A screen shot of the notice released by the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport on January 23

Olympic champion Gu Ailing and short track speed skater Lin Xiaojun are among the 124 Chinese athletes set to compete at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, according to a notice released Friday by China’s Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport. 

Naturalized short track speed skater Lin will make his Winter Olympic debut representing China at the Milan Games, which will run from February 6 to 22. 

The 22-year-old Gu won two gold medals at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in women’s freeski halfpipe and big air. In Milan, she will be joined by other Chinese freestyle skiing talents such as Liu Mengting, Zhang Kexin and Li Fanghui.

In snowboarding, Olympic champion Su Yiming remains a strong contender in the big air and slope style events, while emerging riders such as Ge Chunyu add further depth to the Chinese team. 

Beijing 2022 figure skating pairs champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong are widely expected to deliver their final competitive appearance at the Milan Games.

For the Chinese delegation, medal hopes are pinned on traditional strength disciplines, such as short track speed skating, freestyle skiing and snowboarding, as China eyes a best-ever medal count at an overseas Winter Games, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Four years ago in Beijing, China achieved its best-ever Winter Olympic result with nine gold, four silver and two bronze medals, while its best overseas result was recorded at Vancouver 2010 with five gold, two silver and four bronze.