Winter Olympics: Su Yiming could lead China gold rush, as hosts target glory in snowboarding, speed skating
- Teenager announces himself on Olympic stage in style during slopestyle qualification run
- China’s short-track speed skaters are also in action in women’s 500m and men’s 1,000m
Snowboarder Su Yiming could lead a Chinese gold rush after announcing himself on the Olympic stage in style, and the host nation will chase glory on several fronts on Monday.
The teenager qualified comfortably for the medal round of the slopestyle, posting a score of 86.80 in his first run on Sunday, and afterwards told Chinese media that he had “fulfilled my dream”.
And despite issues surrounding Covid-19 cases in the “closed loop”, political debate over Eileen Gu’s nationality, torch-bearer Dinigeer Yilamujiang’s ethnicity, and an IOC meeting with Peng Shuai, the excitement on the slopes and ice took centre stage.
Promising he had more tricks up his sleeve, Su will battle childhood hero Mark McMorris, from Canada, for gold. McMorris posted a score of 83.30 on his second run after recovering from a weak opening effort.
Earlier, in the women’s event, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott secured a first Winter Olympic gold ever for New Zealand, after a soaring final run propelled her to glory.
“Honestly, I can’t really believe it. I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time and yet for it to happen in reality, it’s going to take a while to process,” she said.
Fresh from their success in the mixed team relay, China’s short-track speed skaters target individual honours on Monday, with Fan Kexin, Qu Chunyu and Zhang Yuting racing in the women’s 500m, while Wu Dajing, Wen Long and Ren Ziwei compete in the men’s 1,000m.
Su’s performance, meanwhile, was in stark contrast to the day’s first by a Chinese athlete, with figure skater Zhu Yi reduced to tears after a poor display in the women’s singles short programme for the team event.