L-R: Xu Mengtao, Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu of Team China pose during the medals ceremony for the freestyle skiing aerials mixed team event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, north China, February 11, 2022. /CFP
China's medal sweep in freestyle skiing aerials at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was the culmination of years of hard work and high-level performances, and to its foreign coaches, it came as no surprise.
On Wednesday evening, Qi Guangpu crushed the competition to win gold in the men's aerials, just days after his teammate Xu Mengtao topped the podium in the women's event. Last week, Qi, Xu and Jia Zongyang took silver in the Olympics' inaugural mixed team event.
Read more: China's Qi Guangpu wins long-awaited Olympic gold in men's aerials
"It's fantastic to win a gold medal, and to win two gold medals ... this is something that, to be honest, we knew was possible but it's not the easiest thing to do, so we're ecstatic," Team China's aerials coach, Canadian Dennis Capicik, told CGTN.
For years, the team has been among the best in the world in this sport, which combines elements of skiing and gymnastics.
Veteran Xu won Olympic silver in 2014. She has six world championship medals and a whopping five World Cup crystal globes, and is again leading World Cup standings this season at age 31.
Qi has two world golds and two silvers to go with his two World Cup crystal globes, while Jia has an Olympic silver medal from PyeongChang and is also a former crystal globe winner.
China's Qi Guangpu in action during a practice session ahead of the freestyle skiing men's aerials final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China, February 16, 2022. /CFP
At Olympic Games, however, China had struggled to top the podium before this year, with only Han Xiaopeng managing the feat on the men's side in Turin in 2006.
Instead, Belarus, Switzerland, Australia and the U.S. were the ones repeatedly winning Olympic titles in aerials.
"I know the gold medal has been a tough one for them. The last few years it's eluded them but I think a lot of people knew that they can do it and I'm so happy they did," said Capicik, who coached Team Canada at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and also used to compete in aerials.
"We always had the plan, that was our goal to try and do that ... but winning any medal at the Olympics is always a challenge."
Even before he began working with Team China, Capicik was well aware of the quality in the team, having watched Xu and Qi compete for years.
"We always knew they're fantastic athletes, driven, dedicated, goal-oriented athletes," he said.
As such, "I'm very happy but I'm not surprised at the result ... They've done fantastic and they've been working hard for years," he said.
Coach Dennis Capicik hugs Qi Guangpu of China after he won gold in the men's freestyle skiing aerials final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, north China, February 16, 2022. /CFP
The secret to the team's success was simple: "They're a great team and I think they've got a lot of depth ... and the depth in their team is what makes them as successful as they are and have (been) in the past."
Read more:
Xu Mengtao makes history winning women's aerials gold at Beijing 2022
China had three women and four men competing in aerials at the Beijing Olympics, including Kong Fanyu, 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, and Wang Xindi, a previous World Cup crystal globe winner.
In the World Cup currently, five of the top seven ranked men and three of the top six women are from China.
"They're technically very sound and they're very consistent and they train hard," said Capicik.
Given all this, Olympic golds were just waiting to happen.
Xu Mengtao of China reacts after winning the women's freestyle skiing aerials final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China, February 14, 2022. /CFP
Aerials head coach Dmitriy Kavunov agreed, telling CGTN: "We work a lot. China works more than everybody."
"I feel very very proud, it's my eighth Olympics, the best Olympics in my life!" the Russian, who has also coached aerials teams in the Soviet Union, Russia, the U.S., Canada and Sweden, gushed after Qi's win on Wednesday.
"It was my goal when I came to China to work. I set my goal: we have to win a gold medal, and we did."
"You know, in our sport sometimes, the best people miss something (and make) little mistakes. That's why, (you have to) always dream, always wish, always work. Sometimes maybe you're not lucky. But (at the Beijing Olympics) we were good, we worked hard and we were lucky," he said of the recipe for this medal sweep.
Competing on home soil didn't hurt either.
"They were very motivated ... because it's home Olympics. It's motivated everybody, it's so exciting to fight, so exciting to win," said Kavunov.
China's Jia Zongyang reacts during the mixed team aerials finals at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, north China, February 10, 2022. /CFP
The Russian veteran joined Team China three and half years ago and brought in Capicik, with whom he had previously worked in Canada.
"The China (freestyle skiing) association invited me to work and they promised me lots of opportunities in coaching and I said: 'Ok I will try!'"
"China for me was very interesting because it was a new (country to work in)," he said.
Capicik admitted there was a bit of a language barrier with the athletes. "But their English is getting better every year and we have translators so ... the communication's never easy but it's good."
While China achieved its goal of gold at the Beijing Olympics, it will have to keep working hard to stave off competition from Belarus, the Russian Olympic Committee and Team USA, which beat China in the mixed team event.
"There are many strong athletes in different teams," Kavunov warned on Wednesday even as his team celebrated its historic wins.
But "Olympics is Olympics, you do little mistakes and you can lose everything. It's very important to do right in the right time and our athletes did. That's why I'm very happy!"
(Reporting from Zhangjiakou)