Yao Bin

Yao Bin (simplified Chinese: 姚滨; traditional Chinese: 姚濱; pinyin: Yáo Bīn; born August 15, 1957 in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese figure skating 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. Since then Yao has almost single-handedly turned China into a pair skating world power.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yao.
Yao Bin
Yao Bin in 2007
Personal information
Country represented China
Born (1957-08-15) August 15, 1957
Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Former partnerLuan Bo
Retired1984

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 in Dortmund, West Germany; Yao has said he remembers people in the audience laughing at their inferior skating (among those people was Irina Rodnina, who later recalled the skating was indeed very funny[1]). 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. 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 Sports College. He has served as the national figure skating committee's director since 1998.[2]

Among Yao's current and former students are Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo,[3] whom he coached to three Olympic medals (two bronzes, one gold) and seven World medals; Pang Qing & Tong Jian;[4] Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao;[5] Dong Huibo & Wu Yiming;[6] Li Jiaqi & Xu Jiankun;[7] Zhang Yue & Wang Lei.[8] Wenjing Sui & Cong Han;[9] Peng Cheng & Zhang Hao;[10] Xiaoyu Yu & Yang Jin.[11]

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 Magazine's 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, while Shen & Zhao also established a new world record for most points scored (76.66) in the pairs figure skating short program and in the pairs figure skating overall total competition score (216.57).

Competitive highlights

(with Luan Bo)

Event 1979–1980 1980–1981 1981–1982 1982–1983 1983–1984
Winter Olympic Games15th
World Championships15th11th13th
Winter Universiade3rd

References
  1. Poroshin, Igor (March 21, 2005). Тотьмянина и Маринин отстояли чемпионский титул (in Russian). Russian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  2. 姚滨 Yao Bin – 姚滨全球个人官方网站
  3. "Xue SHEN & Hongbo ZHAO". International Skating Union. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  4. "Qing PANG & Jian TONG". International Skating Union. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  5. "ZHANG & Hao ZHANG". International Skating Union. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  6. "DONG & Yiming WU". International Skating Union. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  7. "LI & Jiankun XU". International Skating Union. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  8. "Yue ZHANG & Lei WANG". International Skating Union. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  9. "Wenjing SUI & Cong HAN". International Skating Union. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  10. "Cheng PENG & Hao ZHANG". International Skating Union. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  11. "Xiaoyu YU & Yang JIN". International Skating Union. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
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