Yu Junyan wins the freestyle slalom skating event at the World Roller Games 2019 in Spain. [Photo/Lishui Daily]

Yu Junyan, a roller skater from Lishui, a city in East China's Zhejiang province, will be one to look out for at the freestyle slalom skating event at the upcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Yu, born in 2001 and currently a student at Zhejiang University, began skating at nine years old. He soon received professional training from coach Xie Chunyong in slalom skating, a sport that tests the skaters' agility and speed as they weave through a series of cones.

Yu joined the national team in 2015 and quickly made a name for himself. In 2017, he clinched a silver medal at the National Games. He went on to break the world record at the World Roller Games in Nanjing and win China's first gold medal in this event with his timing of 4.872 seconds.

In 2018, Yu became the first person in history to win consecutive world championships in freestyle slalom skating across different age groups. In 2019, he shattered the world record again with a timing of 4.699 seconds at the World Roller Games in Spain.

On June 14 this year, Yu dominated the Asian Games freestyle slalom skating qualifying competition held in Hangzhou. He set a new national record with 3.95 seconds in the preliminary round and was ranked first. He then claimed the title with a timing of 4.475 seconds in the final.

The 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou from Sept 23 to Oct 8.