Yu Xiaoyu (; ) is a former

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With partner Zhang Hao, she is the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final silver medalist,

2017 Asian Winter Games The 2017 Asian Winter Games ( ja, 2017アジア冬季競技大会, 2017 Ajia tōkikyōgitaikai) was the 8th edition of the Asian Winter Games. They were hosted in Sapporo and Obihiro in Hokkaido, Japan. These Games were originally scheduled for 2 ...

champion and 2018 Chinese national champion. With partner

Jin Yang Jin Yang (; ; born in Harbin) is a Chinese male pair skater. With current partner Peng Cheng, he is a two-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2020, bronze in 2019), two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist ( 2018–19, 2019–20), and ...

, she is a two-time (2014, 2015) World Junior champion, the 2012 World Junior silver medalist, the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics champion, the 2013–2014 JGP Final champion, and the 2016

Four Continents Europeans in the 16th century divided the world into four continents: Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. Each of the four continents was seen to represent its quadrant of the world—Africa in the south, America in the west, Asia in the east, a ...

bronze medalist. She was born in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Partnership with Jin Yang

Yu/Jin were paired together by their coaches in 2009. They did on- and off-ice training from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon with a break in the middle.

2010–11 season

Yu/Jin won the silver medal at the 2010 Chinese Nationals. They made their international debut during the 2010–11 season. They won bronze at JGP Cup of Austria and then won gold at

Czech Skate The Prague Skate (sometimes titled Golden Skate; from 1994: Czech Skate) is an international figure skating competition. It was a senior event from the 1960s to 1997, usually held in November or December in Prague. Medals were awarded in the discipl ...

. At the

Junior Grand Prix Final The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final or JGP Final (titled the ISU Junior Series Final in the 1997–98 season) is the culmination of a series of junior-level competitions – the ISU Junior Grand Prix organized by the International Skating Union. Medals ...

, they won the bronze medal.

2011–12 season

The pair performed a quad

twist Twist may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage * ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist'' * ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...

at a national competition in 2011, when Yu was 15 and Jin was 17 years old (or 13 and 22). They finished 7th at the 2011 Skate Canada and 6th at the

2011 Cup of China The 2011 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2011–12 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai on November 3–6. Med ...

. They then won the bronze medal at their

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. Yu/Jin competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships and won the silver medal behind teammates and training partners

Sui Wenjing Sui Wenjing (; born 18 July 1995) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Han Cong, she is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silver medalist (2015, 2016, 2 ...

Han Cong Han Cong (pronounced "Han Tsong") (; born 6 August 1992) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Sui Wenjing, he is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silv ...

2012–13 season

In the 2012-13 season, Yu/Jin finished 4th in JGP Austria and 2nd in JGP Croatia in their JGP Events. They finished 5th at the JGP Final. Yu/Jin then competed at the 2013 World Junior Championships and finished 4th.

2013–14 season

Prior to the 2013-14 season, Yu/Jin changed coaches, moving from Luan Bo to Olympic pairs champion

Zhao Hongbo Zhao Hongbo (; born 22 September 1973) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With his wife Shen Xue, Zhao is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion (2002, 2003 & 2007), a three-time Four Co ...

Yao Bin Yao Bin (; born August 15, 1957 in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese figure skating coach. He is considered one of the pioneers of the sport in China. Yao and his partner Luan Bo were the first team to represent China at the World Figure Skatin ...

, and Han Bing. They won the gold medals in their JGP events at the 2013 JGP Latvia and 2013 JGP Estonia qualifying them to their fourth JGP Final in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

where they won the gold medal. Yu/Jin finished their perfect season by winning gold at the 2014 World Junior Championships in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

2014–15 season

In the 2014-15 season, Yu/Jin made their official senior debut on the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

circuit. They won a silver medal at the

2014 Cup of China The 2014 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2014–15 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai on November 7–9. Med ...

and a bronze medal at the

2014 NHK Trophy The 2014 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the 2014–15 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Namihaya Dome in Osaka on November 28–30. Medals were awarded in t ...

, qualifying them for their first senior

Grand Prix Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (formerly Champions Series Final), often shortened to ''Grand Prix Final'' and abbreviated as ''GPF'', is a senior-level international figure skating competition. Medals are awarded in men's singles, ladies' ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain. At the Grand Prix Final they set new personal bests in both the short program and free skate to finish in 5th place. They then went on to win their second

national title A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. With the surprise comeback of Pang/Tong, Yu/Jin were not given a spot to compete at the

Four Continents Championships The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) is an annual figure skating competition. The International Skating Union established it in 1999 to provide skaters representing non-African and non-European countries with a similar competit ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, China. Instead, they were sent to the

2015 Winter Universiade The 2015 Winter Universiade, the XXVII Winter Universiade, was a multi sport winter event held in Granada, Spain and Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. On 14 March 2009, FISU announced that the host would be Granada because they were the only bid. On 25 J ...

where they won the gold medal. It was later announced that they would compete at the

2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships The 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships was an international figure skating competition in the 2014–15 season. Commonly called "World Juniors" and "Junior Worlds", the event determined the World Junior champions in the disciplines ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, Estonia. Despite training senior program layouts for much of the season, they managed to successfully defend their Junior World title, winning both segments of the competition.

2015–16 season

Yu/Jin were assigned to

Cup of China The Cup of China was one of the series of six senior-level, international figure skating competitions held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The Cup of China joined the series in 2003, and was cancelled in 2022 as China enforces str ...

and

NHK Trophy The NHK Trophy is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Organized by the Japanese Skating Federation, it began in 1979 and was added to the Grand Prix series in 199 ...

. They attempted their first throw quadruple salchow in competition at Cup of China and won a bronze medal. They then went on to win silver at

2015 NHK Trophy The 2015 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Big Hat in Nagano on November 27–29. Medals were awarded in the d ...

which helped qualify them for the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in

. At the Final they placed 5th. At the 2016 Four Continents Championships, Yu/Jin claimed the bronze.

Partnership with Zhang Hao

2016–17 season

On April 14, 2016, ''International Figure Skating'' magazine broke the news of Yu's new partnership with Zhang Hao. The

Chinese Skating Association The Chinese Skating Association (CSA) was founded in 1956. It hosts the annual Chinese Figure Skating Championships and the Cup of China. Notable people in Chinese figure skating *Yao Bin & Luan Bo Pairs team now coaches - first Chinese pair sk ...

decided to switch partners between the two pairs of

Peng Peng may refer to: * Peng (surname) (彭), a Chinese name * Peng (state) (大彭), a state during the late Shang dynasty * Peng (mythology) (鵬), a legendary Chinese creature * ''Peng!'', 1992 album by Stereolab * ''PENG!'', a 2005 comic * P.Eng. ...

/Zhang and Yu/Jin. They took the silver medal at the 2016 Skate Canada and won gold at the

2016 Cup of China The 2016 Audi Cup of China was the fifth event of six in the 2016–17 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing on November 18–20. Medals were ...

. At the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

they won the silver medal behind

Evgenia Tarasova Evgenia Maksimovna Tarasova (russian: Евгения Максимовна Тарасова; born 17 December 1994) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Vladimir Morozov, she is the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World medalist (20 ...

/ Vladimir Morozov.

2017–18 season

Yu/Zhang began their season at the 2017 Cup of Nice where they placed first. In their first Grand Prix event of the season, Yu/Zhang placed second at the

2017 Cup of China The 2017 Audi Cup of China was the 3rd event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing on 3–5 November. Medals were aw ...

after ranking second in both the short program and free skate. In their second Grand Prix event at

2017 Skate America The 2017 Skate America was the sixth event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Lake Placid, New York on November 24–26. Medals were awarded in t ...

, Yu/Zhang again placed second after ranking second in both programs. Their scores in both Grand Prix events have qualified Yu/Zhang for the 2017-18 Grand Prix Final, where they placed sixth. They won the Chinese National Championship and were named to the Chinese Olympic and World teams. They placed eighth at the Olympics, and seventh at Worlds.

2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons

Due to injury, they withdrew from both of their 2018-19 Grand Prix events and did not compete at Nationals. They did not compete again until the 2019-20 Nationals, where they placed fourth.

Partner Change and Retirement

2020-21 season

In September of 2020, it was reported that Yu and Zhang had split, and that Yu was now paired with Wang Lei. Zhang would announce his retirement later in the season. In April 2021, she announced her retirement.

Programs

With Zhang Hao

With Jin Yang

Competitive highlights

''GP:

; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

With Zhang

With Jin

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Xiaoyu 1996 births Living people Chinese female pair skaters Figure skaters from Beijing World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Asian Games gold medalists for China Universiade medalists in figure skating Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of China Asian Games medalists in figure skating Figure skaters at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics Youth Olympic gold medalists for China Universiade gold medalists for China Competitors at the 2015 Winter Universiade Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists