Ski jumpers' Olympic hopes soar

"What I did four years ago was impressive at the time, but I believe with a greater foundation already laid in training support, the younger generation can achieve much better results," said Chang.

At the FIS Continental Cup at the newly built National Ski Jumping Center in Beijing 2022 co-host Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, Dong, 25, finished second, while Peng, 16, finished fourth among 16 final skiers on Dec 5, drawing international attention to the rise of Chinese athletes in a sport long dominated by Scandinavians.

Clas Brede Braathen, the head of the Norwegian Ski Jumping Federation, reckons it's only a matter of time before China tops the podium at elite-level events.

"Some of them have more than enough physical potential to become world number one," the former world championship silver medalist told Olympics.com after watching Chinese athletes train in Norway.

"We believe in them. I am convinced that they can become Olympic athletes and, more importantly, that a ski jumping culture can be developed for people in China. That would be fantastic."

Ski jumping has been a key fixture of the Winter Olympics ever since making its debut at the inaugural Winter Games in 1924 at Chamonix, France.

The sport has produced numerous iconic Olympic moments through the years－from plucky British underdog Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards soaring through the air at Calgary 1988 to current Norwegian great Robert Johansson, dubbed the "Flying Moustache", ski jumping always seems to deliver something special at the Games.

"I think the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will introduce the Chinese ski jumpers to the world and hopefully we can also make our mark," said team manager Xu.