As the sporting year draws to a close, here is Xinhua News Agency‘s selection of the world’s top 10 athletes in 2022:

1. Gu Ailing (China, freestyle skiing)

Ailing claimed gold medals in the women’s big air and halfpipe and a bar of silver in slopestyle at the Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the first freestyle skier to win three medals in three different events at a single Winter Olympics.