Chinese pair win at Four Continents
Posted: Wednesday February 24, 1999 11:44 PM
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Chinese pair skaters Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao carried away the gold. AP |
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) -- Chinese pair skaters Xue Shen, 20, and Hongbo Zhao, 25, made history on Wednesday by winning the first gold medal at the inaugural Four Continents figure skating championships.
Shen and Zhao, the world's fourth-ranked duo, won $33,000 in prize money.
Second place, worth $24,750, went to Canada's Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz. U.S. national champions Danielle and Steve Hartsell took third and $16,500.
The new Four Continents event, the counterpart to the century-old European championships, is open to skaters from North America, Asia, Africa and Australia.
"This wasn't our best perfomance tonight," said Shen through an interpreter although the 4,100 fans in awe of their sky-high lifts and throw jumps would likely disagree.
"It's also tough knowing there are two more competitions ahead," Shen added in reference to the Grand Prix Final next week in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the worlds in Helsinki in March.
Sargeant and Wirtz, ranked seventh in the world, put their disastrous short program behind them to climb two notches with their superb finale to Duke Ellington jazz.
Another Canadian couple, Valerie Saurette and Jean-Sebastien Fecteau, dropped from second to fourth overall, but she deserved a medal for bravery.
On the warm-up Saurette slammed into the boards face first after falling out of a throw double axel gone wildly awry. They competed anyway.
"My back hurts when I breathe, my knee hurts, my hip hurts, my shoulder hurts and it's going to be worse tomorrow," the gutsy competitor said afterwards.
Saurette said she felt no pride for what she had just accomplished, only sadness and disappointment knowing her three mistakes cost them a podium spot.
Earlier on Wednesday, Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan, took the lead following the women's short program.
For her performance to Mozart's Fantasia which featured a triple lutz jump combination and triple flip, Malinina got the nod from all seven judges.
"I felt very relaxed going out there. It was almost like a practice session," said Malinina, 26, now training in the United States.
Despite the absence of reigning world champion Michelle Kwan, the American women also shone Wednesday.
Amber Corwin, Erin Pearl and Angela Nikodinov ranked two-three-four in the 20-woman field.
Kwan could have competed in Halifax but is focusing her energy on winning her third world crown in Helsinki in late March.
On Thursday, the women skate their free skate final, worth two-thirds of the total score, while the ice dancers waltz through part two parts of their three-segment event.
Three-time world champion Elvis Stojko takes on 17 challengers in the men's short program Friday.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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