China's Kong Fanying and Ni Yueming were both delighted to simply cross the finish line on the highly challenging Olympic courses at the National Alpine Skiing Centre in Yanqing. Buoyed by their Beijing 2022 performances, now the female skiers will continue to attempt to close the gap to the world's elite. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
Although there's still a long way to go for China's Alpine skiers to reach the Olympic podium, an encouraging showing at Beijing 2022 suggests they may get there sooner than some expect.
"We have made the first step. The team can only get better and better," said Xu Mingfu, who became the first Chinese skier to finish an Olympic downhill competition when he made it all the way down the intimidating 'Rock' course in Yanqing on Feb 7.
To honor this achievement, the 24-year-old was gifted a signature watch from Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee.
"Maybe our generation of Chinese athletes cannot reach the podium. But we are confident that, with the overall development of winter sports in China, the dream will be achieved in the future," Xu added.
"It's not realistic for us to win medals at the Olympics, but we also need to show our spirit. It's still very challenging for us. We are latecomers to this sport, so what we can do is perform to the best of our abilities at the Games."
Beijing 2022 marked the first time that China competed in all the Olympic Alpine skiing events.
Among Team China's four skiers, Kong Fanying was the only one to compete in and finish six disciplines at the Beijing Games, with her best result a 15th-place finish in the women's Alpine combined.
"I think I impressed myself after I managed to finish all my competitions－it's really hard. I have been trying my best since the first day that I joined the team. During each training and competition, I push myself to my physical limits," said the 25-year-old Kong.
"From my first competition to my last, I finished all the disciplines. I did the absolute best that I could at the Games, and I feel all my efforts have paid off.
China's Kong Fanying and Ni Yueming were both delighted to simply cross the finish line on the highly challenging Olympic courses at the National Alpine Skiing Centre in Yanqing. Buoyed by their Beijing 2022 performances, now the female skiers will continue to attempt to close the gap to the world's elite. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
"I'm actually pretty exhausted, but I'm also so proud of myself. It's incredible that each of the women's competitions has my name on it, and I did not let the DNF (did not finish) mark appear on any of my results.
"There is still a gap between myself and the world's top Alpine skiers, but I will not give up and I will keep trying. As long as my body allows me to do it, I will keep practicing. Alpine skiing has been my passion, and I have devoted my entire youth to it. I have no regrets."
Alpine skiing is considered one of the most physically demanding sports at the Winter Olympics. With its exhilarating combination of power, speed and technical difficulty, competitors often go beyond the 150 km/h mark as they navigate winding courses full of sharp turns and soaring jumps.
Chinese skiers only started to practice Alpine skiing's speed events－downhill and super-G－in 2017.Back then, simply being able to qualify for the disciplines at Beijing 2022 was the goal.
"Our top speed is 140 km/h, so compared with the European and American athletes, we have no advantages. All we have is courage," said Xu.
"Each round for them, sometimes, is just like a warm-up for the final. But for us, each round is a kind of adventure. We can just try our best to fight and that's our only chance."
The other female Alpine skier in the Chinese squad is Ni Yueming, who managed to finish the super-G, giant slalom and mixed team parallel at Beijing 2022. The 26-year-old, who failed to finish the slalom, declared herself satisfied with her overall performance at her home Games and believes in a bright future for the sport in China.
"Chinese Alpine skiing is still not at the world's top level, as we started very late. I started to ski when I was 10. And when I trained in foreign countries, I noticed, in those skiing powerhouses, their kids maybe started to ski at the age of 3," said Ni.
"The speed events of Alpine skiing are very challenging, and many people in China probably had no clue what the events are about before. But now I can feel the difference. There are more and more ski resorts in China. And with the success of the Beijing Winter Games, the future development of Alpine skiing is very promising."
