Veteran duo Cai and Liu on board with nurturing the next generation

A scar and two crashes may be the unwanted souvenirs China's veteran snowboarders Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu are bringing home from Italy, but despite the pair signing off their Olympic finale in anything but perfect fashion, they still say the ride itself was their biggest reward.

With the level of halfpipe snowboarding pushed insanely high by teenaged talent — some almost half their age — the unremitting effort of the Chinese duo to keep up, despite having both competed into their 30s and participating at their fifth Olympics, has shone as brightly as any medal celebrated or record broken at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

In the Italian Alps, though, neither landed near their desired places.

Having won almost everything that there is to win on the World Cup circuit and at the world championships, Cai missed out on a coveted Olympic medal for a fifth straight time after a third-run crash in the final on Feb 12, having to settle for sixth place at the Livigno Snow Park.

Liu, who won silver in halfpipe at Pyeongchang 2018 to deliver China's first snowboarding Olympic medal, had to bow out earlier and in terrifying fashion. A hard, head-first fall in her second qualifying run left the 33-year-old out cold for over a minute, lying on the bottom of the slope before being stretchered away, denying her a final berth and requiring stitches for a cut just above her right eyebrow.

Their tricks may no longer be a match for the sport's best, nor their takeoffs the strongest — and their recovery from the wear and tear takes much longer — but the fun remains the same.

"I hope I will be remembered at my fifth Olympics, which are definitely going to be my last, for how cool and how stylish I look when I am riding," said Cai, a 32-year-old whose best result at the Games was a fourth-place finish on home snow at Beijing 2022.

"Yes, there are regrets. It would be a lie if I said I have none. I've managed to win everything except an Olympic medal. After five tries, to leave empty-handed, there is bound to be some regret. But that's life.

"It's OK, though, because I know this is really hard. If I had been able to get onto the podium today, it would've been like winning the lottery, because that's how hard it is."