On January 5, the 2012–2013 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup aerials competition kicked off in Changchun, Jilin Province. Chinese athletes Jia Zongyang and Xu Mengtao claimed the men's and women's individual titles respectively.
With the Sochi Winter Olympics approaching, this World Cup event served as a crucial training ground for top freestyle skiing nations. The United States, Canada, Australia, Belarus, and other countries all sent world-class athletes to compete, while China—historically strong in aerials World Cup events—also fielded its top squad.
Starting last season, the freestyle skiing aerials competition adopted a knockout format where each jump decides the outcome, with no carryover of previous round scores, significantly increasing the suspense.
After the morning qualifiers and the first finals round, four athletes from each of the men's and women's events advanced.
The afternoon's final round featured a "one-jump" showdown. Lydia Lassila, the 2010 Olympic women's aerials gold medalist from Australia, went first, delivering smooth, connected flips and a steady landing to score 97.29 points.
However, Lydia Lassila’s outstanding performance couldn’t snatch the gold from the Chinese women’s team. Xu Mengtao, the rising star of China’s aerials squad and fourth to compete, withstood the pressure and executed a flawless, stunning routine to score 109.06 points, securing the top spot without doubt.
In the end, Lydia Lassila took silver, while veteran Li Nina, making her comeback after a two-year absence, earned bronze.
In the men’s competition, Chinese athletes Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu won gold and silver respectively, with Canadian athlete Olivier taking bronze.
“The new format demands high consistency from athletes—every jump has to be perfect. China’s strong performance today is partly due to our adaptation to the new system,” Jia Zongyang commented on the day’s competition.