Olympic medalist takes charge of eponymous figure skating academy

The Zhang Dan Youth Figure Skating Academy was set up in the name of the former Winter Olympic silver medal winner in Beijing last month.

The academy, which covers 1,800 square meters of standard ice rink in line with Olympic specifications, will have Zhang Dan, who won a figure skating silver at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games, as the general supervisor.

Zhang will build a high-level professional figure skating training base for young people together with Zhang Min, the three-time national figure skating champion and two-time Four Continents Championship medalist, and Gao Chongbo, former national ice dance champion.

Zhang Dan believes that participating in figure skating will have a positive impact on teenagers' physical fitness, musical appreciation and coordination abilities.

The aim of learning figure skating is not only to become an excellent athlete, but also to give more young people who love the sport a chance to put themselves in the spotlight, she says.

The first youth training camp started on Sept 1. Zhang Dan will work with the coaches to help improve the overall level of the trainees through both on-and office classes.

Xinhua