CHINA won the silver medal in the inaugural freestyle skiing mixed team aerials event at the Winter Olympics on Thursday, scoring a total of 324.22 points.

The gold medal went to the United States with the trio of Ashley Caldwell, Chris Lillis and Justin Schoenefeld scoring a total of 338.34.

China qualified first for the medal round and led after the opening jump by four-time Olympian Xu Mengtao but Lillis put it all on the line with a level five degree of difficulty to put the U.S. in pole position.

China lost ground when Jia Zongyang was forced into a front somersault on landing and scored only 96.2.

Schoenefeld piled on the pressure with a fantastic 114.8 score for a team tally of 338.34.

That left China’s Qi Guangpu needing an unlikely 136-pointer for victory and though he achieved huge amplification for 122.17, it left the host nation with the silver. (SD-Agencies)