Heilongjiang sweeps women's giant slalom podium at Chinese National Games
Xinhua
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File photo: CGTN

CHIFENG, China, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Skiers from northeast China's Heilongjiang province, the traditional Alpine skiing national powerhouse, finished top three in the women's giant slalom here on Saturday at the Chinese National Winter Games.

Ni Yueming clocked a combined two minutes 0.79 seconds to set the pace. Zhu Tianhui was 0.46 seconds behind in second place, followed by Kong Fanying, who was trailing the winner 1.01 seconds.

Ni, a member of the national team, contributed her victory to effective training overseas.

"I connected well between steep slope and gentle slope today, and I managed to allow less errors," said Ni. "In the last few years, I have been taking trainings abroad, preparing for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and these trainings turned out to be fruitful."

In the men's competition, Akcholi Murat awarded Jilin the first national gold medal from Alpine skiing since 1979, timing an overall 2:04.70.

Cong Liang from PLA was second, 0.40 seconds adrift. His teammate Gao Qun was further 0.55 seconds behind.

Murat is also a beneficiary from national team experience. "On this event, confidence plays a great part. I have been trained by foreign coaches in the national team, taking in new idea and new skill," he said. "The training overseas helped me improve a lot both physically and technically."

The Alpine skiing of the Games will continue on Sunday with the slalom gold medals to be decided at the Mylin Valley Ski Resort.