Figure skating pairs Olympic champion Han Cong is back and will defend his Winter Olympic title with Sui Wenjing again

The International Skating Union (ISU) has officially announced the list of sub-tournaments for the new Grand Prix, confirming that Han Cong will compete in the 2025/26 Grand Prix of Figure Skating as Sui Wenjing's partner. This means that the pair, who won gold in pairs skating for China at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, will officially make a comeback.

The "onion bucket" combination will challenge to defend the Winter Olympic title

Figure skating pairs Olympic champion Sui Wenjing announced her return to training seven months ago, but her partner was not clear at the time. It wasn't until the ISU list was announced that the names of the two were tied, and the outside world finally learned that her partner was still her old partner Han Cong.

Since winning the gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the two have not participated in international competitions. Sui Wenjing resumed training in December, when she was briefly included in the list of new partners. In an exclusive interview with the official Olympic website in January this year, she said that her return to competition was due to the pressure on the Chinese team to qualify for the pairs skating at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

"As a veteran, I want to be able to take the lead and help young athletes grow, especially in pairs. I hope to lead everyone to a better future," Sui Wenjing said, "As long as the country needs me, I will still be the athlete Sui Wenjing." ”

Previously, Han Cong had announced that he would not participate in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics cycle. But now, he seems to have changed his mind – in order to win another Winter Olympic gold medal for his country, the "gold medal pair" has chosen to compete on the ice again together.