What a show! The Chinese mainland duo Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang just snagged a golden ticket to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics after storming the ISU qualifier in Beijing. With a stunning 191.53 points, they topped both the short program and the free skate to claim first place. ⛸️🏆
"We made our utmost efforts in training," said Zhang with a bright smile. "It was an honor to skate on this international stage and win the berth."
Huang added, "We had some mistakes and felt the home-crowd pressure, but we stayed steady. The Chinese mainland has a great tradition in pair skating, and we believe our team can reach new heights."
They'll join Armenia's Karina Akopova & Nikita Rakhmanin and Japan's Yuna Nagaoka & Sumitada Moriguchi as the top three pairs booking spots in Italy. Meanwhile, France's Camille & Pavel Kovalev just missed the cut, finishing fourth.
With their Olympic dream unlocked, Zhang and Huang are now gearing up for a full season of training, choreography tweaks, and maybe a few TikTok challenges to keep fans hyped. Stay tuned as these two set their sights on the Olympic podium in 2026! 🌟
Reference(s):
Chinese figure skating pair qualify for 2026 Winter Olympics
cgtn.com
