Pairs figure skaters win in style
Chinese duo vow audiences, set world record
After having to settle for silver at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong set the goal of changing the color to gold next time. On home ice in Beijing, they did it — and in brilliantly expressive style.
The two sparkled in front of the home crowd at the Capital Indoor Stadium on Feb 19 to claim the Olympic pairs title with a stylish free skate routine that scored 155.47 points and set a new world record total of 239.88.
Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of the Russian Olympic Committee took silver with 239.25. Their teammates Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, who held the previous world record of 239.82, claimed bronze in 237.71.
The victory took Chinese figure skating full circle. The country’s only previous Olympic gold in the sport was won by Sui and Han’s coach, Zhao Hongbo, and his partner, Shen Xue, at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
“Four years ago we set this grand goal and we are very excited today,” said the 26-year-old Sui after the triumph.
Skating to Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water — the same music they performed to when
winning the 2017 world championships — Sui and Han said the free routine told the story of how they supported each other through hard times. Throughout their 15-year partnership on the ice, there certainly have been plenty of setbacks to overcome.
They were initially not considered suitable for pairs skating because their heights were relatively similar. Injuries, too, have disrupted and almost ended their careers.
The duo missed most of the 2012/13 season as Sui was recovering from a bone condition called epiphysitis. They also missed the first half of the 2016/17 season as she underwent surgery on both feet in spring 2016.
After being crowned world champion for the first time in 2017, Sui suffered a stress fracture in her foot the following year and missed the 2018 Grand Prix season.
They returned in time for their Olympic debut in Pyeongchang, where they topped the short program but were edged to gold by Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany by just 0.43 points.
The Chinese pair won their second world title in 2019, but their preparations for the Beijing Games were interrupted when Han underwent hip surgery in April 2020. Their only official competition last season was the 2021 worlds in Sweden, where they were beaten to gold by Mishina and Galliamov.
Before stepping on the ice on Feb 19, Han told Sui to be invincible and rise to the challenge, to which she replied: “No worries, we can do it. We have created many miracles, and today we’re going to do the same.”
It was not idle rhetoric. They opened with a quadruple twist — an overhead throw which no other competitors attempted — and completed a triple-double-double toe-loop, two big triple throws as well as level-four lifts, spin and death spiral. The only glitch came when Sui landed forward on the triple salchow that was downgraded.
The two held each other tightly after their concluding pose.
Sui said their sensational quad twist — the highest-scored twist on the night — was executed in pursuit of the Olympic spirit: Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together.
“This is an unforgettable night. We realized our dreams,” said Han, 29.