China's three-time Paralympic table tennis gold medalist, Ma Lin, announced on Thursday that despite not having the best possible preparation for the prestigious event, he would be gunning for the highest honor at the ongoing 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

According to Xinhua, before beginning his training for the quadrennial sporting event, Ma had to recover from a knee injury sustained following the World Para Table Tennis Championships in 2014 in Beijing, China.

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"While I was recovering (in 2015), I ate a lot of food to get the nutrition I needed to properly recover, and I couldn't move, work out and train as much as I used to," the Chinese paddler told the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) Media Center.

Once his knee had recovered, Lin had to concentrate on losing all the weight he had put on.

"In preparation for the Rio Paralympics, I've had to lose the 45 pounds that I gained during recovery. As a result, I'm also at a better place psychologically," Ma said.

China has sent the country's largest ever Paralympic delegation to the quadrennial international multi-sport tournament for the disabled athletes. The Asian powerhouse has dispatched a contingent of 308 strong athletes to compete in the 15^th Paralympic Games that would run from September 7 to 18.

Including sports officials and coaches, the Chinese contingent consists of a total of 499 people. Almost a third of the people in the delegation are considered veterans when it comes to the Olympics.

In the past three Summer Paralympic Games, Chinese athletes dominated and topped the medal table. China claimed the most number of gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympics, winning 95 gold medals and bagging a total of 231 Paralympic medals four years ago.

Tagsma lin, 2016 rio paralympic games, table tennis, World Para Table Tennis Championships