Four-year quest starts now

Rising talent

Seventeen-year-old Li Jinyu shone in her Olympic debut, winning a surprise silver medal in the women's short-track speed skating 1,500m. Li's performance was a huge consolation for China after favorite and defending champion Zhou Yang was eliminated in the semifinals.

Gao has set his sights on Beijing 2022 after becoming the first male Chinese speed skater to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. The 20-year-old snatched a surprise bronze in a thrilling 500m final, crossing the line just 0.23 seconds behind the winner, Havard Lorentzen of Norway. Gao is convinced he could have finished higher up the podium had he not been affected by a false start by Japan's Joji Kato.

Fifteen-year-old freestyle skier Zhang Kexin was one of the youngest athletes to compete in Pyeongchang and her ninth-place finish in the women's halfpipe bodes extremely well for Beijing 2022. The Harbin native picked up the sport just four years ago and last year became the second-youngest female freestyle skier to win a World Cup halfpipe gold medal.
"I will pay more attention to upping my difficulty level (of jumps and tricks) over the next four years," said Zhang. "I will try to take on even higher difficulties than the best skiers. I want to win gold in Beijing."

Figure skaters Sui Wenjing and Han Cong claimed silver for China at their first Olympics in the pairs event. Performing a spectacular array of throws and twists, they won the short program but had two uncharacteristic slip-ups in the free skate. Han, 25, and Sui, 22, should be in their prime in four years' time and are determined to win gold on home soil. "We will show you the best of us at the Beijing Games," Han said.