CHONGLI, China, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's 19-year-old Ge Chunyu earned his first World Cup podium on Saturday, taking silver in the men's big air at the FIS Snowboard World Cup at Genting Secret Garden Snow Park in his debut final.
Ge jumped from fifth to second with his last run, landing a back 1980 mute for 82.50 to finish on 159.50, edging reigning world champion Ryoma Kimata of Japan (158.50). Ge had also landed a back 1980 mute in his second run. Olympic big air champion Su Yiming won gold with 174.50.
"Today I feel so good," Ge said. "My first jump wasn't good - I only got 38 points. For the second run, I wanted to fully show myself. That kind of comeback is the charm of snowboarding. I felt okay, but of course I was nervous and needed to stay focused for this jump."
"I think I still need to manage my emotions, even though I'm very happy," Ge said. "Before the third jump, I was listening to calming music."
Sharing the podium with Su added to the moment for the teenager. "Being on the podium with Su Yiming makes me very happy. This is my first World Cup competition, and I feel that China will have more athletes standing on World Cup podiums," he said.
Ge began snowboarding at age 10 and placed sixth in big air and ninth in slopestyle at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea. He also won junior big air silver at China's 14th National Winter Games last year.
Looking ahead, the result bolstered his push toward the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. "I've dreamed countless times about my tricks. To have a breakthrough in a competition, you need a very clear goal. For example, I said I want to participate in the Milan Olympics, and I will do everything I can for it," he said.
"I've been training abroad for some time, preparing for China's competitions and international events. My main hope was to enter the Winter Olympics. Based on the current points, after this competition, I'm almost there," he added. Enditem
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