Xiaoyu Yu



Yu Xiaoyu (born in Beijing) is a Chinese female pair skater. With former partner Jin Yang, she is a two-time (2014, 2015) World Junior champion, the 2012 World Junior silver medalist, the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics champion, the 2013–2014 JGP Final champion, and the 2016 Four Continents bronze medalist.

Partnership with Jin Yang
Yu/Jin were paired together by their coaches in 2009. They did on- and off-ice training from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon with a break in the middle.

2010–11 season
Yu/Jin won the silver medal at the 2010 Chinese Nationals. They made their international debut during the 2010–11 season. They won bronze at JGP Cup of Austria and then won gold at Czech Skate. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, they won the bronze medal.

2011–12 season
The pair performed a quad twist at a national competition in 2011, when Yu was 15 and Jin was 17 years old (or 13 and 22). They finished 7th at the 2011 Skate Canada and 6th at the 2011 Cup of China. They then won the bronze medal at their national championships. Yu/Jin competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships and won the silver medal behind teammates and training partners Sui Wenjing/Han Cong.

2012–13 season
In the 2012-13 season, Yu/Jin finished 4th in JGP Austria and 2nd in JGP Croatia in their JGP Events. They finished 5th at the JGP Final. Yu/Jin then competed at the 2013 World Junior Championships and finished 4th.

2013–14 season
Prior to the 2013-14 season, Yu/Jin changed coaches, moving from Luan Bo to Olympic pairs champion Zhao Hongbo, Yao Bin, and Han Bing. They won the gold medals in their JGP events at the 2013 JGP Latvia and 2013 JGP Estonia qualifying them to their fourth JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan where they won the gold medal. Yu/Jin finished their perfect season by winning gold at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2014–15 season
In the 2014-15 season, Yu/Jin made their official senior debut on the Grand Prix circuit. They won a silver medal at the 2014 Cup of China and a bronze medal at the 2014 NHK Trophy, qualifying them for their first senior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain. At the Grand Prix Final they set new personal bests in both the short program and free skate to finish in 5th place. They then went on to win their second national title. With the surprise comeback of Pang/Tong, Yu/Jin were not given a spot to compete at the Four Continents Championships in Seoul and the World Championships in Shanghai, China. Instead, they were sent to the 2015 Winter Universiade where they won the gold medal. It was later announced that they would compete at the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. Despite training senior program layouts for much of the season, they managed to successfully defend their Junior World title, winning both segments of the competition.

2015–16 season
Yu/Jin were assigned to Cup of China and NHK Trophy. They attempted their first throw quadruple salchow in competition at Cup of China and won a bronze medal. They then went on to win silver at 2015 NHK Trophy which helped qualify them for the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona. At the Final they placed 5th.

Partnership with Zhang Hao
On April 14, 2016, International Figure Skating magazine broke the news of Yu's new partnership with Zhang Hao. The Chinese Skating Association decided to switch partners between the two pairs of Peng/Zhang and Yu/Jin. They took the silver medal at the 2016 Skate Canada and won gold at the 2016 Cup of China. At the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final in Marseille they won the silver medal behind Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov.

Age controversy
In February 2011, a group of Chinese skaters' ages became the subject of controversy. Although her ISU bio lists Yu as born on January 2, 1996, a Chinese website suggested she was born on that day in 1998, in which case she was too young to compete in Junior Grand Prix events during the 2010–11 season. Her partner's age also came under scrutiny. His ISU bio states that he was born on May 16, 1994, but the Chinese website suggested he was born on that day in 1989, in which case he was too old to compete in junior events.

Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix