Shen Xue

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Olympic medal record
Figure skating
Bronze	2002 Salt Lake City	Pairs
Bronze	2006 Turin	Pairs

Shen Xue

Personal Info
Country:	People's Republic of China
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:	70.52	2005 GP Final
Free Skate:	136.02	2005 GP Final

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. "Shen" is her family name, "Xue" her given name. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Many fans expected the pair to retire after the Olympic season, but they have not yet made any formal announcement about their plans.

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] Competitive highlights

With Zhao

Event	1997-1998	1998-1999	1999-2000	2000-2001	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007
Winter Olympic Games	5th				3rd				3rd
World Championships	4th	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	1st	2nd
Four Continents		1st		2nd		1st
Chinese Nationals	1st	1st		1st	1st
Grand Prix Final	4th	1st	1st	3rd	3rd	2nd	1st	1st		TBD
Cup of China							1st	1st		1st
Skate Canada Int.		1st					2nd	1st
Trophee Eric Bompard	3rd							1st
NHK Trophy	1st	2nd	4th	1st	1st	1st				1st
Cup of Russia		2nd	2nd	2nd		1st
Skate America				2nd
Bofrost Cup			3rd		1st	1st

[edit] See also

• List of Olympic medalists in figure skating

[edit] External links

• 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

Persondata
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