Li Nan from China.Photo:Cui Meng/GT

Although Chinese skier Li Nan failed to qualify for the freestyle skiing women's moguls competition finals in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei Province on Sunday - coming in at 15th place - she still remained upbeat about her and the sport's future in China. 

"I'm always here when the country needs me," Li told the Xinhua News Agency after the competition.

One of the first batches of Chinese athletes to take part in the competition at the Games in 2014, Li said she expects more young people to take up the sport.

"This is an extremely exciting sport. I hope more young people can get involved in their own competition adventures in the future."

The 30-year-old Li is from Northeast China's Jilin Province. She first started out as an aerial skier in 2000. After that she chose to turn to mogul skiing eight years later in 2008.

"I've been training for this event since 2008. It sacrificed a lot to achieve to what I've achieved today. You know you need to accumulate as much experience over as long as possible to get good results," Li told Xinhua.

"I'll always stick to mogul skiing. Although I am getting older and have had many injuries, I'll never give up this sport."

Sunday's competition saw Australian Jakara Anthony win the gold, with Jaelin Kauf of the US taking silver and Russian Olympic Committee athlete Anastasiia Smirnova bronze.

Global Times