On a mission for global communication and a healthy lifestyle-Xinhua
Gu Ailing of China poses for the duration of the awarding ceremony right after successful the women’s freeski halfpipe at Zhangjiakou Medals Plaza of the Wintertime 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 spread a healthful life style and convey the environment nearer with each other.
by Martina Fuchs
GENEVA, April 2 (Xinhua) — Subsequent her historic effectiveness at the Beijing 2022 Winter season Olympics nabbing two gold medals and a person silver, Chinese freestyle skier and athletics feeling Gu Ailing states she’s on a new mission to spread a healthier life-style and convey the planet nearer collectively.
Questioned about how she feels about staying a role design and acquiring impressed hundreds of thousands of Chinese to study wintertime sports activities and hit the slopes, the world’s very best freestyle skier and China’s new sports icon shared her feelings with Xinhua in an job interview by using video connection.
“It’s a large honor to be in a position to have the access that I have now, to be capable to have so numerous men and women who probably have by no means even heard of freestyle snowboarding prior to, and to be ready to hear it for the initially time from me, a young biracial girl,” she reported on the sidelines of an function in Beijing by luxury Swiss enjoy producer IWC Schaffhausen.
A single of the most viewed athletes at this year’s Winter season Games, Gu turned the first freestyle skier to gain a few medals at one Olympics: halfpipe gold, major air gold, and slopestyle silver.
“My greatest aim is to inspire a lot more young ones in China, specially youthful ladies to listen to about free of charge skiing and to attempt it out for by themselves,” the new Olympian claimed.
Skiers from Heilongjiang Province participate in a schooling session at Yabuli Ski Resort in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie Jianfei)
In accordance to China’s Nationwide Bureau of Statistics, over 346 million Chinese men and women have participated in wintertime sports actions because Beijing’s successful bid for the 2022 Wintertime Olympics in 2015.
Past Athletics: ON A More substantial MISSION
Gu, who is also a vogue product and incoming University college student and counts 6.5 million followers on China’s Weibo and 1.5 million on Instagram, has attracted an ever-developing record of Chinese and international consumer makes that are keen to have her as an ambassador.
International models this sort of as French luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton and Chinese sportswear maker Anta are by now operating with her, even though world wide endorsements incorporate names ranging from IWC Schaffhausen, Victoria’s Top secret, Tiffany & Co. to Oakley.
She underlined that she needed to use her significant social media pursuing to make a positive impact in society.
“I’m focusing on using my voice and the platform that I bought from the Olympics to be able to continue on promoting skiing and a nutritious way of life that incorporates modifying magnificence expectations, promoting self-confidence and well being as a substitute of starving yourself or not getting ready to go outside the house. This is aspect of my concept proper now, and I am talking out on it each time I can.”
“I normally want to speak out about wellness. I want to encourage sports activities. And I just want everybody to be confident and delighted,” Gu said, incorporating that she could also contemplate organizing competitions and camps for ladies in China further more down her highway.
Sports HAVE NO BOUNDARIES
“At any time considering the fact that I was little, I have normally stated I’m Chinese although I am in China, and I am American when I am in the U.S.. I really feel as however both equally nations around the world have contributed similarly to developing the individual that I am nowadays. There is no perception of level of competition. There’s no perception of one is improved than the other,” she highlighted.
Gu Ailing (entrance) parades all through the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter season Game titles at the Nationwide Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ga)
“It definitely is about appreciating different sides of each individual 1 and implementing the most pertinent and the most, the elements I can find out the most from just about every society and I imagine that is what has provided me the standpoint that I have. It is really specified me the cultural resiliency that I have, and it really is offered me an appreciation for distinct cultures close to the world. In that feeling, I experience a deep perception of respect and appreciation for both cultures.”
Gu, swiftly switching in between her Beijing dialect and California accent in the course of the interview, mentioned that she hoped to build additional bridges between distinctive cultures through sporting activities.
“Athletics have no boundaries. They will not have age, gender, race or cultural limitations. Every person can take part. That’s the least complicated way to form a communication amongst distinct nations, and to foster interconnection.”
Enthusiasm FOR Food stuff
Gu has also produced headlines for her adore for food, right after her video clip of munching on a regular Chinese snack “jiucai hezi,” a pan-fried dumpling crammed with chives and vermicelli noodles, although waiting around for her rating in the slopestyle qualifying round went viral on Chinese social media.
Gu Ailing eats “jiucai hezi” all through 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)
“Dumplings are my favorite Chinese foods, but it has to be the homemade sort. For Western food items, everything with truffles, definitely. I have been a truffle fan permanently. I vacation with my personal white truffle oil.”
“Any time that I put in in China, I am usually learning more. Due to the fact China’s such a assorted area with so lots of regional dialects, distinctive types of foods, distinctive cultural nuances,” Gu emphasised.
“Just one of the points I enjoy the most about China is food stuff and in particular meal culture. Like the significant spinning desk and every person has the dishes on the desk and you all share almost everything. Which is so a great deal much better than just buying 1 dish.”
“There is so considerably additional diversity and additional alternatives to consider every thing and the sense of shared society and shared time and shared pleasure of foodstuff is some thing that I feel is deeply agent of the Chinese culture,” she described.
