Shen Xue
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Olympic medal record | |||
Figure skating | |||
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Bronze | 2002 Salt Lake City | Pairs | |
Bronze | 2006 Turin | Pairs |
Personal Info | ||
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Country: | ![]() |
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Residence: | Harbin, China (PRC) | |
Height: | 160 cm | |
Partner: | Zhao Hongbo | |
Coach: | Yao Bin | |
Skating Club: | Harbin SC | |
ISU Personal Best Scores | ||
Short + Free Total: | 206.54 | 2005 GP Final |
Short Program: | 71.07 | 2007 Worlds |
Free Skate: | 136.02 | 2005 GP Final |
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Shen.
Shen Xue (Simplified Chinese: 申雪; Traditional Chinese: 申雪; pinyin: Shēn Xuě; born November 13, 1978 in Harbin, China) is a pairs figure skater from China. Along with her partner Zhao Hongbo, they became the first World Champion pairs team from China, and also the first to win an Olympic medal. Shen and Zhao were the first Chinese pair to be competitive on the senior international level. They are the 2007 World Champions and 2007 Grand Prix Final Champions.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo began skating together in 1992, under the tutelage of Yao Bin. They competed at their first Olympics in 1998, in Nagano, Japan. They impressed audiences with their abilities and finished an impressive fifth. They went on to the World Championships a year later with improved choreography and expression, and won the silver medal, becoming the first Chinese team to ever win a World Championship medal.
[edit] 2001-2002 season
Shen and Zhao improved each year, and were considered to be one of the top teams in the world. They won another silver medal at the Worlds in 2000, and a bronze in 2001. They were considered strong medal contenders in the 2002 Winter Olympics. They won the bronze with a strong performance, narrowly missing a throw quadruple salchow attempt. They became the first Chinese pair to win a medal at the Olympics for figure skating. Their achievement was overshadowed by the judging controversy surrounding their rivals Yelena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze and Jamie Salé & David Pelletier, but they had nonetheless solidified their role in Chinese figure skating history as trailblazers.
Shen and Zhao won their first World Championship in 2002. They repeated this win the following year in Washington D.C., with perhaps their most memorable performance. While practing their throw quadruple salchow, Shen landed badly and severely injured her landing foot and ankle. She was in such severe pain that she required several treatments to numb the foot entirely so that she should compete. Miraculously, she showed no signs of weakness, and the pair performed a brilliant long program that earned them a racous standing ovation, and several perfect 6.0's for presentation.
[edit] Olympics & 2004-2006 season
Their attempt to win a third straight World title in 2004 was thwarted when Zhao fell during their short program. They rebounded to win the free program, but it was only good enough for second overall behind their new rivals Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia. Their problems escalated in 2005 when Zhao's achilles injury forced them to withdraw from the World Championships, and weeks later, he ruptured the tendon during practice. They missed the entire competitive season and were unable to return to the ice until weeks before the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Their lack of adequate preparation was obvious, but they managed to win a second Olympic bronze medal.
[edit] Current: 2006-2007 season
The 2006-07 proved to be a very strong season for the pairs by winning the Grand Prix Final, the 2007 Asian Winter Games, the 2007 Four Continents Championship, and most importantly, the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships. On March 21, 2007 they won their third World Championship title.
[edit] Personal Life
Shen and Zhao have announced their engagement after the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships, with a wedding planned for 2008.
Shen and Zhao's skating idols are Ekaterina Gordeeva and the late Sergei Grinkov.
Because of them, Chinese pair skating has made a meteroic rise, and fields more world-class teams than any other nation in the world.[citation needed]
[edit] Future
Many fans expected the pair to retire after the Olympic season, but they have not yet made any formal announcement about their plans.
[edit] Competitive highlights
With Zhao
Event | 1995-1996 | 1997-1998 | 1998-1999 | 1999-2000 | 2000-2001 | 2001-2002 | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 | 2004-2005 | 2005-2006 | 2006-2007 |
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Winter Olympic Games | 5th | 3rd | 3rd | ||||||||
Asian Winter Games | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||||||
World Championships | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | |||
Four Continents | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | |||||||
Chinese Nationals | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||||||
Grand Prix Final | 4th | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
Skate America | 2nd | ||||||||||
Skate Canada Int. | 1st | 2nd | 1st | ||||||||
Bofrost Cup | 3rd | 1st | 1st | ||||||||
Cup of China | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||||||||
Trophee Eric Bompard | 3rd | 1st | |||||||||
Cup of Russia | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | |||||||
NHK Trophy | 1st | 2nd | 4th | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Blog
- Pairs on Ice: Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao
- Xue Shen at the International Skating Union biography page
- asianathlete.com
- Competitive history
- Unofficial fan page
- 2006 Olympic hopes in jeopardy as Zhao sustains injury
[edit] Navigation
1999: Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo | 2000-2001: Jamie Salé & David Pelletier | 2002: Pang Qing & Tong Jian | 2003: Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo | 2004: Pang Qing & Tong Jian | 2005: Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao | 2006: Rena Inoue & John Baldwin | 2007: Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo |
1995/1996: Evgenia Shishkova / Vadim Naumov | 1996/1997: Mandy Wötzel / Ingo Steuer | 1997/1998: Elena Berezhnaya / Anton Sikharulidze | 1998/1999-1999/2000: Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo | 2000/2001-2001/2002: Jamie Sale / David Pelletier | 2002/2003: Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin | 2003/2004-2004/2005: Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo | 2005/2006: Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin | 2006/2007: Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo |
Persondata | |
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NAME | Shen Xue |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 申雪; Shēn Xǔe |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Chinese figure skater |
DATE OF BIRTH | November 13, 1978 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Harbin, China |
DATE OF DEATH | |
PLACE OF DEATH |
Categories: Articles lacking sources from October 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1978 births | Living people | Chinese figure skaters | Figure skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics | Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics | Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics | Olympic competitors for China | Winter Olympics medalists