, Heilongjiang

Heilongjiang

For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...

, China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

) is a Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

 figure skating

Figure skating

Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

 coach. He is considered one of the pioneers of the sport in China. Yao and his partner Luan Bo were the first team to represent China at the World Figure Skating Championships

World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

. Since then Yao has almost single-handedly turned China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 into a pair skating

Pair skating

Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals,...

 world power.

In the closed society of mid-20th century China, Luan and Yao had only photographs from which to learn their moves. They had a terrible experience at the 1980 World Championships

1980 World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion....

 in Dortmund

Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....

, West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

; Yao has said he remembers people in the audience laughing at their inferior skating (among those people was Irina Rodnina

Irina Rodnina

Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina is one of the most successful figure skaters ever and the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships and three successive Olympic gold medals . She initially competed with Alexei Ulanov and later teamed up with Alexander Zaitsev...

, who later recalled the skating was indeed very funny). They finished 15th, in last place. They competed at the World Championships twice more in 1981 and 1982, finishing last both times. They also placed 15th at the 1984 Winter Olympics

1984 Winter Olympics

The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...

. After these embarrassing experiences, Yao was determined to create a team of world-class figure skaters.

Yao was a member of the Harbin figure skating team from 1970–1984. In September 1984 he retired as an amateur skater and became a coach for the Harbin team. In 1986 he was named the national coach of the sport and soon afterward, in August 1987, graduated from the Harbin Normal University

Harbin Normal University

Harbin Normal University is a university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, P.R. China.HNU has 16 colleges and offers 46 academic majors. It offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degrees...

 Sports College. He has served as the national figure skating committee's director since 1998.

Among Yao's current and former students are Shen Xue

Shen Xue

Shen Xue is a female Chinese pair skater. With her partner and husband Zhao Hongbo, Shen is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents Champion and a six-time Grand Prix Final champion.Shen and Zhao were the first...

 and Zhao Hongbo

Zhao Hongbo

Zhao Hongbo is a male Chinese pair skater. With his partner and wife Shen Xue, Zhao is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents Champion and a six-time Grand Prix Final champion.Shen and Zhao were the first...

, whom he coached to three Olympic medals (two bronzes, one gold) and seven World medals; Pang Qing

Pang Qing

Pang Qing is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Tong Jian, she is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, the 2006 and 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion and the 2008 Grand Prix Final Champion.-Career:...

 & Tong Jian

Tong Jian

Tong Jian is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Pang Qing, he is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, 2006 & 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion and the 2008 Grand Prix Final Champion....

; Zhang Dan

Zhang Dan

Zhang Dan is a Chinese pair skater. With her partner Zhang Hao, she is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, 2005 & 2010 Four Continents champion, and three time World silver medalist.-Biography:...

 & Zhang Hao

Zhang Hao

Zhang Hao is a Chinese figure skater. With partner Zhang Dan, he is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, 2005 & 2010 Four Continents champion, and three time World silver medalist.-Biography:...

; Dong Huibo

Dong Huibo

Dong Huibo is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Wu Yiming, she is the 2008 World Junior bronze medalist. She previously competed as a single skater on the national level.-Results:-References:* -External links:...

 & Wu Yiming

Wu Yiming

Wu Yiming is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Dong Huibo, he is the 2008 World Junior bronze medalist. He previously competed with An Ni and was a two-time medalist at the Chinese Figure Skating Championships on the senior level.-Results:-References:...

; Li Jiaqi

Li Jiaqi

Li Jiaqi is a Chinese pairs figure skater. She competes with Xu Jiankun. The two are the 2006 Chinese national bronze medalists. They placed seventh at the 2006 Four Continents Championships.-Competitive highlights:-External links:...

 & Xu Jiankun

Xu Jiankun

Xu Jiankun is a Chinese pair skater. The two are the 2006 Chinese national bronze medalists. They placed seventh at the 2006 Four Continents Championships.-Competitive highlights :-External links:...

; and Zhang Yue & Wang Lei

Wang Lei (figure skater)

Wang Lei is a Chinese pair skater. He competes with Zhang Yue. They are the 2009 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists and 2008 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists....

.

In 2004 Yao came full circle—at the 2004 World Championships in Dortmund, where 24 years prior he and his partner had finished last, Yao's pair teams placed 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. That year, Yao received International Figure Skating Magazines Coach of the Year award.

In 2010, Yao's dream came true yet again, when his teams finished 1st, 2nd, and 5th in the 2010 Winter Olympics

Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics

The figure skating competition of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at Pacific Coliseum between February 14 and 27, 2010. It was the 23rd edition of the figure skating event at the Olympics, and the 21st edition at the Winter Olympics....

, while Shen & Zhao also established a new world record for most points scored (76.66) in the pairs figure skating short program.

Competitive highlights

(with Luan Bo)

Event	1979–1980	1980–1981	1981–1982	1982–1983	1983–1984
Winter Olympic Games Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...					15th
World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...	15th	11th	13th
Winter Universiade Figure skating at the Winter Universiade Figure skating is a part of the Winter Universiade. It was first held as part of the Universiade in 1960.-Men's singles:- Ladies singles :- Pair skating :- Ice dancing :-References:* -External links:*...				3rd

External links

• Yao Bin pictures