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When Han Xiaopeng waved a red victory flag in Torino - a celebration of his nation's first Olympic skiing gold and its most successful Winter Games ever - it was first and foremost a story about China.
But it was also a story about the world.
Standing there to see Han's victory on an Italian mountain was the man who had helped engineer it - a coach for China who comes from Canada named Dustin Wilson.
Since his reign began more than four years ago, Wilson, a former World Cup competitor for Canada, has turned China into the world's preeminent aerials power. But at the outset of his tenure, preeminence seemed a very distant notion.
"I flew to Beijing, signed the contract and then got on a plane to Inner Mongolia," Wilson recalls (the Chinese team traditionally spends time practicing in the frigid Mongolian conditions for part of the winter). "I'm standing there and there's 20 athletes wearing the same thing. I knew only how to say hello. I had to figure out how to differentiate them in the winter, wearing masks and all, and then also their names."
In order to learn who everyone was - a challenging task considering the matching uniforms and face masks used for warmth - Wilson conjured up nicknames. Li Nina became "Princess," a name first given to her by the Chinese media. Guo Xinxin, a veteran and leader on the team, was dubbed "General." Cheng Shuang, a teenager when Wilson first took over, became known as "Baby Spice." And Han received the moniker of "Rock Star," a nod to his soul patch and designer shades.
Relatively speaking, differentiating masked athletes was the least of Wilson's challenges. The new coach essentially had to start over from scratch in a number of aspects, most notably with regard to equipment. Because his athletes' boots didn't fit, he found them wearing two and three pairs of socks to compensate. He also found himself having to learn some of the quirks and nuances of life in a different nation. In one instance, it took a three-hour meeting to decide when to schedule a day off.
Fortunately for Wilson, logistical obstacles were partially offset by a considerable stronghold of talent. All of his athletes attended Chinese sports academies growing up, and have foundations in either gymnastics or acrobatics - extremely beneficial, Wilson explains, because aerials skiing is in many ways gymnastics on skis.
And though the men's team boasts reigning Olympic champion Han - who's hoping to return to form after missing the 2008-09 season due to injuries - the true center of power is on the women's side, headlined by Li, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and three-time reigning world champion.
Beyond Li, the Chinese women's team boasts staggering depth. China had seven of the top 12 women in the 2008-09 World Cup standings, prompting U.S. head coach Jeff Wintersteen to remark, "China just has a stable full of Lamborghinis."
The best example of that depth is Xu Mengtao. In 2008-09, her first season on the World Cup tour, the 19-year-old finished fourth in the overall standings and won silver at the World Championships. "Tao Tao," as she's known (meaning peach), can do a full arsenal of triple-flip combinations, something only Lydia Lassila of Australia can match. Pegged as the heir to Li, Xu is the top young Chinese aerialist to watch and just one example of why the Chinese aerials dynasty is not likely to be short-lived.
In addition to the medal haul he has fostered, the influence of China's foreign coach is readily evident off the slopes. Having spent a significant amount of time living and training in North America in recent years to take advantage of better facilities, the Chinese aerialists have developed close bonds with some of the American and Canadian athletes who share the same takeoff ramps.
"It's been a privilege to get to know the Chinese athletes," says American aerialist Emily Cook. "I'm very good friends with a number of them. [Li Nina] is a sweetheart. She's very good at what she does, and she's very supportive of all the other athletes, as well. In Russia this year, I had a small injury... and she was the first one there to make sure I was okay."
It may have been just one small moment, but it's a reminder of something bigger. After all, this is not just a story about China or a Canadian coach or the synergy between the two - it's a story about the world.
