Gu Ailing (left) and doctor Zhu Jiangwei Photo: Courtesy of Zhu Jiangwei

China's Gu Ailing - also known as Eileen Gu - was crowned champion of the women's freeski big air final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Tuesday. The precious gold not only put Gu under the spotlight for the rest of the Games, but also will help more people better understand the role that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can play in treating sports injuries and helping athletes achieve better results.

Behind 18-year-old Gu, as well as other Chinese athletes competing at Beijing 2022, are a group of experts from the Orthopedic Hospital of Sichuan Province who are in charge of providing medical care.

Zhu Jiangwei, a team doctor of the national freeski big air and slopestyle team at Beijing 2022, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the team has treated Gu and provided medical rehabilitation assistance.

To better prepare for Beijing 2022, Zhu have traveled with the national freeski big air and slopestyle team to Austria, Switzerland and other countries and regions to provide medical support.

Zhu treated Gu with appropriate physical therapy using Sichuan Zheng-style orthopedics of TCM and guided her with functional exercises, providing advice for protective and preventive measures, to reduce Gu's chances of getting injuries during training and competition. 

Zhu Jiangwei treats Gu Ailing with Sichuan Zheng-style orthopedics of TCM. Photo: Courtesy of Zhu Jiangwei

"The Sichuan Zheng-style orthopedics of TCM is one of the important schools of TCM bone injury in China," Zhu told the Global Times. For the clinical diagnosis and TCM treatment of bone and sports injuries, it has formed a unique academic system, combining martial arts medicine and physical medicine, which is very suitable to help athletes recover their physical strength rapidly, and prevent and treat injuries effectively, according to Zhu. 

Zhu said that the team has post-training recovery plans for each athlete including acupuncture or massages. After training, athletes often communicate with Zhu about how they performed during their daytime sessions and discuss why they feel discomfort and certain pains.

Gu and her coach also kept in touch with Zhu and consult him on relevant medical rehabilitation issues, according to the Sichuan hospital's WeChat account. 

Zhang Qiang (left) and Su Yiming at Beijing 2022 Photo: Courtesy of Orthopedic Hospital of Sichuan Province

Zhang Qiang, another doctor from the Sichuan hospital, also a team doctor, treated Su Yiming, who won silver in the men's snowboard slopestyle, with Sichuan Zheng-style orthopedics of TCM before the competition to help Su compete at the highest possible level.

Gu herself had also been treated with TCM and she said that, "my back has never felt so good," according to media reports.