Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming says Olympic gold medal left him ‘confused’, as he returns after year off
- ‘After achieving the goal [an Olympic medal] very suddenly, it was difficult for me to find a new goal,’ Su says
- Su is now preparing for a big air World Cup event taking place in Beijing in December
Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming has hit the slopes again after a year away from the sport, and said winning gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics left him “confused”.
The teenager won two medals, gold in big air and silver in slopestyle, at last year’s Games, but said the experience left him feeling mentally and physically drained.
Now refreshed after what coach Yasuhiro Sato called “burnout syndrome”, Su is eyeing a return to the slopes for the coming World Cup season.
Beyond the physical toll, Su described being in a “confused state”, and found himself grasping for a new goal.
“I never thought that I would face winning the title with this type of feeling,” Su had said. “I was very clear before in terms of goals, which was achieving the best results in 2022 [at the Olympic Games].
