LIU JIAYU snatched the silver medal of the women’s snowboarding halfpipe, the first medal for China at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in South Korea yesterday.

Liu, the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games champion, earned 89.75 points in her second run of three to take the silver.

The 25-year-old, who competed in three Olympics, became the first Chinese snowboarding Olympic medalist.

Liu said: “It’s time to celebrate. This sport in China is going to grow. For Chinese people having someone on the podium for the Olympics is an honor. It will be a huge push for Chinese snowboarding.”

“I did not think much about the finals, just did my best to enjoy it,” added Liu.

Her career, which included a world championship title at 16, has seen ups and downs since she started her professional training in 2003, the year when China took up the sport.

“It’s a cool sport. When you ride on the board, you feel the world belongs to you,” said Liu, who believes it is her love for this sport that has kept her at it through the years.

Liu won her first national championship in 2005 at 13 and claimed her first World Cup title in 2008 in Canada.

As the reigning World Cup champion, Liu, who recovered from an arm injury one month before coming to Vancouver, had to settle for fourth place at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Liu was injured again in training and received two surgeries before the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, where she finished ninth.

Cai Xuetong of China, who only got 20.50 and 41.25 points in the first two runs, finished fifth with 76.50 in her last run.

American Chloe Kim won the gold with 98.25 points in her final run. Her compatriot Arielle Gold took bronze in 85.75.

Chinese snowboarders made their Winter Olympics debut in 2006 in Turino, Italy, where Pan Wei and Sun Zhifeng finished 28th and 31st respectively in the women’s competitions.

Liu became the second Asian woman to win a snowboarding medal at Olympics, after Japanese Tomoka Takeuchi won silver in the women’s parallel giant slalom at Sochi 2014.

Snowboarding has thus become the sixth sport, in which China has won a medal at the Winter Games, after short track speed skating, freestyle skiing, speed skating, figure skating and curling.

(Xinhua)