In spite of staying away from national team, triple pairs
skating world champion Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo are calculating a
comeback charge to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
Shen and Zhao, two-time Olympic bronze medalist, gave up the
national team training in March after the couple won pairs at the
World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo, picking up world tour
exhibitions instead.
The pair was attending a performance in China Cup Grand Prix of
figure skating in Harbin on Sunday. "We take up exhibitions rather
than training in national team, but it does not mean we are ebbing
away," said 34-year-old Zhao. "We will surely resume systematic
training with national team before the 2010 Winter Olympics."
"Though there's no specific timetable available by now, I
anticipate it would be one and a half years before the Games.
"We have been shuttling three times between China and the United
States in the latest one-month time for program fabrication. Two
new programs have already been there and one of them is called
'feeling good' in a style of modern dance," Zhao reflected, adding
the exhibitions were even more demanding than training.
"Tour exhibitions are harder than training, so we have never
stayed away from the ice. In tour exhibitions, we exchange actions
with spectators which enable us to skate freely and openly without
considering too much on rules.
"But that does not mean it's easier at all. The exhibitions
consume more energy as you have to finish your action with numerous
pairs of eyes sparking at you. We can spare some time to slack off
in national team training, but it's never allowed on the ice court
through exhibitions," said 28-year-old Shen, telling that tour
exhibitions in Japan and Canada are just instant in hand.
Zhao and Shen, who have teamed for 14 years at world-level
competition, is a golden combination in China.
The duo won the first pairs' title for China in 2002 and then
retained it in 2003 before incurring a string of injuries.
Zhao had been suffering from a torn Achilles' tendon which
affected them at the Turin Olympics and forced them to pull out of
the 2006 worlds.
This year, the pair have overcome a dismay 2006 to sweep all
before them this season, winning the Cup of China, the NHK Trophy,
the Grand Prix final and the Four Continents event.
After lifting the world championships title in Tokyo, Shen and
Zhao left the national team. In their words, it's a temporary
leave.
The pair started to ponder retirement after they finished third
in Turin Winter Olympics in 2006 but an Olympic victory is always
appealing for them.
The two bronze medals in Salt Lake City and Turin Olympic Games
can never cover the regret of Olympic title drought for their
nearly one-and-a-half decade career.
(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2007)