Tibetan teenage athlete with disabilities finds his stride on national stage
Dec 22, 2025
1 min read
16th December 2025
Tibetan teenage athlete with disabilities finds his stride on national stage
The cold is sharp enough to sting the lungs in December's Lhasa before sunrise. 19-year-old runner Sonam Gyaltsen squinted toward the eastern horizon, then put on sunglasses and started his morning training, unaware that the quiet routine would mark the final chapter of one journey and the beginning of another.
The next day, Sonam left the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau for the first time to compete at China's National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the National Special Olympic Games.
Born with low vision and a learning disability, Sonam was about to run on a national stage that once felt impossibly far away.
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