Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nickname | armless swimmer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Kunming City, China | 26 December 1990|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Yang Meili [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other interests | Fishing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability | Limb deficiency (Acquired) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | S5/SB6/SM5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Yunnan Province [Kunming, CHN] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Zhang, Honghu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Zheng Tao ( Chinese: 郑涛, born 26 December 1990) is a Chinese para swimmer and five-time Paralympic champion. He is known as the "armless swimmer". [2] He made a world record by winning 4 gold medals in Tokyo 2020 Paralympic.
Zheng lost his arms due to an electric shock when he was a child. [1]
In 2004 Zheng took up the sport of Swimming and in 2010 he made his international swimming debut when Zheng represented China at the World Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands. [1]
Zheng competed in his first Paralympic Games at the 2012 London Paralympics, where he won the gold medal in a close race in the 100m backstroke S6 final. [2]
At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, he suffered a lower back injury but still won the gold medal at the Men's 100 metre backstroke S6 event with a world record of 1:10.84, two seconds faster than the previous record, which was established by himself in 2015. [2] He then caught the stomach flu on the day of the 50-metre butterfly S6 final, and lost to his teammate Xu Qing, winning a silver medal in the event. [2]
At the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, he won the gold medal at the Men's Butterfly S5 event with a world record of 30.62, the gold medal at the Men's Backstroke S5 event with a world record of 31.42 and the gold medal at the 50m Freestyle S5. He also won the gold medal at the Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Relay - 20 Points.
Date of Birth: 25 Dec 1990, Place of birth: KUNMING