Tough times

After Lake Placid, Bao set her sights on making the next Olympics, training in the US and Germany before an injury setback just before the 1982 world junior championships.

"Those four years were the most difficult period of my life,... and the most frustrating period as well," she recalled.

"Me and my coach, we worked so hard to get better results."

Like most athletes, her biggest opponent was her own body. She began to challenge herself to complete more difficult jumps and spins without any protective measures.

Hundreds of tumbles, however, could not deter Bao from her Olympic dream.

At the 1984 Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, she fell and finished 19th. Heartbroken by the result, Bao decided to retire.

Skating might not have brought her medals, but it did bring her a lifelong partner in Bian Shaotang, who was captain of China's men's hockey team.

The pair married after retiring from national duty, but winter sports have remained constant in their lives.

Back home

The couple moved to Japan to pursue college educations in the 1990s but have always kept an eye on the fortunes of Chinese figure skaters.

Bao and her family drove some 10 hours from Kyushu to Nagano to cheer for eventual bronze medalist and fellow Jilin native Chen Lu at the 1998 Winter Olympics. And while she had to settle for watching from the couch, Bao found Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo's pairs gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games particularly rousing.

"That was another historic moment for Chinese figure skating," she said. "We'd been waiting 30 years for that!"

With Beijing and Zhangjiakou hosting the 2022 Games, indoor rinks are popping up all over China - even in the warmer southern regions.

The skating boom has created a demand for coaches, so Bao and Bian have returned to their homeland to lend their expertise.

For the past year, Bao has been coaching kids at a training agency in southeastern city Fuzhou, which opened its first two indoor rinks in 2016 in a shopping center.

"Skating is a special experience for the southerners. Many people come to try and learn during weekends and holidays," said Bao.

"Sometimes there are too many skaters and the rink seems too small and the number of skates for rent is far from enough."

Still, those Fuzhou folk just might have some untapped talent.

"The southerners, generally speaking, are not as tall and strong as the northerners, but they can be more skilful," said Bao.

"Maybe it's a kind of advantage in figure skating that we had not seen before."