Olympic results 2018: Germany’s Aljona Savchenko, Bruno Massot earn gold in pairs figure skating

The German team of Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot stole the show in pairs free skate, pulling off a record-breaking high score to leap into first place and grab the gold medal. Their score of 159.31 set an Olympic record for pairs figure skating.

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China took silver, while Canada’s team of Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford settled for the bronze. One of the gold medal favorites, Russians Evegenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, didn’t even make the podium after a poor free skate run.

It all came down to the end with the final four teams, and only five points separating the four. Savchenko and Massot needed a perfect run to rebound from their disappointing short program, and pulled off what might be the best of their career. Nearly flawless skating and tricks led to a stunning program that got the crowd on their feet. Their gold medal was well-earned in the end.

Duhamel and Radford were up after the Germans. They had a run up to their usual high standards, though a few minor technical issues cost them. With no margin for error at this level, that ultimately ended their shot at gold, but 153.33 was still good enough to get on the podium.

Despite entering the night first place, Sui and Han couldn’t recapture the magic of their short program. They had a rough start with multiple miscues, and the closing stretch wasn’t quite enough to make up for it. Once again, no margin for error — a 153.08 barely denied them first place.

Finally, Tarasova and Morozov capped off the night with Christina Aguilera’s “Candyman” — an odd choice for a gold-medal contender, to say the least. It ended up being a disastrous run, with a 143.25 score taking them off the podium entirely.

The only American team in the finals was the Knierim couple of Alexa and Chris. Despite being the most sickeningly sweet couple at the Olympics and skating to the Ghost soundtrack on Valentine’s Day, the Knierims had a rather poor run and finished near the bottom of the standings.

Keeping with the Valentine’s Day theme, Annika Hocke and Ruben Blommaert of Germany used “Romeo and Juliet” by Abel Korzeniowski. They managed the weakest score in the field, however.

The Russians had three teams make it to the finals. The first one, Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov, used music from the La La Land soundtrack. Yet another solid choice from a team taking advantage of more choices this year — this is the first Olympics where music with lyrics is allowed. However, the music was the only highlight for Astakhova and Rogonov, who got a low score after multiple falls and mistakes.

France’s Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres had perhaps the boldest song choice yet, the Disturbed cover of “The Sound of Silence.” Their actual run was well-received despite a bad fall in the middle, leading them to a short-lived first place with a 143.19 score and 218.53 overall.

Not to be outdone, the Chinese duo of Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang skated to the Star Wars soundtrack. There were a few glaring errors in their program, though, which deflated their score and knocked them out of podium contention.

Last up was the top four teams, creating all the drama and tension you could want from Olympic figure skating.

Here are the full results below.