Yesterday, the final of the FIS Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe World Cup Chongli was held at Genting Ski Resort. Gu Ailing, the Chinese Winter Olympic champion who had previously advanced ahead of the preliminaries, finally won the first World Cup of the season with a high score of 94.25 points, and won a good start to the season. At this time, those who follow Gu Ailing know that this may be the most difficult gold medal in Gu Ailing's career.

I'm the one who was born to compete

The competition at Chongli Station of the World Cup will continue to be held in the halfpipe of Genting Ski Resort, the Olympic venue of the Beijing Winter Olympics. It is also the blessed land of Gu Ailing, where she won a Winter Olympic gold medal for the Chinese delegation in 2022. In order to return to the blessed land, Gu Ailing paid a considerable price.

Gu Ailing came to Chongli, Hebei with an injury to meet the challenge of the World Cup. A week before the Chongli race, Gu Ailing was injured while training in Austria. Since then, Gu Ailing has been working hard to get out of the injury, hoping to play in the first World Cup of the season with the injury, and even more hope to win gold again in the Winter Olympics. "I'm playing with an injury, and it's a serious injury." Gu Ailing admitted, "After I was injured in training in Austria, both doctors said that I would have immediate surgery after the first diagnosis. Now the wound is also very painful. ”

Although Gu Ailing's family didn't want Gu Ailing to fight with injuries, Gu Ailing still insisted on returning to China and didn't listen to her mother. Difficulty training was carried out before the qualifying rounds. "On the first day of training, my mom said, 'Don't do it,' and the next day she said, 'Don't do somersaults,' but I didn't listen to her for two days. Some people may be born to compete, born to love to compete, and that's the kind of person I am. ”

Won the championship with 94.25 points

Although the outside world was worried about Gu Ailing, Gu Ailing dispelled the doubts of the outside world with a relaxed performance on the first day of the competition, and also won the first place in the qualifying round and advanced to the final. Gu Ailing also admitted after the qualifying round that the injury did have a big impact on her, such as she needed to use a strap on her shoulder to slide, and she needed to adjust the strap every time she skated. "Not only do you feel it every time you jump, but you also feel it when you skate normally. In addition, because the injured part is wrapped and wrapped a little big, the arm cannot move, which will have an impact on the mind and brain. Gu Ailing said. In addition to training and competing with injuries, Gu Ailing, as a college student, also has to complete homework and papers between training and competitions. This "time management guru" was even typing on the keyboard to catch up with his papers during the previous flight back to China.

On the final day, the Chongli competition area rewarded many contestants with perfect weather and snow conditions. In the qualifying round, Gu Ailing spoke highly of the venue and weather in the Chongli competition area. "Genting is a blessed place for me, and of course it's very friendly for a lot of athletes. Many of the athletes who came this time commented that 'Genting's U-groove cut (field shaping) is particularly good'. It's not cold these days, the wind is not strong, there is a big sun, and the event is running very well, which is the best field for athletes. ”

In the first round of the finals, Gu Ailing mainly adapted to the snow conditions, and although the back-to-back 900-degree movements followed by the 540-degree turns were not the top difficulty, the tandem was smooth, and the time to catch the tail of the board and the landing state were perfect. This set of moves allowed her to score 90.25 points and temporarily rank first.

In the second round, after the back-to-back 900-degree turns, he completed a full set of movements with high quality and scored 94.25 points. After confirming the early locking of the championship, Gu Ailing did not reduce the difficulty in the third round, and even improved her performance on the board, completing a full set of skating and scoring 93 points. In the end, Gu Ailing won the Chongli World Cup championship with 94.25 points, ushering in a good start to the season.

After the game

How to celebrate winning gold? Eat something delicious!

"I'm so happy, I'm so happy to be able to go home and compete." The first time she walked out of the arena, Gu Ailing said.

"I felt good after three rounds today, I didn't practice any moves in training. I did all the moves in the first round, and in the second and third rounds, I chose to make it more difficult and add a little new moves. Gu Ailing said, "These actions are exactly the actions that my mother sent a message before the game saying 'not let me do', but I still did it." ”

Gu Ailing said frankly: "Today is indeed in a high-pressure situation, and the body has not recovered to 100% health, so it is good to get this result." Actually, there is no need to do the new moves in the second and third rounds, but there are so many spectators here today, and I hope to skate more excitingly and perform for everyone at home. ”

Because of the shoulder injury during training not long ago, Gu Ailing could not avoid the troubles caused by the injury in this competition. "I think the impact of the injury is not only physical, but also psychological. When there's a wound, the pain is there, and you always think about it. Therefore, it is necessary not only to endure the pain, but also to overcome psychological difficulties. ”

But from another point of view, it seems that winning a gold medal with an injury seems to be a better ending. "I've come to Chongli to train and compete many times, and this time there are a lot of spectators [compared to the Beijing Winter Olympics]. My biggest dream is to share my love for skiing, and I am very happy to have such an opportunity to share and express it today. Gu Ailing said.

Talking about the arrangements for the next stage, Gu Ailing revealed that she will leave for Colorado, the United States, on the 10th, to participate in the next World Cup competition and evaluate the shoulder injury, and then arrange the next training and games. When asked how she plans to celebrate today, Gu Ailing said, "Eat something delicious!" Text/Xinhua News Agency

regretful

Zhang Kexin retired from the game, and Li Fanghui made a mistake

In this final, Gu Ailing was originally scheduled to play with two members of the Chinese team. Celebrity Zhang Kexin retired due to an injury in pre-match training. Li Fanghui, the fifth-place finisher at the Beijing Winter Olympics, played well in the first round of the game, but unfortunately hit the pool wall too far from the angle of falling, and hit the pool wall again in the second round after taking off. In the final round, Li Fanghui made another mistake and finished seventh, failing to stand on the podium.

In the final, the U.S. World Championships halfpipe champion Farheb, who posed a direct threat to Gu Ailing's gold medal status, scored 82.25 points on the first run and was in second place. In the second round, although Farhebo successfully completed a full set of moves, he scored 68 points with a slight flaw when he landed, and finally finished second. Canada's Fraser finished third.

This group of articles/reporter Chu Peng (except for the signature)

(Beijing Youth Daily)