Members of the Chinese delegation, which won nine gold medals, four silver and two bronze at the Beijing Games, celebrate when they appear at the closing ceremony. ZHANG WEI/CHINA DAILY

China celebrates its best-ever Winter Olympics medal tally to cap hugely successful Games

A youthful Team China propelled the host to its biggest-ever medal haul at the Winter Olympics, while a series of breakthroughs at the Games signaled the country's emergence as a much more well-rounded force on the ice and snow.

Thanks to the heroics of teenage sensation Gu Ailing and veteran aerials aces Xu Mengtao and Qi Guangpu, China claimed four gold to top the freestyle skiing medal standings for the first time since its Winter Olympic debut in 1980.

Gu also became the first athlete in history, and the youngest ever, to win three medals (golds in Big Air, halfpipe and silver in slopestyle) in three different freeski events at the Olympics, catapulting her to international megastardom as the face of Beijing 2022.

Another teen star, Su Yiming, also became a household name by winning China's first snowboarding gold medal in Big Air after claiming a silver in slopestyle. Su's feats helped the host finish a highest-ever third on the Games' overall medal standings, with nine gold, four silver and two bronze－its biggest-ever medal haul at the Winter Games. China's previous best was a tally of 11, including five gold, at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

"The rise of the new generation on the Olympic stage, even seeing the emergence of teenagers, represents a great future for winter sports in our country," said Li Yang, manager of China's Big Air, slopestyle and halfpipe national programs.

"With winter sports becoming popular in our country amid the fast social and economic development, I believe more and more young people will pick up skis and snowboards to enjoy the sport, just as young as Su and Gu did when they were little, which will greatly expand the talent pool for our future national programs," Li said.

The Beijing Winter Games also marked the first time that China's snow sports teams outperformed the country's traditionally strong ice sports squads in the medal tally, vindicating investment in high-performance training programs and laying the foundation for even better results at the next Winter Games in Italy.

"As long as we keep the momentum going, I believe we will witness a stronger performance in four years' time at the next Olympics in 2026," said Yang Yang, China's first Winter Olympic gold medalist, in women's short-track speed skating at the 2002 Games.