China's figure skaters Yu Xiaoyu (L) and Zhang Hao train ahead of their matches on 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Ice Arena, South Korea, Feb. 7, 2018. Photo: Xinhua

Zhang Hao, a veteran Chinese pair skater announced his retirement from the sport on Wednesday, putting a period on his 30-year athletic career at the age of 37. 

Zhang revealed on the CCTV-5 show Honour Hall that he decided to retire due to the wear and tear on his body due to injuries. He expressed that he felt “regretful” for not being able to take part in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games with tears in his eyes. 

Starting to practice ice skating when he was 4-years-old, the athlete took part in five Winter Olympic Games. A veteran pair skater, Zhang changed partners three times over the course of his career. 

“Is Zhang Hao the Zhang Hao in Zhang Dan/Zhang Hao?” posted one netizen on Sina Weibo. 

His partnership with Zhang Dan was most remembered by fans as the duo that competed in the Olympic Games in 2002, 2006 and 2010, among which the 2006 Torino Games made the biggest impression on audiences. 

The two Zhang’s won a silver medal at the Torino Games, the first Olympic silver medal in the history of Chinese figure skating. 

However, this glory was also accompanied by pain. Zhang Dan had experienced an awful fall, crashing straight onto the ice with split legs and head hitting the boards during a quadruple-throw Salchow attempt. 

Their failed attempt however was seen by many fans as even more precious than a gold medal because it demonstrated the Chinese athletes’ courage and resilience. 

“I never forgot the scene when they returned to the rink after the incident, the movement was the ‘final card’ of China if we wanted to win that Winter Olympic medal. I really do care less about how good they were, skill-wise. They were actually great at showing sports is never just about winning and losing,” Xingxing, an amateur figure skater, told the Global Times.  

After Zhang Dan decided to retire after the end of the 2011-12 season, Zhang decided to ‘hang in there,’ taking on two other partners over the years: Cheng Peng and Yu Xiaoyu. 

“Although I won’t be on the ice too much anymore, but promoting winter sports and figure skating in China is still my responsibility,” Zhang told media. 

Zhang was born in Harbin, a city known for winter sports in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. He has competed more than 400 times and won over 200 medals during his career.