雅典残疾人奥运会的赛事日趋激烈，截止到22日中午，中国代表团以21枚金牌和共62枚奖牌的成绩暂居奖牌榜的首位。同时，国际奥委会也加强了对运动员使用违禁药品的监察，一名阿塞拜疆举重选手已被终身禁赛。
The Athens [color="#808000"]Paralympics[/color] weathered its first doping scandal, while [color="#808000"]juggernaut[/color] China continued to dominate the competition, racking up nearly twice as many as second-place Britain over the first four days of competition.
Azerbaijani weightlifter Goundouz Ismayilov, competing in the men's under-90 kg class, had already been stripped of a gold medal due to doping at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000, and thus was banned for life.
His teammate Sara Abbasova, who lifts in the under-82.5 kg class, was also a repeat offender and suffered the same fate.
Eleven athletes tested positive at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 - more than at the able-bodied Games that year - forcing the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) to tighten doping controls.
"The positive tests show that the doping tests we are carrying out work," IPC spokeswoman Miriam Wilkens said Wednesday.
China meanwhile continued to collect medals Wednesday, notably a bronze in the men's [color="#808000"]javelin[/color] throw for athletes with normal upper body function but no use of the legs. But traditional Paralympics powerhouses also scored, especially Australia, with four medals in cycling and one in the men's Pentathalon.
France has climbed up the medals ladder day by day and is now in third place, with Australia and Ukraine just behind.
A high point of competition thus far came in the much anticipated 200 T44 meter men's dash for below-knee single [color="#808000"]amputees[/color], when South Africa's 17-year-old Oscar Pistorious became the first amputee to break the 22 second barrier with a time of 21.97.
His accomplishment was all the more spectacular because one of two Americans, Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure, were favored to win the race. They finished second and third respectively, clocking times of 22.67 and 22.83.
As of midday Wednesday, China had 21 gold medals and 62 overall, Britain had 15 gold and 37 overall, and both France and Australia had ten gold and 34 overall.
Nearly 4000 disabled athletes are competing in the Paralympics, which runs through September 28 and features 19 sports, including athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball.