Shen, Zhao roar back with gold
Three-time world champions win first competition since 2007
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By icenetwork.com staff
(10/31/2009) - At nearly 31 and 36, Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao proved they've got something left to give, defeating far younger Chinese teammates Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang to take gold in Beijing.
The couple, who married in 2007, were lured back to competition by the chance of winning an elusive Olympic gold medal after bronzes in 2002 and 2006. It is their second return from a long hiatus; they did not compete at the world championships in 2005, after Zhao suffered a torn Achilles' tendon. They toured with Stars on Ice during their latest competitive layoff.
Performing to Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor," Shen and Zhao looked rusty on their side-by-side jumps, getting deductions for poor landings on their triple toe loops and double Axel, double Axel sequence. They also flubbed their pair combination spin, gaining no points for that element.
But the team's greatest strengths -- soaring triple twist and throws -- were intact, and they earned Level 4s for four of their elements, including two lifts. They won the short program and free skate for 200.97 points total.
World silver medalists Zhang and Zhang also had trouble with their opening side-by-side jumps, getting a deduction for their double Axel, triple toe sequence. That was the only mistake in their Sheherazade program, which scored 3.64 points higher than Shen and Zhao's in technical elements but trailed the elder team's in program components. They climbed from fourth place after the short to win silver with 186.49 points.
Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov of Ukraine, who placed sixth at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, were third with 170.79. Volosozhar fell on the landing of a throw triple loop, and Morozov popped an intended triple Salchow into a single, but the team had a superb triple twist and strong lifts.
Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig of the U.S. placed sixth in the free and seventh overall. Although the side-by-side triple toes in their program to Rachmaninov's "Piano Concerto No. 2" were downgraded, they hit a strong throw triple loop in the second half of their performance.
Lynn Rutherford contributed to this report