20 | Monday, August 30, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY SPORTS WINTER OLYMPICS By SUN XIAOCHEN [email protected] ar from the slopes, China’s I’ve gained more top snowboarders are tak- Snowboarders beef up muscle obviously on ing cues from inside the Octagon as they shape up my body and Fand toughen up for next year’s Bei- improved my core jing Winter Olympics. As part of an agreement between strength to potentially Ultimate Fighting Championship hang in the air longer, and the Chinese Olympic Commit- Beijing preparations tee, the Las Vegas-based mixed mar- which makes it tial arts organization opened its possible for me to do Performance Institute in Shanghai to Liu Jiayu and Cai Xuetong last UFC lends a hand with tailor-made training for Winter Olympians more difficult tricks.” month, with the two riders undergo- Liu Jiayu, ing tailor-made strength and condi- on her training at the UFC Per- tioning programs. formance Institute in Shanghai Already, the pair are encouraged by the results as they smash through their physical limits ahead of the all- little advantage she can find as she important Olympic season. prepares to battle it out with defend- “The training here is customized, ing Olympic champion Chloe Kim of data-driven and guided one-on-one. the United States. Everything is measurable here. It’s “To be competitive at the Olym- really about yourself and targets pics, you definitely need break- where you need to improve urgent- throughs each and every time,” said ly,” Liu, a halfpipe silver medalist at Liu, who was beaten to silver by Kim the 2018 Winter Olympics in South by an 8.5-point margin in the final at Korea, said in an online interview the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. last week. Kim, a California native with “I’ve gained more muscle obvi- South Korean heritage, proved that ously on my body and improved my she remains the one to beat at Bei- core strength to potentially hang in jing 2022 by retaining her world the air longer, which makes it possi- championship title in March at Asp- ble for me to do more difficult en, Colorado. The 21-year-old sat out tricks.” the 2019-20 season to study at Cai, a two-time world champion Princeton. (2015-17), said that the wealth of Far from being daunted, both Liu amenities at the PI, including cardio and Cai relish testing themselves and strength training equipment, against such tough opposition. hypoxic labs and cryotherapy cham- “Snowboarding is really about the bers for recovery, is mind-blowing. vibe on that particular day and the “It’s quite different from most of momentum in that particular run,” the offseason training I did before in said Liu. “I think everyone who the sense that it’s more efficient, and starts on top of the pipe in the final facilitated by a vast array of modern has the chance to win. Nothing is technology and equipment,” added done until the final trick is Cai, a winner of 12 International Ski stomped.” Federation (FIS) World Cup legs in Cai echoed those sentiments, but halfpipe. said her focus is on perfecting her Working alongside Felix Falken- own performance, not on worrying berg, UFC China’s sports science about what her rivals are doing. and performance manager, Cai has “I feel like I’ve never demonstrat- significantly increased her upper ed what I am truly capable of at pre- body strength, which improves her vious Games due to the pressure,” balance while performing twists said Cai, 27, who in March 2020 fin- and flips in the air. ished top of the FIS World Cup “The UFC Performance Institute standings for a record sixth time. is hosting the non-technical Liu Jiayu (left) and Cai Xuetong work out at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, where the snowboarding pair are being put through “I hope I can just ride at home strength and conditioning program tailor-made strength and conditioning programs ahead of next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY next year free-minded and show my for them to be ready for their World true ability and style,” she added. Cup competitions prior to the Bei- After spending the past winter at jing Winter Olympics,” explained semicircular ramp. Judges score scientific literature to ensure that na’s national sports program. The higher on the podium,” said Liu, a home without taking part in any Falkenberg. performances based on trick the training we provide is cutting Shanghai PI hosted 14 of Team Chi- 28-year-old Heilongjiang native, international competitions due to “Our programming is designed to execution, variety, amplitude and edge. na’s medal winners as they prepared who finished fourth in her Olympic the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chi- get them ready for those competi- creativity. “Our communication with head for the recent Tokyo Olympics. debut in 2010. nese snowboarding team will tune tions, regarding strength, power Falkenberg said the collaboration coaches and support staff is always Liu is renowned for pulling off up for Beijing 2022 by competing at and energy system demands.” showed the PI’s compatibility with very interesting as we learn from Homing in on gold technically challenging tricks, and is three World Cup events — Copper As one of the most entertaining elite athletes of all sports. them, as well as educating them in With Beijing 2022 just over five currently working with Australian Mountain, Colorado (Dec 9), Mam- events to watch at the Winter Olym- “We learn new things each time the systems that we apply to our months away, Liu and Cai are feel- trainer Benny Bright — the brother moth Mountain, California (Jan 6) pics, halfpipe snowboarding we have different sports at UFC PI,” MMA athletes.” ing confident about their progress. and former coach of 2010 Vancouver and Laax, Switzerland (Jan 13) — involves riders performing hair- he said. As part of its agreement with the “My goal is to peak at the home Games’ halfpipe winner Torah barring any rescheduling of these raising tricks after launching them- “We conduct a very thorough COC, UFC is serving as the official Olympics. I’ve won silver and of Bright — in a bid to add more style meets, according to team manager selves skywards off a long sport analysis using the most recent high-performance adviser to Chi- course now I’d like to go one step to her routines. She will need every Li Yang. PARALYMPICS BASKETBALL China’s ‘Astro Boy’ takes off in Tokyo Steph unearths a TOKYO — Wang Jiachao goes by the pseudonym “Astro Boy” on new Weibo ‘baller’ social media, in homage to the famous Japanese manga character. It’s definitely a name well-chosen. NBA megastar Stephen Curry has “Astro Boy derives from the once again been scouting young English word ‘atom’, small but pow- basketball talent on Chinese social erful. Although I am short, I am media, and reckons he has found very powerful,” the Chinese Para- another star in the making. lympic triathlete said. The Golden State Warriors guard “My dream is to compete in the on Saturday posted a video of a chil- Paralympics again.” dren’s game in Beijing, accompa- The 30-year-old former swim- nied by the message: “This kid is a mer has now competed at four Par- baller! He really took the whole bag, alympic Games, winning one gold, and then some chili. Can someone four silver and one bronze. help find this future basketball On Saturday in Tokyo, China’s star?” Stephen Curry “one-armed ironman” narrowly The kid in question is an 8-year- failed to add another medal to his old boy named Song Yihong. collection when he finished fourth Curry later posted more footage launching a similar appeal to find in the triathlon PTS4, just 30 sec- of the youngster showcasing some the young prodigy. onds back of Spain’s bronze medal- Steph-like skills, including cross- “Who is this kid? Help me find ist Alejandro Sanchez Palomero. overs, spins, step-back jumpers and him! Keep doing you and don’t let The Paralympic triathlon con- long-range shots. anyone tell you that you can’t,” Cur- sists of a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilo- Wang Jiachao cools off after finishing fourth in the Paralympic triathlon in Tokyo on Saturday. XINHUA Fittingly, Song Yihong was don- ry wrote on Weibo. meter cycle and a 5-km run — all ning Steph’s No 30 Warriors shirt. “I will work harder,” Zhang half the distance of the Olympic tri- “Don’t you know your classmate?” replied to his idol in Chinese. athlon legs. The temperature was selected to the Yunnan provincial would frequently do extra without plex after winning the Paralympics joked one fan, whose comment Curry responded with more scorching in Tokyo on Saturday, swimming team for the disabled, recording it on his sports watch or in 2012,” he said. earned over 12,000 likes. words of encouragement, adding: with changing outfits between and became a disabled swimmer uploading the data to a platform “What really changed me was “He really plays like you,” wrote “You are an inspiration. You don’t events an additional challenge for for the national team two years that his coach could see. going to university and starting the another fan, going by the name take ‘no’ for an answer. You’ve found athletes with physical disabilities. later. “If you add in the hours I prac- triathlon.” “Mamba Hang”. a way to overcome and get out there Wang was placed fourth after the In 2015, Wang retired from the ticed secretly, that’s about 30 hours Wang explained that he over- One video of Song’s Steph-esque on the basketball court and show swimming leg, unsurprisingly his swimming team and decided to use a week,” he said.