MK socks000 meters relay final at the Harbin Asian Winter Games on February 9, 2025. Photo: Chen Tao/GT" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-02-09/4867c599-6e2a-424e-9311-cd8961824ee8.jpeg" />

Chinese skater Fan Kexin competes in the short track speed skating women's 3,000 meters relay final at the Harbin Asian Winter Games on February 9, 2025. Photo: Chen Tao/GT

The Chinese delegation is leading the Asian Winter Games medal table after two days of competition with 15 gold, 15 silver, and 14 bronze medals, as they are slated to set a new record at the intra-continental event.

Speed skating has, thus far, been the biggest contributor to China's medal haul, as the Chinese team delivered four gold medals in seven disciplines, while the Chinese short track speed skaters ended their Asian Winter Games campaign with two gold, two silver, and four bronze medals in nine disciplines. 

There are more promising signs in snow sports at the Asian Winter Games for China. 

In ski mountaineering, a new sport that is set to make its debut at the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics, Chinese athletes made a clean sweep of the podium in Harbin on Sunday. 

Cidanyuzhen led Yu Jingxuan and Suolangquzhen to win the women's sprint final, and Buluer led Chinese men Zhang Chenghao and Bi Yuxin to win the men's discipline. 

Veteran Xu Mengtao, now 34, a four-time Olympian who won her first gold medal at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, also managed to win her first Asian Games gold medal in Harbin. 

Xu Mengtao competes in the freestyle skiing women's aerials final on February 9, 2025. Photo: VCG

Craze on rink

Short track is considered the most popular winter sports in China since 12 of China's total 22 Winter Olympics gold medals have come from the sport. China and South Korea are considered the sport's major powerhouses in Asia.

The competition between the two rivals was fierce on Sunday, especially in the relays. 

Rising female skater Gong Li conducted a last-lap overtake on South Korean star Kim Gilli, securing a gold medal for the women's team at the Heilongjiang Ice Training Center in Harbin.

Veteran Fan Kexin, who started her international career in 2013, repeated her move of "kissing the ice rink" after winning the women's 3,000 meters relay. 

"This is my last Asian Winter Games, so I kissed the ice. I feel a sense of reluctance to part from it," the 31-year-old, who was born in Qitaihe, in Heilongjiang, told reporters. 

"Looking ahead to our preparations for the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics in the coming year, I hope our team will achieve even better results at the Olympics."

The men's competition went physical in the last stage when Chinese skater Lin Xiaojun tried to overtake his South Korean counterpart Park Ji-won from the inner lane. 

Park pushed, tried to arm-block and collided with Lin, causing Lin to lose his balance and fall, a blatant foul behavior that led to the disqualification of South Korean team's result in the final. 

Chinese skater Sun Long, one of the four men's relay skaters, couldn't hold back his anger and shouted, "Dirty, it's just dirty!" when walking through the media mixed zone, a strong expression of dissatisfaction at the unsportsmanlike conduct shown by the South Korean team during the race.

Even though the referee disqualified the South Korean team, the incident still led to heated discussion among the audience and the sports community.

Four-time Olympic short track gold medalist Wang Meng also questioned the sportsmanship of the South Korean skater's wrestle with Lin.

"Is this short track speed skating or ice combat?" Wang questioned on social media. "After all these years, they [South Koreans] still can't skate without shoving." 

Before the men's relay final, Sun fell down at the final stage in the men's 1,000-meter final after a brief collision with Park, ultimately ending the race in joint third place.

"The disappointing part is that we underestimated some of our opponents' tactics - they did things that left me baffled," Sun told broadcaster CCTV. "If such dangerous moves go unpunished, then short track speed skating results become meaningless."

The Chinese national short track team is facing a tight schedule this season. They will go on to prepare for a Milan 2026 Winter Olympics test event this week, followed by a home world championship event in Beijing in March.

More young talents

In the men's aerials in freestyle skiing, four-time Olympian Qi Guangpu finished third, while his much-younger teammates Li Xinpeng and Yang Longxiao claimed gold and silver medal respectively.

Rather than being disappointed at finishing behind his younger teammates, Qi welcomed it as a sign of progress.

"For the sport to grow, we need more and more young athletes to surpass me and become even better," he said. "There's no generation gap between us - we're like brothers."

After winning gold in respective disciplines, 18-year-old ski mountaineering athlete Cidanyuzhen expressed her confidence in her readiness for the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics, emphasizing her focus on improving speed and transitions.

Buluer, who won the men's competition at the age of 19, acknowledged the gap between him and elite athletes in the sport, before noting that he will pay closer attention to training details in pursuit of better results.

"We still have some gaps compared to athletes from ski mountaineering powerhouses, but we hope to compete with them at the Olympics," said 19-year-old.

As the Games still have five days to go, surpassing the previous record of 19 gold, 19 silver, and 23 bronze medals, which was achieved at the Changchun 2007 Asian Winter Games, does not seem like a tough task.

Cao Yaqi, vice editor-in-chief of the Titan Sports newspaper, told the Global Times that it is not a surprise to see Chinese winter sports athletes set new records in Harbin.

"We should not be shy about seeing Chinese athletes setting new Asian Winter Games record in Harbin, as winter sports have vastly grown in China thanks to the invigoration brought by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics," Cao told the Global Times.