On the afternoon of the 22nd, the competition for the "14th Winter" figure skating open group team competition continued, and the pair skating combination Peng Cheng and Wang Lei, who represented Beijing, won 12278 points to finish first in the free skate, further consolidating the lead for the Beijing team. In an interview after the game, Peng Cheng said that in fact, his performance in the team competition was not particularly good, and the overall feeling was a little tight, but fortunately, the strong Beijing team had obvious advantages in other events, so that he and his partner could rest assured that they could skate boldly. When looking ahead to individual events, both men are eager to bring out the best in their training and leave no regrets.
The 26-year-old Peng Cheng rose to fame at a young age, having partnered with former Winter Olympics silver medallist Zhang Hao and later working with Jin Yang for nearly seven years, making him the second pair of Chinese pairs skating in the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle. At the Beijing Winter Olympics two years ago, Peng Cheng Jinyang won the fifth place in pairs skating. In addition, the duo also won the second place in the Grand Prix Final and the fourth place in the World Championships. Since the Winter Olympics, the two have not competed. In the 2022-2023 season, although Peng Cheng Jin Yang had signed up for the figure skating Grand Prix, he eventually withdrew from all competitions due to the aggravation of Jin Yang's Achilles tendonitis**.
Later, Peng Cheng and Jin Yang ended their cooperation, and in March last year, she began to cooperate with her new partner, 35-year-old Wang Lei, to compete in the "14th Winter" event for Beijing. It is worth mentioning that the 35-year-old Wang Lei has been paired with Wang Xuehan for a long time, and briefly worked with another former Beijing figure skater Yu Xiaoyu after his partner retired.
The duo were solid and after a period of running-in, they won the Shanghai Super Cup figure skating pairs in October last year and a bronze medal in the China Cup in November. At this year's Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, the two finished sixth.
In this Winter Games, Peng Cheng Wang Lei took the lead in the team competition, although the lead in the short program and free skate competition was obvious, but Peng Cheng was not particularly satisfied with the performance of the two, she said: "I told my partner before the game that I don't want to have reservations in the team competition, but want to release them all." Because now that the form is out, it is a relief for the individual competition later. However, now the two programs are a little tight, which will make our burden a little heavier later. ”
That being said, the strongest pair of domestic pairs skaters still had a much lead over their opponents in the competition, further extending the advantage for Beijing in the race for the title. When it comes to this team competition, both of them said that the strong team has actually reduced a lot of pressure for them. Peng Cheng said: "The strength of the team is strong, my teammates are fantastic, their excellent performance has reduced the pressure for us, and we can skate casually on the court. Wang Lei said that the Beijing team is a whole, everyone twists into a rope and works hard in one place, which is completely different from the individual competition.
After the end of the team competition, the Peng Cheng and Wang Lei combination will focus on the upcoming individual competition, and the common wish of the two is to give full play to the level of training and not leave regrets for themselves. In response to this, Peng Cheng also added a special sentence, she pointed out that she would be disappointed every time she finished the competition before, because she thought that she had not done a good job, and she would always affect her performance for one reason or another, which is also a sign of immaturity.
Text: Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhang Kunlong.
Edited by Xu Zhao.