Led by Olympic champions, China's 126-athlete Winter Olympics delegation was officially launched to showcase its prowess at the Milano-Cortina Games starting February 6 in northern Italy. Four years after winning a record nine golds at Beijing 2022, the team aims for its best overseas medal haul.
China's Winter Olympics delegation, totaling 286 members including 126 athletes with an average age of 25, was officially launched on Tuesday. The team will compete in 91 medal events across 16 disciplines, covering most of the 116 events at the Milano-Cortina Games, set to unfold over more than two weeks next month in Italy's Lombardia, Trentino, and Veneto regions, concluding on February 22 in Verona.
Headed by nine Olympic champions such as women's freestyle skiing star Gu Ailing, men's snowboarding prodigy Su Yiming, and five-time Olympian Xu Mengtao in freestyle skiing aerials, the contingent includes 67 athletes making their Winter Olympics debut. Notably, 16 athletes hail from China's ethnic minority groups, with young talents from high-altitude areas in Xizang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions poised to challenge in endurance events like cross-country skiing and the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering.
The delegation has enlisted 32 foreign coaches, trainers, and technical staff from 21 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, and Finland, to sharpen skills in Western-dominated disciplines such as freestyle skiing, snowboarding, and bobsleigh. This marks the largest Chinese overseas Winter Olympics team since its debut at Lake Placid, New York, in 1980.
At the launch ceremony, Gao Zhidan, director of the General Administration of Sport of China, described the Milano-Cortina Games as "a significant window to showcase the achievements of China's winter sports development and the positive image of Chinese athletes." The goal, he added, is excellence in both athletic performance and sportsmanship.
During Beijing 2022, 176 Chinese athletes contested 104 events, securing nine golds, four silvers, and two bronzes for 15 medals total, placing fourth in the gold medal tally—China's best home result. The previous overseas peak was five golds in Vancouver 2010.
Blending youth and experience, the team relies on strengths in freestyle skiing aerials, halfpipe, snowboarding big air, and short-track speed skating. Delegation secretary-general Wang Lei, also director of the National Winter Sports Administrative Center, noted the challenges without home advantage but highlighted qualification in over 70 percent of events, up from about 50 percent in 2018. He anticipates breakthroughs in skeleton, curling, and ski jumping. With the Games' second week overlapping China's Spring Festival holiday, the team aims to build on the festive mood with optimal results.
