By Alvise Armellini
LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Wang Xindi won the freestyle skiing men’s aerials at the Winter Olympics on Friday, strengthening China’s dominance in the discipline and bringing another gold medal into the family.
The victory came two days after Wang’s wife Xu Mengtao retained her Olympic title in women’s aerials, and the couple could be set for more glory in Saturday’s mixed team final.
“We celebrated her gold, but I was also quick to refocus on to my own event”, he said. “We’ve battled together for years, but we’re also professionals.”
He said Xu, a five-times Olympian with a record number of World Cup victories, sometimes shares “pointers” with him, “but also doesn’t want to say so much. But in my heart, I also understand what she wants to say.”
The couple’s Milano Cortina double-act adds to China’s Beijing 2022 tally of two gold medals in men’s and women’s aerials and silver in mixed teams.
On Friday, world champion Noe Roth of Switzerland won silver, while another Chinese freeskier, Olympic first-timer Li Tianma, got bronze.
“We knew we (Chinese) had an advantage because of the quality of our squad. We were pretty confident of winning a gold today, it’s just down to who performs on the day,” Li said.
OUTGOING CHAMPION ENDS OLYMPIC CAREER
All four Chinese competitors made it to the final, from an initial pack of 24, including defending champion and five-times Olympian Qi Guangpu, who came sixth.
Qi, who is 35, said it was the end of his Olympic career, even if Wang urged him not to retire and hailed him as a role model.
The new Olympic champion took top spot with a remarkable score of 132.60, out of a maximum of 150. Roth was close behind on 131.58, while Li got 123.93.
The field was whittled down over four rounds held in snowy, overcast conditions in the Alpine resort of Livigno, leaving six competitors, four from China and two Swiss – with Roth joined by compatriot Pirmin Werner – to contest the final run.
“I want to thank myself for not giving up,” Wang said. “For my dedication. When things were hard, when I was down … I’d like to give myself a big hug.”
American Quinn Dehlinger had to pull out before the start, due to a knee injury suffered during training.
Aerials is a gravity-defying discipline that has been part of the Winter Games since 1994.
Athletes jump off a near vertical ramp, launching themselves in the air and performing complex aerobatics, reaching speeds of up to more than 65 km per hour. They are judged on height, distance, style, degree of difficulty and landing.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Ken Ferris)
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