The Loongs road to Milan starts here

Even with a competitive roster featuring Sun and Olympic champions, such as Lin Xiaojun, Liu Shaoang and Fan Kexin, Team China finished the 2024-25 World Tour with a subpar haul of five gold, two silver and five bronze medals, while also being dominated by its neighboring rival South Korea on home ice at the Winter Asiad in Harbin.

The Beijing worlds have just offered them a final chance this season to pick up their pace and confidence in time for the ultimate race in Italy. "This is the final battle this year, up against the world's best. When next season kicks off with the real business leading up to the Olympics, we cannot afford any more mistakes. So, this is where we shall make our stand and fight to bounce back," veteran women's skater Fan said after Thursday's opening training session.

Racing against the host and the mighty Western powerhouses are the South Korean "White Tigers", a longtime dominant force in the short-track discipline that has seen young leaders Park Ji-won and Kim Gil-li mature enough to lead the East Asian country back into Olympic medal contention.

Park, as a two-time men's Crystal Globe winner (2022-2024), will channel his frustration from a medal-less worlds campaign last year in the Netherlands into a stronger push for gold in Beijing, while Kim, the reigning women's 1,500m world champion, is keen to emerge from the shadow of her two-time Olympic champion teammate Choi Min-jeong and demonstrate her own Olympic medal credentials.