Chinese Figure Skating Pair to Retry Quadruple Throw

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 26, 2002

Chinese Figure Skating Pair to Retry Quadruple Throw

China's newly-crowned world champion figure skaters Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo said Monday in Beijing that they will retry the quadruple throw salchow in future competitions.

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Chinese Skaters Win Gold In World Figure Skating Championships

China's newly-crowned world champion figure skaters Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo said Monday in Beijing that they will retry the quadruple throw salchow in future competitions.

"We will try it again in the future," Shen, who failed to make a solid landing as the pair attempted an unprecedented quadruple throw salchow at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in February, told Xinhua after a ceremony held in their honor at the Beijing Capital Airport.

Shen and Zhao won the Olympic bronze while Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze and Canadian pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were tied for the gold medals.

Shen vowed to retry the highly difficult routine in the world championships in Nagano in March.

Shen/Zhao Win China's First Pairs Gold at Worlds

However, Shen and Zhao only did a triple throw salchow as they won their first world title in Nagano, where all the reigning Olympic champions were abscent.

"We took part in many social activities after the Olympic Games and we were not in top form after our arrival at Nagano," Zhao admitted. "We decided not to do the quadruple throw in Nagano."

The Chinese pair became the first Chinese figure skaters to win at world championships since their compatriot Chen Lu won the women's singles title in the Birmingham championships in 1995.

Not to retire in near future

They have decided not to retire in the near future. "We will try to defend our title next year," said the 28-year-old Zhao.

Chinese Pair Listed Top In World Figure Skating Champ

Chinese officials highly priased their success in a sport not quite popular in China. "This world title means a lot to us," said Xiao Tian, director of the Chinese Winter Sports Administrative Center. "Because Shen and Zhao won it in a sport traditionally dominated by Europeans and North Americans," he said.

"It will greatly boost the development of the sport in China," he added.

With a population of nearly 1.3 billion, China has only a handful of pairs skaters, among whom are Pang Qing and Tong Jian, who had won the fifth place, and Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, who finished ninth, in earlier world championships.

Shen/Zhao Win China's First Pairs Gold at Worlds

Olympic bronze medallists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo Wednesday became China's first pairs world champions after finishing top place in the free skating at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nagano, Japan.

The pairs event was marred by mistakes of the top finishers while the women's qualifications featured top qualifying performances by Olympic rivals Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya.

In the pairs, the Chinese duo had the top technical feats of the evening although Shen sprawled on a triple toe loop. Full Story

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