LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- A star-studded China lineup settled for bronze after costly errors in the freestyle skiing aerials mixed team event at Milan-Cortina 2026 on Saturday, while the United States claimed gold with steady jumps.
Photo: Xinhua
China fielded Olympic women's aerials champion Xu Mengtao, her husband and men's gold medalist Wang Xindi, and men's bronze medalist Li Tianma in the final, where the field was narrowed from seven teams in Final 1 to four in Final 2.
In the decisive round, where consistency proved paramount, Li crashed on his landing in the third jump and received 95.37 points. China finished with a combined total of 279.68, placing third.
"I think I executed the technique very well," said Li of his costly mistake. "But there are too many unpredictable factors in competition, and it's a valuable lesson. I delivered my training level today. Going forward, I need to keep improving and refining myself in training."
Earlier, Switzerland and Australia both saw their opening jumpers fall, but Xu delivered under pressure with 96.59 points to put China in contention. The United States followed with 94.44 to sit second after the first rotation.
China's momentum faltered on the second jump when Wang fell on landing and scored 87.72. The Americans capitalized on another controlled effort to build a commanding lead of 208.16 points, 23.85 clear of China.
The United States remained unshaken in the last round, posting 117.19 to finish with 325.35 points for gold. Switzerland, recovering from an opening fall, surged with two strong jumps to take silver on 296.91.
"All of us came in so motivated after the individual events because it didn't really go any of our ways. And so we came in today motivated, strong as ever, we adjusted our jumps," said Kaila Kuhn of the United States.
China had looked to better the silver it took at the 2022 Beijing Games, but errors proved decisive. The team reached the podium in the men's, women's and mixed team aerials events, underscoring its strength in the discipline.
"It's okay. Everyone in the world is working to improve," Xu, 35, said in consoling the disappointed Li after the competition. "We'll be back in four years."
Reflecting on the broader achievement in the discipline, Xu noted the historic significance of the result.
"Since aerials was added to the Olympic program in 1994, this has been our best overall performance at a Winter Games," Xu said.
"The Chinese aerials team is a very pure group. It's not just about work or duty - it's about a group of people who truly love skiing to pursue something with dedication. Over the past four years, our preparation has been systematic and highly efficient," she added.