Heat is on for ice and snow stars

Taking advantage of yet another Olympics, public consumption of winter sports and tourism packages has emerged as a key contributor to China's economic growth, with winter sports tourism predicted to generate a total revenue of 630 billion yuan ($90 billion) from ticketing, accommodation, catering and other relevant services during the 2025-26 season, according to the China Tourism Academy.

To maintain that momentum, Chinese winter sports athletes have to deliver in Milan, despite facing a much tougher challenge than on home turf, with all the international powerhouses growing ever stronger through the current Olympic cycle.

"We need to be prepared for a more difficult and much more fierce competition in Milan without the home advantage," Yu said, referring to China's seemingly waning strength in some of its traditional ice sports.

The short-track speed skating team, as China's most decorated winter sports program, having contributed 12 to the country's total haul of 22 Olympic gold medals, has particularly felt the heat, as it struggles to keep up with the scintillating pace of red-hot powerhouses like Canada and the Netherlands, as evidenced by its thin medal harvest of just one gold across four ISU World Tour events this season.

The stagnant talent development in skating disciplines — including figure skating — has seen China's competitive edge tilt toward snow sports, with two-time Olympic champion freeskier Gu Ailing and her snowboarding counterpart Su Yiming, men's reigning big air Olympic champion, spearheading Team China's golden ambitions in Italy.

Both Gu and Su have shown impressive early-season form by winning their respective World Cup season openers in freestyle skiing halfpipe and snowboarding big air, respectively, earlier this month at the Yunding Snow Park in Chongli, Hebei province, throwing down the gauntlet to their international challengers.

China's freestyle skiing aerials squad, a perennial medal contender on the international stage, is also brimming with confidence for a golden visit to Italy having just completed a sweep of men's, women's and mixed team titles at its home World Cup leg, also in Chongli, over the weekend.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn