Who is this girl?

I believe you have seen such a girl in many places and heard such a name - Gu Ailing. She is an outstanding freestyle skier in my country and a rising star of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics! So, what is freestyle skiing?

Gu Ailing

Traditional skiing is done with two skis. In the 1960s, snowboarding began to appear in the United States, and many surfing and skateboarding moves were added to skiing, making snowboarding a synonym for cool. Later, double-board fans discovered that the tricks that can be done on a single board can also be done on a double board! And because double boards are naturally more difficult to control than single boards, this has further stimulated the passion of players to continue to innovate and surpass.

Freestyle ski halfpipe

People start the skiing event that tests skills with "freestyle". At the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, freestyle skiing made its debut as a demonstration event at the Olympic Games. It was then officially included in the Winter Olympics competition list in 1992. The freestyle skiing events of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics include snow skills, aerial skills, slope obstacles, U-shaped field skills, big air platform, aerial skills mixed team competitions for men and women, a total of 13 events. The latter two events are entering the Winter Olympics for the first time. The referees will score based on the athlete's degree of completion of the action, jump distance, posture and other factors. Gu Ailing, who is only 19 years old, has won championships in previous world championships in slope obstacles, U-shaped field skills and big air platform events. She is a rising star in free skiing!

Gu Ailing's performance

Let's talk about the freestyle ski jumping platform in detail! "Freestyle" means that athletes use two skis, but its jumping platform is only about 40 meters high. Athletes have to do somersaults, rotations and board grabbing in the air, which is a test of aerial skills and difficulty. The height of the traditional ski jumping platform is 125 meters. After taking off, the athlete's body leans forward and the two boards form a V shape, mainly competing in flight distance. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the freestyle ski jumping platform will be held at the Shougang Ski Jump in Shijingshan District, Beijing, and the ski jumping platform will be held at the National Ski Jumping Center in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province.

Shougang Ski Jump

National Ski Jumping Center

After freestyle skiers fly off the platform, they have to perform many moves in the air, such as somersaults and spins. Somersaults mean that the athlete flips forward and backward around a horizontal axis. When the athlete starts, he already has a certain amount of somersault angular momentum, which is constant. If you curl up in the air, get closer to the axis of rotation, and reduce the moment of inertia, the speed of the somersault will increase, and you can complete more difficult moves within a limited time. When you are about to land, stretch your body and stretch your arms, the moment of inertia of the body will increase, the speed of the somersault will slow down, and you can land smoothly.

Rotation means turning around the torso of the body, and the method used is similar to somersault. For example, if we carefully analyze Gu Ailing's movements, you will find that she will stretch out her arms and twist her body before jumping off the diving platform, relying on the force of the snowboard to make her body start to rotate. After leaving the diving platform, she will tightly contract her arms in front of her chest to reduce her moment of inertia around her torso and greatly increase the angular velocity of the rotation. Finally, she will stretch out her arms before landing to slow down the rotation and finally land smoothly. The posture of the arms and body in the air is very important. The arms and body must be adjusted at the right time to accurately adjust the somersault and rotation and complete the movements perfectly.

Gu Ailing completed a 1440-degree backflip double turn in freestyle skiing during training in November 2021, becoming the first female freestyle skier to do so! On December 5, she completed the move in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup in Stimpbot, winning the gold medal with 184.25 points, becoming the first female freestyle skier to successfully complete the move in the competition. What exciting performances will Gu Ailing have in the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics? Let's wait and see!

Source: Mr. Li Yongle