Olympic dreams return to Beijing’s Shougang Big Air venue as World Cup season heats up
Dec 02, 2025·Freeski Park & Pipe)
Olympic dreams are set to return to Beijing’s famous Shougang jump this week for the second Big Air World Cup of the 2025/26 season, as skiers look to lock in their spots for the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games venue Big Air Shougang is hosting the second stop of the 2025/25 FIS Freeski Big Air World Cup calendar, with qualifications beginning on Thursday ahead of finals on Saturday.
Among the women’s field of 25 skiers in Beijing is Kirsty Muir (GBR), who won in her season debut at last weekend’s Big Air season opener in Secret Garden ahead of Canada’s Naomi Urness, with China’s own Liu Mengting finishing in third place.
Muir’s win in Secret Garden marked back-to-back victories after the 21-year-old won last season’s World Cup finale in Tignes (FRA) in March. Urness’ maiden World Cup podium in Secret Garden came in her first Big Air World Cup start and just her third World Cup start total since the 21-year-old Canadian made her debut on the big tour last season in February.
Swiss skiers Mathilde Gremaud and Sarah Hoefflin come to Beijing after Gremaud failed to qualify for the final in Secret Garden, while 34-year-old Hoefflin finished last in the eight-woman final after crashing in her first run. Gremaud, the Slopestyle World Champion since 2023, was fourth the last time she competed in Beijing in 2024, while Hoefflin was runner-up behind Tess Ledeux (FRA), who is yet to begin her 2025/26 season due to injury. Gremaud was also bronze medalist behind Ledeux at the Beijing 2022 Games.
Finland’s Anni Karava finished fourth in Secret Garden last weekend and was fifth in Beijing in 2024. The Finnish skier started her 2025/26 season with third place at the Stubai Slopestyle World Cup in November and currently leads the women’s overall Park & Pipe standings after two events. Last season the 25-year-old secured three podium finishes as well as Big Air bronze at the Engadin 2025 FIS Freeski World Championships.
Looking further afield, China’s Ruyi Yang will be hoping to claim her own podium finish on home snow this week after finishing a disappointing 14th in Secret Garden. Yang was seventh the last time she competed in Beijing in 2024.
On the men’s side, last week’s winner Troy Podmilsak (USA) will not be competing in Beijing, but runner-up Dylan Deschamps and third-placed Luca Harrington (NZL) are among the field of 58. Harrington, last season’s Big Air Crystal Globe winner, finished fourth in Beijing in 2024, while Deschamps returns to the Shougang jump in a favourable position having finished third here last season.
Italy’s Miro Tabanelli returns to Beijing as the 2024 runner-up but will be hoping to shake off last week’s Secret Garden performance where he missed out on a finals berth following two disastrous runs during qualifications.
Last season’s Park & Pipe Overall Crystal Globe winner Matej Svancer (AUT) will begin his 2025/26 season in Beijing after missing the Slopestyle season opener in Stubai in November. Svancer also missed the 2025 World Championships earlier this year after he injured his heel during the Big Air World Cup season finale in Tignes in March.
Norway’s Tormod Frostad comes to Beijing as the winner of the 2024 edition and after beginning his World Cup season last week with eighth place in Secret Garden. Frostad is joined by countryman and reigning Slopestyle World Champion Birk Ruud, who will be hoping to bounce back from his Secret Garden performance where he finished in the lower half of the 58-man field. Ruud famously won Beijing 2022 Olympic Big Air gold on the Shougang jump four years ago, capping off his performance with an iconic victory lap clutching the Norwegian flag.
The Beijing Big Air World Cup will begin with women’s qualifications on Thursday 4 December from 10:20 China Standard Time (CST), followed by men’s qualifications from 13:40 CST.
The top eight women and top 10 men from qualifications will progress to the finals on Saturday 6 December starting at 13:00 CST.
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