Two years ago, Chinese Ice Dancers Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu dropped off the radar. Their last international competition was the ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada in Vancouver in fall 2023, after which they disappeared from the international scene. Injuries and illness took their toll. They were both 29 years old and had competed in two Olympic Games in 2018 and 2022 as well as in six ISU World Championships. They looked back at a long and successful career and you might think they were ready for retirement. 

 Except they were not.

Wang and Liu, now 31, started their comeback this season at the crucial ISU Skate to Milan Olympic Qualifying competition in Beijing in September where they clinched the last available Ice Dance quota place by coming fourth. 

Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu (CHN) captured an Olympic quota place in Beijing (CHN) © ISU

“It feels like a dream because the pressure was huge”, Wang said. “We wanted to give two perfect performances and get the spot so much and now we are so excited.”

Liu agreed: “We felt more pressure in this Olympic qualifier than at the two previous Olympics we competed in, because this time we were fighting for a quota place for our country. We are both thrilled and excited that we accomplished this mission.

“After two years we finally come back to competition at the international arena,” Liu continued. “We had to overcome more problems and difficulties than we can imagine, but gladly we have the support from our coaches, from our leadership and from everyone which motivated us to come back to the rink successfully for this season.” 

When entering the event, the skaters did not know what to expect after being away from competitive ice for so long. The Chinese ice dancers are experienced athletes but the high pressure of competing is something you cannot practice. “We could not imagine which result we can achieve, but we still had high hopes,” Wang added. “We have a lot of help and support from every side. I wanted to say thank you everyone who put in their effort to work with us. Together, we can reach this result,” she continued.

It was a long road to come back. “We had injuries and last year we tried to make some adjustments because of my partner’s asthma but we still did not know how we can start again,” Wang explained. “But this year we knew we have the qualifier and we have the chance to earn a quota place for team China to go to the 2026 Milan Olympic Winter Games. This chance motivated us and gave us a lot of confidence and we decided to come back to international competition.” 

Challenge accepted

The challenge was not only to work on the programs and on the elements. In ice dance, each twizzle, each edge, each turn is especially important and the performance makes the difference. Wang and Liu chose “Go Wild Alone” and “Flower Guardia” for their Rhythm Dance in line with the 90s theme of this season. For the Free Dance, they decided to revamp their cool Batman routine that they had used in 2023 before their break from competing. 

Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu (CHN) compete their "Batman" Free Dance at the ISU Olympic qualifier in Beijing (CHN) © ISU

“We all know that in Ice Dance, we need a lot of international competition experience and we need the audience to remember us,” Wang pointed out. “After not competing for a while, this was a challenge and it was like we had to start from the beginning.” 

With hard work and the support of their coaches in China and Canada, the ice dancers were able to give two strong performances and get the spot. 

“Before the competition we didn't know what kind of a score we can get,” Liu noted. “This was the big challenge that all of us worried about. But we got confidence from our country and we have as well our experience from two Olympic Winter Games, so we were able to deal with the pressure.” 

Moving forward, Wang/Liu are aiming to continue to improve.

“I think everything is possible,” Liu said. “Last year we have experienced a lot like the injuries and we didn't know if we have the chance to come back to the rink. But we did come back successfully.”

“We as athletes all have our ups and downs,” Wang added. “For us, we definitely had our downtime.  But we're still confident. We know what we can achieve. We just take it step by step and train day by day. We are also trying to develop ourselves in all aspects. Next time you will see more mature performances with more experience.”

The next time will be this week at the ISU Grand Prix of China in Chongqing (CHN) and this is another important step for Wang/Liu on their way to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, as the Chinese Figure Skating Association will make their Olympic selection based on the results from the Grand Prix in Chongqing and the Chinese National Championships.

Watch Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu competing again at the ISU Grand Prix event Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN) October 24-26.