Paralympics 2008

Beijing:

Her mother was seemingly anxious to get her home for some lunch after a morning at the Olympic Green tennis centre.

Something though had caught the ear of the little Chinese girl as she was hurried past Court 5 towards the exit.

She was maybe only four or five and for the next 15 minutes or so, she resisted every attempt to whisk her away.

Food could wait. She insisted on staying to watch something I suspect might remain with her for the rest of her life.

Here was an athlete swooping gracefully around the court; turning nimbly to react in an instance to the bounce of the ball seconds before she wound up another big forehand.

For a few brief, but memorable, minutes our little friend had a front-row view of the best tennis player on wheels.

It was only a little cameo but it seemed to sum up the power of the Paralympics.

When I met Esther Vergeer for a chat over a cup of Chinese tea a few days later I mentioned the story of the child who'd been captivated by her training session.

"When I first came to China last year I felt like I was an alien," she said. "Since then there have been major changes. They still stare at you but I feel their eyes have been opened and now they see us as athletes.

"We had a long conversation back in Holland about human rights issues before we came to China. Right away I thought we should come.

"As Paralympians we can show the world what you can still achieve with a disability. That's so important, especially here in China. They are learning that people with a disability have an important role to play in society."

Vergeer's story is worth hearing. She had an operation on her spinal cord when she wasn't much older than her Chinese fan. The operation went wrong. She was too young to realise the implications initially.

"I thought being sick and being in a wheelchair was part of the hospital stay. When I went home and back to my friends I'd be ok," she explained.

"I soon realised I was different. As a child you didn't want to be different. Now playing with my friends and doing normal stuff like having sleepovers was a challenge.

"I used to go to bed and after my Mum had kissed me goodnight I'd think 'Why me? What does this mean for the rest of my life? What does this mean for marrying, or kids?' It was stuff you don't normally think about as an eight-year-old."

"At the beginning all you see is what you can't do. The most difficult part is recognising the things you can still do. It was probably easier to do when you're just eight because you don't have things to compare it with."

Vergeer quickly realised she had two choices. In her own words, she could either sit looking out of the window watching the tulips grow, or she could get out and enjoy life. She chose the latter.

There are still moments of frustration, particularly when she wonders what life would hold out of her chair.

"Every time I go to a tournament and see people like Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams I wonder 'what it would be like to play with my legs?'

"I ask that question all the time. 'What it would like? How good it would be? How good would I be?'"

She will never know the answer. But after stretching her unbeaten run to 349 matches in the singles final here in Beijing, coming back from the brink of her first defeat in five-and-a-half years and after mesmerising the little Chinese girl a couple of days ago, Esther Vergeer's qualities are clear to see.

She has proved beyond measure that she is as good as she possibly can be. And that - it seems - is the whole point of these Games.