Beijing, China, March 3, 2025: China's Olympic champion Gao Tingyu will sit out the remainder of the current speed skating season to focus on recovering from injuries, Xinhua News reports.
Gao, 27, claimed three gold medals from the men's 100m, 500m and team sprint events at the 9thAsian Winter Games in Harbin in February.
At the ongoing ISU World Cup in Heerenveen, Netherlands, he placed fourth in the 500m Division B with a time of 35.12 seconds.
Gao made history at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, becoming China's first male speed skater to win an Olympic gold medal with his 500m victory. He took a 21-month break to rehabilitate a waist injury before returning to international competition in November 2023.
Since Gao's comeback, knee and thigh injuries have continued to hamper his efforts to regain top form, said his coach, Liu Guangbin.
Gao, with a bronze from PyeongChang 2018 and a gold from Beijing 2022, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that he set eyes on winning a medal at Milano-Cortina 2026.
"I aim to be on the podium once again, aiming for a third consecutive appearance," he said, adding that "a gold would be perfect."