China's First Gold Medal Won at Genting: Gong Naiying Won Championship of the Snowboard PS World Cup Genting Leg

Chinese player Gong Naiying in the match

On February 24, the 2018-2019 FIS Snowboard World Cup successfully ended at Genting Secret Garden. In the PS competition of the day, Chinese athlete Gong Naiying beat all the rivals and finally won the women's championship with a record score of 0.35 seconds, which was the first gold medal of the Chinese team in the PGS/PS World Cup. In the men's competition, Italian athlete Bagozza Daniele secured the championship. Chinese player Zhang Xuan performed well and entered the third place final. To his regret, he ended in the fourth place and lost the medal for a slight lag of 0.07 seconds.

The PS and PGS matches share the same track that is 582 meters long and has a vertical fall of 151 meters. Dotted with 33 sets of gates, the track is characteristic of shorter gate intervals, faster speed and greater viewing experience. Genting Snow Park, as the venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics PGS competitions, attracted top athletes to play though it was the first time for this resort to host a World Cup. In the matches that were as intense as the World Championships, Chinese athletes set historical records after competing hardly against lots of tough rivals, therefore Gong’s gold medal is really worth admiration.

The top three winners of the 2018-2019 FIS Snowboard PGS World Cup women’s matches were: champion, Chinese athlete Gong Naiying; runner-up, Swiss athlete Zogg Julie; and second runner-up, German athlete Joerg Selina. They received awards from Vice Secretary-General of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee and Vice Secretary of Zhangjiakou Municipal Party Committee He Jianghai and Genting Secret Garden COO Benno Nager.

The top three winners of the 2018-2019 FIS Snowboard PGS World Cup men’s matches were: champion, Italian athlete Bagozza Daniele; runner-up, Russian athlete Loginov Dmitry; and second runner-up, another Italian athlete Fischnaller Roland. Vice Director of the Competition Department of the Winter Sports Administrative Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, Li Jiajun, and Director of Zhangjiakou Municipal Sports Bureau, Guo Zhiwei, presented awards to the winners.

For Genting Snow Park, as the hosting site for the freestyle ski and snowboard competitions in the 2022 Winter Olympics, it is the first time to hold a FIS Snowboard World Cup, and it also marks the event’s debut in China. The success of this World Cup means that the PS track of Genting Snow Park has soundly completed the World Championships test and therefore harvested valuable experience for holding the 2021 Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. As one of the three demonstration venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Genting Snow Park is promoting the Winter Olympics strategy at a steady and fast pace. It’s providing organization, competition services and other support to such events in line with world-class competition standards.

Genting Snow Park is one of the three demonstration venues of the 2022 Winter Olympics and also the hosting site for the freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions during the event. In this park, six Winter Olympic sports will be held, and they are aerials, Moguls, halfpipe, slopestyle, PGS and cross, generating a total of 20 gold medals. In 2021, the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships will be held here, as test matches before the 2022 Winter Olympics.