Freedom above snow

With the Tokyo Summer Olympics behind us, people are turning their eyes to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games,     1     will start in five months. Freestyle skier Gu Ailing, 18, looks to be one of the superstars of the event.

Born to an American father and a Chinese mother, Gu     2     (decide) to compete for China in the 2022 Winter Olympics in June 2019. Just two months later, she bagged her first gold medal for China at the Australia New Zealand Cup.     3     strength continued to grow as she won one bronze and two gold medals at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Snowboard and Freeski World Championships in March.

People say she is     4     (talent). But Gu says that talent counted for (占据) “only 1 percent” of her wins, adding that her hard work is     5     counts. While going to school in San Francisco, Gu could only practice on weekends. She spent eight hours    6     (go) to the ski hill and back, doing her homework on the way and making full use of her time at the hill     7     (practice) skiing.

Gu said she wants to encourage more girls in China to try skiing and other extreme sports , many of which have only been known there for 20 years, according to the Olympics website. She said skiing gives her “    8     (free) and creativity”, especially when she perfectly controls her body and does tricks that others cannot do.

Now she     9     (prepare) for the Winter Olympics as a full-time athlete. “Of course, I want to win medals and even golds,” Gu said. “But what’s     10     (important) is to bring out my own style, enjoy the game and love the sport.”