The Chinese government makes a very concerted effort to win the medal table. Over decades, they have put money into fringe sports that appeal to a small, unfunded group of athletes in other countries, and in which pure athleticism is diminished as a requirement. The Chinese are happy to bankroll an operation that drops eight year old kids into an academy and force them to learn the sport through endless repetition.
Skiing barely exists as an activity in China, and yet they have started dominating aerial jumping, mostly because no one in the Western world prioritizes that type of skiing.