Xinhua News Agency, Chongli, Hebei, February 14 Title: After 16 years of waiting, the "Ace Master" of aerial skills will win the Winter Olympic Championship again
Xinhua News Agency reporters Li Linhai, Chen Di, Xia Liang, and Zhu Qing
Four days ago, at the Genting Ski Park in Zhangjiakou, 31-year-old Xu Mengtao won the silver medal with teammates Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu in the final of the freestyle ski aerial skills mixed team final of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
For this silver medal, Xu Mengtao was unwilling. "See you in the individual competition later, I will stand out and compete for the honor of China's aerial skills." After the game, Xu Mengtao's words were sonorous and powerful.
Four days later, in the same venue, the "Peach Stick" fulfilled its promise. In the second round of the final, she chose the action with a difficulty factor of 4.293, landed perfectly, and roared with a roar - 108.61 points, which surprised the audience.
On February 14, China's Xu Mengtao celebrated after the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Zhuang
For the Chinese team, which has been weak in ice and snow for a long time, freestyle skiing aerial skills are one of the few snow advantages. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, 19-year-old Xu won the women's silver medal in the event; at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Han Xiaopeng won the gold medal in the men's event, winning the first gold medal in the snow sports of the Winter Olympics in China's history.
In this project, for more than a decade, the Chinese team has also had world-class players, Li Nina, Xu Mengtao, Kong Fanyu, Jia Zongyang, Qi Guangpu... They represented the Chinese team and stormed the highest podium of the Winter Olympics again and again. As of Pyeongchang 2018, the Chinese team has won a total of 1 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze in the Winter Olympics event.
Aerial techniques are known as "adventurer's games" that require difficult churning in the air. If you want to get a high score, you must also land steadily. Difficulty, risk, injuries.
The sense of honor of fighting for the country made the players give their all for the sport.
On February 18, 2018, China's Jia Zongyang announced the results of the men's freestyle skiing men's aerial skills final at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, a fatal mistake made Xu Mengtao miss the gold medal, she also had the idea of retiring, but the dream of taking a gold medal at the doorstep inspired her; Jia Zongyang, known as "Iron Man", in the past three Winter Olympics, he still chose to insist from the sixth place to the bronze medal to the silver medal; Qi Guangpu also never erased the desire for the winter Olympic gold medal in his heart, quit the national team in 2018 to devote himself to his studies, but returned a year later to continue the dream of "ace master".
On the evening of February 14, the bright five-star red flag fluttered in the arena. This night, we also remembered a small girl who fought alongside Xu Mengtao, her name was Kong Fanyu.
On February 14, China's Kong Fanyu was in the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fei Maohua
The Northeastern girl, who won the bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, chose the highest difficulty in the final jump of the night, but fell down when she landed, and finally ranked sixth. She choked up and said, "This difficulty is actually to rush to the gold medal, although I made a mistake, but I am not sorry." ”
After 16 years, Chinese athletes have once again stood on the highest podium for freestyle skiing aerial skills at the Winter Olympics. This honor belongs to everyone in the "Ace Master".