An Xiangyi (Chinese: 安香怡; pinyin: An Xiāngyí, Korean: 안샹이; born 24 December 2006) is a Chinese figure skater. She is a two-time Asian trophy champion (2023 and 2024) and a two-time (2020 and 2022) national champion.[1]
Personal life
An was born on December 24, 2006, in Beijing, China to parents, Zhang Aijun and An Longhe.[2]
In addition to figure skating, An also practices rhythmic gymnastics, which she says helps with her figure skating by increasing her flexibility.[3] As hobbies, she enjoys cooking and painting. She also has three pet cats.[2]
She is often nicknamed "Nini" by friends and skating fans.[2][4]
Career
Early years
An began figure skating in 2009 at the age of three. Since starting, she has been coached by her father, An Longhe, a former competitive figure skater.[5][2]
An was the 2019 Asian Open advanced novice champion.[6] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Chinese national competitions were canceled during the 2020–21 season, thus An could not partake in major competitions.[7] During the 2021–22 season, several coronavirus outbreaks and COVID-19 protocols in China caused the 2021 National Figure Skating Grand Prix and China Figure Skating Club League Finals to be held virtually. An would go on to win the gold medal at the event.[8]
After contracting COVID-19 and having had a recurrence of injuries, An withdrew from the 2022 Chinese Figure Skating Junior Championships and the 2022 Chinese Figure Skating Club League Finals.[citation needed] However, she later competed in the 2022 Chinese Figure Skating Championships, ranking first in the short program by a small 1.73 mark lead after falling on her triple toe-triple toe combination, and winning the free skate by 15.83 marks, ahead of Li Ruotang.[5]
In March, An was assigned to the 2023 World Junior Figure Championships in Calgary, where she ranked fifth in the short program.[11] In the free skate, she stepped out of one jump and had quarter underrotation calls on three others, ranking eighth in that segment but finishing sixth overall. She became the first Chinese woman to place in the top ten since Li Zijun in 2012.[12]
Prior to debuting on the 2023–24 Grand Prix series, An had longtime choreographer, Benoît Richaud, create a new free program, different from the one that she had initially intended to skate to. Competing at 2023 Skate America, An finished ninth. At the 2023 Cup of China, An debuted a new short program, finishing sixth in that segment of the competition, but dropping to eleventh overall after placing eleventh in the free skate segment.[13][5][14][15][16]
^ abcd"适应成长、拥抱成长——16岁"老阿姨"安香怡的成长故事". Sports News CN. Sports News CN. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^中国花样滑冰协会关于取消举办2019/2020年度全国花样滑冰冠军赛的公告 [Announcement of the China Figure Skating Association on Cancellation of the 2019/2020 National Figure Skating Championships]. 中国花样滑冰协会 [China Figure Skating Association] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
^中国花样滑冰协会关于2022/2023世界青年大奖赛参赛运动员选拔结果的公示 [Announcement by China Figure Skating Association on the selection results of athletes participating in the 2022/2023 Junior Grand Prix]. 中国花样滑冰协会 [China Figure Skating Association] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
^"Xiangyi AN: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^"Xiangyi AN: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
^中国花滑俱乐部联赛第三站:陈昱东、安香怡获双冠 [The third stage of the Chinese Figure Skating Club League: Chen Yudong and An Xiangyi won the double championship]. 中国花滑俱乐部联赛第三站:陈昱东、安香怡获双冠 [China News Service] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.