Partyka, born without a right hand and forearm, and South African amputee swimmer Natalie du Toit are the only two Paralympians who competed in last month's Olympics.

However, two other Athens champions - Mateja Pintar of Slovenia and Zhang Xiaoling of China - suffered bitter defeats. Zhang, a 51-year-old veteran who was seeking her sixth straight Paralympic singles title, lost 3-2 to Sweden's Josefin Abrahamsson in the semifinal, and Pintar was beaten 3-1 by eventual winner Li Qian in the battle for a final berth.

Andrea Zimmerer of Germany, Clara Podda of Italy, Kelly Van Zon of Netherlands and Tommy Urhaug of Norway, all seeded No.1 in their respective classes, also fell at the semifinal stage.

U.S. athlete Nick Taylor uses his feet to throw the ball up into the air before hitting it with the racket tied to his left wrist during a Quad Singles (Open) quarterfinal match of the Beijing Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis event against Bas van Erp of the Netherlands at the Olympic Green Tennis Center Sept. 10, 2008. Taylor won 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1) over van Erp Wednesday

There was more Chinese success in track and field, with Zhang Lixin (men's 400m T54), Zhu Pengkai (men's javelin throw F11-12) and Wu Qing (women's javelin throw F35-38) all striking gold medals and breaking world records. Wu Guojing added a powerlifting gold for China when he won the men's 52kg division. In cycling, Britain was just as dominant as China in table tennis. British riders nabbed three more golds at the Laoshan Velodrome on Wednesday to increase their haul to 12.

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