Xu Mengtao celebrated the victory after winning the championship. People's Daily reporter Hu Xuerong photographed
People's Daily Beijing, February 14 (Reporter Li Naiyan) In the Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle skiing women's aerial skills final held tonight, Xu Mengtao, a Chinese athlete and veteran of the four-time Winter Olympics, won the gold medal with 108.61 points, which was the first time that Chinese athletes won gold in the small event at the Winter Olympics, and it was also the fifth gold medal won by the Chinese sports delegation at the Winter Olympics. Another Chinese player, Kong Fanyu, made a mistake and scored 59.67 points, ranking 6th. Belarus' Hannah Hushkova and American Megan Nick won silver and bronze medals respectively.
Tonight's final, a total of 12 players participated, and China's Kong Fanyu and Xu Mengtao played hand in hand. According to the rules, the final is divided into two rounds, the first round of each player jumps twice, taking the best result, the top 6 enter the second round, the second round of 6 players jump to determine the winner and loser, determine the medal and the final ranking.
In the first jump of the first round of the final, Kong Fanyu, who appeared in the third round, played well and jumped a high score of 102.71 points; Xu Mengtao, who appeared in the 10th round, also jumped out of the high level, scoring 103.89 points, ranking first. The American Caldwell who then appeared scored 103.92 points, surpassing the two Chinese players and temporarily ranking first. In the second jump, Kong Fanyu played generally, Xu Mengtao directly gave up, and 2 people successfully entered the second round.
In the second round, the first defending champion Belarus' Huskova jumped out of a high score of 107.95 points, creating a huge pressure on the players behind. Kong Fanyu, the fourth to play, made a mistake and scored only 59.67 points, missing the medal. Xu Mengtao, the fifth to play, jumped out of the score of 108.61 points. Caldwell, the last to play, played generally. In the end, Xu Mengtao successfully won the gold!
