(Sports Focus) Grass roots develop sports dream in China

Sports has the power to change lives. In China more and more citizens, who aren't necessarily athletes, developed their sports dreams by challenging one record after another.

Zhang Shupeng's name was widely known after he announced his plan to challenge the 8100-meter fly without wearing a oxygen mask.

The 29-year-old "No. 1 wingsuiter in Asia" was a paraglider in China before he falls in love with wingsuit fly. Since 2004, Zhang has won the national parachute gliding championship ten times and won the paragliding world championship point title in 2009.

Currently, less than 600 people in the world have attempted wingsuit fly, and Zhang is one of them.

"I became a wingsuiter two years ago, but my wingsuit flying dream was much longer than that," said Zhang.

"I couldn't have learned paragliding if it was not for my dream of wingsuit fly."

Zhang's dream of challenge was shared by Guo Chuan, the first sailor from China to complete a non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe.

Guo claimed earlier this week that he would charge on the first world record of multiple-person non-stop navigation through the Northeast Passage of the Arctic Ocean.

On April 5 of 2013, Guo Chuan returned to the northeastern port city of Qingdao, his home town, becoming the first sailor from China to complete a non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe after a gruelling 138-day, 21,600-nautical-mile voyage.

Guo and other 4 top sailors from Russia, France, Britain and Norway respectively, will set sail in early September of this year aboard the super Trimaran IDEC named "Qingdao.China" from the Murmansk port (68"58' N and 33"05' E) in northern Russia. They will go through the Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea and Chukchi Sea in the south of the Arctic Ocean through the Northeast Passage without any stop or extra-supply, and finally reach the destination, namely Provideniya (64"25' N and 173"13' W) on the Bering Strait of Russia.

The first world record on this route will be then created.

When Guo is pursuing his new milestone on the sea, another Chinese sportsman is on his way of breaking a new record on land.

Chen Penbin, an 37-year-old ultra-marathoner, is trying to finish 100 marathons in as many consecutive days.

Born in a small town in southern Zhejiang province, Chen had an ordinary dream, becoming a stake holder of fishing, until he fell in love with endurance challenging.

"I had a very simple life as a child," said Chen. "Narrow view, short-sighted, I felt reading or learning useless, so I quit school after finishing my primary education and became a fisherman."

Chen wasn't a very good fisherman. He spent nine years on the fishing boat, but failed to earn money in any of them.

It was in 2000 when Chen discovered his talent.

"I finished first with 438 push-ups in the competition and I had started to take part in all kinds of competitions since and I found my advantage in stamina," he said.

That competition opened a new world for Chen. He began to take more and more challenges from then on.

After winning a series of domestic races, he tried his first international ultra-marathon in 2009.

In 2014, after a 100km run in South Pole, Chen became the first to have run ultra-marathons in all seven continents.

"'Ultra' does not just mean long distance, but also persistence. During the 100 marathons, he will spend a lot of time running alone. He reminded me of Forrest Gump," said former basketball star Yao Ming about Chen.

None of Zhang, Guo or Chen is professional athlete, but their sports dreams are supported, both privately and publicly.

More "Forrest Gumps" are expected to emerge as Grass roots develop sports dream in China. Endi