Gold in women's aerials a first for China

Even when all the scores of the finalists in the women's freestyle skiing aerials were out on Monday evening, Xu Mengtao still couldn't believe she had just clinched the Winter Olympics gold medal that she had strived so long to win.

"Did I win? Did I win?" she shouted. Yes, the four-time Olympian finally did it at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The gold is also China's first in the event.

At the moment the winner was announced, spectators at the competition venue, Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, erupted with joy.

As of Monday night, China had won five gold medals at the Beijing Winter Games, equaling its best previous result at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

Xu received 108.61 points for her final jump with three somersaults, which had a degree of difficulty of 4.293－the highest for female athletes. Hanna Huskova of Belarus took the silver with 107.95 points, followed by Megan Nick of the United States with 93.76.

After successfully landing her final jump, Xu knew she had nailed it and screamed into the cold air, with the temperature hovering around minus 23 C.

Soon afterward, Ashley Caldwell of the US, who had been ranked first after the first round of the final and was the last athlete to jump－made a mistake on her landing and finished in fourth place.

"The payoff of hard work may come late, but it will come for sure," Xu, 31, said emotionally. "It's been a long journey, and I always have faith in myself."

Xu already owned 27 World Cup golds and received the highest score in the world for jumps among female aerial skiers. But she only managed to bring home a silver medal from the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Due to injuries, she finished sixth and ninth at Vancouver 2010 and Pyeongchang 2018, respectively, so winning Olympic gold has been a "lifelong desire", Xu said.

"I'm just super excited. This is the first gold medal won by China in women's aerials, and it's just super cool," she said after the victory. "I just wanted to do the best tricks I could and I did it, and that was all."

China's Han Xiaopeng had won the country's first men's aerials Olympic gold medal at the 2006 Turin Winter Games.

Caldwell said she was proud of Xu, whose nickname is Taotao.

"Taotao has been pushing triples for longer than I have, and I respect her wholeheartedly. For her to win the gold medal in her own country is an incredible accomplishment, and it brought tears to my eyes," the US skier said.

Xu said she believes systematic training and keeping in good form brought her the gold medal.

"I've been in good shape for the past four years, so I've given my best to prepare for this moment. Today I only come here to see the result," she said.

"It's going to be a sleepless night for me. I will use every minute to enjoy the win."