China's Olympic freestyle skier bids for gold despite recent injuries

China's winter sports athletes are getting ready for the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy. After coming fourth at the last games in Beijing, the Chinese team is hoping to do even better next year. 

"My goal for the games in Milan is to show what I've learned these past two years, in a flawless display," Chinese Olympic freestyle skier Li Fanghui told CGTN. 'I hope I will stand on the podium and bring home a medal."

The 22-year-old from Harbin has been working on her ski grab on Austria's Kitzsteinhorn halfpipe. The Crystal Globe winner is one of China's top contenders at this year's Olympics... and ready to win gold.

But coach Tommy Pyatt worries a recent shoulder injury could dash Li's hopes. "The biggest challenge we have is this is a high risk sport for injury. So we're just trying to make sure we stay safe and actually make it to the main event."

"I don't feel this year's injuries will hinder my progress, nor have they shaken my confidence," says Li.

Norway and Germany have dominated past Winter Games... but China is catching up. Two years ago in Beijing it reached fourth place.

For the past two weeks the Chinese team has been training intensively here in the Alps, hoping to do even better at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy.

"Of course, getting any medal at the Olympics is a really hard task," Tommy Pyatt told CGTN. "We're going to work as hard as we can to make that happen. There's definitely four or five girls that can all achieve that."

Li's colleague Zhang Kexin is another top performer hoping to score highly at the Milan Winter Games, saying: "I hope that through daily training, I can execute my moves perfectly at the Milan Olympics and I hope to also stand on the podium."

While Zhang and Li are busy mastering tricks like the Cork 1080 -  an advanced freestyle trick consisting of two off-axis inversions (corks) and three full rotations - coach Pyatt is doing all he can to get the young athletes onto the podium in Italy, and help move China up the medal table.