Tong Jian

At 44 years old, Tong Jian has this physical status:

Tong Jian (Chinese: Tóng Jiàn) was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, 1980; pinyin: Tóng Jiàn) is a Chinese pair skater.

Pang Qing, a five-time Four Continents champion (2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2011) and the 2008 Grand Prix Final Champion, he works with partner and wife Pang Qing.

Personal life

Although they had not discussed their personal lives, Pang and Tong revealed publicly that they were intimately linked during the 2010 Winter Olympics, according to a Vanity Fair story.

Since Tong proposed on-ice to Pang at a Shanghai show, the two became engaged in June 2011. They were married on June 18, 2016.

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Career

Tong was born in Harbin, China, the home of Chinese pair skating. He began skating at the age of six. He began competing as a single skater. He then competed as an ice dancer for two years due to his poor jumps. Tong converted from pairs after his brief ice dancing career. He competed with Zhang Xiwen before. Yao Bin, a coach from 1993, joined Qing and they have been skating together ever since.

Pang and Tong were without a mentor until 1997, when they started training under Yao again when Yao moved to Beijing.

Pang and Tong did not have a good junior career, perhaps because the Junior Grand Prix didn't exist when they were skating at the junior level. They finished 14th, 9th, and 8th at the World Junior Championships between 1997 and 1999. They went senior after that.

At the 1997 Chinese national championships, Pang and Tong were awarded the silver medal, but they did not represent China at the World Championships until 1999. They are the 2000 Chinese national champions. They placed fifth at the 1999 Four Continents Championships, the first four Continents to be held. They then went to their first Worlds, where they ranked 14th.

Pang and Tong made their Grand Prix debut in the 1999–2000 season. They came in 4th at Skate Canada and fifth at Cup of Russia. They gradually climbed to the top of the charts over the years. They finished ninth in the 2002 Winter Olympics as the Four Continents Champions.

Pang and Tong were among the contenders after the 2001-2002 season. They have consistently ranked on the podium at their Grand Prix appearances. At the 2004 World Championships, they claimed their first World medal (a bronze).

They had a rough 2004–2005 season and a shaky start to the 2005–2006 season after their first world medal. They returned to form in the 2006 Olympics, where they finished fourth behind teammates Shen Xue & Hongbo Zhao and Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao in a controversial 4th place. They won the 2006 Worlds and were crowned.

Pang and Tong were unable to defend their World title from 2006 to 2007. Due to sickness, they were compelled to leave Skate America. They received the silver medal at the Cup of China, the Asian Winter Games, and the Four Continents Championships. They came in second place at Worlds.

Pang and Tong were off to a slow start in the 2007-2008 season, losing two out of three Grand Prix events. They won the bronze at the Grand Prix Final, their third Four Continents title and a good midseason. They ended their season with a 5th place finish at the World Championships.

Pang and Tong's first appearance, the Cup of China, had another rough outing during the 2008–2009 season. Despite this, they went on to win their next Grand Prix events and the final. They made history by winning their fourth Four Continents title and now have more Four Continent titles than any other individual. Despite the buildup of momentum, the team suffered in another disappointing World Championships, where they were still on top of the podium.

Pang and Tong won both of their Grand Prix championships and a silver at the Grand Prix Final in 2009–2010, defeating all the world champions at the previous world championships.

Pang and Tong set a new World Record for the free skate in the 2010 Winter Olympics with a score of 141.81 points. Thanks to their teammates' world record-breaking short program, they finished second, behind Shen Xue and Hongbo Zhao. The People's Republic of China ended Russia's 46-year-old Olympic gold medal streak in pairs skating, sweeping gold and silver places. In Turin, Italy, Pang and Tong were the 2010 World Champions.

Pang and Tong were selected to the 2010 NHK Trophy and the 2010 Cup of China for the 2010–2011 ISU Grand Prix season. Both of their Grand Prix debuts helped them qualify for the Grand Prix Final, where they placed second. They earned the bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships.

Pang and Tong were barred from their scheduled 2011–12 Grand Prix events, but they returned to action in January 2012, where they captured gold at the Chinese National Winter Games. They received first-place awards in the short program (70.24) and free skate (126.31). In 2012 World Championships, they finished fourth and placed fourth, the country's first ISU international event of the season.

Pang and Tong medaled at both their Grand Prix events for the 2012-2013 season, placing second at 2012 Skate America and first at 2012 Cup of China. They went on to win the bronze medal at the 2012–13 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. They came fifth at the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships.

Pang and Tong finished second at 2013 Cup of China and first at 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard, before winning bronze again at the 2013 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in 2013. They finished fourth at the 2014 Winter Olympics, their fourth consecutive Olympic Games.

Pang and Tong competed at the 2015 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships, finishing third at both events.

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