China's skiers face hard climb to the top

"We must understand that nations like ROK and Japan have promoted alpine skiing for around 40 years. They have all the background, they have junior programs, professional backroom staff and professional coaches, but these are all missing in China.

"We have to also build a coaching setup to work with the younger skiers, so that when they get to the national team, they have a good level that we can build on. Unfortunately, we are far behind in that aspect. We have to work on that in the future," Iliffe explained.

In the eyes of the experienced coach, competitiveness in alpine skiing is influenced by three factors: equipment, technique and the athlete's physical condition.

"We must work on these three aspects. We must also go and compete in Europe to get more experience against other nations." Iliffe said.

When talking about the team's goals at the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the Italian coach refuses to speculate on China's chances.

"The level of alpine skiing at the moment is so high, especially among the men. What's more, the top 10 or 15 women are also at a very high level.

"The most important thing for us is to put the right setup in place, the right equipment, and get on skiing on water-injected slopes, because all the top races on the world stage are all run on water-injected slopes," Iliffe said.

After the alpine skiing event at the Harbin Asian Winter Games, the Chinese alpine skiing team will go to Songhua Lake ski resort to undertake its next training session ahead of its participation at the National Championships.

"I always tell them that they must try and perform their best; that they must work hard and believe in what they're doing," Iliffe added.

XINHUA