Ashley Caldwell (left) of the United States and Xu Mengtao of China hug each other. [Photo by Wei Xiaohao/chinadaily.com.cn]

Xu already owned 27 World Cup golds and received the highest score in the world for jumps among female aerial skiers. But she only managed to bring home a silver medal from the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Due to injuries, she finished sixth and ninth at Vancouver 2010 and Pyeongchang 2018, respectively, so winning Olympic gold has been a "lifelong desire", Xu said.

"I'm just super excited. This is the first gold medal won by China in women's aerials, and it's just super cool," she said after the victory. "I just wanted to do the best tricks I could and I did it, and that was all."

China's Han Xiaopeng had won the country's first men's aerials Olympic gold medal at the 2006 Turin Winter Games.