Chinese Paralympic swimmer Song Lingling made history as she broke her previous world record to bag a gold medal in the women's 100m backstroke - S6 final at the ongoing 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Thursday.

According to Xinhua, Song finished the contest in just 1 minute and 21.43 seconds to eclipse her previous record of 1:24.66 at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

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"I am very happy to win a gold medal. I never thought this was going to happen," Song said. "I did not start the race so fast, but then I sped up and I won. Of course, now I will celebrate having my gold medal."

China's Lu Dong took the silver after finishing 22 hundredths of a second behind her compatriot Song while Oksana Khrul of Ukraine claimed the bronze medal with a time of 1:26.82.

Song, 20, suffers from impairment to her legs as a result of polio.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Ke Liting gave China another gold medal in the swimming tournament after winning the women's 100m backstroke S7 final round. Ke touched the wall to finish the contest in 1 minute 23.06 seconds to beat Chinese teammate Zhang Ying by just 28 hundredths of a second.

Rebecca Dubber of New Zealand settled for a bronze medal after registering a time of 1:23.85.

Ke, who is at her second Paralympic Games, had never previously won a medal at the prestigious quadrennial sporting event for the athletes with disabilities.

China currently leads the race in the Rio Paralympics medal tally with a total of 20 medals won, including seven gold, nine silver, and four bronze medals. Great Britain and North Ireland follows next with 11 medals (five gold, three silver, and three bronze), according to BBC.

Tagssong lingling, ke liting, 2016 rio paralympic games, lu dong, rebecca dubber