LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's veteran freestyle skier Xu Mengtao capped her fifth Winter Olympics in tears and triumph on Wednesday, retaining the women's freeski aerials title at Milan-Cortina.

As the Chinese national anthem played, tears streamed down the defending champion's face as she stood atop the podium.

The 35-year-old sealed gold with a textbook back full-full-full in the six-skier super final, scoring 112.90 points under sunny skies in Livigno. Xu had earlier posted 107.75 in the first final round and 89.29 in qualification.

"I did a very good jump, a full-full-full, with good air, good form, good landing, so it was amazing," the Chinese veteran said afterward. "This was my fifth Olympic Games, and I just had to keep focused, keep focused."

"This is a heavy, meaningful gold medal," Xu said after sprinting off the podium to exchange high-fives with the audience.

The victory made Xu the first athlete to win two Olympic gold medals in aerials.

It was also China's second gold medal inside 90 minutes, following Su Yiming's win in the men's snowboard slopestyle.

"It's amazing, just amazing. I want to thank my coach, my teammates and Team China, who gave me a lot of support," Xu said.

"We need good health, a good body, to keep focused and trust your team and your coaches, and trust technology," Xu added, reflecting on her future in the sport.

Australia's Danielle Scott took silver with 102.17. Also 35, Scott had never finished higher than ninth in her previous three Olympic appearances.

China dominated the final rounds, sending three skiers into the super final. Shao Qi claimed bronze with 101.90, while Kong Fanyu finished fourth on 101.31. China's Chen Meiting reached the first final round but placed seventh, missing the super final.

"I feel that I performed well today and did my best. I am really satisfied with today's performance, and I think Chinese aerial skiers showed tremendous strength today," Shao said.

Competition in Livigno resumed at full pace after heavy snowfall on Tuesday forced a one-day postponement of both the women's and men's aerials qualifiers. ■