Ramping up for Milan

Highlighted by Su Yiming's back-to-back wins and his younger compatriots' breakout runs, Chinese snowboarding has signed off at the Shougang Big Air World Cup by providing a strong testament to its collective rise and hopes for a promising future.

Su's second straight big air World Cup win this season, landed at Beijing's iconic, towering slope at the Shougang Industrial Park on Saturday, following his first win on Nov 29 in Chongli, Hebei province, has backed up his high-flying ambition and his gold-defense credentials at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games.

Su's triumphant return to the Chinese capital's western suburbs, and the world's only permanent big air installation, where he delivered China's first ever snowboarding Olympic gold in the discipline at Beijing 2022, wasn't the only achievement to celebrate, though.

With his younger teammates Ge Chunyu and Zhao Yingxu also advancing from the qualifying round, the Saturday night session saw three Chinese snowboarders appear in a World Cup final, across all disciplines, for the first time in the 31-year history of the top-flight FIS series.

The emerging Chinese contingent, riding together at summer training camps in New Zealand and now impressing in the Cup series, has left Su even prouder than completing his own comeback from an injury-plagued year to land on top of the world again.

"My shared podium finish last week with Chunyu already proved that Chinese snowboarding is improving fast," said Su, who, since making his tour debut in 2019 aged 15, had long been China's sole representative on the World Cup stage.

"Now we are riding together with more teammates in the World Cup's final stage, which has further enhanced our confidence."

Zhao, at 16, was the youngest among 10 finalists on Saturday, yet he is already trying to throw some of the craziest tricks — some of which, Su admits, he wouldn't have even attempted at the same age.

Zhao failed to land his first two runs, but, to rousing cheers from the Shougang crowd, managed to stomp a cab 1800 nosegrab in his third and final attempt, which helped him move up a spot to finish ninth.

The top-10 finish also earned him 317 ranking points in the Cup season's standings, keeping alive his hopes for the Olympic qualification cut, which will be made on Jan 19.