Yanhao "Dwayne" Li (; born 12 August 2008) is a Chinese-born New Zealand figure skater. He is the 2024 Youth Olympic bronze medalist, five-time ISU Junior Grand Prix medalist, and the 2025 New Zealand national champion.
He is the first New Zealand figure skater to qualify for or medal at any Olympic event and to win a ISU Junior Grand Prix medal.
Personal life Li was born on August 12, 2008 in Beijing, China. At the age of eight, his father's work required the family to move to New Zealand, settling in Auckland. Li is bilingual and able to communicate in Mandarin and English fluently. As of 2024, he is a high school student at Macleans College.
In addition to figure skating, Li can also play the clarinet.
Career
Early years Li began skating as a four-year-old in China, to escape the summer heat. After arriving in New Zealand at age eight, he joined the Allegro Ice Dance Club and Bess Cao became his coach. He trains at Paradice ice rinks in Botany and Avondale. Commenting on the sport, he said, "I love the feeling of weightlessness when I'm jumping on ice. I really enjoy the rush of wind when picking up speed."
2022–23 season: Junior international debut Li made his international debut in the SEA Open trophy in Singapore, where he finished second. He then made his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut at 2022 JGP Latvia, where he finished sixteenth. He went on to compete on the junior level at the 2022–23 New Zealand Championships, winning the gold medal. Selected to compete at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Li placed twenty-sixth in the short program and did not advance to the free skate segment of the competition.
2023–24 season: Youth Olympic bronze Li began the season by competing on the junior level of the 2023 Asian Open Trophy, taking the silver medal. Competing on the 2023–24 Junior Grand Prix series, Li took the bronze medal at the 2023 JGP Thailand with a score of 210.08, beating his previous personal best total score by almost sixty points. This was the first ever Junior Grand Prix medal won for New Zealand. He later finished in fifth place at 2023 JGP Japan three weeks later.
At the 2023–24 New Zealand Championships, Li won the junior national title for the second consecutive time.
In January 2024, Li competed in the men's singles event at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. He placed fourth in the short program, despite suffering a nosebleed midway through the program, which he said had "happened quite a few times before in training, so I just pushed on and finished my routine. It was actually pretty funny." In the free skate, he decided to attempt a triple Axel, and landed the jump, despite a step-out on the landing. Li said afterward that it "was the first time I'd ever done a triple Axel in competition and I was really pleased to stay on my feet." Although fourth in both segments, his total score was third highest, winning the bronze medal. He made history taking New Zealand's first Olympic medal in figure skating, and was one of four New Zealand athletes to win a medal at the 2024 Youth Olympics. After his medal success, he stated: "I was really proud of myself for being here and performing in front of such a big crowd." Li remarked as well that the "Youth Olympic Games used to be a dream. Now I can say it's reality. This is very special to me." Li finished the season at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Taipei, where he came twelfth.
2024–25 season Li started the season by competing on the junior level at the 2024 Cranberry Cup, where he won the junior men's event with a score of 230.54. He went on to compete on the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix circuit, winning gold at 2024 JGP Thailand and defeating reigning World Junior silver medalist, Rio Nakata. He achieved new personal best scores in both the short (83.25), and free program (146.84), with a total score of 230.09. Li made history as the first figure skater from New Zealand to ever win gold at a Junior Grand Prix event. He called the result "an inspiration to all the skaters in New Zealand. Currently we have a lot of upcoming skaters so I feel like this could be a way to inspire them to improve and to aim higher." He would go on to take the bronze medal at 2024 JGP China behind Nakata and Tian Tonghe of China. Li's results on the Junior Grand Prix guaranteed him a spot at the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final, becoming the first skater from New Zealand to qualify for a Grand Prix Figure Skating Final.
At the Junior Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France, Li would place fourth in the short program and fifth in the free skate, finishing the event in fifth place overall. Following his free skate, Li said, "I felt pretty shaky out there. I learned that it is all mental. I will have to work on that. I really enjoyed my first JGP experience a lot especially having this competition together with the Seniors. I got really inspired by watching all their practices. I love Yuma’s skating skills and Ilia’s quads. I am looking forward to see them skate tonight."
In late February, Li competed at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, where he finished in tenth place. “I know that for me, it's all mental," he said after the free skate. "It's been a long and hard season, so I really want to take some rest now."
2025–26 season Li began the season by competing on the junior level at the 2025 Cranberry Cup, where he won the gold medal for a second consecutive time. A couple weeks later, he began competing on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. He finished fifth at 2025 JGP Latvia.
In March, Li competed at the 2026 World Junior Championships where he finished in eighth place overall. "I am actually looking forward to competing in seniors," he said of next season. "I definitely want to focus mainly on seniors. Maybe that also brings a different mindset. And also with the new rules, like the changes in jumps and everything, that is pretty exciting. I will keep the short program. For the free skate it is not decided yet, but I do want to focus a little more on technique."
2026–2027 season Li opened his season at the Junior Grand Prix in Xi'an, China, where he won the silver medal.
Programs Season Short programme Free skating Exhibition 2026–2027 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close Piano Lesson With Grandma Earned It Blinding Lights 2025–2026 Les Misérables Prologue (Look Down) I Dreamed a Dream 2024–2025 Supreme Earned It Funny 2023–2024 Garde Confiance That's Life 2022–2023 Supreme
That's Life
Competitive highlights
Detailed results
Senior level
Junior level 2026–27 season Date Event SP FS TotalSeptember 03-05, 20262026 JGP Thailand1 86.652 158.032 244.68August 20–22, 20262026 JGP China2 83.592 147.302 230.89 2025–26 season Date Event SP FS Total February 19-22, 2026 2026 Tallink Hotels Cup 2 67.75 1 147.52 1 215.27 September 9-13, 2025 2025 JGP Thailand 2 77.15 3 135.14 3 210.29 August 20–23, 2025 2025 JGP Latvia 3 78.18 9 127.33 5 205.51 August 7–11, 2025 2025 Cranberry Cup International 1 79.46 1 144.86 1 224.32 2024–25 season Date Event SP FS Total February 25 – March 2, 2025 2025 World Junior Championships 10 72.96 9 142.89 10 215.85 December 5–8, 2024 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final 4 72.17 5 129.46 5 201.63 October 9–12, 2024 2024 JGP China 2 76.10 5 130.35 3 206.45 September 11–14, 2024 2024 JGP Thailand 1 83.25 1 146.84 1 230.09 August 8–11, 2024 2024 Cranberry Cup International 1 77.44 1 153.10 1 230.54 2023–24 season Date Event SP FS Total February 26–March 3, 2024 2024 World Junior Championships 23 62.84 8 134.63 12 197.47 January 27–29, 2024 2024 Youth Olympic Games 4 68.01 4 140.83 3 208.84 October 7–10, 2023 2023–24 New Zealand Junior Championships 1 73.51 1 135.18 1 208.69 September 13–16, 2023 2023 JGP Japan 4 71.39 7 124.41 5 195.80 August 23–26, 2023 2023 JGP Thailand 4 72.28 3 137.80 3 210.08 August 16–19, 2023 2023 Asian Open Trophy 1 65.24 2 109.09 2 174.33 2022–23 season Date Event SP FS Total June 9–12, 2023 2023 Hollins Trophy International 1 60.05 1 124.98 1 185.03 May 15–17, 2023 2023 Oceania International 1 64.20 1 126.46 1 190.69 February 27–March 5, 2023 2023 World Junior Championships 26 57.88 – 26 57.88 October 18–21, 2022 2022–23 New Zealand Junior Championships 1 60.82 1 123.26 1 184.08 September 7–10, 2022 2022 JGP Latvia 14 54.00 16 97.54 16 151.54 September 2–4, 2022 2022 Southeast Asian Trophy 2 61.51 2 114.33 2 175.84
References
External links