Zhao Hongbo (; born 22 September 1973) is a Chinese retired

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With his wife

Shen Xue Shen Xue (; born 13 November 1978) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With her husband Zhao Hongbo, Shen is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion (2002, 2003 and 2007), a three-time Fou ...

, Zhao is the 2010

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time

World champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(2002, 2003 & 2007), a three-time Four Continents Champion (1999, 2003 & 2007) and a six-time Grand Prix Final champion (1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006 & 2009). Shen and Zhao were the first Chinese pair team to win a medal at an

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, N ...

event and at the

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships (''"Worlds"'') is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...

. In 2002, they became the first Chinese pair skating team to win a World Championship. They are also the first Chinese pair skaters to win a medal at the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. In 2010, they were the first Chinese skaters to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in any figure skating category, ending almost half a century of Russian and Soviet pair skating dominance.

Personal life

Zhao was born in

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest c ...

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () Postal romanization, formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a Provinces of China, province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is th ...

and is of Manchurian ethnicity. Shen and Zhao announced their engagement after the

2007 World Figure Skating Championships The 2007 World Figure Skating Championships was a senior international figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dan ...

. They were married shortly after. Shen and Zhao are the parents of a daughter, born 3 September 2013. They currently live and coach in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

Career

Early career and development

Early in his career, Zhao skated with partner Xie Maomao. They placed 11th at the 1991 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. He began skating with

in 1992, under the tutelage of

Yao Bin Yao Bin (; born August 15, 1957 in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese figure skating coach. He is considered one of the pioneers of the sport in China. Yao and his partner Luan Bo were the first team to represent China at the World Figure Skatin ...

. They competed at their first Olympics in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, in Nagano, Japan and finished fifth. They went on to the

1999 World Figure Skating Championships The 1999 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland from March 20 through 28. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. 1999 was the first year that the qu ...

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.

International Success

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 The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internationa ...

. They won the bronze with a strong performance, missing a throw quadruple salchow attempt. They became the first Chinese pair to win a medal at the Olympics for figure skating.

World Champions

At the

2002 World Figure Skating Championships The 2002 World Figure Skating Championships were held at the M-Wave Arena in Nagano, Japan from March 16 to 24, sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skatin ...

held in Nagano, Japan, Shen and Zhao won their first World Championship, becoming the first Chinese pair skaters to win a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

in the history of figure skating. Later in March 2003, as the defending world champions, the team also won their second World Championship in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, United States. While practising their throw quadruple salchow, Shen landed badly and severely injured her landing foot and ankle. She required several treatments to numb the foot entirely so that she should compete. The pair performed a brilliant long program that earned them several perfect 6.0's for both technical merits and presentation. In the 2003–2004 season, competing for the first time under the Code of Points, they placed second at the 2003 Skate Canada and won the 2003 Cup of China. They won their third Grand Prix Final gold medal at the 2003–2004 Grand prix Final, where they won both the short program with 66.00 points and the free skate with 130.08. The team earned a total of 196.08 points to finish 18.78 points ahead of their new rivals

Tatiana Totmianina Tatiana Ivanovna Totmianina (russian: Татьяна Ивановна Тотьмянина; born 2 November 1981) is a Russian former competitive pair skater. With partner Maxim Marinin, she is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, ...

Maxim Marinin Maxim Viktorovich Marinin (russian: link=no, Максим Викторович Маринин, born 23 March 1977) is a Russian former competitive pair skater. With partner Tatiana Totmianina, he is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World cha ...

of Russia, who were second in both the short and the long program. Their attempt to win a third straight World title in 2004 was thwarted when Zhao fell during their short program and the team placed fourth in that segment. They rebounded to win the free program with a string of 6.0s, but it was only good enough for second overall behind

Injury and 2006 Olympics

Shen and Zhao won gold medals at the 2004 Skate Canada, at the 2004 Trophée Eric Bompard and at the 2004 Cup of China. Following their wins at all their Grand Prix events, they also won the 2004–2005 Grand Prix Final in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, China, placing first in the short program with 70.52 points and in the free skate scoring 136.02. Overall they won the gold medal earning a total of 206.54 points, 19.22 ahead of Maria Petrova &

Alexei Tikhonov Alexei Vladimirovich Tikhonov (russian: link=no, Алексей Владимирович Тихонов; born 1 November 1971) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Maria Petrova, he is the 2000 World champion and a two-time (1999, 2000) Eur ...

, who placed second in both segments of the competition. As a result, they set a new world record for the short program, for the free skate and for the combined total score under the

ISU Judging System The ISU Judging System (or the International Judging System (IJS)), occasionally referred to as the Code of Points (COP) system, is the scoring system that has been used since 2004 to judge the figure skating disciplines of men's and ladies' sin ...

. In 2005 Zhao's

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ...

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 The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Italy. They placed fifth in the short program with 62.32 points and third in the free skate with 124.59. Their lack of adequate preparation was obvious, but they managed to win a second Olympic bronze medal earning 186.91 points, 17.57 points behind

, who won the gold medal.

Third World title and retirement

The 2006–2007 proved to be a very strong season for the pair. They began winning the 2006 Cup of China, where they came in first place in the short program and in the free skate to win the competition with a total score of 193.59 points, 21.03 ahead of

Zhang Dan Zhang Dan (; born 4 October 1985) is a Chinese former pair skater. With Zhang Hao, she is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time (2005 bronze, 2006, 2008, 2009 silver) World medalist, and a two-time (2005, 2010) Four Continents cham ...

& Zhang Hao. They also won the

2006 NHK Trophy The 2006 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the 2006–07 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Big Hat in Nagano on November 30 – December 3. Medals were awarde ...

, where they also placed first in both the short program and the free skate earning 190.97 points, beating

Pang Qing Pang Qing (; born December 24, 1979, in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With her husband Tong Jian, she is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, the 2006 and 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion (2002 ...

& Tong Jian by 8.13. They earned the gold medal at the 2006–2007 Grand Prix Final, held in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia. At that competition, they won the short program scoring 68.66 points, 4.48 points ahead of

& Zhang Hao. The team also placed first in the free skate with 134.53 points, 12.68 ahead of

Aliona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko ( uk, Олена Валентинівна Савченко, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a Ukrainian-born German pair ...

Robin Szolkowy Robin Szolkowy (born 14 July 1979) is a retired German pair skater. With partner Aliona Savchenko, he is the 2010 and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, a five-time World champion (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014), a four-time European champion (200 ...

from Germany. They earned a total of 203.19 points to finish 22.52 points ahead of second-place finishers

. At the

2007 Asian Winter Games The 6th Asian Winter Games () were held in Changchun, Jilin, China from January 28 to February 4, 2007. The Winter Games are a celebration of Winter sports in Asia. This was the second time that China hosted the Asian Winter Games; the first was ...

, where they won the short program with 69.49 points, leading by 3.84 over the rest of the field. They placed first in free skate scoring 126.06 points, winning that segment as well by 10.24 points. They earned 195.55 points overall, edging their teammates

& Tong Jian by 14.08 points, who placed second in both the short program and the free skate. Some weeks later, they won the 2007 Four Continents Championships, placing first in the short program with 69.29 points, 3.49 ahead of the rest of the competitors. They also won the free skate earning 133.76 points, leading that segment of the competition by 14.23 points. As a result, they scored a combined total of 203.05 points to win the competition 17.72 points ahead of

& Tong Jian, who again came in second place in the short and in the long program. They also won the

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan, placing first in the short program with 71.07 points, taking the lead by 3.42 points ahead of

, and setting a new world record under the

. They also won the free skate with 132.43 points, 10.72 ahead of

& Tong Jian, who placed second in that segment of the competition. Overall they scored a total 203.50 points and won by a 15.04-point margin of victory over silver medalists

& Tong Jian. As a result, on 21 March 2007, they won their third World Championship title. Following the win, they married and announced their retirement from the sport.

Return to competition

They returned to competition in the 2009–2010 season to compete in the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy Greene Wayne G ...

, and were assigned to 2009 Cup of China and

2009 Skate America The 2009 Skate America was the fifth event of six in the 2009–10 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York on 12–15 November. ...

in the 2009–2010 ISU Grand Prix series. At the 2009 Cup of China, they placed first in the short program earning a personal best score of 72.28. They also won the free skate scoring 128.69 to win the competition with 200.97 points, 14.18 points ahead of silver medalists

& Zhang Hao. At the

, they placed first in the short program with a new personal best of 74.36 points. They also lead in the free skate where they earned 127.04 points. Scoring 201.40 points overall, 29.58 points over

Tatiana Volosozhar Tatiana Andreyеvna Volosozhar (russian: Татьяна Андреевна Волосожар, uk, Тетяна Андріївна Волосожар; born 22 May 1986) is a Ukrainian-born Russian pair skater. With Maxim Trankov, she is the two ...

& Stanislav Morozov, they won the gold medal. Those two wins directly qualified them for the 2009–2010 Grand Prix Final that was held in

, Japan, in December 2009. At the event, they lead the short program with a new personal best of 75.36 points, 2.22 points ahead of

, who were second. They also placed first in the free skate with another personal best of 138.89 points, 5.07 ahead of fellow second-place finishers

& Tong Jian. They won the gold medal earning 214.25 points overall, edging silver medalists

& Tong Jian by 12.39 points and improving their previous combined total score. At the competition, they set new world records for the short program, for the free skating and for the combined total under the ISU Judging System.

2010 Olympics

On 14 February 2010, they competed at the

. They led the short program with 76.66 points, 0.70 ahead of

. They achieved a new personal best and set a new record score again under the ISU Judging System for the short program. On 15 February 2010, in the pairs' free skating they came second with a new personal best score of 139.91 points, 1.90 behind

& Tong Jian, who claimed the silver medal. Their program components score of 72.40 was the highest of the event. They also got a 10.00 for interpretation from one judge. With an overall total of 216.57 points they finished in first place taking the gold medal, by a 3.26 margin on

& Tong Jian and a 5.77 margin on bronze medalists

. Their combined score was also a world record. At 31 and 36 years old respectively, they were among the oldest Olympic champions in figure skating. They became the first Chinese skaters in any figure skating discipline to win a gold medal at the

. China at the event also broke Russia's 46-year twelve-Olympic gold medal streak in pairs figure skating, sweeping gold and silver places.

Final retirement

On 17 February 2010, they announced their definite retirement from competitive skating to focus on their personal life. They said they would retire from shows in 2012, planning to start a family, promote their sport, and begin coaching.

List of world record scores set by Shen/Zhao

Public life and endorsements

Shen and Zhao's current and past sponsors include

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

, Visa,

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

and

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, business solutions, and related se ...

. They have toured in multiple ice shows all around the world, including the 2007 Golden Skate Awards in

, Italy, the 2008 & 2010 Stars on Ice in the United States and the 2009

Ice All Stars Ice All Stars is a figure skating show produced by IB sports and sponsored by Samsung Electronics. The show was headlined by former IB client Kim Yuna. ''Ice All Stars 2009'' was held in the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, South Korea from Aug ...

, this last one held in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

alongside other world class figure skaters including the 2010 Olympic ladies champion and show headliner

Yuna Kim Yuna Kim (; born September 5, 1990), also credited in eastern name order as Kim Yuna or Kim Yeon-a, is a retired South Korean competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic champion and 2014 Olympic silver medalist in ladies' singles, ...

. They joined Kim in another ice show, the

All That Skate All That Skate is a figure skating show produced by All That Sports (AT Sports), a sports agency based on Seoul, South Korea set up by 2010 Winter Olympic champion Kim Yuna and her mother Park Mi-hee. 2019 All That Skate The All That Skate 2019 ...

. Other skaters like

Michelle Kwan Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired competitive figure skater and diplomat serving as United States Ambassador to Belize. In figure skating Kwan is a two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002), a five-time ...

and

Stéphane Lambiel Stéphane Lambiel (born 2 April 1985) is a Swiss former competitive figure skater who now works as a coach and choreographer. He is a two-time (2005–2006) World champion, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (2005, 2007) Grand Prix F ...

performed in the show as well.

Coaching career

Zhao now coaches alongside

and Bing Han at the Harbin Skating Club. His current students include

Wenjing Sui Sui Wenjing (; born 18 July 1995) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Han Cong, she is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silver medalist (2015, 2016, 2 ...

Cong Han Han Cong (pronounced "Han Tsong") (; born 6 August 1992) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Sui Wenjing, he is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silv ...

;

Peng Cheng Peng Cheng (; ; April 23, 1997) is a Chinese pair skater. With current partner Jin Yang, she is a two-time Four Continents medalist (silver in 2020, bronze in 2019), two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist ( 2018–19, 2019–20), and the 20 ...

& Zhang Hao;

Xiaoyu Yu Yu Xiaoyu (; ) is a former Chinese pair skater. With partner Zhang Hao, she is the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, 2017 Asian Winter Games champion and 2018 Chinese national champion. With partner Jin Yang, she is a two-time (2 ...

Yang Jin Yang Jin (); ca. (1644-1728) was a Chinese painter during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). Yang was born in Changshu in the Jiangsu province. His style name was 'Zi He' () and his pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name ...

; Gao Yumeng / Xie Zhong.Yumeng Gao / Zhong Xie
at

Programs

Competitive highlights

(With Shen)

Detailed results

References

External links