Russia's Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov won the figure
skating pairs gold medal with a flawless performance that scored
204.48 points at the Winter Olympics in Turin on Monday.
China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao overcame a fall by Zhang Dan to
win the silver medal. Their score of 189.73 points was 2.82 more
than former world champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who finished
third.
Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao were the last to compete after a perfect
show by Russian Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin. However the
21-year-olds were forced to take a five-minute pause after Zhang
Hao crashed heavily in the splits position after a failed quadruple
salchow jump.
After five minutes spent skating around the rink with her
partner, testing her knee and consulting her coach, the 21-year-old
returned to the contest to thrill the crowd and complete a
courageous, if not technically perfect, routine.
World champion Zhao Hongbo overcame his Achilles tendon injury
to take the pairs bronze medal with partner Shen Xue.
"We did our best," said the 32-year-old Zhao after the
competition. They finished fifth after the short program last
Sunday morning. On Tuesday morning, they executed a double and
triple toeloop during their routine, performed to Madame Butterfly,
followed by a graceful triple twist and throw triple loop.
Another Chinese pair Pang Qing and Tong Jian were placed fourth
with 186.67 points.
(Xinhua News Agency and CRI February 14, 2006)
