China's Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang successfully qualified for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics after finishing first in the pairs competition at the International Skating Union (ISU) figure skating Olympic qualifying event in Beijing on Saturday.

After ranking first in the short program on Friday, Zhang and Huang maintained their momentum in the free skate, en route to taking top honors with 191.53 points.

"We made our utmost efforts in training," Zhang said. "And it was an honor for us to skate on this international stage and win the berth."

"We had some mistakes in the free skate and fluctuated a little bit, but basically, we performed steadily despite some pressure at home," Huang added. "China has a great tradition in pairs, so we are confident that our team can attain new heights in the future."

The top three pairs sealed spots in the upcoming Winter Olympics, with Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin of Armenia and Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan joining Zhang and Huang in booking their places next year in Italy.

Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev of France placed second in the short program, but ended up fourth in the final rankings, missing out on the 2026 Winter Games.