Wang Haitao: The curling superstar chasing gold on home ice
Wang Haitao is a two-time wheelchair curling world champion and 2018 Paralympic gold medallist. At the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, the 32-year-old has the opportunity to skip his team to glory in front of his home crowd.
Paralympic Games
Wheelchair curling is one of the younger sports at the Winter Paralympics, having made its debut at the 2006 Games in Turin. The first three tournaments were dominated by Canadian teams; Chris Daw skipped his crew to gold in 2006, while Jim Armstrong earned consecutive gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Paralympics.
But in 2018, a new name burst onto the scene: Wang Haitao.
In truth, Wang didn't come to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympics as some surprise entity; the Chinese had won bronze at the 2012 and 2013 world championships, and in 2015 he guided China to its first finals appearance at the competition, where they won silver.
But in 2018, Wang and his team made history in the Republic of Korea, winning his nation's first gold in wheelchair curling and first medal of any kind at a Paralympic Winter Games.
Four years on, Wang is now favoured to defend the Paralympic wheelchair curling title in Beijing.
Discovering wheelchair curling at a young age
Wang contracted polio at a young age, and found wheelchair curling through a local disabled people's federation that was starting a team.
Needless to say, Wang discovered a natural affinity for the sport, and before long was leading his country as skip at major international tournaments.
After winning China's first-ever Paralympic medal at PyeongChang 2018, Wang was confident that his team's success would lead to increased support for Paralympic sports in the country.
The gold medal lays a good foundation for China, because of the historic achievement. More attention will be addressed to Paralympic sports, and with the attention the work will be getting better and better.
- Wang Haitao, speaking to Paralympic.org
Can Wang add to China's success at Beijing 2022?
Wang seems to have been proven right, as People's Republic of China, who had only won one Paralympic medal ahead of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, have already won 16 medals after four days of competition (including six gold medals).
Wang and his team are heavily favoured to add to that tally, and with good reason: China are the defending world and Paralympic wheelchair curling champions.
However, with five matches remaining in the round robin phase of the competition, China are currently tied with Great Britain and Slovakia for the fourth and final qualifying spot for the knockout rounds of the competition.
Despite the somewhat slow start to the competition, the experienced Wang is expected to guide his team into the semi-finals of the competition, which start on Friday, 11 March.