An Xiangyi

An Xiangyi (; 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.

Personal life

An was born on December 24, 2006, in Beijing, China to parents, Zhang Aijun and An Longhe. She was originally supposed to be named An Yibing, but Zhang changed her name to be similar to that of champion skaters such as Yuka Sato and Shizuka Arakawa. An is often nicknamed "Nini" by friends and skating fans.

In addition to figure skating, An also practices various forms of dance as well as rhythmic gymnastics, the latter which she says helps with her figure skating by increasing her flexibility. Due to time spent alternating between practicing and resting, An was homeschooled. An eventually became a student at Beijing 101 Middle School. As hobbies, she enjoys cooking and painting, and is her own nutritionist. She also has three pet cats.

As An's mother is buddhist and taught her buddhist concepts, An likens her continued personal development to sadhana.

An has named American women's singles skater, Amber Glenn, as an inspiration to her due to Glenn remaining competitive with the top skaters in the world while in her mid- to late- twenties.

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.

An was the 2019 Asian Open advanced novice champion. 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. 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.

2022–2023 season: Junior international debut

An made her Junior Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Solidarity Cup, after scoring first in national qualification events. She finished fifth at the event.

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. 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.

In March, An was assigned to the 2023 World Junior Figure Championships in Calgary, where she ranked fifth in the short program. 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.

2023–2024 season: Senior international debut

An began the season by winning gold at the 2023 Asian Open Trophy and went on to finish fifth at the 2023 Shanghai Trophy.

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.

An opted to sit out of the 2023 Chinese Championships. She did, however, compete at the 2024 National Winter Games, where she won gold in the team event and silver in the individual event.

2024–2025 season

An began her international season by winning gold at the 2024 Asian Open Trophy. She then went on to finish fifth at the 2024 Shanghai Trophy and tenth at the 2024 Cup of China. One week following the latter event, An would finish fifth at the 2024 Chinese Championships.

In February, An competed at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, where she finished in sixth place. One week following that event, she placed thirteenth at the 2025 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, South Korea.

Selected to compete at the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, An placed twenty-seventh in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment.

Programs

Competitive highlights

JGP: ''ISU Junior Grand Prix''

Detailed results

''Personal best highlighted in'' bold.

Senior level

Junior level

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:An, Xiangyi
2006 births
Living people
Chinese female single skaters
Figure skaters from Beijing
Chinese rhythmic gymnasts
Gymnasts from Beijing
21st-century Chinese sportswomen
Figure skaters at the 2025 Asian Winter Games