Winter Olympics: China’s former child actor Su Yiming ‘fulfils a dream’ after scene-stealing performance in men’s snowboard slopestyle
- The 17-year-old sensation records an impressive 86.80 points on his first run to qualify for the 12-man finals in first place ahead of his hero Mark McMorris
- Su hailed ‘my motherland’ before his two runs as fans heaped praise on the young talent in his quest for gold
Chinese teen sensation Su Yiming said he fulfilled a dream at the Beijing Olympics after a stunning opening run in the men’s snowboarding slopestyle event on Sunday, putting him top of the standings and favourite for gold.
The 17-year-old Olympic debutant recorded a spectacular 86.80 points on his first run, going past his childhood hero, Canada’s Mark McMorris, who recovered from a relatively weak opening effort to score 83.30 on his second run.
Su and McMorris are among 12 snowboarders who advanced to Monday’s finals, with the Chinese athlete – a former child actor – in prime position to take the gold medal.
“I have fulfilled my dream,” Su was quoted as saying by Chinese media on Sunday. Before competing, the teen star who has gained an army of female fans, posted a stirring message on his Weibo account praising “my motherland”.
“I am about to stand on the starting platform for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Thanks to my motherland and everyone for their support. I will fully enjoy this,” he wrote.
Su said he still had more advanced tricks up his sleeve ahead of the men’s finals with McMorris impressed by the Chinese athlete’s skills.
“It’s cool to see him rise to the occasion with all the pressure of being in China and to land that good of a run in his first go is pretty impressive, and I look forward to a battle with him tomorrow,” McMorris said.
McMorris, who has two Olympic bronze medals from the Sochi Games and Pyeongchang in 2018, told reporters ahead of the qualifiers that his goal was to “change the shade of my previous bronzes” into silver or gold.
Su is the first and only Chinese snowboarder to win a World Cup big air title, and first in the world to land 1800s two ways in FIS competition. American Sean FitzSimons, who like Su is making his Olympic debut, said he eased into the finals by sticking to his staple jumps.
“I think it’s probably going to be one of the heaviest slope contests ever,” FitzSimons said about Monday’s finals, adding that he expected to see incredible riding from his rivals.
FitzSimons said he was having a good competition season after he stopped worrying about judges and returned to enjoying riding again.
“I just stopped worrying about what I got, what the judges gave me,” he said. “I’m not going to think about what anyone else is doing, I’m going to do me and hopefully put one down.”
The 21-year old won the slopestyle contest at the Laax Open in Switzerland in January. Redmond Gerard, of the United States, who won gold in 2018, came in fifth in the qualifiers. The weather was challenging at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, with boarders flying over hard packed snow and air temperature dropping to -20.9 degree Celsius.
Chinese media, meanwhile, praised Su for sacrificing a promising career as an actor to pursue his gold medal dreams. The youngster decided to focus on snowboarding in 2015 after Beijing won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Su played the role of Shuan Zi in director Tsui Hark’s 2014 film The Taking of Tiger Mountain, which also starred Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka-fai.
“What I see from Su Yiming is that this youth has unlimited potential,” wrote one Weibo user.
“You really can’t catch up with him,” wrote another, referring to a scene in the movie depicting a chase scene on skis. The movie is about the People’s Liberation Army taking on a gang of bandits in northeast China.
