On a mission for global communication and a healthy lifestyle-Xinhua

Gu Ailing of China poses throughout the awarding ceremony just after profitable the women’s freeski halfpipe at Zhangjiakou Medals Plaza of the Winter season Olympics in Zhangjiakou, north China’s Hebei Province, Feb. 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)

As an American-born Chinese, Olympic gold medalist Gu Ailing hopes to distribute a healthy way of living and deliver the planet nearer with each other.

by Martina Fuchs

GENEVA, April 2 (Xinhua) — Subsequent her historic efficiency at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics nabbing two gold medals and a person silver, Chinese freestyle skier and sports activities sensation Gu Ailing says she’s on a new mission to distribute a balanced way of living and bring the world nearer alongside one another.

Asked about how she feels about currently being a purpose design and possessing motivated tens of millions of Chinese to understand winter sports and strike the slopes, the world’s greatest freestyle skier and China’s new sports icon shared her ideas with Xinhua in an job interview through video connection.

“It’s a huge honor to be equipped to have the access that I have now, to be able to have so a lot of people who maybe have never ever even heard of freestyle snowboarding prior to, and to be ready to hear it for the very first time from me, a young biracial girl,” she said on the sidelines of an celebration in Beijing by luxurious Swiss enjoy manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen.

A single of the most watched athletes at this year’s Winter season Game titles, Gu became the 1st freestyle skier to win three medals at one Olympics: halfpipe gold, significant air gold, and slopestyle silver.

“My most important target is to encourage much more children in China, in particular youthful girls to listen to about cost-free snowboarding and to try it out for on their own,” the new Olympian mentioned.

Skiers from Heilongjiang Province participate in a coaching session at Yabuli Ski Resort in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei)

According to China’s Countrywide Bureau of Stats, around 346 million Chinese men and women have participated in winter season sports activities routines considering the fact that Beijing’s productive bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics in 2015.

Over and above Sporting activities: ON A Greater MISSION

Gu, who is also a manner design and incoming Stanford College scholar and counts 6.5 million followers on China’s Weibo and 1.5 million on Instagram, has attracted an ever-expanding list of Chinese and overseas customer makes that are eager to have her as an ambassador.

Global brand names this kind of as French luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton and Chinese sportswear maker Anta are previously performing with her, though international endorsements incorporate names ranging from IWC Schaffhausen, Victoria’s Top secret, Tiffany & Co. to Oakley.

She underlined that she desired to use her significant social media following to make a favourable effect in modern society.

“I’m focusing on working with my voice and the platform that I received from the Olympics to be capable to continue selling snowboarding and a balanced lifestyle that consists of altering elegance standards, advertising self esteem and wellbeing instead of starving yourself or not currently being ready to go exterior. This is part of my concept ideal now, and I’m talking out on it each time I can.”

“I normally want to speak out about health. I want to market sports. And I just want most people to be self-assured and pleased,” Gu explained, incorporating that she could also consider arranging competitions and camps for girls in China additional down her road.

Sports activities HAVE NO BOUNDARIES

Her determination to represent China in 2019 at a time when she experienced a firm place on the U.S. freestyle group, in spite of remaining born and lifted in San Francisco, experienced been intensely scrutinized on social media and drawn criticism in the United States.

 Gu Ailing (entrance) parades for the duration of the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Wintertime Game titles at the Nationwide Stadium in Beijing, funds of China, Feb. 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ga)

But staying a cultural hybrid is part of the identity and personality of the three-time Olympic medallist, who was lifted by her mom Gu Yan who emigrated from China to the U.S. about 30 many years ago.

“At any time due to the fact I was minor, I have normally stated I am Chinese even though I’m in China, and I’m American when I am in the U.S.. I feel as nevertheless both of those nations have contributed equally to making the individual that I am right now. There is certainly no perception of competitiveness. There’s no sense of one is better than the other,” she highlighted.

“It definitely is about appreciating distinctive aspects of just about every one and implementing the most pertinent and the most, the sections I can understand the most from each individual lifestyle and I consider that is what has presented me the standpoint that I have. It is really presented me the cultural resiliency that I have, and it’s presented me an appreciation for various cultures all-around the planet. In that sense, I truly feel a deep feeling of respect and appreciation for both of those cultures.”

Gu, swiftly switching involving her Beijing dialect and California accent for the duration of the interview, explained that she hoped to construct far more bridges in between various cultures by way of sports.

“Sports activities have no boundaries. They really don’t have age, gender, race or cultural limits. Everyone can participate. That is the easiest way to type a interaction concerning distinctive nations, and to foster interconnection.”

Enthusiasm FOR Foods

Gu has also designed headlines for her enjoy for foods, right after her online video of munching on a conventional Chinese snack “jiucai hezi,” a pan-fried dumpling stuffed with chives and vermicelli noodles, though waiting around for her score in the slopestyle qualifying round went viral on Chinese social media.

Gu Ailing eats “jiucai hezi” for the duration of women’s freeski slopestyle qualification of Beijing 2022 Winter season Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China’s Hebei Province, Feb. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)

“My beloved Chinese food items is dumplings, but it has to be the homemade form. For Western meals, just about anything with truffles, definitely. I have been a truffle lover endlessly. I travel with my very own white truffle oil.”

“Any time that I put in in China, I’m generally finding out more. Mainly because China’s these a assorted location with so several regional dialects, distinct sorts of food stuff, various cultural nuances,” Gu emphasised.

“1 of the issues I like the most about China is food stuff and especially meal society. Like the significant spinning table and every person has the dishes on the table and you all share anything. Which is so significantly superior than just purchasing 1 dish.”

“You can find so significantly a lot more diversity and much more choices to try out anything and the perception of shared tradition and shared time and shared enjoyment of food stuff is something that I feel is deeply agent of the Chinese lifestyle,” she stated.