INTERNATIONAL: China's Yiming Su gave himself an early 18th birthday present by grabbing gold in the men's snowboarding Big Air event at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday (February 15).

The 17-year-old Chinese snowboarder who wowed competitors and spectators in the Big Air Shougang stadium on Tuesday and took home China's first gold in any snowboarding event, eyes more possibilities after achieving his biggest dream.

 Su, who also won silver in the slop style event, delivered a stellar performance in front of the largest crowd at the Shougang venue since the Beijing Games started, with his first two runs giving him a combined total of 182.50. Giving him an early celebration for his 18th birthday with his stellar performance

Su started with a frontside 1800 tail grab and came back with a backside triple cork 1800 for his second run that earned 93.00 points and sparked huge cheers from the crowd, as fans waved Chinese flags and shouted his name.

A former child actor, Su appeared in the action movie "The Taking of Tiger Mountain" when he was eight before deciding to drop acting for snowboarding. Now he says he wants to show more of his sides beyond the sport. But still not ruling out any acting roles.

Su only started to compete in world championships in 2019 and has quickly risen through the ranks. An avid music fan, Su said he was drawn to freestyle snowboarding for its creativity.

"There are no set rules and moves, and everyone has their own interpretation on each trick. That's what fascinates me the most about freestyle snowboarding,” he said.