Worth the weight

As competitive as Su proved to be in Livigno, the journey to consecutive Olympic golds was anything but easy, with serious motivational issues arising after his huge home Games success.

He admitted he felt mentally and physically exhausted and had "lost a lot of motivation" since winning two medals on his Olympic debut at the age of 17.

Su had to take a long, 18-month break from competition to recover from the physical and mental toll of Beijing 2022, but struggled to get back in shape following a series of injuries during the 2024-25 season.

Su's long-term Japanese coach Sato Yasuhiro even joked that, when his charge returned from his sabbatical, his body looked like that of a lazy middle-aged man.

"I've been dealing with injuries; with sprained ankles. It's so hard for me to ride, even to just do some easy tricks," said Su, who found himself in an unfamiliar last place on his return to Beijing 2022's big air slope at a World Cup meet in December 2024, due to his nagging foot and shoulder injuries.

"I'm mostly just riding with the injuries, on painkillers, every single day, but it's all paid off," he said.

Now that he's back to his winning form, Yasuhiro, who's been training Su over the past seven years, along with some promising Japanese riders, believes his talented protege has not yet reached the ceiling of what he is capable of achieving.

"I think he can still improve," the Japanese coach said before the Olympics. "The big spins don't always bring the wins, so we are trying to create something new, something really complicated."

Asked whether he's done everything he wanted to on the Olympic stage, Su, although having collected four medals across two Games, insisted that his passion for snowboarding has been rekindled, and that he already has his sights set on the next Games.

"I am looking forward to keeping on elevating my level, continuing to represent my country on the world stage and preparing for the next Olympics in four years time," Su said.

Johan Eliasch, president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, heaped praise on Su's influence as a role model in popularizing the sport on a global stage.

"Having a Chinese gold medalist is huge for snow sports, huge for China, and that's exactly what we need, because we can grow the sport (in China) much faster than anywhere else in the world. And that's important," he said after presenting Su with an Olympic mascot during the award ceremony.