There was a time when people laughed at Yao Bin.
Not any more.
Yao, 52, tall, elegant and looking a little thin these days , has single-handedly created a powerhouse of pairs skaters in China over the past two decades from nothing. He's China's premier skating coach, a remarkable man with a photographic memory, an abiding knowledge of classical music, and a versatile mastery of all trades. He's a concert pianist, with a love of Franz Liszt and Peter Tchaikovsky, and has a piano in each house, one in Beijing and one in his hometown of Harbin. He's played four times for television shows in China. All this evolved from a singular creative drive.
Last month, his legendary pairs disciples, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, won an Winter Olympic gold medal against all odds. They were supposedly past their prime at ages 31 and 36, respectively. They'd endured a spate of injuries, some of which could have been career threatening.
And now with Shen and Zhao slipping back into retirement, Yao can also claim credit for Pang Qing and Tong Jian winning the world figure skating championships for the second time.
Pang and Tong took the title in Turin last week with an inspired performance, skating to, of all things, The Impossible Dream .
Yao, who might also soon head into retirement, has shown that nothing is impossible during his long skating and coaching career.
He was identified as a candidate for a sports school at 8, but he was quickly expelled. Why?
"Too naughty. I talked too much," said Yao, who grew up at the beginning of China's Cultural Revolution, when it was best to keep your thoughts to yourself.
It wasn't long before Yao was drafted back into the sports school in Harbin, earmarked as a singles skater. Four months before the world championships in Dortmund, Germany, in 1980, Yao was matched with Luan Bo to become a pairs skater, even though there was no pairs skating history in China, no pairs coaches and no pairs knowledge whatsoever.
Yao admits when they arrived in Dortmund, they knew nothing of what pairs skaters had done around the world. China had been a closed society. They didn't know how to lift, or throw or jump or barely to skate.
They placed last, far behind the second-last team, and their less-than-rudimentary skills were laughed at. One of the critics was the supreme pairs skater of the time: Irina Rodnina of the Soviet Union, who won 10 world pairs titles with two partners.
He and Luan placed last again at the next world championships - and again at the 1984 Olympics. But by the time he retired after the 1984 Games, they had narrowed the gap between them and the rest of the pack and, more important, established a baseline for future Chinese pairs and a foundation for the coaching career that followed.
Yao ultimately developed the next generation of Chinese pairs champions: Shen and Zhao, Pang and Tong and Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, who were the 2006 Olympic silver medalists.
In 2004, at the world championships in Dortmund, the place where he made his international debut, Yao's skaters placed second, third and fifth, 24 years after he had been beyond the bottom of the world in the same German city. By this time, Shen and Zhao had already won a couple of world titles.
At the Olympics in Vancouver last month, Yao's students placed first, second and fifth, and Shen and Zhao established world records for the pairs short program (76.66) and total points (216.57).
Yao's former pairs partner, Luan, is also starting to establish herself as a major world coach, too. She guided the very promising Sui Wenjing and Han Cong to a world junior championship title this month. Just 14 and 17, respectively, they also won the junior Grand Prix final last December, after sweeping both of their junior Grand Prix events.
There are more pairs teams than ever in China. In spite of the country's immense population, there are still only about 14 of them, from all levels - novice, junior and senior. Yao trains half of them.
But there is doubt about how long Yao will be able to continue churning out excellence in pairs skating, the only discipline in China that has true world strength, although China produced world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Chen Lu and some men who were quad-jump masters, without reaching the top of the world podium.
For many years, Yao has been suffering from a chronic back problem, that required surgery in 2004. Yao calls it an old sports injury, from the days of not knowing proper pairs technique from lifting and throwing.
He recently told a Chinese news agency that he wants to retire, because his body just can't hold up any longer. He told The Globe and Mail years ago that his work tired him, that he would like to have more time to play the piano and pursue other interests.
He's talking about looking for successors, and shoots a glance at Pang and Tong, who say they haven't decided whether or not to continue skating. Shen and Zhao have already established a pairs school in China.
Yao said there are two avenues of treatment for him: either to continue the medical treatment he's had or to have more surgery to relieve the pain. However the surgery comes with a risk: It may make it impossible for him to stand up. He said he'll make a decision on which route to take after the world championships finish here this weekend.
Yao is in constant pain. He cannot stand or sit very long. He must constantly change positions. He cannot sleep because of the pain.
His life's dream and his success have taken a toll. The Olympics, he said, was not only a pressure cooker for skaters, but for the coach. He's noticeably thin. There are dark circles beneath his eyes.
But Yao's spirit is unforgettable. He conducted the interview garbed in a white sweatshirt with gold stars on one shoulder and the English words: "Smarter than you think" on the other. His work is no laughing matter.