From Beijing to Milan Olympics fuel China’s

As the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics opened Friday night, 15-year-old Chen Keyu, a rising star on China’s national ice hockey team, sat glued to her screen in Shenzhen, tracking every shift of the hockey competitions in Italy. Six years ago, as China prepared to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, indoor rinks and ski slopes began spreading nationwide. One rink that opened near Chen’s home in Wuhan drew her to the niche sport.

“I fell in love with ice hockey the moment I saw it,” she said. After years of childhood training, Chen moved south last year to join a professional club in Shenzhen. Earlier this year, she led China to five straight victories to claim gold at the U18 Women’s World Championship Division 1, Group B.

“Beijing 2022 gave me a dream I never thought I’d have,” Chen said. “Now my dream is to compete for China at the Winter Olympics.” Her journey reflects the profound transformation of winter sports in China since Beijing 2022. Defending Olympic snowboard big air champion Su Yiming secured his place in Friday’s final after landing two clean runs to finish fourth overall in the qualification.

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“The level here is much higher than it was four years ago,” Su said afterward. “It’s impressive to see how fast snowboarding is developing. I’m proud to be part of this generation.” Su’s confidence is well-founded.

This season he claimed the big air World Cup overall title and made history by becoming the first snowboarder to land a back-to-back 1980-degree spin in competition, earning a Guinness World Record. Su is far from alone. Gu Ailing recently captured the slopestyle World Cup title in Laax, Switzerland, while freestyle skiing aerials veterans Xu Mengtao and Sun Jiaxu clinched respectively the women’s and men’s overall World Cup championships.

Skeleton racers Zhao Dan and Yin Zheng stood atop the podium in the mixed team event in St. This broad success is reflected in China’s Milan delegation – its largest overseas Winter Olympics team ever. The 286-member delegation, including 126 athletes, will compete in 91 events across seven sports.

Chinese athletes will participate in 78.4 percent of all medal events, a significant jump from 52 percent at Pyeongchang 2018. The team includes nine Olympic champions from Beijing 2022, with veterans like Xu Mengtao and Cai Xuetong competing in their fifth Games.

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