Paralympics: Taiki Kawayoke wins cross-country long distance gold for Japan

Taiki Kawayoke won the men's long distance standing cross-country skiing gold for Japan on Monday, giving the country its first medal in the sport at the Beijing Paralympics.By winning the classical technique event, two-time Paralympian Kawayoke earned his first-ever medal.The 21-year-old finished the 20-kilometer race in 52 minutes, 52.8 seconds after the classification calculation was made, more than 90 seconds clear of silver medalist Cai Jiayun of China. Another Chinese athlete, Qiu Mingyang, claimed bronze."I feel like I have grown a lot in the past four years," said Kawayoke. "I am ha…READ FULL ARTICLE