Chinese star Xu ‘grateful’ to be at Winter Games, Sui, Han hope to ‘shine for everyone’

Team China delivered their best-ever Winter Olympics performance at the last Winter Games in Beijing with nine golds, four silvers and two bronzes, and have sent 124 athletes to Milano Cortina to try to emulate that feat. Among the Chinese representatives are several veterans who will make their fifth Olympic appearance. Four of these are skiers, and foremost among them is Xu Mengtao, the most successful woman in freestyle aerials history, with the highest number of world championships and World Cup golds. Xu will compete in the women’s aerials and the mixed team aerials, with the finals scheduled for February 18 and 21, respectively. Xu’s Olympic journey began in Vancouver in 2010, when she finished sixth at the age of 19. She took silver in Sochi four years later, then fell short in Pyeongchang 2018 after a crash in the finals, but remained determined to continue. Xu famously said at the time: “If I cannot win the gold, I will retire.” Competing on home snow in Beijing, Xu made history with 108.61 points – a record-breaking performance that secured China’s first Olympic gold in women’s aerials. Since then, Xu has expanded her life beyond sport, marrying fellow aerial skier Wang Xindi, taking part in dance and singing reality shows and publishing her autobiography while maintaining strong form on the slopes. Xu won gold at the Asian Winter Games last year, completing a career “grand slam” with titles across the Olympics, world championships, World Cups, world juniors, Asian Winter Games and national competitions – a first for any Chinese snow sports athlete. Approaching her fifth Games, Xu adopted a mindset that she called a “reset”. “I feel great and very grateful,” Xu said. “To have the competitive ability to take part in five Olympics as a female aerial skier is not easy. After more than 20 years in the sport, this timeline means a lot to me. I think it is a legendary journey.” On the ice, several Chinese Olympic champions are also making multiple appearances at the Games, with figure skating pair Sui Wenjing and Han Cong returning after a three-year break. The “grand slam” duo and three-time Olympians made their Olympic debuts at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, where they took silver by just 0.43 points. They stormed back in 2022 at Beijing, breaking the world record and completing their career grand slam. During their hiatus, Sui choreographed and coached young skaters and published her autobiography, while Han announced his retirement, joined Tsinghua University as a teacher and became a figure skating judge and an official with the International Skating Union’s technical committee. After Beijing, Chinese pairs skating suffered a gap, at one point failing to secure a spot at the 2026 Winter Games and having to fight for qualification through an additional qualifier. Sui and Han therefore reunited out of “responsibility and passion”. “As athletes raised by the country, I feel I still have strength left and a responsibility to push the discipline forward for a while,” Sui said. Their comeback was far from simple. After more than three years away from competition, Sui and Han had to rebuild not only their physical condition and technique, but also their on-ice chemistry and competitive mindset. For the 33-year-old Han, the return meant a drastic physical transformation: he lost about 10 kilograms since resuming training. Yet once back on the international circuit, Sui and Han remained in the world’s top tier, finishing on the podium twice in the ISU Grand Prix series. Their short‑programme score of 84.41 and total of 239.88, still unbeaten in the past four years, carried them into their third Olympic journey at last Friday’s team event. They earned 65.37 points in the pair skating short programme, but acknowledged they “did not perform at our best level”. Han revealed that his 30-year-old partner Sui had received five painkilling injections before stepping on the ice, where they eventually finished sixth. With China failing to reach the team event final, finishing eighth overall, Sui and Han’s next competition in Milan is in the pairs short programme on Monday. Han said their return was not only about competing in Milan, but also about inspiring the next generation and reviving Chinese figure skating. “This comeback is not just about standing on the Milan Olympic ice; we also hope to encourage young skaters and lift Chinese figure skating. We hope the younger athletes feel motivated to climb and shine for a long time,” Han said. “We also hope that, in that moment, we can be the brightest star, shining for everyone.”

Chinese star Xu ‘grateful’ to be at Winter Games, Sui, Han hope to ‘shine for everyone’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Most successful woman in freestyle aerials history is at her fifth Olympics, while the figure skating pair are competing after a three-year break

Most successful woman in freestyle aerials history is at her fifth Olympics, while the figure skating pair are competing after a three-year break