With the Beijing Paralympics in full swing, netizens have spoken highly of the athletes for their tremendous sporting skills and said the fantastic Games go beyond their expectation.

A Xinhuanet netizen blogged that the women's wheelchair basketball competition was "even more exciting" than he thought. "The players showed amazing skills during the fast-paced match. Especially, the spectators cheered for both teams with great enthusiasm, creating a warm atmosphere in the stadium," he added.

A netizen posted in CCTV.com that he could feel the charm of table tennis, China's national sport, in Thursday's gold match in women's individual class 3.

"Nineteen-year-old Chinese paddler Li Qian beat Slovakian Alena Kanova in three straight sets to claim the title. The whole match was full of excitement, and the Chinese table tennis team deserves the title of "dream team" just like its Olympic peer," Li added.

Not only absorbed in the tense competition, netizens are also touched by the paralympians' striving spirits, as it is not hard to notice that the disabled athletes have made tremendous efforts to overcome numerous difficulties in their life -- to live, to learn and to compete.

A bloger named "yqg93" said, "whether the paralympians win medals or not, their participation in the Games is enough to prove their excellence. Encouraging and motivating the world, they brought about changes to the whole society's attitude towards the disabled people, and helped everyone realize that the contribution by the people with disabilities is of equal importance to the world."

In a post in sina.com, netizen Feng Decai said, "I'm grateful that the Paralympics serve as a classroom where the para-atheletes have given us a moving lesson. They taught us what self-reliance, perseverance and the dignity of life are."

"I hope the Paralympic spirits will become a source of motivation for our children, and the paralympians will be their role models. Let our children grow up with a spirit of self-reliance," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2008)