Snowboard cross challenges push athletes toward peak performance

As he zoomed down an icy course of drops and bends in Chongli district, Hebei province, Chinese Para snowboard world champion Ji Lijia was struck by a familiar rush of thrill — the same feeling he experienced four years ago on the very slope that carried him to gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics.

For Ji, the powerful memory now fuels his preparation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in March, serving as motivation rather than a burden.

"There is of course some pressure at this moment," the 23-year-old said after a training session in late January. "But more than that, I feel confident and know that I just need to believe in myself and focus on staying in the best possible shape to face what's ahead."

Ji, who lost his left forearm in a childhood accident, began professional snowboarding training in 2016. He competes in both head-to-head snowboard cross and the solo-timed banked slalom event.

In snowboard cross, four racers speed down a single course with ramps, bumps and turns at the same time. "The challenge for me is the start. I have to get out front right away, create a gap and avoid any contact," he said.

To gain that explosive launch, Ji said he now trains intensively to sharpen his reaction time, gate strength and speed through the opening obstacles. "It's all about building a lead early on," he said.

Ji added that pre-race nerves, which once cost him sleep before the Beijing Winter Paralympics, still surface occasionally. But over the past four years, he has developed his own ways to cope.

"Before races, I'll watch top able-bodied athletes — observing what they do and how they focus — and mentally put myself in their shoes," he said. "Visualizing their routines helps calm my mind."

Ji has also learned to harness pressure. "I now see pressure as a source of power, and I actually perform better under it. Without enough tension, I can become too relaxed and hesitant on the course," he said.

Yin Liankui, coach of China's Paralympic snowboarding team, said that throughout 2025 the team competed in many foreign countries, including Austria, Canada, Switzerland and Finland, and adjusted its technical execution and mental approach based on real competition performance.

"After every competition, we conduct a comprehensive review, identify what strategies worked and what didn't, and then use these insights to adjust our training plans and mental preparation," Yin said.

After returning from an overseas competition in January, the team resumed training in Chongli on courses specially built to simulate the Paralympic slopes in Cortina d'Ampezzo, a co-host town in Italy's northern mountain region.

"Our training fields here replicate about 80 to 90 percent of the actual gradient, obstacle difficulty and technical features of the courses in Italy," Yin said.

"We have also intentionally trained during harsh or rapidly changing weather conditions to strengthen the athletes' ability to adapt and perform under variable environments," he added.

For Wu Zhongwei, the 30-year-old Para snowboarder affectionately called "big brother" by teammates for his seniority and experience, the road to the upcoming Paralympics has been anything but smooth.

Wu broke his prosthetic leg during the World Championships last year and struggled to adjust to a new one.

"For quite a long time, no matter how I tuned it, I simply couldn't find the right feel, and my riding didn't have its usual flow," Wu said, adding that the setback led to falls and missed finishes in several major races last year.

With support from the team's technical staff and through persistent adjustments, Wu has gradually regained his form. Last month, he topped the podium at a World Cup event in Switzerland.

"There have been so many times in international races when I couldn't perform at my training level," he said. "In Italy, my goal is simple — to give everything I have and finally show on the big stage what I do every day in practice."

wangxiaoyu@chinadaily.com.cn