Jin Boyang

Jin started skating at age seven and a half, having become interested in the activity when he attended one of Shen/Zhao's ice shows.[7] His first coach was Wang Junxiang.[7]

Jin debuted on the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in the 2012–2013 season. After taking gold in France and silver in Slovenia,[11][12] he finished fifth at the JGP Final and fourth at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy.

In the 2013 JGP series, Jin won his assignments in Latvia and Estonia and then obtained gold at the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan. He won his first senior national title at the Chinese Championships. He finished sixth at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Jin won both of his Junior Grand Prix events, in Slovenia and Japan, and was the top qualifier for the Junior Grand Prix Final, where he placed second after the short program. However, a fifth-place free skate left him in fourth overall. He won his second national title at the Championships. Jin concluded his season with a silver medal at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, having placed fifth in the short program and first in the free skate.

Jin received two 2015 Grand Prix assignments.[13] At the 2015 Cup of China, he won the silver medal behind reigning World champion Javier Fernández. He became the first man to land a quad lutz triple toe and also the first to land a quad lutz with a positive GOE.[14] At the 2015 NHK Trophy, Jin took silver behind reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, thus qualifying for the 2015 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, where he finished fifth.[15] At the 13th National Winter Games of China, he represented the city of Harbin and finished first in both short program and free skate.[16][17] Making his Four Continents debut, in Taipei, Jin landed a total of six quadruple jumps in his programs and achieved new personal bests in his short program, free skate, and combined total scores. With a quad lutz, quad salchow, and two quad toe loops in his free skate, he also became the first skater to land three kinds of quads in a single program, and ultimately placed second overall behind Canada's Patrick Chan by a narrow difference of 0.38 points.[18][19] At the 2016 World Championships in Boston, Jin won the bronze medal and became the first Chinese man to medal in men's singles at the World Championships.[20]

Jin placed fifth at the 2016 Skate America and won silver at the 2016 Cup of China. He ranked seventh in the series standings and thus did not qualify for the 2016–2017 Grand Prix Final.[21] Later in the season, at the Chinese National Championships, Jin placed second in the short program but rebounded in the free, and was able to win his fourth straight national title.[22]

Jin repeated as world bronze medalist at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, achieving new personal bests in his short, free, and overall combined total scores.[23] His average program components score increased almost a whole point per component compared to the previous year, an almost unprecedented one-year improvement.

Jin had a car accident in August 2017, which resulted in injuries on the left thigh.[24] He started his season at the 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy. He placed second in the short program, third in the free skate and won the gold medal overall.[25] His Grand Prix assignments for this season were 2017 Cup of China and 2017 Skate America. Jin reportedly had injured his right ankle, as the head coach of the Chinese national team, Hongbo Zhao, said in an interview after the Cup of China that Jin competed with a foot injury.[26] Jin confirmed that he sprained both of his ankles due to loose boot laces.[27][28] He placed second at the Cup of China[29] and fourth at the Skate America.[30] He withdrew from the Grand Prix Final and the Chinese Championships due to the ankle injuries.[31][32]

At 2018 Four Continents, his first competition post injury, Jin surpassed 100 points in the short program for the first time internationally, with a score of 100.17.[33] In the free skate he scored 200.78 points,[34] for an overall score of 300.95, surpassing the 200 and 300 point barrier once again and winning the gold medal over 2017 World silver medalist Shoma Uno,[35] and won his first senior international gold medal at an ISU Championship.

Jin placed fourth at the 2018 Winter Olympics, only 7.47 points behind third place finisher Javier Fernández.[36][37] His placement is the highest of any Chinese athlete competing in men's single skating in Olympic history so far. At the 2018 World Championships, he placed fourth in the short program but dropped to nineteenth overall after ranking twenty-third in the free skate.

Jin at the 2019 Four Continents Championships

Over the summer it was initially announced that Jin would be moving to train with Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson at the Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club, in preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. However, these plans were subsequently called off, with Shen Xue stating on behalf of the Chinese Skating Association that Jin was "more familiar with the training environment and methods in China."[38]

Debuting on the Grand Prix series for the season, Jin performed poorly, placing fifth at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki and ninth at the 2018 Internationaux de France. After winning the Chinese national title again, he competed at the 2019 Four Continents Championships, where he placed third in the short program and second in the free skate, winning the silver medal overall.[39] Finishing the season at the 2019 World Championships in Saitama, Jin placed ninth in the short program after falling on his quad Lutz attempt, but rose to fifth overall after a strong free skate. Jin called his performance in the second half of the season a great improvement on the first half.[40][41]

Jin opened his season with a win at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy, surpassing the 100 point barrier for the SP for the first time under the +5 system, with 101.09 points.[42] He was less successful at the 2019 Shanghai Trophy, placing third with a strong free skate after a weak showing in the short.[43] At his first Grand Prix assignment, 2019 Skate America, Jin placed ninth in the short program after doubling a planned quad Lutz and fall on his triple Axel.[44] He placed fifth with a stronger free skate, moving up to sixth place overall.[45] At his second Grand Prix, the 2019 Cup of China, Jin again fell on his quad Lutz in the short program, and narrowly placed second behind a returning Yan Han.[46] He then won the free skate, landing two quads but doubling a quad toe loop, taking his first ever Grand Prix gold medal and winning the Cup of China after three consecutive silver medals. Despite this, he would only call his own performance "OK", saying that it was "still not as good as I have been training."[47]

His performances were enough to qualify for the 2019–20 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final for the third time in his career, and the first time in three seasons. At the Final, he popped his opening quad Lutz, finishing sixth in the short program. He struggled in the free skate as well, falling twice, but rose to fifth overall. Speaking afterward, he attributed his difficulties to the limited amount of time he had to train for the Final, as he had not expected to qualify because of his sixth-place finish at Skate America.[48]

At the 2020 Four Continents Championships, Jin landed all his jumps to place second after the short program, though he felt "my performance was okay, but it could have been better. I feel my jumps were not perfect."[49] In the free skate he doubled two of his attempted quads, though successfully landing the quad Lutz again, and dropped to fourth overall. Although satisfied with the rest of his performance, he vowed to focus on the mistakes he made in anticipation of the World Championships.[50] Though Jin was assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[51]

With the 2020–21 figure skating season having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, senior skaters were invited to a maximum of one Grand Prix event, based largely on geographic location. Jin was invited to the 2020 Cup of China. He won the competition with a clean short program, and a long program that had the highest technical difficulty of the competitors despite a couple of errors.[52]