It's almost blank in Liu Zixu's official biographical information prior to the Beijing Paralympics' kickoff, but now it can add a notable entry in the 24-year-old Para biathlete's profile as he made history in China's Paralympic annals on Saturday.

Liu won the Para biathlon men's sprint sitting to grab China the first gold at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, which is both the first ever Paralympic gold on snow and that from an individual event for the host country.

China's maiden and only previous Paralympic gold medal came from the wheelchair curling four years ago in PyeongChang ahead of Liu's surprising breakthrough.

Liu's rare international appearance originated from the 2021 Nordic skiing Europe Cup in Vuokatti, Finland, where he won China's first gold medal in Para biathlon men's sprint sitting at any international tournament, and earned a berth to Beijing 2022.

In the ambition column of Liu's biographical information, it says "to compete at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing."

The Nordic skiing Europe Cup made it happen. But almost no one would expect him to make it a step further by winning gold after beating a couple of veterans like Ukraine's Taras Rad, the men's biathlon 12.5km middle sitting winner and fifth in the men's sprint sitting event in PyeongChang, and America's Daniel Cnossen, the double silver medalist from middle and long distances sitting in PyeongChang.

In the national competition, Liu can't even be counted as the No. 1 seed. He finished the second in the Para biathlon sprint, middle and long sitting at the 11th Chinese Para Games last year.

"I feel the pride and excitement to compete at the Paralympics on home soil, so I will try my best and try to achieve the best outcome," said Liu prior to the kickoff of the Games. He made it.

The victory was out of prediction, even for Liu himself. "It's really a surprise. I was worried ahead of the race because I had been out of form in training last few days, especially in shooting," said Liu. "I was concentrated on today's race and didn't expect much. I think that helps a lot."

Liu's top finish mainly attributed to his perfect shooting, in which he made all ten targets through two rounds, giving him a 17.5-second advantage over second-placed Rad, who missed one shot.

A car crash resulted in Liu's left leg amputation and reset the course of his life when he was 11 years old in 2008, when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympic Games.

He was selected to take on the archery training in 2013 by Shaanxi Province Para team, and then transformed to a Para biathlete and cross-country skier four years later in 2017 as the host nation geared up to prepare for the Beijing Winter Paralympics.

"I was upset and hopeless at the wake of the (traffic accident) misfortune," Liu recalled. "I was determined to catch this opportunity (being selected into the Para archery team) to reverse it, realize my personal value, and embark on my sporting career."

Without leaving quite remarkable performances on Para archery, Liu managed to enter the national Para biathlon and cross-country team on October, 2017 and started up a totally fresh sports training.

"I am a person afraid of coldness, but the frostbite is something inevitable even well-protected during trainings. I never thought of giving up despite the chilly weather making training a hard job," said Liu.

"If this is a way you choose, you need to keep going, hold on and stick to your dream."

"Standing on the podium at home Paralympics is a pride, and I have everything paid off," he added.

Liu will next compete in another two events of Para biathlon and one in Para cross-country. "I will try my best in those disciplines waiting for me and I hope I can have more good results," Liu said. 

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