Asia’s Snowboarding Pioneer
At the finals of the U-shaped pool at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Liu Jiayu stood confidently on the starting platform. Facing the television cameras, she made a funny face, followed by her signature radiant smile.
With two high-quality performances, Liu Jiayu won the silver medal in the women’s snowboarding U-shaped pool, marking a historic breakthrough for Chinese snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, and also becoming the first medal for Asia in this event. Liu Jiayu has truly become Asia’s snowboarding pioneer!Recently, one of China’s first snowboarding “pioneers” and the silver medalist in the women’s snowboarding U-shaped pool at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Hegang girl Liu Jiayu completed a standing D-Crippler during training,becoming the third woman in the world and the first in China to successfully perform two full rotations in the U-shaped pool.The D-Crippler that Liu Jiayu completed during training is a standing backflip with two full rotations (720 degrees), which is extremely difficult. Before her, only two American female athletes had accomplished it. While enjoying the joy of completing a new move, Liu Jiayu wrote on Weibo, “Turn all impossibilities into possibilities, as long as you believe in yourself!”
Today, let us explore the snowboarding journey of Liu Jiayu from Hegang!
Born in September 1992 in Hegang, Heilongjiang Province, Liu Jiayu had already explored various martial arts at a young age. She possesses a unique aura, perhaps due to her early martial arts training. According to Liu Jiayu’s father, her initial purpose for entering various training programs was simply to “strengthen her body” as she was often sick.
Her first coach, Li Zhenxiong, said:
“When Liu Jiayu was young, she practiced dance and martial arts, and after learning alpine skiing techniques with me for one snow season, she was selected by the Harbin team.”
In 2003, snowboarding was officially established in China, and Liu Jiayu, who had just turned 11, transitioned from martial arts to snowboarding. It can be said that she is one of thefirst athletes to grow alongside Chinese snowboarding.
Thus, Liu Jiayu inadvertently became connected with snowboarding. Initially, she did not understand what snowboarding was, and China was still in the early stages of this sport, with extremely poor training conditions and weak infrastructure, technology, and talent reserves. Although snowboarding looks cool, to achieve results, she had to, like every other athlete, leave her hometown to train at specialized venues, live in dormitories, and undergo closed training. Liu Jiayu mentioned that her physical condition was not good at that time, and she learned the moves slowly, even considering giving up and secretly returning home in tears.
Recalling her early days of snowboarding, Liu Jiayu said: “At first, I didn’t particularly like it; it was very hard to practice.” Among her peers, Liu Jiayu had the weakest physical condition. Although she was weak in everything, others could outrun her by 50 meters in a 100-meter race and 100 meters in a 200-meter race, she had a quality that made her coach choose to keep her on the team: persistence and willpower. Her coach encouraged her: “As long as you are willing to work hard, you will not be worse than anyone! If others practice for 3 hours, you should practice for 2 more hours! You will definitely find the feeling.” The coach’s support and her curiosity about snowboarding helped her get through the tough first year.
Passion is the best teacher, and Liu Jiayu’s talent gradually emerged through hard training. She gradually became “addicted” to snowboarding, “the moreshe liked it, the moreshe loved it, until she couldn’t pull away at the end.”In 2005, at the age of 13, Liu Jiayu won her first national championship in the U-shaped pool and was selected for the national team, becoming one of the first national team athletes. In the 2007-2008 season, at the age of 15, Liu Jiayu stood out, winning two gold medals in the World Cup series, and in 2009, she also won championships in both the World Cup and the World Championships,with her ranking briefly reaching world number one.
“Basically, all the first honors in snowboarding projects in our country were achieved by me,”Liu Jiayu confidently stated.Thus, Liu Jiayu brought Chinese snowboarding to the international podium, becoming a true“pioneer”.“I left and came back, then left again and came back again”Like the strokes of a brush, life is full of ups and downs. Injuries are the mountains that Liu Jiayu must constantly overcome in her sports career—over the past ten years, she has undergone three major surgeries on her shoulder.
Continuously achieving crowns on the international podium made Liu Jiayu a favorite for medals at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. However, the road to success is not always smooth; Liu Jiayu suffered a shoulder injury during training, and to complete her Olympic debut, she chose conservative treatment instead of surgery, ultimately affecting her performance. Although Liu Jiayu finished fourth at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, this achievement marked a historic breakthrough for Chinese women’s snowboarding in the U-shaped pool, but being just one step away from the podium became a regret for her.The four-year dream of the Winter Olympics was interrupted by fate, as just before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Liu Jiayu suffered another serious injury during training, undergoing two major surgeries. However, not wanting to waste her four years of effort and preparation, Liu Jiayu chose to stand on the U-shaped pool competition stage again, but ultimately finished in ninth place, missing the finals.After her third shoulder surgery, she temporarily halted her training, spending her days taking her snowboard out to “play,” treating snowboarding as a way to relax, thinking about retiring when she returned home. Unexpectedly, this approach helped her find the “true meaning” of snowboarding.“I think after my injury, I began to love and understand this sport even more. I now love this project more and more, starting to pursue greater difficulty, and now I may enjoy training and competition more, pursuing a kind of happiness, and I want everyone to see thatgirls can also snowboard beautifully.”“If snowboarding brings me pain, then there is no need to continue. After putting down all burdens, I found the joy of snowboarding again. I know that it is my passion that makes me want to continue.”Liu Jiayu said.
Subsequently, she actively began recovery training and strength training, which not only helped her maintain her condition but also compensated for her past physical deficiencies and loose ligaments. In 2018, Liu Jiayu won the women’s U-shaped pool championship at the LAAX OPEN in Switzerland. LAAX also became one of Liu Jiayu’s favorite snowboarding venues.The 2019-2020 season was a challenging one for Liu Jiayu. Half a month before the competition started, she unfortunately got injured during training and could only train with a neck brace. At the last stop of the World Cup inCalgary, Liu Jiayu fell and got injured after being hit by her snowboard against the edge of the pool. However, after the season ended, she was selected by the International Ski Federation for the freestyle skiing and snowboarding“Best Moment of the Year”and was the closing act. Even the International Ski Federation stated that this “best moment” was extraordinary because Liu Jiayu neither won the competition in Calgary nor took home the crystal globe symbolizing the overall championship that season, nor did she complete any new moves or create history for her country. It turned out that although Liu Jiayu was injured during the competition, after being examined by doctors, she chose to return to the top of the venue immediately, starting her third and final run, further improving her score and ultimately winning third place that night.In this regard, the International Ski Federation commented: “Liu Jiayu demonstrated to us theindomitable will of humanity, and perhaps we can all gain some small insights from her actions that night in the face of adversity. This moment is aboutstrength,courage, andsurpassing oneself to achieve amazing feats.”Because of love, one can overcome all difficulties.“Turn all impossibilities into possibilities”
Due to the pandemic, the competitions for the 2020-2021 season were continuously canceled, giving Liu Jiayu more time to recover her physical condition, but at the same time, she lost a lot of time on the snow. Despite the obstacles on her path forward, Liu Jiayu remained undaunted.
“Confidence, sunshine, and passion” have always been keywords to describe Liu Jiayu. Although she is now a “veteran” figure, Liu Jiayu confidently states,“I am still in the rising phase!”
Breaking through oneself, climbing to new heights, and then breaking through new peaks is a true reflection of Liu Jiayu’s life. In her,the power of women is truly displayed—not as delicate flowers in a garden, but as snow pines on high mountains, evergreen, resilient, and fearless!
References:
Person | Liu Jiayu, I will accompany snowboarding for life (Bili Bai)