Chinese Taipei put their expectations of winning a medal on figure skater Jennifer Don at the 6th Asian Winter Games.

Jennifer Don was born in Houston, Texas. The 22-year-old began skating at age of 10 and skated for the United Sates until the 2005-2006 seasons.

"Don is likely to grab a medal for us," said Chen Kuo-i, general secretary of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee here on Saturday.

Japan appeared dominant in the women's singles figure skating with master hands Fumie Suguri and Yukari Nakano spearheading the team to showcase in the rink in Changchun.

Suguri ranked fourth at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games and Nakano finished fifth at last year's World Championships.

But Don is the skater nobody will overlook.

Don was once the only US skater competing nationally and internationally at the senior level in both ladies and pairs.

As a pair skater, she won the bronze with Jonathon Hunt at the 2003 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. As a single skater, she won the US national bronze medal in novice ladies in 2001 and lifted the national silver in junior ladies in 2002.

After joining the Chinese Taipei Figure Skating Union, Don won the single title at the regional championships in 2005.

"Jennifer Don is our best figure skater. She is still training in the United States and will arrive in Changchun on Jan. 29," said Don's teammate Tsai Hsin-hui, who was attending the delegation's flag-raising ceremony.

Besides, Chen gave his credit to snowboard athlete James Michael Hillier, who is also a hopeful for a medal at the Asian Winter Games.

Chinese Taipei dispatched eight short-track speed skaters, two figure skaters, two biathletes and one snowboard athlete to Changchun.

The delegation has never taken up a medal in the history of the Asian Winter Games.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2007)