On January 9, the first-ever Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom event at the Winter Games concluded all its competitions, with Niu Jiaqi from the People's Liberation Army emerging as the biggest winner by taking both gold medals in the women’s category.
The thrill of alpine downhill racing, the intensity of racing side by side, the excitement of navigating through gates... made this event, which debuted at the Winter Games, an instant hit. But snowboarding parallel giant slalom, which has only been practiced in China for four years, is still in its infancy, and still has a long way to go.
In Its Infancy, Facing Many Challenges
Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom became an official Olympic event in 1998, but compared to snowboard halfpipe, it is not as widely practiced in China and is still in its early stages. It wasn’t until 2008 that athletes began competing in the discipline, and in March 2009, it was included in national competitions.
At this Winter Games, there were multiple incidents of athlete collisions and injuries, which may have been partly incidental, but to some extent also reflect that athletes’ stability, psychology, and technical skills still need improvement. Gao Xuedong, head of the Mass Skiing Department at the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, said that athletes rarely participate in international competitions, have limited high-level exchanges, and lack experience. When facing major events, they get nervous, experience psychological fluctuations, and this affects their technique and tactics—resulting in unavoidable collisions and falls.
Similar to cross-country skiing and biathlon, a shortage of talent is also a prominent issue in the development of parallel giant slalom. Currently, the total number of registered athletes in China is less than 50, and the sport is only practiced in Changchun, Jilin, the PLA, and Harbin. Most athletes are converts from the snowboard halfpipe discipline. Gao Xuedong pointed out that the halfpipe requires very demanding training facilities, with high costs for equipment and maintenance, and many provinces in China are unwilling to invest heavily. As a result, many athletes have had no choice but to switch to parallel giant slalom.
After the Winter Games – Aiming for the Olympics
Including the giant slalom event at the Winter Games has helped raise awareness of this emerging sport, and various regions are now investing resources accordingly. “This is a necessary condition for the development of winter sports, and also the basic requirement for the survival of the snowboarding parallel giant slalom event,” said Gao Xuedong. As an extreme sport, the head-to-head competition in parallel giant slalom is extremely exciting, highly entertaining, and well aligned with modern aesthetic preferences, giving it broad development prospects.
Although the sport has only been practiced for four years, it has already made significant progress, with the emergence of athletes like Niu Jiaqi offering hope. This Winter Games has provided a great platform for the development of snowboarding parallel giant slalom. Taking advantage of this opportunity, and in preparation for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, a national training team was quickly established. Gao Xuedong said: “We will form a national training team consisting of 8 women and 6 men to compete in international events and improve the athletes’ performance.”
As an emerging sport, the road to the Olympics is still a challenging one. According to International Olympic Committee regulations, only athletes ranked in the top 30 in the World Cup annual standings can qualify for the Olympics—a goal that remains very difficult for Chinese athletes. Currently, Chinese athletes have not yet had the opportunity to compete in World Cup events. Gao Xuedong stated that after forming the national training team, the next goal is to have team members participate in more international competitions such as the European Cup, to gain experience and strive to qualify for the World Cup.
