Veteran pair not yet bored of the Olympic grind

In a sport where teen prodigies reign with their youth and vigor, snowboarding veterans Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu have refused to shy away from the spotlight, going all out to enjoy the ride to their respective fifth Winter Olympics in Italy.

Their tricks weren't the hardest, takeoffs no longer the strongest and their super-fast recovery is no more. The wear and tear of the high-risk sport has taken its toll — with Liu still nursing a foot injury that occurred a month ago and Cai dealing with sore muscles that need long treatments, including acupuncture, after every training session.

The fun still prevails, though, after over a decade of glorious wins and hard falls, and the evergreen duo continues to enjoy the ride.

Their season-opening World Cup campaign on home snow last week sent a clear message that they remain elite contenders in the halfpipe discipline into their 30s, with their record-tying fifth Olympics within reach.

Riding against a final field where six of their eight rivals were born after 2000, Cai scored 80.50 points from her second run to finish with a bronze medal in her 47th World Cup final at the 2025-26 season opener in Chongli's Yunding Snow Park.

The 32-year-old couldn't hold back her emotions landing on the podium at the venue where she narrowly missed out on a home Olympic medal after finishing fourth at Beijing 2022.

"I am over the moon right now. I was not expecting to be able to finish on the podium when the level of the entire women's field is so high," said Cai, who's won twice at Yunding on the Cup series in 2018 and 2023.

"I am so proud of myself, though. I hope by watching me in the pipe, fans will know how happy I am and how much I am enjoying this sport at this stage of my career."

Liu, who won China's first snowboarding Olympic medal with a silver in halfpipe at Pyeongchang 2018, had to settle with a bottom finish in the 10-woman final, failing to complete either of her two final runs due to the foot injury, but remained upbeat for her first competitive season since her hiatus in 2024-25.

"After not competing at all for a whole year and just checking out from the hospital, but still making it into the final round at a World Cup? I would've signed up for it without hesitation before the competition," said Liu, 33, who had to take painkillers to numb her ankle before the qualifying round on Thursday.

"It was a very quick start, which I didn't expect, to come back racing in the new season after taking a monthlong break to rehab my foot injury.

"I still have to check in at the hospital for another course of treatment right after this Cup event, but I am feeling like I am back and I am catching up," said Liu, who started a doctoral degree at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, capital of her home province Heilongjiang, after Beijing 2022.

"Since I am not so busy with my research and study, with another year to go before my graduation, why not try to make it to another Olympics?"

Should Cai and Liu stay competitive on the Cup series before the Jan 19 qualification deadline, they will book their fifth Winter Olympic trip to Italy, tying with retired legend Shaun White of the United States and his female counterpart Kelly Clark as the only snowboarders to have ever competed at five editions of the Winter Games.

Sharing four world championships, 58 World Cup podiums and eight overall season titles between them over the past 18 years, Cai and Liu's combined career accolades have already enshrined them in the sport's history.

Yet the legendary pair apparently hasn't had enough.

"I've set myself many goals throughout my career, and an exact target for each of my Olympic Games, but this time I will have only one mission — to enjoy the ride toward Milan," said Liu.