Finishing on a high

World Championships give Team China's snow sports athletes a critical boost ahead of next year's Olympics

Even with the golden girl absent and luck not always on their side, China's freeskiers and snowboarders have landed plenty of positive takeaways from the final world championships before Milano-Cortina 2026.

For sure, star skier Gu Ailing was missed at the just-concluded worlds, with the twotime Olympic champion sidelined by a shoulder injury. However, the Chinese contingent has proved over the past fortnight that it has more to offer at next year's Winter Olympics than just the celebrated all-arounder, as the gap left by Gu was filled by her compatriots, who helped Team China climb the podium at the season-ending FIS showpiece in Switzerland.

The multisport world championships served as a major rehearsal for the upcoming Olympics in Italy, with the world's finest from across eight disciplines, including slopestyle, halfpipe and aerials, having their tricks, runs and, most importantly, Olympic medal prospects tested and evaluated at Engadin, a valley in Switzerland's eastern Alps, over the past fortnight.