Raising the stakes in winter sports medal quest

Talent boost

During the 2022-23 season, China's winter sports teams won 14 gold medals in total at world championships and World Cup series — almost equaling the outcome of the 2018-19 season, the first year of the Beijing 2022 Olympic cycle, according to the administrative center.

As the country's most decorated winter sports program, the short-track speed skating team, led by new coach Zhang Jing, remains the biggest contributor after winning 19 medals, including six gold, this past season.

China's short-track medal hopes have been further enhanced by the additions of Hungarian-born Olympic champion brothers Sandor Liu Shaolin and Liu Shaoang, who completed a naturalization process in March.

The Liu brothers are the latest talents to be recruited as part of a program initiated prior to Beijing 2022 to bolster the country's competitiveness in winter sports, especially in less-developed events.

Former South Korean national team short-track speed skater Lin Xiaojun, aka Lim Hyo-jun, completed his first international season representing China after changing nationality in 2021 to resume his career following a long-term dispute with the Korean governing body. In a strong return to competition, Lin won back-to-back 500m gold medals at the short-track World Cup series in February.

With China opening its borders in the post-pandemic era, a packed schedule of international events on the 2023-24 calendar will provide Chinese athletes with more elite-level tests at home.

The International Skating Union's long-track and short-track speed skating World Cup legs, scheduled respectively for Nov 17-19 and Dec 8-10, and the figure skating grand prix final, planned for Dec 7-10, are among the international events already confirmed.

Ji Dong, coach of the national freestyle skiing aerials team, welcomed the return of international tests and pledged to take full advantage of Beijing 2022's legacy to maintain the momentum in Italy.

"It sounds quite far away, but there are actually only two more winters until the Olympic season opens in 2025," said Ji, who helped Xu Mengtao and Qi Guangpu finish on top of the women's and men's podiums at Beijing 2022 in aerials.

"The clock is ticking and it's really a very tight window considering we are playing catchup to our rivals."