Li Xiangning Explained

Li Xiangning (; ; born May 11, 2000) is a Chinese figure skater. She is the 2018 Cup of Nice silver medalist, the 2018 Chinese national champion, and a two-time Chinese national silver medalist (2016, 2017).

On the junior level, she is the 2016 Youth Olympic champion in the team event.

She placed 22nd at the 2018 Winter Olympics and 12th at the 2016 Youth Olympics.

Li switched to pair skating during the 2018–19 figure skating season, partnering with Xie Zhong, but has since returned to singles before ever debuting competitively in pairs.

Career

Early years

Li began learning to skate in 2004. She debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in August 2013, placing 10th in Riga, Latvia.

2014–2015 season

Li qualified to the final segment in her first appearance at an ISU Championship – the World Junior Championships, held in March in Tallinn, Estonia; she placed 24th in the short program, 20th in the free skate, and 21st overall.

2015–2016 season

In February 2016, Li placed 12th in her individual event at the Winter Youth Olympic in Hamar, Norway. She won gold in the team event, having competed as a member of Team Desire. The following month, she finished 20th at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.

2016–2017 season

Li's senior international debut came in November 2016 at the Cup of China; she finished 10th at her first Grand Prix assignment. She ranked 13th at the 2017 Four Continents Championships in Gangneung, South Korea, and then 11th at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. Concluding her season, she placed 14th — seven places ahead of China's other entry in the ladies' event, Li Zijun — at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

2017–2018 season

Li won her first senior international medal, silver, at the International Cup of Nice in October 2017. In January, she finished tenth at the 2018 Four Continents Championships in Taipei. In February, she competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. She qualified to the final segment and finished 22nd overall. She was less successful at the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy. Ranked 26th in the short program, she did not advance to the free skate.

2018–2019 season

In 2018, Li teamed up with Xie Zhong to compete in pair skating. The new pair was invited to two Grand Prix events, the 2018 Skate America and 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. It was unclear how the two were eligible according to the International Skating Union's rules for the Grand Prix series. They later withdrew from both competitions.

Programs

Single skating

Season	Short program	Free skating
2017–2018	Cinema Paradiso	Raymonda
2016–2017	Waltz from Coppélia	Princess Mononoke
2015–2016	Spring Breeze	My Fair Lady
2014–2015	Waltz No. 2	Home Alone
2013–2014	Waltz No. 2	Nocturne Pick Yourself Up

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Pair skating with Xie

International
Event	18–19
align=left		WD
align=left		WD
WD = Withdrew

Single skating

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International
Event	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20
align=left							22nd
align=left						14th	26th
align=left						13th	10th
align=left							10th
align=left						10th	8th
align=left								WD
align=left							bgcolor=silver	2nd
International: Junior
align=left					12th
align=left				21st	20th	11th
align=left					6th
align=left				10th
align=left			10th		6th
align=left				12th
National
align=left		12th	bgcolor=cc9966	3rd	bgcolor=cc9966	3rd	bgcolor=silver	2nd	bgcolor=silver	2nd	bgcolor=gold	1st		13th
Team events
align=left							6th T 7th P
align=left					bgcolor=gold	1st T 4th P
align=left						5th T 8th P
J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.