Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming reflects on journey to second Olympic gold

Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming talked about his experience in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) after capturing gold in the men's snowboard slopestyle final, his second Olympic gold medal.

The victory, secured on his 22nd birthday on Wednesday, was China's first gold medal of the 2026 Games and Su's fourth Olympic medal overall. Su told CGTN that the moment felt "unreal".

"For me, it's so unreal to think what's really going on. I've been dreaming this moment for like so long -- like every day, every night, trying to achieve my goals. But once it came true, it's just hard to believe. It took me so long to realize what's really going on," he said.

Four years ago at Beijing 2022, Su was the fearless teenager who seized gold in big air and silver in slopestyle, becoming an overnight icon of Chinese snowboarding.

Su said his second gold medal in Italy means everything to him, for he now feels a sense of duty to showcase China's snow sports development.

"To be honest, my second Olympic was way harder than the first one. Cause when I was 17 years old going to my first Olympic, I wasn't really thinking so much. As a teenager, as a challenger, I just want to try my best. But what's different from the first one was I have more like a responsibility -- it's not just going there for having fun myself. I've got to represent the whole country, represent the whole [Chinese snowboarding sport]. I wanted to do my best and I wanted to show all the people in the world how Chinese snowboarding is getting stronger and stronger," Su said.

Su also talked about the moment in the slopestyle final when he finished his runs and waited for others' turns and the final scores to be revealed.

"I didn't really think too much about others. I just want everybody to be safe and to put down their run, because we're competitors, but at the same time we've been spending so much time over the years -- it's more than my family. So we are already like the part of the big snowboarding family, part of the community, part of the sport. So I just want everybody to have fun and to put down their run. And then of course I wish I can still be on the top spot after my runs (and after) watching so many people. But so much respect for all the competitors," he said.

Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming reflects on journey to second Olympic gold

Chinese scientists have made improvements for the porthole of the Shenzhou-23 spaceship at the launch site to avoid potential emergency situations caused by space debris.

The Shenzhou-20 spaceship's return capsule viewport window suffered a suspected impact from space debris during its mission last year. The three Shenzhou-20 astronauts returned safely aboard the Shenzhou-21 spaceship on Nov. 14, 2025, and later on Nov. 25, China launched the Shenzhou-22 spaceship to provide a return vessel for the three Shenzhou-21 astronauts, who are currently in orbit.

To avoid such a potential emergency during the Shenzhou-23 mission, the porthole improvements were implemented ahead of schedule.

According to the original plan, the porthole upgrade was scheduled for implementation on the Shenzhou-24 spacecraft. However, after the Shenzhou-20 experienced an in-orbit space debris impact that affected the astronauts’ return, the team conducted a comprehensive assessment and decided to advance the upgrade to Shenzhou-23 to ensure a smooth and safe mission.

"The previous version of the viewport window had one layer of anti-ablation glass, while we increased that to two layers for the new window for dual redundancy. In addition, we have taken an extra protective measure as a final safeguard inside the capsule. These make up a three-layer anti-ablation function, adding an extra insurance for the astronauts to work and live safely and securely in orbit, and to return safely," said He Yu, chief commander of Shenzhou spacecraft of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Under normal circumstances, the viewport windows are installed at the spacecraft assembly workshop in Beijing before the capsule is assembled with other ones. But, since the Shenzhou-23 had already been manufactured and placed on emergency standby at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the porthole upgrade was conducted after all three modules had already been assembled -- a process much more difficult due to the confined space inside the capsule.

"Our guiding principle is putting people first. Moreover, we must further demonstrate the strength of China as a major country with strong aerospace capabilities. We will never allow space debris to affect the smooth progress of our mission," said the chief commander.

Shenzhou-23 spaceship undergoes porthole improvements at launch site