Ting Cui was born on September 6, 2002, in Baltimore, Maryland,[2] the eldest child of Lily and Larry Cui.[1] She graduated from Towson High School in 2020.[1] She enrolled at Middlebury College in 2022, where she currently in the process of obtaining a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Government.[3]
Career
Early years
Cui began learning to skate in 2009.[2] She received a pewter medal after finishing fourth in the intermediate category at the 2015 U.S. Championships. Two years later, she won silver in the novice ranks at the 2017 U.S. Championships.
Cui began her season on the JGP series, placing fifth in Linz, Austria, and then seventh in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Making her senior international debut, she won silver at the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy in November.
At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Cui debuted on the senior level domestically. She placed twelfth in the short program after falling twice and failing to execute a combination. She rallied in the free skate, where she placed third, rising to fifth place overall. Cui said afterward that it "felt amazing, and the audience was so different from juniors. I could feel the energy from the crowd, and I was just so happy, and people were on their feet too, which was really amazing." Cui was then assigned to the 2019 World Junior Championships alongside pewter medalist Hanna Harrell. Because both Harrell and gold medalist Alysa Liu were ineligible for senior international competition, Cui was also assigned to the 2019 Four Continents Championship.[5]
Competing at Four Continents, Cui placed seventh in the short program. Despite an edge call on her flip, she said it was "so much fun skating for the crowd, especially during my footwork, that was great. It’s my first Championship event, and I really want to enjoy every moment of it."[6] In the free program, she fell three times and finished in eleventh place overall.[7]
Cui suffered from a serious ankle injury over the summer but returned to compete at the 2019 U.S. Classic, where she finished fourth.[9] On October 9, 2019, Cui announced that she had reinjured her ankle in training and would consequently withdraw from her Grand Prix assignments for the year, the Internationaux de France and NHK Trophy.[10]
In January, Cui qualified for the 2020 U.S. Championships but withdrew in December 2019 to focus on recovering from her ankle injury.[11]
While appearing on Polina Edmunds's podcast, on an episode that was released in February 2021, Cui said she was training in Lake Placid, New York, with Paul Wylie and was still recovering from her injury. She said she was working on getting her triples consistent and looking to return and compete for the next season. Cui also said her coaching situation for the upcoming season would be dependent upon several factors, including where she decided to attend college.[13] Roland Burghart would eventually become her new coach.[14]
During the following season, Cui would only appear at small domestic events.[15]
2022–23 season
Competing at the 2023 Eastern Sectional Championships in early November, Cui would win the silver medal, which allowed her to qualify for the U.S. Championships.[15]
Although assigned to compete at the 2023 Winter World University Games, she would withdraw following a nineteenth-place short program due to illness.[15][16] Shortly following the event, Cui would compete at the 2023 U.S. Championships, where she finished in twelfth place.[15]
