On February 12, the moguls competition of the Freestyle Skiing World Cup China stop saw the gathering of many world-class athletes. Among them were 19-year-old Canadian star Michael Ginsbury and American beauty Hannah Kearney, the 2010 Olympic champion. With their outstanding performances, they won the men's and women's titles. Despite the moguls event being predominantly made up of Western and European athletes, Chinese athletes also appeared in the competition on the 12th. Although they did not make it to the finals, the moguls discipline, which has only been developed in China for four years, is steadily progressing toward its goals.
Challenges and Hope
As part of freestyle skiing, moguls skiing is far less well-known in China compared to aerials. In the four years since its introduction, there has been progress, but compared to China’s strong events such as aerials and halfpipe snowboarding, the pace of improvement is somewhat slower. This is mainly due to various limiting factors. Yan Xiaojuan, head of the Skiing Department I at the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, said: “The training conditions are poor. Since the project started in 2007, there hasn’t been a dedicated training venue. The moguls course at the Beidahu Ski Resort was also built temporarily and will be demolished in the future to be opened to the public as a general ski slope.”
As an emerging sport, the gap between Chinese athletes and international elites mainly lies in the shorter duration of involvement in the sport and fewer competitions participated in. Regarding this situation, Yan Xiaojuan expressed helplessness: “The development of this event faces the issue of having the drive but lacking the means. Due to funding shortages, domestic athletes have fewer opportunities to compete abroad, resulting in limited experience in major competitions.”
Although constrained by practical factors, the development of moguls skiing still holds promise. At the 2011 Asian Winter Games held in Kazakhstan in January, Chinese athlete Ning Qin historically won a bronze medal in the singles event, giving a much-needed boost to the development of moguls skiing in China. Yan Xiaojuan said: “This bronze medal has inspired and encouraged all those involved in the sport, building our confidence. Achieving a breakthrough in such a short time shows that this event has potential for development, especially the women’s event. Athletes like Ning Qin and Li Nan have the capability to qualify for the Winter Olympics.”
Women as the Breakthrough Point
Like most sports in China, the first breakthrough in moguls skiing has also come from the women’s side. Among them, 20-year-old Ning Qin from Changchun stands out the most. Yin Gang, head coach of the national moguls training team and Ning Qin’s personal coach, spoke about her technical strengths: “As an athlete who switched from aerials, Ning Qin’s aerial maneuvers are quite close to those of international elites. The difference in rotational speed is only about one to two seconds, which isn’t significant. The real gap lies in the turns, which is a common issue among Chinese moguls skiers at present.” Speaking about the reasons, Yin Gang stated that it’s mainly due to insufficient training time and underdeveloped specialized technical training. Meanwhile, high-level international athletes have been practicing this sport since childhood and have abundant competitive experience.
In this competition, a total of 27 athletes competed in the women’s moguls event. Ning Qin scored 19.46 points, ranking 23rd. The other two Chinese athletes placed 25th and 26th. Facing these results, Yin Gang commented: “This reflects the current level of Chinese athletes—middle to lower tier.”
“Although the level of Chinese athletes is not very high, their progress is quite noticeable.” Taking Ning Qin as an example, in her first World Championships in Japan in 2009, she only scored just over 9 points. By the 2011 Asian Winter Games, her score reached 17.11, then 21.65 at the Winter Games, and nearly 20 points this time, showing steady improvement. Yin Gang likened Ning Qin’s progress to improving speed in a 100-meter dash: “Every millisecond gained in sprinting is very difficult, and every small decimal increase in moguls is the same—scoring 24 points would put you in the world’s top eight.” Ning Qin has great potential.
Currently, there are five or six other athletes in China similar to Ning Qin. Their overall levels are not far apart, and all have the potential to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Each World Cup experience serves as excellent training for them. As Ning Qin herself said: “I always go into the World Cup with a learning attitude. After every competition, I feel there’s still a lot I lack. For the Winter Olympics, I will give it my all.”