Zhang Hao

Zhang Hao (Mandarin pronunciation: ; born July 6, 1984) is a Chinese retired pair skater.

Zhang teamed up with Zhang Dan, to whom he is not related, in 1997.

In 1998–99 Junior Grand Prix (JGP), the pair competed in one event and won the gold medal.

They continued the season with a bronze medal at the 1999 Chinese National Championships.

The following season, they competed in two 1999–2000 JGP events, medaling in both.

They qualified for the final, where they finished fifth.

That year, they were second at nationals and finished fourth at Junior Worlds.

The following three seasons, they were very successful at the junior level.

They won all their Junior Grand Prix events, including the 2000–01 JGP Final and the 2001–02 JGP Final.

They also competed in the 2001 Junior Worlds and the 2003 Junior Worlds, winning gold both times.

At the Chinese National Championships, they placed third in both 2001 and 2002, before winning their first national title in 2003.

Their first senior international was the 2002 Four Continents Championships, where they won the bronze medal.

The same season they competed in the 2002 Olympics, placing 11th, and the 2002 Worlds, placing 9th.

The following season they competed in their first two senior Grand Prix events, placing fourth at both events.

They repeated with a bronze medal at the 2003 Four Continents Championships and improved their placement at the 2003 Worlds, finishing sixth.

In the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons, they consistently medaled at their Grand Prix events.

They won gold at the 2005 Four Continents Championships and bronze at the 2005 Worlds.

With former partner Zhang Dan, he is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time (2005 bronze, 2006, 2008, 2009 silver) World medalist, and a two-time (2005, 2010) Four Continents champion.

Zhang and Zhang went into the 2006 Olympics as medal contenders.

During their free skate, Zhang Dan had a bad fall on their attempted throw quadruple salchow, a jump that was not consistent.

Zhang Dan suffered a bad injury, but chose to finish the program.

Although the delay between the fall and the continuation of the program was longer than the ISU-proscribed 2 minutes, they were not automatically withdrawn because the referee waited before stopping the music and beginning the official 2 minute wait.

Zhang regrouped and was able to finish the program.

They won the silver medal, placing ahead of defending Olympic medalists Shen Xue and Hongbo Zhao.

At Worlds they won the silver, behind Pang Qing and Tong Jian.

In the 2006–07 season, Zhang and Zhang placed first at Skate Canada, second at the NHK Trophy, and would go on to win the bronze medal at the Grand Prix Final.

They placed 5th at the 2007 World Championships later that season.

In the 2007–08 and the 2008–09 seasons, they won silver medals at both the Grand Prix Final and the World Championships.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Zhangs placed 5th.

They also finished fifth at 2010 World Championships.

Before the 2010–11 season began, Zhang Hao broke his finger, forcing the team to pull out of their two Grand Prix assignments.

He also dealt with some shoulder and cervical vertebra problems.

The Zhangs returned to competition during the 2011–12 season, winning silver medals at the 2011 Skate America and the 2011 Cup of China.

They finished 4th at the 2011–12 Grand Prix Final.

Zhang Dan eventually became the tallest competing female pair skater.

Zhang married his girlfriend, Ju Chi, in May 2014.

With former partner Peng Cheng, he is the 2015 Four Continents silver medalist.

On May 8, 2015, the couple welcomed their first child, a son.

Early in his career, Zhang Hao competed with Zhang Liyun.

With current partner Yu Xiaoyu, he is the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, 2017 Asian Winter Games champion and 2018 Chinese national champion.