Cai Xuetong of China competes during women's snowboard halfpipe qualification of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 9, 2022. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
Chinese veteran snowboarders Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu are ready to present their best tricks in women's halfpipe where U.S. star Chloe Kim looks to win back-to-back gold medal.
CHONGLI, Zhangjiakou, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Despite falling down and failing to make bolder tricks in their second runs of the women's snowboard halfpipe qualification here on Wednesday, both American defending champion Chloe Kim and China's No. 1 Cai Xuetong looked easy.
The high scores of 87.75 and 83.25 points had already ensured Kim the top place and Cai at least in top three of the qualification round in which the top 12 from 22 competitors advance to Thursday's final.
The stunners they played in the second run played a role of practicing and giving referees an impression on what kind of secret weapons they have for the final duel.
Kim, 21, was the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal at age 17 at PyeongChang 2018. Furthermore, she is current world, Olympic, Youth Olympic, and X Games champion in the halfpipe and first snowboarder to win the title at all four major events.
Kim was the first female rider to land a double cork 1080 in a halfpipe, and the first female rider to land a back-to-back 1080 at the 2016 U.S. Open for which she received a perfect score of 100 points.
As her father emigrated from South Korea to the United States in 1982 to pursue an engineering degree, Kim is a first-generation Korea-American. She began snowboarding at age four and started competing at age six as a member of Team Mountain High.
She did qualify but was unable to compete at Sochi 2014 due to age restrictions, being too young at age 13.
Chloe Kim of the United States competes during women's snowboard halfpipe qualification of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 9, 2022. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)
Kim said after today's qualification: "On the second run I fell so that wasn't really great, but I was really stoked on my first run that I just took the second run to try a different line I never practiced before."
"I'm not surprised that I fell but I'm just having so much fun out here. The pipe is so good," she added.
"This is my second Olympics. My first one was when I was 17 in [South] Korea (PyeongChang 2018) where my parents immigrated from, so it's awesome being back here in Asia. The fans are awesome, everyone is so kind and sweet to us," she noted.
Commenting on Kim, the 28-year-old Cai said after today's qualification: "Kim is truly a talented athlete and I have been challenging her all the time. I have always appreciated her competitiveness and her promotion of snowboarding. She has been leveling up the difficulty of tricks, which encourages us to make breakthroughs."
Cai, who is competing in her fourth Winter Olympics, said: "I planned to perform a backside in the second run today but I did not make it. I will try more difficult tricks tomorrow, otherwise, my four years of effort will be useless."
Cai Xuetong of China competes during women's snowboard halfpipe qualification of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 9, 2022. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)
Starting snowboarding in 2004, Cai became the youngest Chinese athlete competing at Vancouver 2010. She finished sixth at Sochi 2014 and fifth at PyeongChang 2018. She was the first Chinese athlete ever to medal at X-Games when she earned superpipe bronze at Aspen 2016.
Cai's form almost reached its peak recently, finishing top of the World Cup standings for a record seventh time at the end of the 2022 season, boasting a record of 29 podiums in 40 World Cup starts, with 13 wins.
China's No. 2 female snowboarder Liu Jiayu, 29, is also one of the favorites for the podium. She finished seventh in Wednesday's qualification with a second-run score of 72.25.
Liu was the first Chinese snowboarder to win a World Cup event in 2008 in Sungwoo, South Korea, at age 15 years and 152 days, which also made her the youngest female snowboarder from any nation to win a World Cup snowboard event.
"Into the final is my first step. I hope I can show my best tomorrow," she said. ■
