BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- As the sporting year draws to a close, Xinhua News Agency selected the top 10 Chinese athletes for 2022:
1. Gu Ailing (female, freestyle skiing)
File photo taken on Feb. 8, 2022 shows Gu Ailing of China competes during women's freeski big air final at Big Air Shougang in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Ga)
Gu claimed gold medals from the women's big air and halfpipe and a silver in slopestyle at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals in three different events at a single Winter Olympics.
2. Gao Tingyu (male, speed skating)
File photo taken on Feb. 12, 2022 shows Gao Tingyu of China celebrates after the speed skating men's 500m event at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)
Gao won the men's 500m speed skating gold medal with an Olympic record of 34.32 seconds at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming China's first ever male Olympic gold medalist in speed skating.
3. Su Yiming (male, snowboarding)
File photo taken on Feb. 15, 2022 shows Su Yiming of China celebrates after the men's snowboard big air final of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Big Air Shougang in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)
Su won a gold medal in the men's big air and a silver in slopestyle at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming China's first Olympic snowboard champion.
4. Xu Mengtao (female, freestyle skiing)
File photo taken on Feb. 14, 2022 shows Xu Mengtao of China reacts after the freestyle skiing women's aerials final of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)
Xu won China's first Olympic gold medal in the women's freestyle skiing aerials at the Beijing Winter Olympics, after she teamed up with Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu to claim silver in the mixed team aerials.
5. Wang Jianan (male, athletics)
File photo taken on July 16, 2022 shows Wang Jianan of China celebrates after winning the men's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in Eugene, Oregon, the United States. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Wang took Asia's first ever men's long jump gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, the United States in July.
6. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (female/male, figure skating)
File photo taken on Feb. 19, 2022 shows Sui Wenjing (L)/Han Cong of China celebrate after the figure skating pair skating free skating of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
The pairs skaters triumphed at the Beijing Winter Olympics, winning China's second Olympic figure skating title after Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo did it in Vancouver in 2010.
7. Yang Hongqiong (female, para cross-country skiing)
File photo taken on March 6, 2022 shows Yang Hongqiong of China competes during during the Para Cross-Country Skiing Women's Long Distance Sitting of Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at National Biathlon Center in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
Yang won three gold medals in the sprint, middle, and long distance sitting at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. The 33-year-old Paralympic debutant became the most decorated Chinese Para-Olympian and was named the flag bearer of the Chinese delegation at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
8. Zheng Qinwen (female, tennis)
File photo taken on Sept. 3, 2022 shows Zheng Qinwen of China hits a return during the women's singles third round match against Jule Niemeier of Germany at the 2022 US Open tennis championships in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
Zheng reached the round of 16 at the French Open and advanced to the third round of the Wimbledon Championships and US Open. The 20-year-old rose over 100 places to finish 25th this season in the WTA rankings and was named the 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year.
9. Zhang Weili (female, mixed martial arts)
File photo taken on June 12, 2022 shows Zhang Weili of China celebrates after winning the women's strawweight title bout against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at the UFC 275 in Singapore. (UFC/Handout via Xinhua)
Zhang, China's first-ever UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) world champion, reclaimed her UFC strawweight crown at the age of 32, defeating two-time title holder Carla Esparza.
10. Chen Yuxi/Quan Hongchan (female/female, diving)
File photo taken on June 30, 2022 shows Chen Yuxi (L)/Quan Hongchan of China compete during the women's 10m synchronised final of diving at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
Chen and Quan finished 1-2 in the women's 10m platform at both the FINA World Championships and Diving World Cup. They also combined to win the 10m synchronized at both events, completing a "grand slam" of Olympic, World Championships and World Cup titles. ■
