Chinese Paralympic sprint swimmer Zheng Tao has set a new world record to claim a gold medal in the men's 100-meter backstroke S6 final heat at the ongoing 15th Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Thursday.

According to Xinhua, Zheng registered a Paralympic time of 1 minute 10.84 seconds to surpass the previous record held by fellow S6 Chinese swimmer Jia Hongguang by 1.43 seconds.

Like Us on Facebook

The 28-year-old Jia, who is a native of Shandong, took silver with a recorded time of 1:13.42 and Iaroslav Semenenko of Ukraine clinched the bronze medal in 1:15.41.

"It is very hard to break a world record, I have worked so hard to do this. I am so excited," Zheng said. "When I started competing I didn't do a good job but since then, I have always achieved my goals."

Zheng has been named as one of the top ten personalities from Yunnan Province, his home town. The 25-year-old Paralympian lost his arms after suffering an electric shock when he was a child.

With the victory, Zheng has now won two Paralympic gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke event and collected his fifth overall medal of the prestigious quadrennial sporting event for athletes with disabilities.

Zheng will also be competing in the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly in Rio.

Meanwhile, in the women's S6 100-meter backstroke event, Chinese para-swimmer Song Lingling also managed to break the current World, Paralympic and Asian record in her 100-meter back swim. Song clocked 1 minute and 24.66 seconds, according to Swim Swam.

Tagszheng tao, song lingling, 2016 rio paralympic games, ipc swimming world championship, Jia Hongguang