February 14, 2022
Genting Ski Park
Beijing Winter Olympics Freestyle Skiing Women's Aerial Skills Final
The 31-year-old Xu Mengtao made a decisive jump
Peach blossoms bloom between heaven and earth
108.61 points, champion!
Xu Mengtao, the "Elder of the Four Dynasties", finally realized his dream of the Winter Olympics
Created a new history for the Chinese freestyle skiing aerial skills women's team!
27 World Cup gold medals
7 World Championship gold medals
Silver medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics
The world record holder for the highest score for women
"China's Freestyle Skiing Leader"
……
12 years of big waves and sand, countless times of acceleration and jumping, volleying, countless stunning moments, 31-year-old Xu Mengtao with more than ten years of snow field experience and glory, with the mission of the motherland and the dream of the heart, the fourth time standing on the starting platform of the Winter Olympics.
Xu Mengtao picked gold and jumped
In the 21-22 freestyle skiing aerial skills World Cup in Lucca, Finland, Xu Mengtao won the championship with 99.49 points, surpassing Canada's Cooper to become the athlete with the most individual gold medals in the World Cup. In the Canadian race, he won the championship with 103.92 points, won the second individual championship of the season, and the 27th gold medal of his career individual competition. When the International Snow Federation reported on the Canadian race, xu Mengtao was undoubtedly the biggest favorite for the freestyle skiing aerial skills gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Xu Mengtao at the World Cup
Xu Mengtao firmly believes that "the breakthrough may be late, but it will definitely come." In the face of the brilliant results achieved by decades of hard work in the snow field, Xu Mengtao modestly said that this is the effort of the entire team of athletes, and her eyes are always forward, not asking about the past scenery, but always falling on the next game and her own breakthroughs.
In almost every competition, Xu Mengtao has one of the best difficulties among competitors, as early as the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao, who was only 19 years old at the time, dared to challenge the bLdFF action of the "women's aerial skill difficulty ceiling" at that time.
Xu Mengtao is training for three weeks
During the preparation for the Winter Olympics, in order to return to the state of the game as soon as possible, Xu Mengtao, who had just recovered from injury, plunged into the training ground and constantly broke through the physical limits. Constantly communicate details with the instructor, perform various physical training exercises, repeatedly practice movements on the trampoline in the summer, and soak in the ice water of simulated snow training all day.
Every attempt at difficult actions and appearances on the field, Xu Mengtao is the girl who "fights" with high difficulty.
"When I didn't know what an Olympic champion was, I wanted to win an Olympic title." The covenant of the Winter Olympics and the pursuit of the golden color of the Olympic Games have run through Xu Mengtao's entire career.
"At 5 o'clock the sun just rises, we start training, and the snow all over the mountain gives a sense of shock, that feeling of freedom, excitement, and I know that I am doing what I really like." From the age of 12, when she was exposed to freestyle skiing, Xu Mengtao devoted herself to this lifelong career with enthusiasm.
Years of training and the challenge of difficult actions have scarred Xu Mengtao's legs, but she is always injured and thrown into the next cycle of training as soon as she recovers from injury, forcing herself back to the best state.
Love can withstand the long years, Xu Mengtao, a big grinning northeast girl, from the upstart in the ski industry to the veteran of the four dynasties, has always stuck to the field.
After the defeat in Pyeongchang, Xu Mengtao once thought about retiring, which was the second time after the Sochi Winter Olympics that she lost the gold medal as a favorite to win the championship. The cruel arena had already scarred Xu Mengtao's legs. However, four months later, as soon as the knee surgery rehabilitation cycle passed, the hot love for skiing made her resolutely return to the snow field and devote herself to the training of the Beijing Winter Olympic cycle.
Xu Mengtao Pyeongchang made a mistake in the second jump
After returning from Pyeongchang, Xu Mengtao posted on social media: "I am the girl who 'fought' the gold medal for the three Winter Olympics, and it is a mission and an honor to fight for the gold medal for the motherland!" No matter how much sweat and tears are worth paying, there is no bold words, only the determination to go out! I don't want to retire, my dream is still there, and I don't want to give up. ”
"Insist on walking" is Xu Mengtao's inner voice, and it is also her commitment to herself.
The freestyle skiing aerial skills team is known as the "Chinese Snow Dream Team", and since Xu Won the silver medal at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, the Chinese team has won a total of 1 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze in the Winter Olympics. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Han Xiaopeng won the championship in one fell swoop, and achieved a breakthrough of "zero" gold medal for the Chinese team in the snow sports of the Winter Olympics. But from Nagano to Pyeongchang, from Xu Yuanyuan to Li Nina to Xu Mengtao, there is less of the gold of the Winter Olympics.
Xu Mengtao took over the torch of her predecessors and also undertook the mission of rushing gold for China. She has never lowered her goals, and she has regained her courage in confusion again and again, believing that she can create more possibilities for China's ice and snow. This time, she finally broke the spell and became the first gold medalist in The Chinese Women's Freestyle Skiing Aerial Skills.
Mountaineering does not end with hardships, but it will be steep.
The history of the Olympic Games was engraved on February 14, which belongs to Xu Mengtao's golden medal of glory. Xu Mengtao did it, a long gold medal road, from now on, there are no regrets.
Xu Mengtao with the courage to dare to fight, the tenacity of rain and lights, the backwater war, 16 years of snow to prove themselves, to the world to convey the fiery and sincere Olympic spirit, will also inspire us to bravely climb the peak of life.
Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Editor: Yang Shuhan (Intern)
Proofreader: Wang Chao