Yu Jing

When the World Cup circuit started again in the fall of 2011, Yu began to dominate in the 500 m. At the first meeting in Chelyabinsk, she won both of the races over that distance, each time with a winning margin over 0.4 seconds. After skipping the second meeting in Astana, she likewise went on to triumph in both 500 m races in Heerenveen and also gained a second place in the 1000 m. Obviously, she could be a major contender for the 2012 World Sprint Championships in Calgary, and perhaps the only one capable of challenging the reigning champion, Christine Nesbitt.

Her next season at the top level was a lot less fruitful than the first. In the World Cup, she was struggling to copy the results of her first year, and at the end of the season, she was never anywhere near reaching the podium. At the 2010 World Sprint Championships in Obihiro, Yu finished 6th. Yu also represented China at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but finished a disappointing 32nd in the 1000 m.

In the 2010–11 season, Yu returned as a force to be reckoned with and was on the podium three times in the 500 m World Cup stops in Changchun and Obihiro in December 2010. She chose not to compete anymore in the World Cup in order to concentrate on the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Astana, starting in the end of January 2011. The gamble turned out to be successful, and on 1 February, she managed to take the gold medal in the 500 m event, beating Wang Beixing and Lee Sang-hwa.

Yu Jing made her World Cup debut at the Changchun meeting in 2008, after winning a gold and a bronze at the Asian Championships the year before. Already a week later, Yu won her first World Cup victory in the 500 m at Nagano, and a second-place in the 1000 m. During the 2009 World Sprint Championships in Moscow, she managed to secure a bronze medal. The rest of the season, she raced consistently and acquired multiple podium places in the World Cup, but there were no more victories. In the World Cup total, Yu placed 5th in the 500 m and 9th in the 1000 m. At the 2009 World Single Distance Championships in Richmond, Yu missed the podium in both the 500 m and 1000 m events, finishing 4th and 12th, respectively.

Yu Jing (Chinese: 于静 ; pinyin: Yú Jìng ; Mandarin pronunciation: [y̌ tɕîŋ] ; born 29 May 1985) is a Chinese long-track speed-skater who specializes in the sprint distances. She became the World Sprint Champion in 2012, setting world records in both the sprint combination and the 500 metres. She held the world record in the sprint combination until Heather Richardson bettered it in January 2013, and the world record in 500 metres until Lee Sang-hwa broke it in November 2013. The time, 36.94 seconds, was the Chinese record until broken by Wang Beixing in November 2013.