Roll of honor: Skating sensations turn on the style

Moving in time to the strains of a lively yet emotive soundtrack, Chinese skaters Zhang Hao and Zhu Siyi gracefully executed their routine — a beguiling mix of tricks, spins, deft footwork and slalom maneuvers.

Completing the course within three minutes without any penalties, Zhang and Zhu impressed the judges enough to secure Asian Games gold in the mixed inline freestyle skating slalom pair event, which requires competitors to navigate through three rows of cones, spaced at distances of 50, 80 and 120 centimeters.

A Japanese duo took silver, with Thailand taking bronze at Qiantang Roller Sports Centre in Hangzhou on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Zhang is an experienced competitor who won the men's freestyle slalom title at the 2019 World Roller Skating Championships.

"I'm pretty satisfied with our performance. We managed to reproduce the level we reached in training," said Zhang.

"We felt the excitement and, in turn, we were really excited. At the beginning we felt a bit nervous, which caused some mistakes. Later, we were able to adjust very quickly.

"Throughout our journey, we've encountered many people who don't know much about this particular roller skating discipline," he added. "So we hope to do our best to promote it."

Zhang believes that roller skating has huge potential in terms of mass participation.

"It is accessible, visually appealing and has a short learning curve, making it particularly suitable for children to enjoy," he said.

Zhang's ultimate dream is to see roller skating become an Olympic sport one day. "I have a wish, that if roller skating makes it to the Olympics, no matter how old I am at that time, I will definitely participate," he vowed.

He hopes to showcase China's excellence in the sport on the world stage and to encourage families and children to get involved.

"I also plan to coach in more schools, so that more kids can enjoy the fun of roller skating," he added.

His skating partner, 17-year-old Zhu, was making her debut on the global stage.

"The atmosphere was especially good, because it was my first time participating in an international competition," said Zhu.

"I was quite nervous at the beginning, but this kind of nervousness motivates me to do better. I want to win more medals for my country."

She reckons the pair's gold in Hangzhou will inspire more people to give the sport a try.

"I think it's the best possible start for the growth of this discipline in China," she said.

"It's great to let everyone know about this event, so hopefully more people will come to like it."

Zhang and Zhu's synchronization in the rink is remarkable considering that they've been partners for less than a year.

Zhang's original skating partner, Su Feiqian, sustained an injury in training which prevented her from participating in the domestic qualifiers for the Asian Games.

Consequently, Zhang and Zhu teamed up at short notice.

"We both adjusted to accommodate each other, fine-tuning our speeds. And our coordination quickly reached the level we were aiming for," explained Zhu.

"It's really about refining the details. Male skaters are naturally faster than female skaters, so we put a lot of thought and time into coordinating our speed," said Zhang.

"In addition, everyone has different habits, like the height at which we lift our feet or hands, and these are all things we've gradually worked on."

Now all their hard work has paid off in spectacular fashion with Asian Games glory on home ground.