Reigning Olympic Champions Wenjing Sui & Cong Han of China have made another important step in their comeback, winning the Pairs Short Program at the ISU Figure Skating Four Continents Championships 2026 in Beijing Thursday. It was an exciting night of competition at the National Indoor Stadium with many teams scoring a personal best. 

Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN) lead with season’s best 

Beijing 2022 Olympic champions Wenjing Sui & Cong Han of China sparkled in the Short Program to lead by four points. Japan’s up-and-coming Yuna Nagaoka & Sumitada Moriguchi are ranked second while US champions Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov came third. 

I

Olympic Champions Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (CHN) top the Pairs Short Program at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Beijing, China © ISU

Sui & Han continued their spectacular comeback with a passionate Flamenco to “Habanera”, completing a set of triple toes, a big triple twist and throw triple flip. The two-time ISU world champions showed a lot of improvement compared with their ISU Grand Prix events and posted a season’s best of 76.02 points. 

“Today we are very happy to participate in the ISU Figure Skating Four Continents Championship again,” Han said. “This is the last chance for us to practice before the Olympics and today we are very honored also to get our season best score, although it was not so perfect. Before the Olympics, every time we participate in a competition is a chance for us to upgrade ourselves and improve ourselves. 

“From the Grand Prix Cup of China to the NHK Trophy and then to Nationals, our scores and also our content have been continuously improving for the technical part and the component score step by step. Today we are very happy to get the first place. We still have room for improvement and we will try to do better in the Olympics,” he concluded.

'Very happy to get first place': China's Wenjing Sui & Cong Han at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Beijing, China © ISU 

Nagaoka & Moriguchi’s performance to “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was highlighted by a rarely seen side-by-side triple loop, a throw triple Salchow and a lasso lift with great ice coverage. The Japanese champions set a personal best of 71.95 points and are in a medal position for the first time at a major international event. 

“We were able to put out a good performance,” Nagaoka said. “From the six-minute warm-up, we felt our condition was good, and we were able to perform the way we prepared and practiced. I was also happy that our lift got evaluated so highly.

“Last September, we were here in this exact venue for the Olympic qualifier,” she continued. “Back then, we were very nervous because we knew we needed to perform well. However, today, we were able to enjoy our performance without getting too nervous, which was good and led to a great result.”

Yuna Nagaoka & Sumitada Moriguchi (JPN) skating their way to second after the Pairs Short Program in Beijing, China © ISU

Performing to “Cloak and Dagger”, Efimova & Mitrofanov (USA) produced an excellent triple twist, a throw triple loop and four level-four elements. The only glitch came when Efimova touched down on the triple toe. The husband-and-wife team collected a personal best with 71.85 points. 

“It feels great,” Efimova said. “This is the second time we have over 70 (points) internationally, and I’m happy that it’s even a little bit higher than the score in Finland (70.19, at ISU GP Finlandia Trophy 2025). This is what we are working for. We want to improve and we want to get this score going up.”

Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov (USA) placed third in the Pairs Short Program in Beijing, China © ISU

The 2024 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final champions Jiaxuan Zhang & Yihang Huang (CHN) finished not far behind in fourth place with a strong performance to “Nemesis”, scoring a personal best of 69.05 points. Fifth-placed Kelly Ann Laurin & Loucas Ethier (CAN) joined the club of personal-best scorers with another clean skate and 65.68 points. Audrey Shin & Balazs Nagy (USA) placed sixth on 63.11 points. 

What and when 

The schedule of the ISU Figure Skating Four Continents Championships 2026 is as follows:

Thursday, January 22: Women’s Short Program, Rhythm Dance, Pairs Short Program
 Friday, January 23: Free Dance & Women’s Short Program 
 Saturday, January 24: Men’s Short Program & Pairs Free Skating
 Sunday, January 25: Men’s Free Skating & Exhibition Gala

For more information, full entry lists and results, visit the ISU event page of the ISU Figure Skating Four Continents Championships 2026. Find comments of the skaters and the press conference highlights on the ISU event website in the “For Media” section. For more information also see the Facts & Figures.

Follow the discussion on social media using #4ContsFigure and #FigureSkating. 

Where to watch the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2026:

Follow the Where to Watch News here.

Connect with the world of ice skating through the new ISU App.

Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.