Ready for an aerial battle

An Olympic gold, seven world championships medals, 30 World Cup wins and still counting — China's veteran skier Xu Mengtao looks set to redefine longevity in aerials with this week's home Cup leg setting her up for a fifth Winter Games in Italy.

With skiers taking off skyward from a giant ramp to perform multiple somersaults before landing on the buffer slope, the challenging discipline of freestyle aerials is vaguely reminiscent of the aquatic sport of diving, as are the conversations about medal contenders at the Olympics.

China's freeski aerials team, with athletes literally plunging into a landing pool at summer training camps, will remain among hot favorites for all the three gold medals up for grabs in men's, women's and team events at the upcoming Milano-Cortina Winter Games, even relying on an aging core roster led by Xu.

Having thrown down the gauntlet to her international rivals by winning the FIS World Cup season opener in Ruka, Finland on Dec 6, the 35-year-old Xu is primed for another podium finish at the Cup series' second event, to be held in Chongli, Hebei province, over the coming weekend — a chance to fine-tune her tricks while securing qualification for her fifth Winter Games.

When the women's qualification run kicks off on Saturday, Xu will be looking to get a little extra lift from her past triumphs on the slope at Chongli's Yunding Snow Park, where she realized her long-awaited Olympic dream of winning her first title on home snow at Beijing 2022.

The 12 best qualifiers, in each of the men's and women's individual events, advance into the final round, where only the top six from the first final run reach the second, or the superfinal, run to decide the medal winners and the Cup leg's eventual standings.

Anchored by Xu and men's reigning Olympic gold medalist Qi Guangpu, the host squad — boasting a mix of depth and promise in a strong roster that also includes Chen Meiting, the women's bronze winner in Ruka, women's 2023 world champion Kong Fanyu and men's 10-time Cup medalist Wang Xindi — will be looking for a golden sweep at its home event.

The international field in Chongli will be stacked as well, with Australia's three-time overall World Cup season winner Laura Peel and Xu's archrival Ashley Caldwell of the United States leading the charge on the women's side.

Switzerland's back-to-back world champion Noe Roth and the US Olympic mixed-team gold medalist Christopher Lillis are expected to pose a serious threat to the host in the men's event.

With the whole world progressing quickly in the technically demanding discipline, Xu insists her strength lies in the razor-thin margin she gains at each and every Cup test, as well as the support of her team.

"This World Cup win in Finland was really a tough one, but I did it again," Xu wrote in a post on her Weibo account, celebrating her record-extending 30th World Cup individual title in Finland.

"Braving the snow and wind, and prevailing in the mist, it was the power of my team's support that helped me surpass a new milestone of my career."

As one of very few dynamic triple-throwers still competing into their 30s in the women's field, Xu's quality and consistency were highlighted during the first Cup meet's superfinal, where she landed a "back full-full-full" — three full rotations with spins in the air — despite challenging weather conditions, to score 89.29 points and clinch the season-opening win.

As a veteran on the circuit, Xu has proved she always delivers in high-stakes moments, with a will as steely as the screws pinned into her left knee.

That will has been honed by the small margins that led to her biggest career falls at previous Olympic Games.

The native of Liaoning province, who began her athletic career as a junior gymnast, looks primed to go for the highest possible finish at her fifth Games, having recovered from injuries to both her knees.

"I've been producing good quality and good landings on my triples (after the offseason training). My goal is to do my best at the Olympic Games in Milan," Xu told fis-ski.com after her victory in Ruka.

The home Cup event will offer men's star Qi, one of the most entertaining stuntmen in the high-flying discipline, a chance to redeem his disappointing season opener in Ruka, where he started slow in the qualifying run and missed the top-12 final cut.

The defending Olympic champion and last season's overall Cup winner will have to execute his multitwist triple jumps as neatly as possible to edge out ambitious international contenders and get his season back on track.

His major threat Roth has been preparing to spoil the party, though.

"Training this summer was really good for me," Roth, who has finished on the podium at the past four worlds, told fis-ski.com.

"I had a very good summer. Just pushing a little more on the degree of difficulty now and we're good, ready and really excited."

"For me, for now, four twists, then we'll see how we go. Maybe five in China, or something like that. But, for sure, I'm going to be ready with five for Italy.