AS cheers burst out at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Saturday, China’s two-time world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong embraced each other and cried out in ecstasy.

Except for a downgraded triple Salchow, the Chinese duo staged a nearly perfect free skating routine to earn a world record score of 239.88 points and the much-anticipated Olympic title on the penultimate competition day at Beijing 2022.

Four years ago, they missed the gold by a mere margin of 0.43 points in Pyeongchang, South Korea. At these Games, they pulled off the sole quad twist lift to edge silver medalists Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov from the Russian Olympic Committee by less than a point.

Tough as the journey is — full of ups and downs, injuries and pandemic — the Chinese pair have fought to return to the peak and saw their dream come true.

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” was the music Sui and Han skated to capture their first world championships in 2017, and the one Sui has always skated with tears.

As the last note stopped Saturday, she could not hold her tears any more in the arms of Han, who softly tapped on the back to comfort his companion.

“Because we are not performing to the music, but completely recreating our own story,” she explained.

Nobody was born a champion, so were Sui and Han.

The pair kept on it, hour after hour, day after day, repetition after repetition, until they claimed a silver at the 2015 ISU Figure Skating World Championships.

However, a bolt came from the blue when they aspired to go one step higher on the podium. Sui had to pause her skating career due to ankle injuries on both feet. After the surgery, she spent a month in bed and another two for rehabilitation.

“There was a time I couldn’t stand the pain at all, I had to get an injection to fall asleep. And because I couldn’t turn over in bed, my whole back was numb and my thighs and buttocks ached. It was too painful,” Sui recalled. “I didn’t even know if I could walk again.”

While others doubted whether Sui could return to the rink, Han waited for his partner with strong belief and kept training during that period.

Fortunately, Sui fully recovered one year later. Performing to “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Sui and Han won the gold medal at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships for the first time, ending China’s seven-year wait for another title since Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo’s gold in Vancouver.

However, it was not plain sailing to success and the joy did not last long.

At Pyeongchang 2018, despite being tortured by her foot injury, Sui staged as a fighter against other competitors as well as her destiny, together with her companion.

The pair pulled off a flawless free skating routine except for a tumble in a side-by-side triple Salchow jump. Finally, they missed the top of the podium with a margin of 0.43 points.

“I have nothing to regret. The Olympic gold is our next goal, we’ll continue to perform our best,” Han told his teammate.

(Xinhua)