LOOKING TO LIFT THEIR GAME

As China's young figure skating national team struggles to make its way to Milano-Cortina 2026, the return of an Olympic champion pair is expected to help facilitate the program's rebuild with finesse, grit and a fresh dynamic.

Less than six months out from the 2026 Winter Olympics, China's figure skating squad, once a proud contributor to the medal count of the country's winter sports delegation, is still fighting for tickets to the Olympic showpiece in Italy, having secured only one qualification berth in men's singles from the ISU world championships in March.

The Olympic qualifying tournament, to be held in Beijing from Sept 17-21, will offer five more quota places in each of the men's and women's singles events, three more in pairs skating and four more in ice dance in what will be the final opportunity for Olympic aspirants to book their flight to Milan.

Although the majority of international powerhouses, such as Japan and the United States, will skip the qualifying meet in Beijing, having filled up their quota places via the worlds, the competition for the remaining berths is guaranteed to be a fierce dogfight, and will be a tough challenge for China's current crop of fresh-faced skaters.

The magnitude of the task in the jostle for qualification spots in women's singles, ice dance and pairs skating on home ice was laid bare at this week's national trials, where Chinese skaters' error-laden performances underscored their seemingly bleak prospects for the Beijing tournament.

As the only women's singles skater with Olympic experience on the current team, Zhu Yi, who represented the host at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, wrapped up her free skate at the trials on Wednesday with a costly fall on her final triple jump, allowing teen contender Zhang Ruiyang, who finished Tuesday's short program in 2nd behind Zhu, to leapfrog her senior teammate to top of the final standings.

The 17-year-old Zhang will make her high-stakes international debut at the Beijing qualifying meet, carrying the weight of the nation's Olympic hopes on her young shoulders.

"I got nervous during the free skate, made some mistakes here and there," said Zhang, a high-school student at Beijing No 10 Middle School.

"If I can make it to the qualifying meet next month, I hope to show greater consistency and try to skate to the best of my ability. After all, it's almost impossible to significantly raise the difficulty level of my routines in such a short time."

In pairs, young partners Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang, as the only team that met the trials' entry benchmark, put on an elegant, smooth, yet technically less competitive, performance to pass the test, and will represent the host at the Beijing meet in what is historically the most decorated event for Chinese figure skating.

"I think we should just focus on producing our best performance, making sure we deliver our top form (at the Olympic qualifier) and let the result take care of itself," said 23-year-old Huang, who, last week, won the pairs title with his partner Zhang at the Asian Open Trophy in Manila.

"As we mature into the senior ranks, we still need to improve our coordination, synchronization and quality of jumps," said Huang.

Soon, they will have a perfect benchmark against which to measure their progress, with the confirmed return of reigning Olympic champion pair Han Cong and Sui Wenjing to spice things up entering the new season.

Han and Sui, having both indefinitely retired from competitive skating since their home-ice heroics at Beijing 2022, have both announced their return to the rink, motivated by a sense of responsibility to help the national program pull off the tough transition between generations.

Should their younger compatriots earn their country a ticket to Milan as expected next month, Han and Sui are expected to challenge Zhang and Huang at the upcoming domestic Olympic trials to earn a spot at their fourth Olympics.

According to the official ISU program for its 2025-26 figure skating Grand Prix circuit, Han and Sui have signed up for the season's second leg, the Cup of China, in Chongqing in October, and the fourth stop, the NHK Trophy in Osaka in November, to test their form against international rivals old and new.

"Brother Cong and sister Sui have been our idols. I cheered for them and watched them dance to the top of the Beijing 2022 podium from the stands," said Huang.

"Their return is definitely good news for Chinese pairs skating. I believe they will lead by example and carry us all forward together."

In ice dance, Beijing 2022's 12th-placed combo Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu finished top among four pairs at this week's trials, their second event since coming back from a yearlong injury layoff, to represent China at the Olympic qualifying meet.