Swimmer without arms breaks world records and wins gold at Paralympics

Zheng Tao is perhaps just one of the most incredible athletes to walk the face of the earth. The Chinese swimmer broke his own retrospective world record for winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

But he was not finished there either. The 30-year-old Zheng then went on to win gold in the 50m butterfly S5 event, bringing his Paralympic medals to a total of eight.

And it seems highlights of his back-to-back victories have now gone viral for all the right reasons.

In a video posted online by Paralympics channel Channel 7, Zheng could be seen with a piece of cloth between his teeth as he kickstarted his swim. Zheng then held back when Claxon rang and dived back into the pool. When he finally got up under the water, he had already secured a big lead over his back. However, Zheng did not rest on his strong start, hitting his legs at high speeds to push his body through the water and further expanded his gaping lead. [caption id="attachment_37292" align="aligncenter" width="599"] Zheng Tao before starting his swim at Tokyo Olympic 2020[/caption]

Zheng lost his arms as a child in a terrible electric shock accident - hanging a piece of material on his teeth to get his quick start.

Without arms to help him, all the power he manages to generate with just his legs is remarkable.

But while his Chinese team-mate did so well to keep up with him in the beginning, Zheng got into a different gear in the final stretches of the race, breaking his own world records.

Realizing just what he had achieved, winning gold over three Paralympic games, Zheng issued a big roar of relief. Also, his ability to tread water without arms to support him is amazing when you think about it.

Footage of his run went viral on social media with fans around the globe praising his superhuman performance. The Channel 7 clip on Facebook alone received nearly 750,000 views in less than two days.