Chen Lu and Denis Petrov: Skating evangelists in China

Chen Lu (陈露 or 陳露), two-time Olympic bronze medalist and World champion (see below), and Denis Petrov,  > Olympic silver medalist in pairs with Elena Bechke, are paving the way for the next generation of Chinese figure skaters. At the World Ice Arena in Shenzhen, China, Lulu (as she is known) and Denis are involved with the skating academy in the unlikeliest of places -- on the fourth floor of the MIXc CityCrossing Shopping Center, one of China's largest malls. The World Ice Arena opened in late 2004 and is China's first Olympic-sized recreational indoor skating rink. Lulu runs the skating school and has over 1000 students and ten coaches, including head coach Denis, on her staff.

After retiring from amateur competition in 1998, Lulu skated professionally and in tours for many years. She and Denis married in July 2005 and welcomed son Nikita one year later. We caught up with them at the World Ice Arena and it was a thrill to see a trailblazer in Chinese figure skating give back to the next generation. China has been an emerging force in the international figure skating community for the past ten years, with pairs teams Qing Pang/Jian Tong and Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang consistently on the medals podium. But skating still doesn't have the widespread popularity in China as it does in Japan, Europe and the United States. Lulu and Denis are working hard to promote skating in China so that a new crop of skaters will emerge to lead China as a great figure skating nation in all disciplines.

As an aside, there are two pieces of music playing in the background in the above video. The second is called Butterfly Lovers, which was Lulu's free skate music at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, where she captured her second Olympic bronze medal.

Comments

[Aaron]

What an amazing report! I was curious what LuLu and Denis were up to, thank you for that.

I always think it's nice when skaters return home and make impact and that's just what LuLu is doing.