# Dai Daiwei

Dai Daiwei (simplified Chinese: 戴大卫; traditional Chinese: 戴大衛; pinyin: Dài Dàiwèi; born 19 July 2003) is a Russian-born Chinese figure skater. He is a three-time Chinese national medalist and the 2023 Asian Open Trophy champion.

## Personal life

Dai was born on July 19, 2003 in Saint Petersburg, Russia to Chinese father and Russian mom. The family moved to China when Dai was two years old, settling in Shenzhen. Dai is fluent in Mandarin, Russian, and English. In addition to figure skating, Dai also enjoys swimming and playing piano.
He looks up to fellow Chinese male figure skaters, Yan Han and Jin Boyang.

## Career
### Early career

Dai began skating in 2010 at the age of six and a half years old, and was first coached by Denis Petrov and Chen Lu in Shenzhen. During his childhood, he also worked with former German figure skater, Constanze Paulinus, for two years, while she coached at his skating club.
Dai eventually moved to Beijing in 2018 to train under two-time World Champion pair skaters, Pang Qing and Tong Jian shortly after they opened the Pangqing Tongjian Academy.
He debuted as a junior skater at the 2020 Chinese Junior Championships, where he won the bronze medal. During the 2020–21 season, however, all Chinese national competitions were canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that Dai was unable to partake in major competitions that season.
Finally able to return to competition for the 2022–23 season, Dai made his senior national debut at the 2022 Chinese Championships, where he won the bronze medal.
In March 2023, Dai moved to Harbin to train at the Heilongjiang Winter Sports Training Center, where Jia Shuguang became his new coach.

### 2023–2024 season

Making his international debut at the 2023 Asian Open Trophy, Dai won the gold medal. He went on to compete at the 2023 Shanghai Trophy, where he finished sixth. Going on to debut on the 2023–24 Grand Prix circuit, Dai finished eleventh at the 2023 Cup of China.
At the 2023 Chinese Championships, Dai won the silver medal behind Chen Yudong. Selected to compete at the 2024 Four Continents in Shanghai, Dai finished twentieth.
He closed the season by winning silver at the 2024 National Winter Games.

### 2024–2025 season

Dai began the season by taking silver at the 2024 Asian Open Trophy. He then went on to compete at the 2024 Shanghai Trophy where he finished fifth. In late November, Dai competed at the 2024 Cup of China, where he placed seventh in both the short program and free skate, finishing in sixth-place overall, the highest rank of the three Chinese men competing at the event. While there, Dai would score personal bests in all three competition segments, including a short program over sixteen points higher than his previous best, a free skate over thirty-three points higher than his previous best, and a combined total score over fifty points higher than his previous best. One week later, he competed at the 2024 Chinese Championships, where he won the silver medal.
In February, Dai competed at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, where he finished in fourth place. One week later, he placed thirteenth at the 2025 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, South Korea.

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2024–2025 | I Still Love You by Night Traveler choreo. by Elvin Wong | Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Philip Glass choreo. by Constanze Paulinus, Jia Shuguang, Nikolai Moroshkin | Koop Island Blues by Koop |
| 2023–2024 | I Still Love You by Night Traveler choreo. by Elvin Wong Romeo and Juliet O Verona by Craig Armstrong, Nellee Hooper and Marius de Vries Kissing You by Des'ree choreo. by Constanze Paulinus | You Are So Beautiful Unchain My Heart performed by Joe Cocker choreo. by Constanze Paulinus | Breathe for Me by UNSECRET ft. Lonas |

## Competitive highlights

International :
| Event | 19–20 | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| World Championships | | | | TBD |
| Four Continents | | | 20th | 13th |
| GP Cup of China | | | 11th | 6th |
| Asian Games | | | | 4th |
| Shanghai Trophy | | | 6th | 5th |
| Asian Open Trophy | | | 1st | 2nd |
| National |||||
| Chinese Champ. | 3rd J | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd |
| National Winter Games | | | 2nd | |

## Detailed results

Results in the 2024–25 season :
| Date | Event | SP | SP | FS | FS | Total | Total |
| Date | Event | P | Score | P | Score | P | Score |
| Sep 2–6, 2024 | 2024 Asian Open Trophy | 3 | 81.37 | 1 | 150.36 | 2 | 231.73 |
| Oct 3–5, 2024 | 2024 Shanghai Trophy | 4 | 78.48 | 5 | 147.19 | 5 | 225.67 |
| Nov 22–24, 2024 | 2024 Cup of China | 7 | 82.96 | 7 | 154.39 | 6 | 237.35 |
| Nov 28 – Dec 1, 2024 | 2024 Chinese Championships | 1 | 79.58 | 2 | 144.25 | 2 | 223.83 |
| Feb 11–13, 2025 | 2025 Asian Winter Games | 3 | 82.89 | 5 | 155.94 | 4 | 238.83 |
| Feb 19–23, 2025 | 2025 Four Continents Championships | 11 | 70.11 | 13 | 134.77 | 13 | 204.88 |
2023–24 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 24–26 February 2024 | 2024 National Winter Games | 2 75.75 | 2 159.48 | 2 235.23 |
| 30 January–4 February 2024 | 2024 Four Continents Championships | 16 66.04 | 22 102.47 | 20 168.51 |
| 22–24 December 2023 | 2023 Chinese Championships | 2 74.73 | 2 138.11 | 2 212.84 |
| 10–11 November 2023 | 2023 Cup of China | 11 64.25 | 11 121.31 | 11 185.56 |
| 3–5 October 2023 | 2023 Shanghai Trophy | 6 49.32 | 6 105.95 | 6 155.27 |
| 16–18 August 2023 | 2023 Asian Open Trophy | 1 72.02 | 3 123.12 | 1 195.14 |