With young talent maturing and the naturalized star regaining momentum, China's short-track speed skating team has capped a fruitful World Cup season as confidence builds toward the world championships.

Despite a slow start at the beginning of the season due to injury issues, the team finished the International Skating Union's 2022-23 World Cup series on a high last week, with a medal-laden ending stretch of the season serving up notice of the team's fast improvement.

Bolstered by a young roster with most skaters making their international debuts, Team China collected 10 medals after racing at all six stops of the series, which kicked off on Oct 28 in Canada. Three gold, two silver and two bronze medals of its total haul were won at the final two legs of the season earlier this month.

Although lagging far behind international powers, such as the Netherlands and South Korea, on the overall medal standings, China's young speedsters, aged 22 on average, deserve credit for making their presence felt on the world stage, said head coach Zhang Jing.

"Our goal for this season was to have our young skaters tested and honed as much as possible through international drills," said Zhang, a former Team China skater who took over her home country's squad in September after a 10-year stint with the Hungarian national program.

"They showed their progress quite well especially at the last two legs, where a lot of them made it into the finals, raced fiercely against the world's best and enjoyed some successes overtaking their senior opponents.

"They had a really good learning experience and I hope they will carry on to train harder for the upcoming world championships."

As the high-profile season finale, the ISU World Short Track Championships will take place from March 10-12 in Seoul with all the top skaters jostling for the coveted world titles at the first major meet since last year's Beijing Winter Olympics.

Looking toward the 2026 Winter Games in Italy and beyond, the Chinese team is expected to continue sending a young roster — without established world and Olympic champions Wu Dajing, Ren Ziwei and Fan Kexin — to South Korea to keep building for the future.

China's commitment in talent development has impressed the sport's governing body with ISU acknowledging the youth movement in an article on its official website earlier this season.

"Fresh coaches, an influx of youthful talent, and a supportive atmosphere are helping turn what was a strong if aging China short-track squad into one that is looking to the future with relish," said the commentary.

Among China's 12 athletes on the Cup roster, only three had experience competing at previous Olympics with 20-year-old women's skater Zhang Chutong already a seasoned "veteran", who was a member of China's bronze-winning team in the women's 3,000m relay at Beijing 2022.

Yet, it was just the fresh-faced Zhang, leading three other young teammates — Li Wenlong, Zhong Yuchen and Wang Xinran — who opened the country's gold medal count by winning the mixed team relay at the series' second leg in Salt Lake City, Utah on Nov 6.

At the season's penultimate stop in Dresden, Germany, a young quartet led by Li and Zhong edged out Japan, Hungary and Canada with a strong comeback in the final few laps to win the men's 5,000m relay on Feb 5, adding on the mixed team gold to prove the young team's collective strength in relays.

"The more races they take, the better they learn and improve," China's short-track legend Wang Meng said of her young compatriots' performances.

"If you keep going for the podium, eventually you could finish on top of it. Come on! Team China! Be patient for the growth and wild celebration awaits," said Wang, who won four gold medals at two Winter Games (2006 and 2010) to become one of the sport's most decorated Olympians.

Strong return of Lin

Despite the surging young skaters, Team China's biggest focus throughout the season turned out to be the triumphant return of its new member Lin Xiaojun, who was born as Lim Hyo-jun in Daegu and raced for his native South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but chose to switch nationality and represent China after completing a naturalization process in 2021.

Lin was not allowed to compete at Beijing 2022, though, without spending a long enough break since he last represented Korea internationally in March 2019. According to ISU rules, athletes could only skate for their new national association at least three years after they last represented their former country.

Eligible again and hungry as ever, Lin shook off the rust quickly in his first international campaign in almost four years after he won back-to-back 500m finals at the series' last two legs in Dresden and Dutch city Dordrecht to stage a remarkable comeback.

Returning to top of the sport again after having his career stalled in uncertainty, Lin let go all the emotions following his first 500m win on Feb 5 as his tears flowed to celebrate the victory with Chinese teammates and coach Zhang.

"It's really exciting to get a medal again, after many years," said Lin, who had to move to China after he was banned by the sport's governing body in South Korea due to a legal dispute with a teammate that had jeopardized his career. "It has been a lot of hard work and I have earned it after so much time out," the 26-year-old told the ISU website after the 500m final. "We have a good young team in China and we are looking forward to going toward the end of the season and trying to do well. I feel very happy."

After recovering from a back injury early in the season, Lin proved he still has the skill and power that had helped him win 1,500m gold at the 2018 Olympics and three more titles at the 2019 worlds by racing fiercely free of pain at the final two legs, giving the team high hopes in the buildup to the 2026 Olympics.

"He is still on top of the world in speed, reaction and overtaking, and he will only get better with more races to go," coach Zhang said of Lin's return.

"His performance at the Cup series will help further build his confidence and benefit the training program in the next stage."

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