Chinese athletes are hot for 2022

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February 3, 2021

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Chinese athletes are hot for 2022

Source: Xinhua | 00:00 UTC+8 February 3, 2021 |

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With just one year to go until the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Chinese athletes’ preparations are in full swing.

A perennial powerhouse in summer sports, China has never been dominant at the winter Olympics, only once finishing in the top 10, at Vancouver in 2010, and placing a lowly 16th at the last games at PyeongChang in 2018 with just one gold.

The host nation of Beijing 2022 has vowed for full participation in all 109 events and a best-ever performance in the history of the Winter Olympics.

Daunting as the challenges that loom ahead are, there are reasons for the hosts’ optimism about their 2022 prospects.

Eileen Gu, also known by her Chinese name Gu Ailing, stunned the Freeski world with two golds in women’s ski Superpipe and slopestyle, and a bronze in the ski Big Air last weekend at the 20th Aspen X-Games.

In a stunning breakout effort, the teenager became the first Chinese athlete to top the podium in the history of the extreme sport, the first rookie to win X-Games gold, and the fourth athlete in X-Games history to win three medals in one event.

Besides Gu’s unprecedented feat, 16-year-old Su Yiming also attracted attention, becoming the first Chinese male snowboarder to finish the Cab 1800 (a switch frontside 1800 degrees), known as one of the most difficult snowboarding tricks.

Su said he will work harder to further improve his skills in Big Air and slopestyle competitions to make China proud at the Winter Olympics in 2022.

In freestyle aerials and snowboard halfpipe, where China has traditionally performed well, veterans Qi Guangpu and Xu Mengtao will carry the nation’s hopes alongside young skiers like Yan Hao and Cai Xuetong.

Yan Hao, who used to be a trampoline athlete, finished the world’s highest difficulty in the junior men’s freestyle aerials pool competition last October.

In the snowboard halfpipe, Cai Xuetong has continued to make history, winning China’s first title at the 2020 US Open, and also topping the women’s overall World Cup standings after winning gold in the final 2019/20 FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup event in Calgary.

Confidence on ice

Compared to the snow events, China has even more confidence on ice.

The figure skating team, which hit a peak at Vancouver 2010 when Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo clinched the pairs’ title, now expects more at Beijing 2022.

Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, silver medalists at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and winners at the 2019 World Championships and 2020 Four Continents Championships, are no doubt China’s top contenders for gold.

But the pair are racing against time as Han is recovering from hip surgery. They missed the Cup of China last November, the only international figure skating competition held in China this season.

“I know the coming year is going to be hard,” said Sui yesterday, who is preparing for the World Championships in March. “But I hope I can deal with all the difficulties in life and training.”

Chinese figure skaters delivered strong performances at the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China, which was an important test for the team to gauge the progress of the skaters and to prepare for the World Championships.

“I think some of our skaters have made big progress,” said Zhao Hongbo. “Our preparation for the 2022 Olympic Games is right on track. Although the pandemic forced us to change some training and competition plans, it didn’t have much impact on our preparation.”

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Chinese athletes are hot for 2022

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