Yabuli, China, February 13, 2025: Mother Nature had the final say at the Asian Winter Games in Yabuli with organisers forced to cancel the snowboard men’s and women’s halfpipe competition due to weather conditions.
The final medal rankings were determined on qualification results with Japan’s Shimizu Sara taking the gold medal in the women’s event while on the men’s side Korean Kim Geonhui took the gold.
Strong winds forced organisers to push back the starting time by an hour on Thursday morning, February 13, but with no signs of a let-up, HAWGOC decided to pull the plug on the final three runs in each of the men’s and women’s events.
The only gold medal competitions in Yabuli on Thursday, the last day of action in the snow events, were the Biathlon Men’s 4x7.5km relay and the Women’s 4x6km relay.
China won the women’s event while Japan won the men’s gold.
“The home support lifted us. There were a lot of people cheering us along the course and this encouragement really inspired me,” said Meng Fanqi, who raced the anchor leg for China.
“Starting the anchor leg, I definitely felt the pressure of responsibility. But I didn’t waver as we are a team built on trust. When I saw my three teammates waiting for me at the finish line, and when I crossed it, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders,” Meng said.
At the 2017 Sapporo AWG, China finished out of medal contention. Meng hopes that with this victory, more people will become aware of biathlon and that it would inspire the younger generation to take up the sport.
“The biggest thing I can wish for is that biathlon will flourish in China,” she added.
Meng and her teammates, Tang Jialin, Wen Ying and Chu Yuanmeng, brought the curtain down in Yabuli with the hosts having swept to 19 gold medals.