"Those two have been killing it," said the American, referring to Cai and Liu Jiayu. Halfpipe champion Chloe Kim said the work ethic of Chinese women boarders was "inspirational".
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"If I don't put down these tricks to fight at the Olympics, I will regret it for the rest of my life," said four-time Olympian Cai Xuetong, who landed a complicated series of tricks including the frontside 900 in the qualifiers but finished fourth in the final. Young women snowboarders from China also impressed at the halfpipe, laying down advanced tricks in the qualifiers but just missing the podium in the final.
"If I can help to inspire one young girl to break a boundary, my wishes will have come true," Gu wrote in an Instagram post when she made the announcement to represent China. Gu, who competed for the US team as a child but switched to represent China in 2019, has said she hoped to inspire more Chinese, especially young women, to participate in winter sports. "(Gu) has raised the general difficulty (of the sport) and we are trying harder to catch up with her," Li said. Gu became the first freestyle skier to bag three medals from a single Olympics. We left everything out there."Īthletes said the participation of Eileen Gu boosted the competitiveness of the women's field because the US born athlete was bringing more advanced tricks to the competition. "Each and every one of us girls have been working so hard these years, sparing no effort to improve the height, the difficulty and the grab," said Li Fanghui, a first-time Olympian who finished fifth in the women's freeski halfpipe final on Friday. At the snowboarding and freeski events, six Chinese women advanced to the final stage, an improvement from three at the previous Games. In all, nine Chinese women freestyle skiers and snowboarders advanced to the final in their various disciplines, almost double the number at the Pyeongchang Games four years ago.īy comparison, only three men qualified for finals.Ĭhinese women were especially competitive in the halfpipe. There is an old saying in China that "women can hold up half the sky", and that proverb rang true at the Beijing Olympics where female Chinese snowboarders and freestyle skiers commanded the spotlight and pushed the boundaries of their sports.