China's reigning snowboarding Olympic champion Su Yiming celebrates his Big Air World Cup victory at Shougang Industrial Park in West Beijing on Saturday. AN LINGJUN/FOR CHINA DAILY
With back-to-back World Cup wins on home snow, Su Yiming has nailed it as the undisputed title favorite in big air going into his Olympic gold defense at Milano-Cortina 2026.
One spectator said the Shougang Big Air should perhaps be renamed the "Su Yiming Stadium" after the Chinese snowboarding sensation clinched his third win in less than four years at the iconic Beijing 2022 slope by finishing first at the 2025-26 FIS Big Air World Cup series' Beijing leg on Saturday night.
The reigning Olympic champion in the high-flying big air discipline, which involves riders taking off from a huge jump to perform aerial tricks, landed three massive 1980 stunts in-a-row in the men's final to score a winning total of 181.00 points from his first and third runs and secure his second consecutive Cup win, following his victory at the season's opening event in Chongli, Hebei province last week.
It was Su's third triumph at the towering Shougang slope, after his groundbreaking home Olympic win at Beijing 2022 and his 2023 World Cup victory. He has only missed the podium here once, at last year's Cup event, due to injury.
"It's really a big honor and confidence boost for me to return to the top of the podium at the venue where my dream all started," Su, who also won a silver medal in slopestyle at Beijing 2022, said during the post-final news conference on Saturday.
"It's a small goal accomplished for me, but my target on the long run is, for sure, to defend my gold at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics," said Su, who has topped the Olympic qualifying ranking list with two Cup wins in-a-row.
"I hope to stay humble and calm, though, to better prepare for the ultimate goal, which is to achieve better results at the 2026 Olympics and win more glory for my country."
Su Yiming takes off from the Shougang Big Air ramp during the Beijing leg final of the FIS World Cup series on Saturday. AN LINGJUN/FOR CHINA DAILY
Japan's Kira Kimura finished second with 178.25 points from his first and third runs, while Finland's Rene Rinnekangas completed the podium with a third place finish after also scoring 176.25 points from his first and third runs.
Each of the 10 finalists took three runs off the slope and had the combined score of their two best attempts count towards their final standing.
Chad Buchholz, media coordinator from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, the sport's governing body, hailed Su as the home hero who deserves all the credit for promoting snowboarding in China.
"Tonight was one of the greatest big air competitions that I've ever witnessed... I am happy to suggest the jump be renamed the 'Su Yiming Stadium'," Buchholz joked, "He really deserves it."
The FIS Big Air World Cup tour returns at Steamboat, Colorado, from Dec 11-13, in what will act as the final Olympic qualifier. The conclusive Olympic Qualification Quota list is set to be published on Jan 19.
