Chen Hongyi in the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships held in Stockholm, Sweden [Xinhua]

The International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships were held in Stockholm, Sweden, from March 22-28. As a qualifying event for the Olympics, 24 spots in men's singles, 24 in women's singles, 16 in pairs and 16 in ice dance were secured for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

China earned five figure skating spots for the 2022 Olympics. Chen Hongyi, who finished 21st in the women's singles figure skating event, clinched one of the five spots. She will be the only Chinese to participate in the women's singles figure skating event at the 2022 Olympics.

Chen was born in 2002 in Beijing. She began skating at the age of 6 at a local skating club, and it was immediately apparent she had a gift for skating. In 2016, she joined the Beijing figure skating team.

The following year, Chen ranked second at the women's singles final, during the National Figure Skating Championships. In April 2018, she won the women's singles title at the National Figure Skating Championships. Three months later, she was named to China's national figure skating team.

Chen competed in the 2019 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, in Anaheim, in the United States, and she ranked 14th in women's singles competition. The next year, she ranked 11th during the 2020 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, held in Seoul, the Republic of Korea.

On November 7, 2020, Chen was crowned the women's singles champion during the ISU Grand Prix Shiseido Cup of China, in Southwest China's Chongqing. "I am quite pleased with my performance, though some movements didn't reach my expectations. I still have a lot of details to improve on," she said after the final competition.

Chen is practicing hard for the Beijing Olympic Games. She says she will continue to keep improving her skills, especially in performing jumps and other movements, and she vows to try her best to present better performances.

(Women of China English Monthly September 2021 issue)