China's winter sports stars

Wu Dajing

Sport: Short-track speed skating

Born: July 24, 1994, in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province

Height: 1.82m

Weight: 73kg

Coached by renowned short-track speed skating mentor Li Yan, Wu shot to fame at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics by winning the men's 500m silver medal and a bronze in the men's 5,000m relay race. He also defended his 500m gold medal at the annual World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Moscow in March while also winning gold in the 5,000m relay event.

Sui Wenjing and Han Cong

Sport: Figure skating pair

Born: July 18, 1995 (Sui)

Aug 6, 1992 (Han) in Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Height: 1.43m (Sui)/1.70m (Han)

Inspired by the 2010 Winter Olympics champion pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, Sui and Han teamed up in 2007 and won their first major international champion at the 2009 Junior Grand Prix Final. After winning the World Junior Championships three times, in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and two bronze medals at the Senior Grand Prix Final, in 2010 and 2014, the Sui-Han pair claimed a silver medal at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai in March.

Li Qishi

Sport: Speed skating

Born: Aug 16, 1993, in Jilin province

Height: 1.75m

Weight: 68kg

As an up and coming speed skater in China, Li made her name by winning the 1,000m race at the World Cup series Seoul leg in November 2014, just one year after transferring from the short-track race. She also competed for China at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, where she placed 27th in the 1,500m.

Cai Xuetong

Sport: Halfpipe snowboarding

Born: Sept 26, 1993, in Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Height: 1.61m

Weight: 58kg

Cai emerged on the world stage by winning the halfpipe event at the world junior snowboarding championships in 2009 and then represented China at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics as the youngest competitor in the event.

Zhang Yiwei

Sport: Halfpipe snowboarding

Born: Oct 3, 1992, in Gaizhou, Liaoning province

Height: 1.72m

Weight: 76kg

Zhang stole the limelight by pulling off a difficult stunt to finish second at the Arctic Challenge, a six-star level event in the World Snowboard Tour, in March 2013. He finished sixth in the men's halfpipe at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics before claiming a silver medal at the Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in January.

(China Daily 05/29/2015 page24)