Freeski's new Thai flyer

Not another Muay Thai fighter, not another golfer, not an emerging sepak takraw talent — it's a virtually unknown pioneer in an unexpected sport that has got the Thai nation on its feet cheering.

All of a sudden, and out of nowhere, Thai skier Paul Henri Vieuxtemps rocked Asian winter sports on its heels, after the French-born freeskier surprisingly landed on the podium at the Harbin Asian Winter Games — the first Thai ever to do so in the continental winter sports gala's 39-year history.

In his third and final run in Tuesday's slopestyle final, the 25-year-old scored 85.25 points by stomping a string of tricks off jumps and rails to clinch a bronze medal behind Japanese winner Rai Kasamura and runner-up Ruka Ito, stealing the show at the Yabuli Ski Resort.

Despite landing higher-scoring and more difficult runs, the Japanese duo's 1-2 finish seemed to be business as usual. Both were eclipsed by Vieuxtemps' leap of faith, which made Thailand only the sixth delegation to medal at the Harbin showpiece.

It also made Thailand the first country from the tropical regions across Southeast Asia to appear on the all-time medal table at a Winter Asiad since the inaugural edition in 1986.

"This is my first time competing at the Asian Games, and I am deeply honored to have won Thailand's historic first medal," said Vieuxtemps, who has dual citizenship in France and Thailand, yet opted to represent his mother's native country on the global stage.

With so much at stake, and following a failed landing on his second run, Vieuxtemps delivered, executing, arguably, the best run of his career — etching his name in the history of Asian winter sports forever.

"I made mistakes and fell during my first two runs, but I was satisfied with my third run and secured the bronze medal," he said.

"Before my final run, I took a moment to breathe deeply, calm my nerves and mentally rehearse the tricks I planned to perform.

"I've done my best and successfully executed the most challenging trick."

In his second event in Harbin, the Big Air, Vieuxtemps overcame challenging windy conditions at Yabuli's monster slope to land two of his three runs in the final on Wednesday, but failed to land on the podium again after finishing 6th overall.

Kasamura won his second freeski gold of the Games, while the Republic of Korea's Yoon Jonghyun and Shin Yeong-seop clinched the silver and bronze, respectively.

Born in the French port city of Rouen, on the River Seine, Vieuxtemps took up freestyle skiing as a teen prospect, developing his skills at the northern Alps resort of Les Orres, influenced by his father, who he claimed in 2015 could still do a backflip at 50 years old.

Due to the French ski association's focus on alpine events back then, in 2017, Vieuxtemps chose to suit up for Thailand when the tropical nation began to diversify its sports development by investing in ice and snow sports.

Since his debut 2017-18 season on the FIS World Cup circuit, Vieuxtemps has flown the Thai flag on multiple international occasions, with his two-medal finish (silver in Big Air and bronze in slopestyle) at the 2023 Winter Universiade in Lake Placid, New York, turning heads among the sport's niche community.

Beginning with indoor ice sports, such as curling and hockey, Thailand has ambitiously expanded its presence at the continental level into snow-based events, including cross-country and freestyle skiing, with talent drafted and nurtured from similar dry-land sports such as roller skiing and inline skating.

The country is represented by its largest-ever Winter Asiad contingent of 85 athletes, contesting six sports in Harbin.

Vieuxtemps, who also incorporated inline skating at skate parks into his offseason training, said it's only the beginning, as more Thais look to make inroads into winter sports — and he goes in search of more national glory.

"I hope to compete in the world championships in Switzerland (at St Moritz Engadin from March 17 to 30) after the World Cup and Europa Cup series," said Vieuxtemps.

Contact the writer at sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn