Beijing time on March 17 news, the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be held in Montpellier, France from March 21 to 27. Due to the proximity of the Winter Olympics, many famous players chose to rest, so the starlight of the competition was relatively dim. Today, another heavyweight player withdrew from the competition - Chen Wei, the gold medalist in figure skating men's singles at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The American Ice Association announced Chen Wei's retirement. Chen Wei, 22, said he regretted retiring from the tournament and had been preparing for the World Championships since the Winter Olympics, but was plagued by injuries and did not want to risk further injuries, so he chose to withdraw.
Chen Wei achieved the Men's Singles Triple Championship at the World Championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021 (the 2020 World Championships were not held due to the epidemic). At the Beijing Winter Olympics, he won the men's singles gold medal with a super high score of 332.60 points. This year, Chen Plans to Continue Her Studies at Yale University.
After Chen Wei retires, 21-year-old Camden Pukinen will replace him at the World Championships, where he finished fifth in the men's singles at the National Championships in January. Chinese star Zhou Zhifang and 17-year-old rookie Ma Linlin will also represent the United States in the men's singles competition.
Previously, the list of participants in the 2022 Figure Skating World Championships released by the official website of the International Skating Federation showed that the Chinese team did not participate, sui Wenjing/Han Cong, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang, and Jin Boyang were absent.
In addition, according to the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee, the ISU does not invite or allow skaters from Russia and Belarus to participate in international skating competitions. Therefore, the "Russian three dolls" Sherbakova, Trusova, Vallieva and the second and third places of the Winter Olympics in the pair skating did not qualify for the World Championships.
In the men's and women's singles events, Yusuke Habu was absent, but Japan sent the main players of the Winter Olympics, such as Yuma Key mountain, Masama Uno, Hanori Sakamoto, and Higuchi Shinba. Yumasa Keyyama and Masamo Uno are runners-up and runner-up in men's singles at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and Hanori Sakamoto is the bronze medalist in the figure skating women's singles at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and they will attack their first world championship gold medal.
Among the gold medalists of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the only one participating in this year's Figure Skating World Championships is the French ice dance group Papadaggis/Xi Zelong.