Su Yiming received a very special letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping on Feb. 24th, 2022. Who is Su Yiming? What did President Xi say to him?
Su Yiming is a snowboarder（单板滑雪运动员）. He was born in Jilin Province. He started skiing when he was four years old because his parents liked snowboarding. At the age of fourteen, he decided to become a professional snowboarder. Then he started training a lot, and spent about 320 days every year on snowboarding. On Feb. 17th, he got the gold medal（金牌） at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. When Su got the medal, he was really excited. The next day would be his 18th birthday. He thought the medal was the best gift for his birthday. But the person that he wanted to thank the most was President Xi.
He wrote a letter to President Xi. In the letter, he said,"I really want to thank you and our great motherland from the bottom of my heart." Su also said he would keep working hard and work for the nation（国家）. Su remembered that Xi met with him at the National Winter Sports Training Center in 2019. At that time, Xi encouraged（鼓励）him to show the new generation（一代人）of Chinese youth on the world stage.
In the reply from President Xi, Xi congratulated Su and other athletes on their excellent achievements at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Xi said that the new era（时代）is the era of dream chasers（追逐者）. It is the time for young people to realize their dreams. He hoped that young Chinese people always keep the motherland in their hearts, aim high and stay grounded.
"I was surprised and excited when I got the reply from President Xi. The letter will encourage me to work even harder in the future. " Su said.
