no regrets.

After the Games, Xu will take a short vacation to return home and reunite with his family. "I've already bought my son's favorite fat sausage, and I'm waiting for him to come back so I can make it for him," Xu's mother said.