Gu Ailing: How to "bridge" things with skiing?
China News Service, Beijing, March 21 Title: Gu Ailing: How to "bridge" things with skiing?
Author Gao Chuyi
At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese Olympic delegation won 9 gold medals, creating history. The 18-year-old Gu Ailing won 2 gold and 1 silver for the first time in the Winter Olympics, becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing in history.
Recently, Gu Ailing, a female freestyle skier of the Chinese team, said in an interview with China News Agency's "Things Ask" that skiing has brought her a lot of happiness, and she wants to share this happiness with the world. Sport is a great way to promote cultural exchanges, and I hope to make the world a better place through my love and expression.
The following is a transcript of the interview:
China News Service: At the Winter Olympics, you achieved two gold and one silver result, becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing in history. What is the biggest impression you have about the Winter Olympics? How do you evaluate your performance?
Gu Ailing: I feel very good, the best second is to do the left axis rotation 1620 degrees moment, never done this before, including on the trampoline and air cushion. At the last minute of the race, when I chose the 1620 move, I knew I was already on the podium. But this is an opportunity for the world to see the core charm of the sport, and I have always said that I want to break my boundaries, so I want to seize this opportunity to express my ideas, even if I don't successfully land, I still think it is the right choice, the happiest second.
Gu Ailing (center) won the championship in the freestyle ski women's big jump event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo by Mao Jianjun, reporter of China News Service
From February 4th to 18th, I was either training or competing every day. Among them, 3 different events were participated in 6 days, as the only female athlete to enter the three finals of the freestyle skiing project of the Winter Olympics, although the body is very tired, I pay more attention to the changes in psychology and mind, the Winter Olympics are really completely different from other competitions, and the psychological resistance to pressure is a new test.
China News Service: You were admitted to Stanford University with excellent results, how to balance the two identities of skier and student?
Gu Ailing: I was the only athlete to graduate from a normal high school. I have classes every Monday to Friday and go skiing two days on the weekend. On Friday night my mom drove me 4 hours to Lake Tahoe, and I did my homework in the car and got everything done so I could get 100% into the skiing for the next two days. I feel like anything would be boring if I did it every day, so although I had less time, I was efficient, which not only maintained my love of skiing, but also a great way to grow and helped me lay a good foundation. I graduated a year early last year, the first student in our high school to graduate early, and then I started preparing for the Winter Olympics. Now that goal has been achieved, I'm back to the old way I was, skiing while taking classes.
Gu Ailing won the gold medal in the women's U-shaped track skill event in freestyle skiing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo by Zhai Yujia, a reporter from China News Service
China News Service: What are your expectations and plans for the upcoming university time?
Gu Ailing: I was particularly looking forward to it, and I was a little nervous, because I hadn't been in class for two years. Most of them are online to take some scientific research classes, or some learning materials that interest me. And I've been writing diaries and essays, and I want to publish my own books in the future.
In college, I wanted to study international relations, as well as physics and writing, which were the three directions I was most interested in.
Planning is first and foremost "bridge-building", for example, for me now, different people can communicate in different ways through skiing, and I hope to find some other ways to promote communication in the future.
The second is physics, which I find the stars and the universe particularly interesting, and I've been listening to the relevant content and wanting to learn it, but I don't do it as a profession.
The third is writing, I have always been particularly fond of writing, not only the diary, this year my first article "I admit, I fell in love with fear" was published in the "New York Times", and was also translated by netizens as Chinese read, which makes me very proud, so I also want to learn to write.
China News Service: You grew up under the influence of your mother to ski and grew up in a multicultural family environment, what kind of influence and help do you think the different cultural backgrounds in China and the United States have brought to your growth?
Gu Ailing: The two cultures have greatly influenced and helped me. I remember when I was a child, I was in a cram school in Beijing during the summer vacation, taking a taxi to go to class, I called the driver and said that I was waiting for him at the southwest intersection, and when the car arrived, I waved vigorously, but the car did not stop. I called the driver again, and he said he didn't see me. This was the case a few times, and later I found out that maybe the driver looked at me like a foreigner while I was talking on the phone, and they thought I was a Chinese girl. After that, when I take a taxi again, I will tell the driver in advance that I may be like a foreigner, and if I see me waving, I must stop.
These subtle cultural differences made me realize who I was at a very young age, and I learned something in both Chinese and American cultures, and eventually integrated the two cultures into myself, so that my thinking and learning ability were enhanced. I see people doing different things, wearing different clothes, eating different foods, and they all feel good. I especially like to eat Chinese dumplings, and when I was in the United States, I also liked to eat hamburgers, so for different cultures, it is best to like and appreciate them.
Gu Ailing wore a golden dragon costume to participate in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Freestyle Ski Women's Big Jump Qualifying Tournament. Photo by Mao Jianjun, reporter of China News Service
In China, I was very well educated, my grandmother taught me multiplication techniques from a young age, and later went to cram school and made many friends. The United States was the beginning of my sports career, I grew up running in the United States and learning to ride in China. I'm a big fan of sports, so every time I go back to China during the summer vacation, I try to do it. Later, I also organized the girls who took math classes to play basketball in the evening, and they also enjoyed it and helped me learn Chinese, which was a cultural exchange.
China News Service: You mentioned earlier that sportsmanship knows no borders, how do you think sports make the world closer and different cultures understand each other?
Gu Ailing: This is always the biggest goal. I have always said that sports have no boundaries, not national boundaries, but human boundaries, and sports is a good way to promote cultural exchanges.
Last year, I skied and videotaped with several members of a ski brand from the United States, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and other countries. Seven or eight of us girls live together and share the culture and cuisine of different countries. The first night I made dumplings for everyone. I grew up making dumplings with my grandmother, I would wrap them, but I didn't have to make noodles myself, so I called my grandmother to ask for the proportion, how much water to put and how many noodles. I went to the supermarket again and bought a lot of leeks. Finally take everyone together to learn to pack together, like a big family. In the end, everyone wrapped up different shapes and laughed while playing.
Gu Ailing eats leek boxes after the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Freestyle Skiing Women's Steeplechase Qualification Tournament. Photo by Zhai Yujia, a reporter from China News Service
Later, a norwegian friend told me that she learned Chinese culture through a dumpling and will never forget that moment. A friend in Switzerland also called me and asked me how I made dumpling noodles, and she also wanted to share it with her friends and family. I said you can just feel it, and the dumplings they wrapped in the end are also very beautiful. A lot of people think that skiing is over, but it's not the case, we have a deeper exchange through skiing and sports, which can really change lives.
I also like to spread Chinese culture, because many people don't know much, and they want to learn and appreciate, but they just don't know how to do it. So through me to make them better, but also to bring me a lot of happiness. Sharing is something everyone loves to do.
China News Service: In the future, will you always insist on your love and expression to convey the Olympic spirit to the world?
Gu Ailing: If everyone could make the world a little better, the world would be much better. I'm looking for the happiest moment in my life right now, doing my favorite thing, making life meaningful and distinctive. For me, skiing has brought me a lot of growth, not just falling down and getting up, which is what all life needs to learn. Everyone should express themselves in their own style, have their own creativity, do these things well in the process of enjoying nature, promote their own growth, not only make the body stronger, but also know themselves from the mind and heart.
Gu Ailing won the silver medal in the women's steeplechase sport in freestyle skiing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
I'm very happy that I was exposed to skiing at a young age, it brought me a lot of joy, so I wanted to share my joy and state of mind with the world. Since I was a child, I have both Chinese and American cultures, and I want to start by skiing to promote different cultural exchanges, which is my goal and love now, and I hope to make the world a better place. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Gu Ailing is a female freestyle skier from The Chinese team. 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle skiing women's big jump champion, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics women's freestyle ski slope obstacle course silver medal, 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics freestyle ski women's U-shaped track skills gold medal winner. The youngest freeski Olympic gold medalist in history, the only female athlete in the freestyle skiing event to reach the finals of three events at the Winter Olympics. The only female freestyle skier to win a Grand Slam (World Cup, xgames, World Championships and Olympic Games). The first Olympic free ski gold medalist and medalist in Chinese history.