Gold in women's aerials a first for China

Even when all the scores of the finalists in the women's freestyle skiing aerials were out on Monday evening, Xu Mengtao still couldn't believe she had just clinched the Winter Olympics gold medal that she had strived so long to win.

"Did I win? Did I win?" she shouted. Yes, the four-time Olympian finally did it at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The gold is also China's first in the event.

At the moment the winner was announced, spectators at the competition venue, Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, erupted with joy.

As of Monday night, China had won five gold medals at the Beijing Winter Games, equaling its best previous result at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

Xu Mengtao of China celebrates after the freestyle skiing women's aerials final of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei province, Feb 14, 2022. [Photo by Wei Xiaohao/chinadaily.com.cn]

Xu received 108.61 points for her final jump with three somersaults, which had a degree of difficulty of 4.293－the highest for female athletes. Hanna Huskova of Belarus took the silver with 107.95 points, followed by Megan Nick of the United States with 93.76.

After successfully landing her final jump, Xu knew she had nailed it and screamed into the cold air, with the temperature hovering around minus 23 C.

Soon afterward, Ashley Caldwell of the US, who had been ranked first after the first round of the final and was the last athlete to jump－made a mistake on her landing and finished in fourth place.

"The payoff of hard work may come late, but it will come for sure," Xu, 31, said emotionally. "It's been a long journey, and I always have faith in myself."