The Paralympic torch was carried through Shanghai Monday by some former top athletes.

Swimmer Pang Jiaying, 23, won three medals, a silver and two bronze, at the Olympics last month,lights the cauldron as the last torchbearer in Shanghai Monday. [Xinhua]

It was the third stop on the Modern China route.

The relay started at 9:30 am at the Shanghai Foreign Trade University. Zhao Jihong was the first of 60 torchbearers running along the 3-km route.

Zhao, who is blind, has won four gold medals, three silver and a bronze at three previous Paralympics.

She set a world record in the women's triple jump for the blind B at the seventh edition of the Paralympics which was held in Europe and North America from July to August 1984.

Xu Lijia, a Beijing Olympic bronze medalist in sailing, was the sixth torchbearer.

"I have had my best two days this year. Last month, I won a medal in the Beijing Olympics and now I'm running as a torchbearer in the Paralympics," Xu said.

"My two wishes have been fulfilled today."

Swimmer Pang Jiaying was given the honor of lighting the cauldron as the last torchbearer. Pang, 23, won three medals, a silver and two bronze, at the Olympics last month.

"It's was great honor to carry the torch and light the cauldron," Pang said.

Twelve of yesterday's torchbearers were disabled people. The next destination for the Modern China route is Qiangdao, a coastal city in Shandong province.

The relay is being carried out along two routes - Modern China and Ancient China.

Modern China covers Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian and Beijing, while Ancient China covers Xi'an, Hohhot, Changsha, Nanjing and Luoyang.