(Beijing Winter Olympics) "Veteran" Xu Mengtao
China News Agency Zhangjiakou, February 16th: "Veteran" Xu Mengtao
China News Agency reporter Chen Lin Wang Yu
Most of the world champions have a beautiful "nickname", but Xu Mengtao, a famous Chinese athlete who won the freestyle skiing women's aerial skills championship at the Beijing Winter Olympics on the 14th, doesn't seem to have it.
Usually teammates and acquaintances call her "Peach" and "Peach", as are many netizens.
When the media reports, it is customary to call him by his first name.
If one were to add a modifier, "veteran" is used quite frequently.
On the evening of February 14, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Freestyle Skiing Women's Aerial Skills Final was held at Zhangjiakou Yunding Ski Park. Chinese player Xu Mengtao won the championship.
The picture shows Xu Mengtao celebrating winning the championship at the souvenir ceremony.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhai Yujia
"Meet Tao Gong in a dream, laugh at the things of the world." Named from the story of Peach Blossom Spring, the family hopes that Xu Mengtao will grow up carefree and happy.
She has been practicing skiing for 20 years, from 2002 to present.
Her athlete resume is even longer when she takes into account her previous gymnastics practice.
Recalling the scene of the first skiing, Xu Mengtao said that seeing the snow all over the mountains and plains was particularly beautiful, "I was attracted by it."
In the past 20 years, she has also grown from a little girl who loves skiing to a legendary veteran who has experienced many battles and won 27 World Cup championships.
The label of the "Veteran of the Four Dynasties" of the Winter Olympics here puts Xu Mengtao in the "veteran camp".
What's more, in the snow sports arena where "genius girls" frequently appear, the age of 31 is really not too young.
Competing in the same field is not new for teenage players.
On February 14, the women's freestyle skiing women's aerial skills final of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was held at the Yunding Ski Park in Zhangjiakou. Chinese athlete Xu Mengtao won the championship.
The picture shows Xu Mengtao celebrating after the game.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
Winning gold in the Winter Olympics is the dream that this professional athlete has been pursuing.
In the previous three Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao passed the gold medal again and again.
As close as possible, she took home a silver medal.
The tears after the game have also become a testimony of unwillingness.
Especially in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, she was regarded as a favorite to win the championship before the game, and she had high expectations for herself, and even said that "if she can't win the gold medal, she will retire."
"After the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, it was too difficult for me." After winning the gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao still felt a lot of emotion after recalling the special experience four years ago.
She said that she came back "desperately" after her failure, looking at the two legs that had been operated on "shivering on the bed".
"From that moment on, I was wondering whether to stick to the Beijing Winter Olympics."
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao, who insisted on challenging the highest difficulty, only fought for the gold medal.
Looking back on her dream, after thanking many people, she also thanked herself for not giving up (dream), and encouraged everyone not to give up their dreams.
On February 15, champion Chinese team player Xu Mengtao kissed the gold medal during the medal presentation ceremony.
On the same day, the award ceremony of the women's aerial skills medal in freestyle skiing of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was held in the award square of Zhangjiakou Division.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
At the award ceremony on the evening of the 15th, Xu Mengtao kissed the gold medal and wept again.
She said happily that the tears this time were tears of dreams shining into reality, "this is the tears of excitement".
Xu Mengtao both inside and outside the arena showed the demeanor of a veteran.
She is the eldest sister in the team and the backbone of the team.
In the mixed team final of freestyle skiing aerial skills on the evening of the 10th, when teammate Jia Zongyang made a mistake, she felt "cold" instantly, who was expecting to win the gold.
Then he ran over quickly and gave a big hug to his partner who has been fighting side by side for nearly 20 years.
She knew that no one was more sad than Jia Zongyang at this time.
Although he regretted losing the gold medal at home, in Xu Mengtao's view, mutual support and encouragement among the teams are more important than medals.
At the post-match press conference, looking at Jia Zongyang, who had been crying and berating herself, she answered as many questions as possible from the media.
She said: "The three of us together are the Chinese team. If we want to advance, we will advance together, and if we want to retreat, we will retreat together. We cannot stop Jia Zongyang from continuing to be excellent and prevent us from continuing to bloom because of a forward roll (mistake)."
Xu Mengtao also has a veteran mentality for the adjustment after the failure of winning the gold and the success of winning the gold.
After failing to win gold in the team competition, she quickly adjusted her mentality and "returned to zero" everything before.
The day after winning the gold medal, she said that the day was very quiet today, and she also replayed the previous competition when she organized her items during the day.
From the preliminaries to the finals, all factors are under control, and I have "practiced it" myself.
She didn't shy away from answering her boyfriend's question, but made a mature joke: "It's not sure who to look for, but the day is set." Then she happily added: "I will also be here to have a baby. Born on February 14".
On this day in different years, she won the World Cup championship, the Winter Olympics silver medal, and the most eager Olympic gold medal.
When the media asked whether she would fight for another Winter Olympics, she smiled mischievously and said, "It depends on the mood."
(Finish)