Dai Daiwei (; born 19 July 2003) is a Russian-born Chinese

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He is a three-time

Chinese national Chinese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into ...

medalist and the 2023 Asian Open Trophy champion.

Personal life

Dai was born on July 19, 2003 in

Saint Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to Chinese father and Russian mom. The family moved to China when Dai was two years old, settling in

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

. He is fluent in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, and English. In addition to figure skating, Dai also enjoys swimming and playing piano. He looks up to fellow Chinese male figure skaters Yan Han and

Jin Boyang Jin Boyang ( zh, c=, p=Jīn Bóyáng; ; born 3 October 1997) is a Chinese figure skater. He is a two-time World bronze medalist (2016–2017), the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2016, 2019), the ...

Career

Early career

Dai began skating in 2010 at the age of six and a half years old, and was first coached by Denis Petrov and Chen Lu in

. During his childhood, he also worked with former German figure skater, Constanze Paulinus, for two years, while she coached at his skating club. Dai eventually moved to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in 2018 to train under two-time World Champion pair skaters,

Pang Qing Pang Qing (; born December 24, 1979, in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With her husband Tong Jian, she is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, the 2006 and 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion (20 ...

and

Tong Jian Tong Jian (; born August 15, 1979, in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With his wife Pang Qing, he is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, 2006 and 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion (2002, 2004, ...

shortly after they opened the Pangqing Tongjian Academy. He debuted as a junior skater at the 2020 Chinese Junior Championships, where he won the bronze medal. During the 2020–21 season, however, all Chinese national competitions were canceled as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. This meant that Dai was unable to partake in major competitions that season. Finally able to return to competition for the 2022–23 season, Dai made his senior national debut at the 2022 Chinese Championships, where he won the bronze medal. In March 2023, Dai moved to

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

to train at the Heilongjiang Winter Sports Training Center, where Jia Shuguang became his new coach.

2023–2024 season

Making his international debut at the 2023 Asian Open Trophy, Dai won the gold medal. He went on to compete at the 2023 Shanghai Trophy, where he finished sixth. Going on to debut on the 2023–24 Grand Prix circuit, Dai finished eleventh at the 2023 Cup of China. At the 2023 Chinese Championships, Dai won the silver medal behind

Chen Yudong Chen Yudong (; born 28 September 2004) is a Chinese figure skater. He is the 2020 Cup of China bronze medalist, a three-time Chinese national champion (2022–24), and a two-time Chinese junior national champion (2020, 2022). Personal life ...

. Selected to compete at the 2024 Four Continents in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, Dai finished twentieth. He closed the season by winning silver at the 2024 National Winter Games.

2024–2025 season

Dai began the season by taking silver at the 2024 Asian Open Trophy. He then went on to compete at the 2024 Shanghai Trophy where he finished fifth. In late November, Dai competed at the 2024 Cup of China, where he placed seventh in both the short program and free skate, finishing in sixth-place overall, the highest rank of the three Chinese men competing at the event. While there, Dai would score personal bests in all three competition segments, including a short program over sixteen points higher than his previous best, a free skate over thirty-three points higher than his previous best, and a combined total score over fifty points higher than his previous best. One week later, he competed at the 2024 Chinese Championships, where he won the silver medal. In February, Dai competed at the

2025 Asian Winter Games The 2025 Asian Winter Games ( zh, s=第九届亚洲冬季运动会, p=Dì jiǔ jiè yàzhōu dōngjì yùndònghuì), officially known as the 9th Asian Winter Games, and commonly known as Harbin 2025 (), were the ninth edition of the Asian Winte ...

, where he finished in fourth place. One week later, he placed thirteenth at the 2025 Four Continents Championships in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. Selected to compete at the 2025 World Championships in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, United States, Dai finished eighteenth overall. With this placement, he earned a spot for a Chinese men's singles skater to compete at the

2026 Winter Olympics The 2026 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 at sites across Lombardy and North ...

Programs

Competitive highlights

Detailed results

References

External links

*
Daiwei Dai
at SkatingScores.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Dai, Daiwei 2003 births Living people Chinese male single skaters Figure skaters from Saint Petersburg Sportspeople from Shenzhen Chinese people of Russian descent Russian sportspeople of Chinese descent Figure skaters at the 2025 Asian Winter Games