A U.S.-BORN figure skater has enrolled in the training program of China’s figure skating team in a bid to compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Beverly Zhu, who was born in Los Angeles, will train together with five Chinese ice dancers from Sunday to the end of December in three venues — two in the U.S. and one in Beijing — for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

In January, the rising 16-year-old star was crowned the novice ladies national champion at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Experts said an athlete has to be a Chinese citizen before they could join the national training team. Luo Le, an expert in sports sociology at Beijing Sport University, said it is rare to see an athlete born in other countries join in China’s national team, although naturalizing Chinese athletes has been widely discussed in soccer and basketball teams.

Zhu’s father, Zhu Songchun, is a China-born computer expert and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Called “morning road,” the program will mainly recruit top Chinese athletes from abroad and get trained overseas, according to Chen Lu, the main coach of the training program of China’s figure skating team.

To compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, China has also formed two other national figure skating teams. The three national teams will compete with each other and eventually combine as one.

(Xinhua)