Yu Xiaoyu

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yu.
Yu Xiaoyu
Personal information
Country represented China
Born January 2, 1996[1] or January 2, 1998[2] (see also Age controversy below)
Beijing, China
Home town Beijing
Residence Beijing
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Partner Jin Yang
Coach Hongbo Zhao, Bin Yao, Bing Han
Former coach Yang Ding, Luan Bo
Choreographer David Wilson
Former choreographer Marina Zueva, Zhang Wei
Skating club Harbin Skating Club
ISU personal best scores
Combined total 187.79
2014-15 Grand Prix Final
Short program 62.71
2014-15 Grand Prix Final
Free skate 125.08
2014-15 Grand Prix Final

Yu Xiaoyu (Chinese: 于小雨; pinyin: Yú Xiǎoyǔ; born in Beijing) is a Chinese female pair skater. With partner Jin Yang, she is a two-time (2014, 2015) World Junior champion, the 2012 Junior World silver medalist, the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics champion and the 2013–2014 JGP Final champion.

Career

Yu/Jin were paired together by their coaches in 2009.[3] They do on- and off-ice training from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon with a break in the middle.[3]

2010-2011 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. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, they won the bronze medal.

2011-2012 Season

The pair performed a quad twist at a national competition in 2011, when Yu was 15 and Jin was 17 years old (or 13 and 22).[3] They finished 7th at the 2011 Skate Canada and 6th at the 2011 Cup of China. They then won the bronze medal at their national championships. Yu/Jin competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships and won the silver medal behind teammates and training partners Sui Wenjing/Han Cong.

2012-2013 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.

2013-2014 Season

Prior to the 2013-14 season, Yu/Jin changed coaches, moving from Luan Bo to Olympic pairs champion Zhao Hongbo, Yao Bin, 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, Japan where they won the gold medal. Yu/Jin finished their perfect season by winning gold at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2014-2015 Season

In the 2014-15 season, Yu/Jin made their official senior debut on the Grand Prix circuit. They won a silver medal at the 2014 Cup of China and a bronze medal at the 2014 NHK Trophy, qualifying them for their first senior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, 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. With the surprise comeback of Pang/Tong, Yu/Jin were not given a spot to compete at the Four Continents Championships in Seoul and the World Championships in Shanghai, China. Instead, they were sent to the 2015 Winter Universiade where they won the gold medal.It was later announced that they would compete at the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, 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. They will participate in the opening ceremony at the World Championships in Shanghai.

Age controversy

In February 2011, Yu and Jin's ages became the subject of controversy. Although her ISU bio lists Yu as born on January 2, 1996, a Chinese website suggested she was born on that day in 1998, in which case she was too young to compete in Junior Grand Prix events during the 2010–11 season.[2] Her partner's age also came under scrutiny. His ISU bio states that he was born on May 16, 1994 but the Chinese website suggested he was born on that day in 1989, in which case he was too old to compete in junior events.[2]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2014-2015
2013–2014
[4]
2012–2013
[5]
2011–2012
[6]
2010–2011
[1]
2009–2010
[7]
  • The Love of Death
    by Park Sei Joon
  • The Way We Were
    by Marvin Hamlisch

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Jin

International[8]
Event 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15
Grand Prix Final 5th
GP Cup of China 6th 2nd
GP NHK Trophy 3rd
GP Skate Canada 7th
Universiade 1st
International: Junior[8]
Junior Worlds 8th* 2nd 4th 1st 1st
Youth Olympics 1st
JGP Final 3rd 5th 5th 1st
JGP Austria 3rd 2nd 4th
JGP Croatia 2nd
JGP Czech Rep. 1st
JGP Estonia 1st
JGP Latvia 2nd 1st
National[8]
Chinese Champ. 6th 4th 2nd 3rd 1st 3rd 1st
Chinese NG 7th 4th
*Placement removed as China was erroneously allowed one too many entries.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "China eyed over 9 athletes' ages". ESPN. Associated Press. February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Flade, Tatjana (March 7, 2012). "Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin on the rise". Golden Skate.
  4. ↑ "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Competition Results: Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN". International Skating Union.

External links

Media related to Yu Xiaoyu at Wikimedia Commons