CHINA tallied nine golds and 15 medals at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, both record highs for the nation at a single Winter Olympics. Snow sports was a comparatively weak point for China in the past, contributing only one of the 13 golds prior to the Beijing Games, which came from Han Xiaopeng’s success in the men’s aerials freestyle skiing at Turin 2006. But the tide turned this time, as China has won five out of the nine gold medals in snow sports. With the emergence of teenage stars Gu Ailing and Su Yiming, Team China has gained a strong boost in snow sports. Gu won the women’s freeski big air gold medal, becoming Team China’s first female gold medalist on snow. She added a silver medal in slopestyle, before wrapping up her Olympic debut with a gold in her most proficient halfpipe event. At 18 years and 168 days, Gu is the youngest athlete to win three individual medals at the Winter Games. Another prodigy shining in snow sports is Su Yiming, who turned 18 Friday. Following a silver in slopestyle, which made him the first Chinese male snowboarder to reach the Olympic podium, Su bagged a big air gold. At 17 years and 363 days, Su became the youngest Chinese athlete to win a gold medal at the Games. Veterans’ stories of persisting in chasing their dreams also offer more motivation. Freestyle skiers Xu Mengtao and Qi Guangpu, both competing in their fourth Olympics, finally realized their golden dream in the women’s and men’s aerials events. On the ice rink, the Chinese short-track speed skating team, which has won at least one gold medal in each Games since Salt Lake City 2002, claimed two golds in Beijing. Speed skater Gao Tingyu fulfilled his determination of changing his medal color from the bronze he won four years ago in Pyeongchang with his triumph in the 500m in an Olympic record time, becoming the first Chinese male Olympic champion in speed skating. Sui Wenjing and Han Cong earned China its record ninth gold at the Games in the pairs figure skating Saturday. A new chapter was also written in sliding sports. Yan Wengang won a bronze in the men’s skeleton, the first medal for China in any sliding sport. Besides winning medals, China has witnessed many breakthroughs in the Olympic history, including first-time appearances in 35 out of the 104 events that Chinese athletes featured at Beijing 2022. Zhao Jiawen finished 43rd in the individual normal hill/10km event, becoming the first-ever Chinese athlete to finish a Nordic combined competition at a Winter Olympics. Kong Fanying finished 15th in the women’s Alpine combined to record China’s best result in Alpine skiing. With all 109 medal events decided, Norway stood atop the chart with the most gold medals (16) and the most total medals (37). Germany finished second with 12 gold medals and a total of 27 medals. China finished third with nine golds. The United States finished the Games with eight gold medals — tied for the fourth-most along with Sweden and the Netherlands. After Pyeongchang saw a Winter Olympics-record 30 different National Olympic Committees (NOC) win medals, 29 different NOCs claimed at least one medal in Beijing. The Winter Olympics started in 1924, when 16 events across six sports were decided in Chamonix, France. (SD-Xinhua) | 