China's aerial aces hit the heights

Podium finishes at home World Cup meet raise hopes of Olympic glory

China's aerial skiers warmed up for Pyeongchang 2018 in fine style at the FIS World Cup series opener in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province over the weekend.

Olympic bronze medalist Jia Zongyang and world champion Xu Mengtao finished first and second respectively in the men's and women's individual events on Saturday in Genting Resort, one of the venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Xu, Jia and veteran Qi Guangpu also scored a combined 301.01 points to win the mixed team event ahead of Australia and Russia on Sunday, demonstrating China's growing prowess in this discipline.

The performances raised hopes China could be set to end its 12-year Olympic goldmedal drought at February's Games in South Korea.

China's only Olympic skiing gold medalist is aerialist Han Xiaopeng, who won at the 2006 Torino Games.

However, as one of the few women in the world who has landed a triple-flip in competition, Xu could well match Han's feat and complete a career grand slam in the process, having won the 2013 world championship and the World Cup final last season.

"I am kind of superstitious and I believe a good start at the Olympic site here bodes well for a perfect ending in Pyeongchang, and hopefully Beijing as well," said Xu, the women's silver medalist at the 2014 Sochi Games.

Xu, though, knows all too well how cruel this sport can be.

In January 2016 at the National Winter Games in Xinjiang, she ruptured the cruciate ligaments in her left knee after crashing on landing in her final jump, consigning her to a grueling nine months of rehab.

"Life was tough in the wheelchair and became simple in a positive way," reflected the 27-year-old, who switched to freestyle skiing from gymnastics in 2002." Each day I just focused on feeling better than the previous day."

Xu's determination was rewarded when she won her comeback international event last December - the 2016-17 World Cup season opener at Beidahu, Jilin province.

Mom and dad relieved

Two of the most nervous spectators in Genting on Saturday were Xu's mom and dad - the last time they watched their daughter compete disaster struck in Xinjiang.

"It was also important for me to stay mentally composed knowing that they'd come out of the shadows," she said of her parents.

With the impact of landing still affecting her knee, Xu has been focusing on fine-tuning her challenging triple-flip routines in training.

"At the end of the day, you still need luck to win this discipline, but I'm focusing on controlling whatever I can to beat all the uncertainties," she said.

On the men's side, Jia, who finished third in Sochi, and 2016-17 World Cup season winner Qi Guangpu will lead China's charge in Pyeongchang.

"This win at home means a lot to me in terms of making myself believe again that we have the prowess to dominate," said Jia, whose victory on Saturday was his first in three years since being hampered by injury after the Sochi Games.

"We have been making steady progress, executing our training and competition plans in the buildup to Pyeongchang to deliver our prime form when the time comes. We are confident of making the breakthrough this time," he said.

The Chinese team will skip the next World Cup event in Russia to continue training at home before competing at the last two series legs in the United States as final buildup for Pyeongchang.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn