Xu retains Olympic aerials title as China takes two medals

Xu Mengtao became the first aerials athlete to retain an Olympic title, winning the women’s final in Livigno with 112.90 points. Danielle Scott took silver for Australia with 102.17, while China’s Shao Qi won bronze on 101.90.

Xu landed a back full-full-full with strong height and execution to secure first place. Scott performed the same jump with the final attempt of the competition, moving above Kong Fanyu and preventing a Chinese sweep of the medal positions.

Shao opened the super final with a back lay-full-full, a less difficult jump that she executed cleanly enough to earn bronze. Four athletes exceeded one hundred points in the final round, reflecting a tightly contested event decided by difficulty and execution.