China figure skating makes history by qualifying for Olympic team event free skate

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Zhu Yi of China performs during the figure skating team event women's single skating short program match at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

Led by two-time world champions Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, China historically advanced into the Olympic team event free skating at Beijing 2022, despite Zhu Yi's lackluster performance under pressure in Beijing on Sunday.

The host country dropped two positions down from the third-place finish on Friday after the men's and pairs short programs and rhythm dance, as the 19-year-old Zhu committed a major error and sat at the bottom in Sunday morning's women's short program.

The 22-point total score and fifth place, however, was good enough for China to emerge from 10 teams and qualify for the finals which started later on Sunday with the men's free skate.

Skaters from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) led the qualification with 36 points, as new European champion Kamila Valieva put a flawless performance, landing perfect triple Axel, triple Flip and combination of triple Lutz-triple Toe to top the women's short program on 90.18.

The first-competition-day leader United States was beaten to second place by merely two points, as Karen Chen added six points to the team's total score of 34 by finishing fifth in women's with a 65.20-point segment.

Japan followed as the third with 29 points after a strong performance from men's, women's and pairs short programs, while Canada completed the five-member free skating list as the fourth qualifier on 24.

The figure skating team event competition was introduced to the Olympic program at Sochi 2014 and featured again during PyeongChang 2018 with China having previously failed to qualify for the free skates twice.