Four years in the making for Chinese alpine ski student-athlete

Alpine Skier, Lv Ao (CHN)With the 30th Winter Universiade just months away, student-athletes from all over the world are actively preparing for the opportunity of a lifetime to compete at the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade. All those who are looking forward to this event will gather in Central Switzerland to compete for the top spot at the world’s largest winter multisport event for student-athletes.

Chinese Student-Athlete, Lv Ao, has been looking forward to participating at the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade just for four years, and is now closer than ever to reaching his goal.

It was in high school when Lv Ao found that he had a knack for alpine skiing, also taking part in a local alpine event and won second place. As sport usually does, this competition for Lv Ao is where he met other alpine skiers—many of which were preparing for the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade. It was through them that Lv Ao was determined to participate in a Winter Universiade during his time in university.

The design for the Ice and Snow Sports, courtesy Beijing Institute Of Fashion Technology

Lv Ao received many invitations from sports colleges, but still chose the school which could help him enhance his knowledge of sporting world.

Combining his passion for learning and his love for ice and snow sports, he decided to go to Beijing—also hosts of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. In 2018, Ao finally decided to attend the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology to study Polymer Materials. According to Ao, his university always fabricates designs for ice and snow sports, where the university is currently leading the design project for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

“I am very glad to study at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. My teacher and my classmates help me a lot with my studies. It’s worth mentioning that my university paid a lot of the costs of my competitions during school,” Ao said.

Lv Ao has lived up to the expectations of his university, also achieving good results at his university skiing competitions. In addition, he won the silver medal and bronze medal at the 2019 and 2020 Chinese University Skiing Challenge.

Because of his hard training, Ao won first place at the 2021 Chinese University Skiing Challenge and was successfully elected to the Team from the Peoples Republic of China for the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade. He will represent his nation in the men’s giant slalom competition.

His coach, Li Lei, is also a previous national alpine ski athlete—having taken a spot on the podium of national competitions frequently.

 “After I entered university, I followed coach Li Lei for a long time,” Lv Ao said. “I am very grateful for his teaching. He passed on his knowledge to me and helped me get great results to compete at Lucerne 2021.”

“I look forward to going to Lucerne 2021 in December and I can’t wait to have a great competition with the best student-athletes from all over the world,” Ao continued. “In my opinion, Lucerne is a scenic city. Lucerne has always attracted me, and I think it will be very satisfying and comfortable when I ski there”.

“About the expectation of myself, I will try my best to strive for the best results for my country in the men’s giant slalom. On the other hand, I wait in hopes of communicating with like-minded student-athletes from other countries. I will treasure the chance to make more friends,” Ao concluded.