Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 4 (Xinhua) -- With the mission of promoting international exchanges and disseminating a healthy lifestyle - Interview with Beijing Winter Olympic Champion Gu Ailing
Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Xuelan Ji Jiadong
After achieving a historic result of two golds and one silver for the Chinese delegation at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, freestyle skier Gu Ailing has made it his new mission to spread healthy lifestyles and make the world more united.
Recently, on the sidelines of an event held by Swiss watch manufacturer IWG in Beijing, Gu Ailing was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency reporter by video link. She said: "It's a great honor for so many people who have never heard of freestyle skiing before to hear me as a young mixed-race girl for the first time. ”
As one of the most watched athletes at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu Ailing won the gold medal in U-shaped track skills, the gold medal in the big jump and the silver medal in slope obstacle course skills, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals at the first Winter Olympics.
"My biggest goal is to inspire more Chinese children, especially young girls, to hear about freestyle skiing and try it for themselves." Gu Ailing said.
Off the field, Gu Ailing is a fashion model and is about to become a student at Stanford University. She has 6.5 million followers on Weibo and 1.5 million on Instagram. Gu Ailing said that he hopes to use his influence on social media to make a positive impact on society.
"I'm focused on using the platform influence I've gained from the Winter Olympics to speak out, continue to promote skiing and healthy lifestyles, change standards of beauty, and promote confidence and health, rather than allowing myself to starve and stay out of the outdoors." These are some of the things I want to say now, and I'll say them out loud whenever I want to. "I always wanted to talk about health issues and promote sports." I want everyone to be confident and happy. ”
In addition, Gu Ailing said that in the future, it will also consider organizing sports competitions and outdoor camping activities for Chinese girls.
Her mother, Gu Yan, immigrated to the United States from China about 30 years ago and raised Gu Ailing as an adult. "I grew up saying that I was Chinese when I was in China and American when I was in the United States. I think these two countries are just as important to who I am today, there is no competition in this regard, and neither is better than the other. Gu Ailing said.
"The real meaning is to appreciate the different aspects of each culture and absorb the nutrients in it, and that's my perspective. It gave me the cultural resilience I had, and it taught me to appreciate the different cultures around the world. In that sense, I have a deep respect and gratitude for both cultures. ”
Gu Ailing can smoothly switch between Beijing dialect and California English in the interview, and she hopes to use sports to build more bridges between different cultures.
"There are no boundaries to the movement, no age, gender, race or culture restrictions, and everyone can participate. This is the easiest way to form communication and promote interconnection between different countries. ”
Gu Ailing also made headlines for her love of food. A video of her eating a leek box while waiting for the slope obstacle course qualifying score went viral on social media.
"My favorite Chinese food is dumplings, but it has to be wrapped at home. I love any Western food with truffles, I've always been a fan of truffles, and I always travel with my own white truffle oil. ”
"I learn more every time in China because China is a place of diversity, with many dialects, many kinds of food and a lot of cultural differences." Gu Ailing said.
"One of my favorite aspects of China is the food culture, where everyone puts their plates on a big table that can be rotated to share all the food, which is much better than just ordering one dish per person." Gu Ailing said, "There is a wealth of diversity here, and there are more choices. I can try anything, and there's a sense of sharing culture, sharing time, and sharing food, which I think is characteristic of the depths of Chinese culture. ”