|
Pang and Tong aim at figure skating golds in Turin Olympics
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-14 09:54
FOOT INJURY
Shen and Zhao had long been China's top pair, winning the world title in 2002
and 2003, but they pulled out of the March world championships in Moscow at the
last minute because Zhao had a foot injury.
Pang Qing(upper)
and Tong Jian (down) | Zhao snapped his Achilles tendon in training in August and the pair missed
the China Cup in Beijing.
The new injury threw his participation at the February 10-26 Winter Olympics
into doubt but Tong said his compatriot's recovery was going well and Zhao and
Shen would likely take the ice at the Olympics.
"It will be a battle between Russia and China," Tong said.
Russia's dominance on the Olympic ice is hard to break. In the pairs, Russia
and its Soviet and post-Soviet predecessors have won pairs gold medals at every
Winter Games since Innsbruck in 1964.
Only at Salt Lake City in 2002 did another nation intrude and that happened
after Canadian runners-up Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were awarded duplicate
gold medals in the event won by Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after a
judging scandal.
Pang said she and Tong often practised in Beijing with Zhao and Shen and
China's third team in the Olympic pairs competition, Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao.
"We're working with our coach on our jumps so that we can perform them well
at competitions before the Olympics and then be more confident at the Olympics,"
Tong said.
|
