Cream of the ice in final warm-up

In the men's singles, veteran skater Jin Boyang anchors the Chinese trio that also includes Chen Yudong and Peng Zhiming. Jin aims to recapture the magic of his 2019 Four Continents silver-medal finish to boost his third Olympic campaign in Italy, while Chen and Peng are both looking to build experiences of international competition through the home test.

"The heat is on and everyone is finalizing their preparations for the Olympics, so am I," said 28-year-old Jin, who finished fourth in his Olympic debut at Pyeongchang 2018 to achieve China's best result in the men's singles at the Games.

"Hopefully, everyone can show their best form at the event and leave wonderful memories here."

The ice dance field includes Olympic combo Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu, who are expecting to make the most of the final rehearsal to warm up for their performance in Milan. They finished 12th at Beijing 2022 to mark the highest finish of a Chinese team in ice dance at the Olympics.

Younger ice dance pairs Ren Junfei and Xing Jianing, and Xiao Zixi and He Linghao, will join the field as well.

As a crucial assessment for the Olympic preparation, the tournament will feature a strong international cast, especially in the women's singles event, which includes 2023 South Korean champion Lee Hae-in, US champion Bradie Tennell and the returning Canadian star Gabrielle Daleman.

As for the pairs event, Japan's Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi will aim for the podium while challenging Sui and Han as they finalize their routines for Milan. Two-time US national champions Alisa Efimova and her husband Misha Mitrofanov will be another medal-contending duo in pairs skating in Beijing, although they did not qualify for Milano-Cortina.

Qin Haotian contributed to this story.