Shen Xue

Shen Xue
nation	People's Republic of China
birthday	November 13, 1978
place of birth	Harbin
size	160 cm
Weight	45 kg
Career
discipline	Pair skating
Partner	Zhao Hongbo
society	Harbin Ice Skating Club
Trainer	Yao Bin, Sun Zhiping, Sun Yu, Q. Wang
choreographer	Lori Nichol, Sandra Bezic, Lea Ann Miller, Michael Seibert
status	resigned
End of career	2010
Medal table
Olympic medals 1 × 0 × 2 × World Cup medals 3 × 3 × 1 × VKM medals 3 × 1 × 0 ×
winter Olympics bronze Salt Lake City 2002 Couples bronze Turin 2006 Couples gold Vancouver 2010 Couples  World figure skating championships silver Helsinki 1999 Couples silver Nice 2000 Couples bronze Vancouver 2001 Couples gold Nagano 2002 Couples gold Washington 2003 Couples silver Dortmund 2004 Couples gold Tokyo 2007 Couples Four continents championships gold Halifax 1999 Couples silver Salt Lake City 2001 Couples gold Beijing 2003 Couples gold Colorado Springs 2007 Couples
Personal best
Total points 216.57 Olympia 2010  Freestyle 139.91 Olympia 2010  Short program 76.66 Olympia 2010
Placements in the figure skating Grand Prix
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Grand Prix Final 6th 1 2  Grand Prix competitions 17th 6th 2
last change: 2013

Shen Xue ( Chinese  申 雪 , Pinyin Shēn Xuě ; born November 13 , 1978 in Harbin ) is a former Chinese figure skater who started in pair skating .

Career

Shen was born in Harbin, the center of Chinese figure skating. She started figure skating at the age of seven, initially as a single skater. She later switched to pair skating. Her figure skating partner became Zhao Hongbo in 1992 . Her trainer was Yao Bin , who, together with partner Bo Luan, was the first Chinese participant in world championships in pair skating in 1980 . Shen / Zhao initially trained at the Harbin Training Center. However, the entire training group moved to Beijing . This training group also includes Pang Qing and Tong Jian as well as Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao . However, Shen / Zhao continued to run for the Harbin Ice Skating Club.

In 1993 Shen / Zhao became Chinese pair skating champions for the first time in their careers. By the time they retired, they should win seven more national titles. The couple made their international debut at the 1994 World Cup in Chiba . They finished it in 21st place. The international entry was not exactly great. The pirouettes were slow and asynchronous. The technology of the throwing elements also left a lot to be desired. They have also been criticized for leaving large holes in the ice, even on lifting figures.

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo at the 2001/02 Grand Prix Final

Shen / Zhao had reached the top of the world in 1998 with fifth place at the Olympic Games in Nagano and fourth place at the world championships . In December 1998 they won the Grand Prix Final . With improved choreography and improved expression, they won the Four Continents Championship in Halifax in 1999 . In Helsinki they became vice world champions behind the Russians Jelena Bereschnaja and Anton Sicharulidze and thus won the first world championship medal in pair skating for China. In 2000 Shen / Zhao defended their silver medal at the World Championships and in 2001 it was enough for the bronze medal. So they went to the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City as co-favorites and won the bronze medal. It was the first Olympic medal for a Chinese figure skating couple. After the resignation of the Olympic champions Berezhnaya and Sicharulidze as well as Jamie Salé and David Pelletier , the way was clear for Shen / Zhao at the 2002 World Championships . In Nagano , Japan , they became the first Chinese pair skating world champions . They defended the title a year later at the 2003 World Cup in Washington , although Shen injured his foot during training. They received several top marks for their freestyle, which they ran to Vanessa Maes Variations of Puccini's Turandot . Shortly before, in front of their home crowd in Beijing, they had won the four continents championship for the second time .

The attempt to win the third world title in a row failed in 2004, despite the best freestyle to the music of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, due to a mistake by Zhao in the short program. They were defeated by Tatjana Totmjanina and Maxim Marinin . In 2005 they had to give up completely because of a strained Achilles tendon. But it was to get worse, because on August 5, 2005, Zhao tore his Achilles tendon while training at the Kunming high altitude training camp and was operated on the following day in Beijing. This hindered the preparation for the Olympic Games for 2006 considerably. They were only able to return to the ice a few weeks before the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin . Their training deficit was obvious, but it was just enough to win the bronze medal at the Olympic Games again behind Totmjanina / Marinin and their young compatriots Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao . Their fellow compatriots Pang Qing and Tong Jian were only 0.24 points behind them.

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo at the 2010 Olympic Games

The 2006/07 season turned out to be a strong season for Shen / Zhao. They won both Grand Prix competitions in which they participated and the Grand Prix final . Then they won the Four Continents Championship in Colorado Springs for the third and last time and on March 21, 2007 in Tokyo they became world champions for the third and last time . They then announced their retirement from competitive sports. Immediately after the freestyle, Zhao Hongbo proposed marriage to Shen Xue, which she accepted. They married that same year.

For the 2009/2010 season, Shen / Zhao announced their return to competitive sports to fulfill their last unfulfilled dream of Olympic gold. They won both Grand Prix competitions and the Grand Prix final for the sixth time , more often than any other couple. At the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver they achieved a new record in the short program with 76.66 points, 0.70 points ahead of Aljona Sawtschenko and Robin Szolkowy . They finished the freestyle with a personal best behind their compatriots Pang Qing and Tong Jian , who set a new point record . With a total of 216.57 points, which also points world record meant gained Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo Olympic gold before Pang / Tong and Savchenko / Szolkowy. It was the first Olympic victory for China in figure skating. Shen / Zhao ended the winning streak of Soviet and Russian pair skaters at the Olympic Games after 46 years . At 31, Shen Xue was the oldest Olympic pair skating champion since Lyudmila Belousova in 1968 . On February 17th, Shen / Zhao announced their final retirement from competitive sports.

After retiring from their careers, Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue appeared in various ice cream shows. You live in Shenzhen and work as a trainer. Their first child was born on September 3, 2013.

Results

Pair skating

(with Zhao Hongbo )

Competition / year	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
winter Olympics						5.				3.				3.				1.
World championships		21st		15th	11.	4th	2.	2.	3.	1.	1.	2.	Z		1.
Four continents championships							1.		2.		1.				1.
Chinese championships	1.	1.	2.	1.	1.	1.	1.		1.	1.

• Z = withdrawn

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo at the 2009/10 Grand Prix Final

Web links

Commons : Shen Xue  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo in the database of the International Skating Union (English)
• Shen Xue in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )