China's Han and Sui win Olympic gold in pairs figure skating
China's Han and Sui win Olympic gold in pairs figure skating
China’s Han Cong and Sui Wenjing won Beijing Olympic gold in pairs figure skating on Saturday, breaking yet another world record in the process in front of a screaming home crowd.
Spinning around the rink to "Bridge Over Troubled Water", they scored 239.88 in total to beat Russia's Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov by a whisker -- 0.63 points.
Han and Sui's score was also just clear of the previous world record of 239.82 -- which had been held by the bronze medallists, Russia's Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov.
It is the two-time world champions' first Olympic title, after they came second in Pyeongchang in 2018.
The pair landed a rare quadruple twist in their routine -- an overhead throw which no other competitors attempted -- to seal their victory.
A mistake from Sui was not enough to detract from the rest of their powerful, cleanly executed programme.
At the end of the song, she began to cry in Han's arms, before they skated off the rink to see if they had done enough.
They had -- and the Capital Indoor Stadium, as packed as it has been this competition, erupted in cheers.
Their gold was China's ninth, meaning the hosts have moved up the medal table ahead of the United States.
(L.Garnier--LPdF)
