Gao Tingyu of China attends the flower ceremony after his speed skating men's 500m victory at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China, Feb. 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)
Olympic champion Gao Tingyu will skip the ISU World Cups and World Championships in the upcoming 2022-23 season in order to recover his best form.
BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Gao Tingyu will not participate in the ISU World Cups and World Championships in the upcoming 2022-23 season in order to recover his best form.
The 24-year-old, who became China's first male Olympic speed skating champion at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games after winning the 500m race, was excluded from the 34-member roster for the national training camp for the new season.
According to Li Yan, head coach of the training camp, Gao will rest for a season so as to regain his top form for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
Gao told Xinhua in an August interview that he was recovering from waist injuries and hoped to defend his Olympic title in four years' time.
Ning Zhongyan, with two golds and two silvers from World Cups last season, will spearhead China's speed skating team for the 2022-23 season. He is joined by young skaters including Yang Binyu, who won the women's mass start gold at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2020.
The first stop of the ISU World Cup will take place on November 11 in Stavanger, Norway.
