PYEONGCHANG, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Olympic short-track speed skater silver medalist Han Tianyu has confirmed that he will compete at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games despite the reemergence of a recurring back injury.
Instead of coming to PyeongChang from a training camp in Shanghai last Saturday with the rest of the Chinese short track speed skating team, Han went back to Beijing to take care of his injury before arriving here on Tuesday afternoon.
"It's no big problem. We were only taking precautions. He is arriving today and he is going to compete at these Games," said Chinese team leader Yang Zhanyu.
The 21-year-old Han, who surprisingly took the silver medal in the men's 1,500m at the Sochi Winter Olympics four years ago, is considered to be a medal contender at the same event this time around as the men's 1,500m short track competition kicks off on Saturday.
"The training sessions went well and our skaters are in good shape," said Chinese head coach Li Yan, who has guided Chinese short-track skaters to six gold medals in the last two Games.
The Chinese women's short-track team have reaped a total of nine gold medals in the last four Winter Games, while the Chinese men spearheaded by Olympic silver medal winners Wu Dajing and Han Tianyu, will be trying to reach the top of the Olympic podium for the first time.
"The competitions are tougher than ever. Everybody in the quarterfinals has a chance to win the gold. Let's wish the Chinese team good luck," Li said.
