HONG KONG: A 27-year-old Chinese woman amputee on a wheelchair, who was one of the Olympic torchbearers in Paris, has become China’s unlikely Olympic heroine after she defended the torch from being grabbed from her by pro-Tibet protestors who disrupted the relay.
Jin Jing from Shanghai, who lost her right leg to a malignant tumour at age nine but went on to become a national fencing champion, had been chosen by computer maker Lenovo, one of the sponsors of the Beijing Olympics, as one of over 20,000 torchbearers.
In Paris on Monday, Jin was waiting for the torch to be lit by a relay runner when waves of pro-Tibet protestors charged at her and attempted to grab the torch. Half rising from her wheelchair, a desperate Jin clung on to the torch, despite being scratched on her face and back.
A nation that has suffered serious loss of face following the overseas protests against China’s human rights record and its crackdown on Tibetan protestors readily embraced Jin as a “saviour of China’s national honour”.
Photographs of her grappling with the protestors have been splashed all over Chinese newspapers, and the video footage of the confrontation has become a hit on the Web.
The “smiling angel on a wheelchair” is being celebrated as a symbol of Chinese resolve to make the Games a success despite the efforts of “anti-China forces” to “disrupt” the sporting spectacle later this year.
Jin arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, and was mobbed by fans. Recalling her experience, Jin said, “A western man charged up to my wheelchair, grabbed my hair and attempted to seizes the torch... Instinctively, I clung to the torch and held it close to my body until French policemen came to my rescue.”
