China’s Shen-Zhao Wins Gold In Pairs Figure Skating

China’s pairs figure skating team of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao came out of retirement in hopes of winning an elusive Olympic gold medal. On Monday night in Vancouver, they accomplished just that.

The win by Shen-Zhao, a married couple who previously had won two bronze medals in the Olympics, ended decades of Russian dominance in Pairs Figure Skating -- Russia had won gold in the event for the past 12 Winter Games.

China’s team of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao was the first to skate Sunday night in the Pairs Short Program, and they quickly showed why they are the gold medal favorites, turning in a record score of 76.66.

For most of the night, it looked like their lead would be insurmountable. But then the final five pairs skated, and suddenly it is a logjam at the top heading into Monday night’s Free Skate for the gold medal. Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy are just 0.7 points behind the Chinese, and Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov are in third, just 2.5 points back.

Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao have shown the rest of the Olympic competition that they aren’t here for anything but gold with their short program. After nine pairs (of 20), Shen and Zhao are leading the Pairs Short Program skate with a routine that netted 76.66 points, which broke their record of 75.36 in the 2009 ISU Grand Prix Final. The next closest pair is Canada’s Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay, with a score of 64.20.

Figure Skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics begins its competition schedule Sunday night with the Pairs Short Program. The Chinese team of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao and the heavy gold medal favorites in the event, having already won bronze twice.

However, they’re not the only gold medal hopefuls, writes our figure skating blog, Required Elements. Laura points out that Shen/Zhao is “up against two-time reigning world champions from Germany, Savchenko and Szolkowy, as well as the late-surging Russian pair Kavaguti and Smirnov ...”