Guide, Together!盲人领跑员，助力夺冠

虞鉴之

It was on the evening of Oct. 24th， 2023. Even though I had known theresult， I still felt very nervous， sitting in front of TV and watching Womens 100 mT11 Finals at the Asian Para Games， as if it was live broadcasting.

The moment the starting gun fired， Chinese visually impaired athlete andgold medalist， Liu Cuiqing， sprinted right away. Alongside her was her tall guide，Chen Shengming. Running at almost the same rhythm， the duo was perfectly in sync and took lead from the beginning to theend. The moment they were about to crossthe finish line， instead of speeding up， Chenslowed down his footsteps， breathlessly， hewhispered， “Go ahead！” The crowd burstinto great applause when they were first tocross the finishing line.

It was a wonderful game， but the lastscene in the game captured my mind thatevening. As a former professional runner， it must be hard for Chen to hold backand resist the impulse of hitting the line himself. “What significance does it havebeing a guide then？” I wondered.

Being a guide was not an easy job. During years of training， the guideneeds to win the trust of the partner， demonstrates positions and actions， leadsthe directions， controls the pace， and protects the runner. Hes an athlete whocompetes but never has he got a chance to receive a medal; hes in the field with afluorescent vest （ 熒光背心）， upon which there is no number plate.

While trying to find an answer to the question， I browsed quite a lot ofnews reports and interviews， in one of which Liu described her guide andexpressed her gratitude， “Thank you to Donglin （her former guide） for his yearsof companionship and the foundation he has laid for me; thank you to ChenShengming for providing me with a pair of clear eyes.” To the athlete， guide isnot only a working buddy （ 工作伙伴）， but his/her eyes to help see and a familymember to support the athletic life to go farther.

I was in tears on seeing Liu and Chen together on the podium. Not until thismoment did I realize that being a guide was not a matter of winning or losing， butmore importantly was to support and empower those who have been deprived ofcertain abilities yet still kept trying their best. Guide， together！