2026 Winter Olympics: China pair ready to defend figure skating gold after 3-year break
Sui Wenjing and Han Cong seal Milano-Cortina spot after winning gold at National Figure Skating Championships in Harbin
Olympic pairs figure skating champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong will be back to defend their title at the 2026 Winter Games, after winning gold at China’s national championships.
The duo, who only returned to competition in October after a three-year break, will be their country’s only representatives in the discipline at the Milano-Cortina Olympics in February.
Another veteran partnership, Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu, also booked their spots at next year’s Games, sealing qualification after topping the ice dancing at the National Figure Skating Championships in Harbin on Saturday.
“We have now secured our place for Milan. I hope we can both step onto the ice in good health,” Sui said.
Sui and Han skated last in the free skate, performing an upgraded version of their programme to music from the Chinese dance drama “A Tapestry of a Legendary Land.” Despite some early errors, they scored 151.6 points and took the gold with a total of 237.57.
Their first competition since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China in October, where they won bronze, ranking first among all Chinese pairs.