China's Olympic champion Xu Mengtao won the women's aerials gold at the FIS Freestyle World Cup in Lake Placid, with her compatriot Sun Jiaxu taking the men's title.
NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese skiers Xu Mengtao and Sun Jiaxu claimed gold medals in the women's and men's aerials events, respectively, at the FIS Freestyle World Cup in Lake Placid on Saturday.
Heavy snowfall and reduced visibility led many competitors in the finals to choose lower difficulty levels. However, Xu achieved a challenging jump with a degree of difficulty of 3.525 in the second round, earning 95.52 points to take the crown.
Australia's Danielle Scott finished second with 95.17 points, while Canada's Marion Thenault secured bronze with 90.94 points.
Since clinching gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xu has participated sparingly in the World Cup events, competing only in Changchun last season. This victory marks a strong start for her journey to securing the Olympic qualification for the fifth time in her career.
China saw five skiers qualify for the second round in the men's final. Sun emerged victorious with a score of 136.17, followed by Switzerland's Noe Roth, who scored 123.9 to take silver, and China's Li Xinpeng earned bronze with 118.1 points.
The event continues on Sunday with the mixed team competition. ■