During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, many avid fans in Beijing followed the sport of figure skating. Chinese skaters have dominated the pairs discipline for years, with the pair Sui Wenjing (隋文静) and Han Cong (韩聪) having an emotional Olympic win on home ice. Sui and Han, pictured center, first teamed up in 2007. In their years competing together, they have won all major competitions at the junior and senior levels, being the first pair to achieve a Super Slam. After losing gold to German pair Savchenko and Massot by 0.43 points at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, they returned in 2019 to win their second world title. Sui and Han achieved the Super Slam after winning Olympic gold in 2022.
Though China may not be as dominant in other disciplines, there are still strong competitors in the men’s field. Jin Boyang (金博洋) began skating at the age of seven. Throughout his career, he has podiumed on the World Championship stage and won the Junior Grand Prix Final and the 2018 Four Continents Championships. Four Continents includes skaters from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. The quad revolution in figure skating has also been partially attributed to Jin. It refers to the technical advancement of figure skating programs, particularly in the men’s discipline, with quadruple jumps becoming increasingly common. Jin is the first skater to land a quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination in international competition, one of the most difficult jump combinations currently competed today. He is also the first skater to land four quad jumps in a free skate and six quads in an international competition. Though he finished ninth at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, he still achieved two of his seasonal bests at the competition.
There are also many rising talents in the women’s discipline in China. Chen Hongyi(陈虹伊) is only 19 years old, and she began skating in 2008. She is a three-time Chinese national medalist in her career and won the 2020 Cup of China by almost 40 points. Though she finished twenty-first at the 2021 World Championships, her result was still enough to net a spot for China at the 2022 Olympic Games. Another young skater whose journey has been closely followed by fans is An Xiangyi(安香怡), pictured above. She is reported to have begun skating when she was born and is currently not age-eligible for senior international competitions. However, An won the 2020 Chinese Figure Skating Championships at the age of 12, and we can expect great potential as she begins her senior career.
In the ice dance discipline, Shiyue Wang (王诗玥) has competed with Xinyu Liu (柳鑫宇) to win the 2017 Asian Winter Games and the 2018 Asian Open. They have also won the Chinese national four times. The pair represented China at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympic Games, achieving twenty-second and twelfth place, respectively.
Though becoming successful in skating requires years of practice and hours of training daily, figure skating as a sport can still be fun to learn as a beginner. Many skating rinks are open in Beijing and are also a great way to avoid the humid heat of summer. These rinks are in malls so anyone can go skate for fun, and it is a great environment even for non-professionals!
Find it:
B2, China World Mall, 1 Jianguomen Outer Street, Chaoyang District
朝阳区建国门外大街1号国贸商城中区B2层
Tel: 6505 5779
Find it:
C7, Joy City, 101 Chaoyang North Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区朝阳北路101号朝阳大悦城C7层
Tel: 8552 6637 or 8552 6695
Find it:
4F, Longde Mall, 186 Litang Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区立汤路186号龙德广场4层
Tel: 57171211 or 84813345
Images: Instagram: @wenjingsui, @1j0b0y3, @nini_fanclub, @shiyue_wang21
