by sportswriters Zhang Han, Li Jia and Gao Meng
BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- A silver medal at last weekend's Four Continents Championships in Beijing offered a glimmer of hope for China's returning Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, but it laid bare the severe challenges facing the nation's figure skating team, as it heads to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics with fading hopes and a roster reliant on veterans.
China, which once boasted world-leading pair skaters, will arrive in Italy with its sole medal prospects resting on the shoulders of Sui and Han, who came out of retirement less than a year ago. In the other three individual disciplines, China is sending seasoned campaigners who have scaled back activity or returned from breaks, with 18-year-old Zhang Ruiyang being the squad's only newcomer.
VETERANS SHOULDER OLYMPIC MEDAL HOPE
Sui, 30, and Han, 33, have endured highs and lows since returning from a three-year competition hiatus. Their triumphant return at China's national championships last month was swiftly tempered by a shaky performance at the Four Continents, where errors crept into their signature elements.
Of greater concern is that Sui competed through an injury sustained in training, and was visibly in pain after Saturday's free skate. "Frankly, my physical condition is not very good," she admitted afterwards, explaining that the need to maintain a low weight for lifts led to muscle loss and a vulnerability to injury.
Yet the duo, who have weathered multiple injuries before, including Sui skating on a fractured foot to take silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics, remain defiant. "This Four Continents, we weren't at 100 percent, but we are confident we can perform at our highest level in Milan," Han told reporters. "Being able to return to competition requires tremendous courage. What we hope for at the Milan Olympics, beyond results, is to surpass ourselves."
Sui and Han's comeback mirrors a broader trend for China's figure skating. In ice dance, Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu, who finished 12th in Beijing four years ago, return but acknowledge their competitive peak has passed. "It's unlikely," Wang said with a laugh when asked if they could return to their best in Milan.
In men's singles, 29-year-old Jin Boyang, the 2018 bronze medalist who heads to his third Olympics, was China's top finisher in sixth at the recent Four Continents. He humorously rejected the "veteran" label, calling it his "prime".
The young hope rests on teenage skater Zhang Ruiyang, who placed 10th in her final pre-Games test.
A NEW GLOBAL ORDER RESHAPED
While China rebuilds, the global figure skating landscape has been reshaped by a wave of young talent, making the competition for Olympic gold in Milan the most open in years.
The men's event is dominated by Ilia Malinin of the United States. The 21-year-old "Quad God," who recently secured his fourth consecutive national title, is the two-time reigning world champion and the first and only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition. His technical arsenal, including six different quadruple jumps in one program, places him in a league of his own.
Malinin's main rivals are expected to be a strong Japanese contingent led by world champion Yuma Kagiyama, and South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan, who took silver by a razor-thin 0.11-point margin at Four Continents behind Japan's Kao Miura.
The women's field will see the return of Russian skaters competing as Individual Neutral Athletes, with Adelia Petrosyan to challenge the new order established in their absence: 2024 world champion Kaori Sakamoto and her dominant Japanese peers, who swept the podium at Four Continents, and rising stars from the United States and South Korea.
In pairs, Japan's world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, fresh from winning the 2025-26 Grand Prix Final, are the ones to beat. They are chased by a pack of contenders: German duo Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin, Italian hopefuls Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, and seasoned Canadian world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps.
The ice dance competition promises a classic duel. American veterans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, five-time Olympians seeking their first individual gold, face challenges from the returning 2022 silver medalist Guillaume Cizeron of France and his new partner Laurence Fournier Bodry.
The quadrennial battle for figure skating glory at the Olympic Winter Games will commence on February 6, with the team event where ten countries have qualified. The sport's world powerhouses, like the United States and Japan, enter as favorites, while a resilient China aims to leverage its hard-won spot to build momentum for its title-defending pair. ■
