Blades of glory

Well, not exactly. He'll have a certain American skater waiting for him in China.

As Chen and Hanyu prepare to face off one more time, here are some of figure skating's other great rivalries:

Battle of the Brians

Brian Orser captured the silver medal at the 1984 Olympics, when American rival Brian Boitano was fifth, and the two went back and forth for the next four years. That set the stage for the 1988 Calgary Games, where Boitano upstaged the reigning world champion in his native Canada by a 5-to-4 split of the judges to win the gold medal.

Carmen clash

At the same Winter Games in Calgary, world champ Katarina Witt of East Germany and silver medalist Debi Thomas of the US were favorites to win gold. Both had unwittingly chosen music from the opera "Carmen" for their long programs, and it was Witt who outclassed Thomas to win the title. She wound up with bronze behind Canada's Elizabeth Manley.

Asian aces

The long program at the 2010 Vancouver Games was appointment viewing in Asia, where Yuna Kim had become the biggest star in South Korea and Mao Asada rivaled her popularity in Japan. Kim ultimately won the gold medal with three world-best scores, and Asada had to settle for silver after becoming the first woman to land the triple axel at the Olympic Games.

Border war

Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the US and Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir proved rivalries can exist even in the serene world of ice dance. Virtue and Moir edged Davis and White for gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games, then the teams swapped spots four years later at the Sochi Olympics. White and Davis subsequently retired after their triumph, and that cleared the way for Virtue and Moir to win a second Olympic title at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang.

Agencies via Xinhua