At the 2022 Winter Game Su Yiming became the first Chinese snowboarder to win a gold medal in the men's big air event. Behind the huge success is hard work.
Back in 2018, the 14-year-old boy was faced with a difficult decision: To be as an actor, or to go all in on snowboarding. With the 2022 Winter Olympics approaching（临近）the teenager saw an opportunity. "Snowboarding was something I enjoyed the most, and this was a chance to take part in my own home country."
Su first stepped on a snowboard around age 4, with the support of his parents. His first snowboard came from his father and it was a lot taller than Su back then. However, Su almost fell in love with the sport immediately. Talking about his parents, Su said. "No matter what decision I made, they've always supported me and believed in me."
"I only have one word to describe my feelings for snowboarding, it's love, deep from my heart," Su said. "It's my happiest moment when I stand on the snowboard no matter how long I train, even for seven or eight hours at most at a time."
After the competitions, Su Yiming wrote a letter to President Xi to express his resolve（决心）to continue working hard. Su said in his letter that he was born in a great country and raised in the best times. To his surprise, he got a reply. President Xi expressed his hope for young Chinese to keep the motherland at heart, aim high, and have their feet firmly on the ground. "This has encouraged me to work even harder in the future. I shall contribute（贡献）all my strength to my own country and win glory（荣耀）for China's winter sports." said Su.
Su Yiming hopes his story could excite more young people to embrace（拥抱）winter sports and face challenges in their lives.
