Xu Mengtao wins women's freeski aerials at Milano-Cortina 2026

China's celebrated freestyle skiing aerials team delivered fans a double delight on Wednesday by adding the delegation's second gold at Milano-Cortina 2026 after five-time Olympian Xu Mengtao successfully defended her women's title at Livigno, Italy.

By landing a highly difficult trick to earn 112.90 points in the super final, Xu, the oldest contender in the six-athlete final round at 35 years old, became the first ever skier in the Olympic history to have defended a gold medal in the aerials event, edging out Australia's Danielle Scott to second place on 102.17 points.

China's younger skier Shao Qi rounded up the podium by winning bronze with her 101.90-point final jump, marking the first time in Olympic history that two skiers from the same National Olympic Committee had both finished on the podium, including a gold medal winner, at the same edition of the Games.

Three out of China's four qualifiers, also including Kong Fanyu and Chen Meiting, reached the final's first two rounds, where only the top six, after two jumps, of all the 12 athletes advanced into the "super final" to decide the eventual medal winners.

"I feel I'm very brave. To others, it might seem simple to say, let's go another four years, let's do another Olympics. But to me, I had to go through countless jumps to just be able to stand here to compete. I'm proud of myself for being able to do that," Xu said before the super final.