Sui Wenjing (right) and Han Cong of China skate in the pairs free skate on October 30, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. Photo: VCG

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"Our aim is for gold in ­Beijing," said Chinese figure skater Han Cong in the immediate aftermath of winning silver in the pairs event at ­Pyeongchang in 2018. 

Han and partner Sui Wenjing went into those Winter Olympics as favorites but were shocked by German duo Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot.

"I was quite nervous, this being my first Olympic Games," Sui said in South Korea after winning silver.

"We really wanted to do well, but simply fell too short in the end. But I hope that this will give us the motivation we need over the next four years to do well again at the Beijing 2022 Games when we will be at home."

Sui was carrying an injury in that final day of competition in Pyeongchang four years ago and the Chinese pair lost by a hair's breadth on the scoreboard, just 0.43 points.

"It was a very small gap. If they won by a big margin, I wouldn't be so disappointed. Every morning when we practice the foot [injury] is painful. But this is a life experience. I have learned a lot, it is our first Olympics and we are still young. There are still many opportunities."

Beijing 2022 is the biggest of opportunities for the Harbin pair and they will be looking to have "no regrets" again, just as Han said last time out.

The two-time world champions are very familiar with the Capital Indoor Stadium which will host the figure skating in Beijing. 

"We used to compete here," said Han after taking part in the 2021 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy in October. "It will keep driving us to make progress and challenge ourselves. This is a truly fancy venue. It shows how much effort our country has invested to be the host."

Sui echoed her partner.

"We share the same goal, which is to watch the Chinese national flag fly and Chinese national anthem [play] at the Winter Olympics," said Sui. "We want to show the best of ourselves in every match we attend. We hope more people will come to the ice rink after watching our performance."

Hopefully circumstances will allow fans in to watch them as they go for gold.

That is the focus for the duo on home ice, as Sui told the domestic media. "As an athlete, I will make this Winter Olympics my mission to fight for the country. I'll go all out to win glory for the country."

They have delivered much glory to China since they took to the ice to win the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in 2010, 2011 and 2012. There has been more since but following in the footsteps of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who won China's only figure skating gold back at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, would secure their legacy.