China's star figure skating pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo are
aiming to smash their personal best at the upcoming Asian Winter
Games in Changchun, China.
"Skating on home ice, of course we want to win the gold medal,"
said Zhao. "We are in good form now and we feel no pressure to win
at the Asian Games. We hope to break 206 points, our personal best,
at the competition as well."
To ensure a perfect performance at the Games, the two-time world
champions are attaching great importance to every aspect of their
program.
"We are paying much attention to the details, such as eye
contact during the performance and the position and angle of the
spins," Zhao said. "Every movement should be perfect."
Zhao, 33, is the oldest athlete in the Chinese delegation for
the Games, but his love of skating has not diminished.
"Skating is a happy thing for us now," said Zhao. "We like to
skate as much as possible every day, so we aren't happy when we
have to do other things that take away our skating time."
Shen and Zhao have skated together for 14 years, becoming one of
the most famous pairs in the world.
They won the world title in 2002 and 2003 and took silver in
2004. Zhao then suffered an Achilles tendon injury practicing a
triple toeloop, forcing them to miss the next two years.
They bounced back to win bronze at the Winter Games in Turin
last year, after which many thought they might retire.
But they then won the Grand Prix this season with two brand new
programs, and have just decided to continue through to the
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
"After the World Championships this year, we will stop competing
for a while and spend some time promoting figure skating." said
Zhao. "We plan to return to training in 2009. Given our good form,
we believe we will still be in a class of our own on our
return."
Shen was also optimistic about their Olympic chances.
"We have been skating together for many years, so I am confident
that we can be fit for competition once we resume training."
The veteran pair's decision was welcomed by China's winter
sports officials.
"If they can retain their current form until the 2010 Games,
they will be favorites to win gold," said Ren Hongguo, deputy
director of the country's winter sports administration.
This optimism is not shared by the country's other top pair,
reigning world champions Pang Qing and Tong Jian, who are caught in
a spiral of injuries and health worries.
Last September Pang was hit by a kidney disease, which forced
her to rest for months and skip the Grand Prix series this
season.
Practicing together for only two weeks, the pair competed at the
China Grand Prix in Nanjing last November, where they finished
runners-up with a new program.
With Pang recovering, they would have been expecting a return to
international competition at the Asian Games.
But Tong suffered a head injury in a car crash in late December
after winning the National Championships, forcing him to miss a
crucial week of training.
"We were so unlucky last year," Tong said. "We hope all the bad
luck has gone now."
"We will try our best at the Asian Winter Games, even though we
are not in top form, We will feel satisfied if we can overcome
adversity."
Another Chinese pair Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, Olympic silver
medalists in Turin, will miss the Asian Winter Games as they are
competing at the 23rd World University Winter Games, from January
17 to 27 also in Turin. The Zhangs has won the pairs competition at
the Universiade on Saturday.
The 6th Asian Winter Games will be held in Changchun, northeast
China, from January 28 to February 4.
A total of 816 athletes from 26 countries and regions will
compete in 47 events from five sports.
China will send the largest delegation of 160 athletes who will
participate in all 47 events.
At the last Winter Asian Games in Aomori, Japan, in 2003,
Chinese athletes won a total of nine gold medals, 11 silvers and 13
bronzes. Japan topped the medal table with 24 gold, 23 silver and
20 bronze, while South Korea went home with 10 gold, 8 silver and
10 bronze.
(China Daily January 25, 2007)
