It has been one long and arduous year for Chinese figure skating duo Sui Wenjing and Han Cong. An unexpected knee injury put Sui on an operation table and left Han alone in the ice rink, but the two rose after their fall, winning an international championship last week and meeting the Chinese and Finnish presidents on Wednesday.

As the song “Bridge over Troubled Water” came to an end at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships, Sui and Han hugged tightly, sharing tears and smiles which have characterized their journey in the previous year.

The Chinese pair scored 232.0 to snatch the first place at the event on March 30 in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. Last year, they came second, winning silver.

It had been seven years since China last won the title when the country’s renowned figure skating pair Pang Qing and Tong Jian bagged gold at the 2010 Turin World Figure Skating Championships.

But their victory wasn’t without any missteps. Sui toppled over during their number, yet that did not affect their mesmerizing performance.

When recalling her fall following a mistimed landing in the side-by-side triple Salchows during the competition, Sui confessed that little training time was to blame.

“But we did our best and we feel happy about that,” she added.

Last week’s championship was the duo’s first competition since returning to the ice rink after Sui’s ankle and foot surgery last spring.

The two only resumed training in October.

On Wednesday, they were honored with the chance of presenting tracksuits to the Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and his wife Jenni Haukio in Helsinki, as visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Niinisto met skaters from the two countries to promote cooperation in winter sports.

The world champion duo missed the fall season after Sui underwent right ankle and left foot surgeries last spring. For quite some time, as his partner recovered, Han had to go through solo training.

When they returned to the skating rink, the two appeared stronger and happier.

“I had surgery last year and a hard time. When I came back to the ice rink, I just wanted to enjoy every day,” Sui told the media.

“After that experience, it seems nothing will scare me. We always feel so lucky that we can go back to the skating rink. Every time we train, we feel so happy and lucky,” said Han after the game. 

The duo showed interest in skating at a very young age. In 2007, 12-year-old Sui and 15-year-old Han teamed up together and started professional pairs skating – a path that took them to countries they have never been and led them to heights they only dreamed of.

The duo will now head to Canada together with China’s figure skating team for a new round of training. They already have their eyes on the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

“We hope we can stand on the highest podium and bring the audience the best performance again.”