Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Pair skating

Pair skating was contested during the figure skating events at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Pair skating
at the XX Olympic Winter Games
VenuePalavela
Turin, Italy
Dates11 February 2006
13 February 2006
Competitors20 pairs from 12 nations
Winning score204.48
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin  Russia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao  China
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo  China
← 2002
2010 →

This event is performed by partners consisting of a female and male skater. The competition consists of two segments. A short program is skated first, with eight required elements performed within 2 minutes and 50 seconds. All pairs progress to the free skating, where each pair skates for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. There were 20 pairs who competed at the 2006 Games.

Short program

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The pairs' short program was the first figure skating event of the Olympics, and took place on 11 February, with the free skating completed on 13 February. Two-time World Champions and Russians Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin were the pre-tournament favorites to win.[1] They were expected to be challenged by two-time World Champions and reigning Olympic bronze medalists Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo, but an injury to Zhao initially kept them out of contention for the gold medal. However, the team was able to get back into shape for the Olympics.[2]

Totmianina and Marinin took the lead after the short program, with a score of 68.64 points. Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao of China, skating to Led Zeppelin's song Kashmir, ranked second with 64.72 points, followed closely by Maria Petrova / Alexei Tikhonov of Russia with 64.27 points. Close behind were two other Chinese pairs, Pang Qing / Tong Jian (63.19 points) and Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (62.32 points).[3] Americans Rena Inoue / John Baldwin made history in the short program by landing the first throw triple Axel in Olympic competition, putting them in sixth place.[4]

Free skating

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In free skating, Totmianina / Marinin were described by NBC as "untouchable",[5] and the pair scored a personal best 135.84 points in this segment for a combined score of 204.48. Their victory was described as "a rout"[5] The pair had suffered a setback in 2004 when Marinin dropped Totmianina during a lift, putting her in the hospital with a concussion.

The Chinese pair of Zhang / Zhang were the last to take the ice on the night of the free skating.[6] In trying to surpass the Russian pair, Zhang / Zhang attempted a throw quadruple salchow jump, never before completed successfully in competition. However, Zhang Dan fell on this element and suffered a painful injury to her knee. Since she was temporarily unable to continue, the music was stopped by the event referee. Upon the trainer's approval for Zhang Dan to continue, the couple continued their routine, skating with minor errors for the remaining four minutes.[7] NBC reported that the entire crowd gave the pair a standing ovation and showed shots of their fellow competitors, including Totmianiana / Marinin, also standing.[8] Finishing second in both parts of the competition, Zhang / Zhang received silver medals with an overall score of 189.73 points.

Their countrymen, Shen / Zhao, who were in fifth place after the short program, pulled up two places in the free skating to take the bronze medals, as they did at Salt Lake City four years earlier, with a total score of 186.91. They edged the third Chinese couple, Pang Qing / Tong Jian out of the podium by just 0.24 points.

Petrova / Tikhonov, who were in third place after the short program, dropped to fifth place overall. Germans Aljona Sawtschenko / Robin Szolkowy, who were in seventh after the short, scored the fifth best total of the free skating competition to go up on spot. Inoue / Baldwin were unable to complete their throw triple Axel in the long and dropped to seventh overall.

While Totmianina / Marinin extended the streak of gold medals in pairs for Russia and former Soviet Union to 12 consecutive Olympics, dating back to 1964, the silver medals for Zhang / Zhang are China's best ever achievement in Olympic figure skating. Up until this point, China had three bronze medals in figure skating: two from China's Chen Lu and one from Shen / Zhao.

Results

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Short program

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Pl. Lady's name Man's name Nation TSS TES PCS SS TR PE CH IN Deduction StN
1 Tatiana Totmianina Maxim Marinin   Russia 68.64 35.93 32.71 8.21 8.00 8.29 8.14 8.25 0 #19
2 Zhang Dan Zhang Hao   China 64.72 35.21 29.51 7.57 7.25 7.43 7.39 7.25 0 #11
3 Maria Petrova Alexei Tikhonov   Russia 64.27 33.71 30.56 7.75 7.39 7.75 7.64 7.68 0 #14
4 Pang Qing Tong Jian   China 63.19 34.09 29.10 7.32 7.11 7.32 7.32 7.29 0 #5
5 Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo   China 62.32 30.86 31.46 7.93 7.75 7.86 7.86 7.93 0 #6
6 Rena Inoue John Baldwin   United States 61.27 35.53 25.74 6.54 6.25 6.46 6.46 6.46 0 #4
7 Aliona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy   Germany 60.96 31.78 29.18 7.29 7.18 7.36 7.32 7.32 0 #20
8 Julia Obertas Sergei Slavnov   Russia 60.25 32.78 27.47 6.96 6.71 6.89 6.89 6.89 0 #18
9 Dorota Zagorska Mariusz Siudek   Poland 56.10 29.79 26.31 6.71 6.43 6.54 6.57 6.64 0 #15
10 Valerie Marcoux Craig Buntin   Canada 55.62 29.88 25.74 6.50 6.32 6.46 6.39 6.50 0 #17
11 Jessica Dube Bryce Davison   Canada 55.48 31.06 24.42 6.07 5.89 6.29 6.14 6.14 0 #16
12 Tatiana Volosozhar Stanislav Morozov   Ukraine 50.14 28.05 23.09 5.93 5.61 5.75 5.86 5.71 1 #2
13 Marcy Hinzmann Aaron Parchem   United States 49.58 26.75 23.83 6.04 5.82 5.96 5.96 6.00 1 #10
14 Marylin Pla Yannick Bonheur   France 44.24 24.35 20.89 5.36 5.07 5.21 5.32 5.14 1 #8
15 Marina Aganina Artem Knyazev   Uzbekistan 44.02 26.92 17.10 4.36 4.11 4.29 4.36 4.25 0 #1
16 Eva-Maria Fitze Rico Rex   Germany 43.86 23.74 20.12 5.07 4.89 5.07 5.04 5.07 0 #13
17 Julia Beloglazova Andrei Bekh   Ukraine 43.85 25.62 18.23 4.79 4.46 4.50 4.61 4.43 0 #9
18 Diana Rennik Aleksei Saks   Estonia 39.72 22.57 17.15 4.43 4.11 4.32 4.32 4.25 0 #12
19 Rumiana Spassova Stanimir Todorov   Bulgaria 37.27 20.65 17.62 4.43 4.14 4.43 4.54 4.50 1 #3
20 Phyo Yong-myong Jong Yong-hyok   North Korea 33.63 18.60 15.03 3.82 3.64 3.82 3.75 3.75 0 #7

Free skating

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Pl. Lady's name Man's name Nation TSS TES PCS SS TR PE CH IN Deduction StN
1 Tatiana Totmianina Maxim Marinin   Russia 135.84 69.51 66.33 8.32 8.14 8.39 8.25 8.36 0 #19
2 Zhang Dan Zhang Hao   China 125.01 66.19 59.82 7.64 7.36 7.46 7.54 7.39 1 #20
3 Shen Xue Zhao Hongbo   China 124.59 62.24 62.35 7.71 7.71 7.82 7.86 7.86 0 #14
4 Pang Qing Tong Jian   China 123.48 62.78 60.70 7.61 7.43 7.71 7.57 7.61 0 #18
5 Aliona Savchenko Robin Szolkowy   Germany 119.19 60.21 58.98 7.36 7.32 7.39 7.43 7.36 0 #15
6 Maria Petrova Alexei Tikhonov   Russia 117.42 57.00 60.42 7.57 7.43 7.61 7.61 7.54 0 #17
7 Rena Inoue John Baldwin   United States 113.74 60.27 54.47 6.96 6.61 6.86 6.79 6.82 1 #16
8 Dorota Zagorska Mariusz Siudek   Poland 109.85 58.14 51.71 6.64 6.36 6.50 6.43 6.39 0 #11
9 Julia Obertas Sergei Slavnov   Russia 106.29 54.37 52.92 6.71 6.57 6.61 6.68 6.50 1 #13
10 Jessica Dube Bryce Davison   Canada 104.23 54.99 49.24 6.21 6.04 6.14 6.25 6.14 0 #12
11 Valerie Marcoux Craig Buntin   Canada 102.59 52.82 50.77 6.36 6.18 6.46 6.36 6.36 1 #10
12 Tatiana Volosozhar Stanislav Morozov   Ukraine 98.24 52.55 46.69 5.93 5.68 5.89 5.93 5.75 1 #9
13 Marcy Hinzmann Aaron Parchem   United States 97.47 52.28 45.19 5.79 5.50 5.68 5.64 5.64 0 #7
14 Marylin Pla Yannick Bonheur   France 88.60 48.14 40.46 5.21 4.86 5.14 5.11 4.96 0 #5
15 Diana Rennik Aleksei Saks   Estonia 78.41 45.44 32.97 4.29 3.89 4.18 4.21 4.04 0 #3
16 Eva-Maria Fitze Rico Rex   Germany 76.37 38.88 39.49 5.04 4.82 4.93 4.96 4.93 2 #8
17 Marina Aganina Artem Knyazev   Uzbekistan 75.53 42.07 34.46 4.50 4.18 4.29 4.39 4.18 1 #6
18 Rumiana Spassova Stanimir Todorov   Bulgaria 73.98 40.16 33.82 4.32 4.07 4.25 4.29 4.21 0 #1
19 Julia Beloglazova Andrei Bekh   Ukraine 71.77 37.80 34.97 4.54 4.25 4.36 4.39 4.32 1 #4

Final standings

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Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Tatiana Totmianina / Maxim Marinin   Russia 204.48 1 68.64 1 135.84
2 Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao   China 189.73 2 64.72 2 125.01
3 Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo   China 186.91 5 62.32 3 124.59
4 Pang Qing / Tong Jian   China 186.67 4 63.19 4 123.48
5 Maria Petrova / Alexei Tikhonov   Russia 181.69 3 64.27 6 117.42
6 Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy   Germany 180.15 7 60.96 5 119.19
7 Rena Inoue / John Baldwin   United States 175.01 6 61.27 7 113.74
8 Julia Obertas / Sergei Slavnov   Russia 166.54 8 60.25 9 106.29
9 Dorota Zagórska / Mariusz Siudek   Poland 165.95 9 56.10 8 109.85
10 Jessica Dubé / Bryce Davison   Canada 159.71 11 55.48 10 104.23
11 Valérie Marcoux / Craig Buntin   Canada 158.21 10 55.62 11 102.59
12 Tatiana Volosozhar / Stanislav Morozov   Ukraine 148.38 12 50.14 12 98.24
13 Marcy Hinzmann / Aaron Parchem   United States 147.05 13 49.58 13 97.47
14 Marylin Pla / Yannick Bonheur   France 132.84 14 44.24 14 88.60
15 Eva-Maria Fitze / Rico Rex   Germany 120.23 16 43.86 16 76.37
16 Marina Aganina / Artem Knyazev   Uzbekistan 119.55 15 44.02 17 75.53
17 Diana Rennik / Aleksei Saks   Estonia 118.13 18 39.72 15 78.41
18 Julia Beloglazova / Andrei Bekh   Ukraine 115.62 17 43.85 19 71.77
19 Rumiana Spassova / Stanimir Todorov   Bulgaria 111.25 19 37.27 18 73.98
WD Phyo Yong-myong / Jong Yong-hyok   North Korea 20 33.63
  • WD = Withdrawn

Referee:

Technical Controller:

Technical Specialist:

Assistant Technical Specialist:

Judges:

References

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  1. ^ Russian pairs favorites ready to compete, from Reuters, retrieved 15 February 2006
  2. ^ China's Zhao back beaming after injury, from Reuters, retrieved 12 February 2006
  3. ^ Pairs Figure Skating – Pairs Short Program Archived 7 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine, from torino2006.org, retrieved 15 February 2006
  4. ^ U.S. pair does first Olympic 'throw triple Axel', from Associated Press, retrieved 15 February 2006
  5. ^ a b Written at Turin, Italy. "Russian roll continues in a rout". New York City: Associated Press. Archived from the original on 3 March 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2006 – via NBC Olympics.
  6. ^ Chinese skater delivers gutsy performance, from Reuters, retrieved 15 February 2006
  7. ^ Knapp, Gwen (14 February 2006). "Courageous Chinese pair's fall had a silver lining". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. ^ TURIN 2006: NBC deserves gold for capturing Olympic drama, from The London Free Press
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