Tracy's World

Out of retirement and into the gold! After eighteen years, the husband and wife duo from China finally realized their Olympic gold dream and won China’s first title in figure skating. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo broke Russia’s 46-year stronghold on the Olympics figure skating pairs event on Monday night with a mesmerizing performance.  Their romantic free skate performance was full of many difficult moves, including the triple toe and double Axel-double Axel sequence. It was truly a beautiful performance.

You could see that the couple is truly connected when they skate. They are husband and wife and their chemistry on the ice is amazing.  “When I hold her in my arms, I don’t have to pretend I love her,” said Mr. Zhao, in an interview session in Beijing before leaving for Vancouver. “I do.”

For twelve successive Olympics, stretching back to the 1964, the Russian or Soviet figure skaters have dominated the pairs event. The gold medal also made the Chinese pair the first-ever non-European couple to be crowned in Olympic figure skating history.

Zhao is the oldest athlete among the whole Chinese delegation to the Vancouver Games.  He is 36 years old. He is also the second oldest Olympic champion in the event’s history. He was preceded by Walter Jakobsson of Finland, who won the event in 1920 at 37.

The silver medal also went to China. Pang Qing and Tong Jian actually earned the highest marks of the evening’s free skate.  Their perfectly synchronized spins and leg angles were outstanding, but they were five points behind Shen and  Zhao after Sunday’s short program. After their silver-medal winning performance, Mr. Tong bent down and kissed the ice.

It looks like great things are on the horizon for Shen and Zhao, but they may not include skating. After their Vancouver win, Mr. Zhao said he would now move on. “I think it is hard to continue skating, so maybe it is time to have a baby,” he told reporters on Monday night.