BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A one-legged Chinese athlete who lit the Paralympic cauldron said he wanted to send a message of spirit and spunk to the world.

    Hou Bin used his bare hands to pull himself up on a 40-meter long rope before he lit the cauldron last Saturday night, an act acclaimed by many as a manifesto of strength.

    "When I climbed up the rope, I knew that the whole world was watching and I wasn't alone. It was a journey to show the indomitable spirit of mankind, and I want to send the message to the world," he told Xinhua on Monday.

    Hou, 33, lost his left leg in a train accident when he was nine, but he grew to be a triple high jump champion and one of the most renowned disabled athletes in the world. He is the first ambassador for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

    "I had difficult times in the early years because of the disability, and I still remember what I read from the eyes of the people at the scene of the accident - 'the kid is done!'."

    "But I stood up to the challenge of life and I made it," he said.

    "I had been looking forward to the Beijing Paralympics because it's a stage of equality and harmony for everyone. It's not about disabilities. It's about capabilities," he said.

    The 33-year-old, however, missed out on a fourth Paralympics because his category was scrapped in Beijing for lack of participants.

    "I will continue to deliver the Paralympic spirit though. I will continue to focus on what I can do, not what I can't do, because that's the spirit of a Paralympian," he said.