Shen Xue (; born 13 November 1978) 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 her husband

Zhao Hongbo Zhao Hongbo (; born 22 September 1973) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With his wife Shen Xue, Zhao is the 2010 Figure skating at the Olympics, Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Figure skating at the Olympics, Olympic bronze medalist, a three ...

, Shen 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 Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

, 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 and 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 sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

event and at the

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Championships were held in 1896 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and they have been held e ...

. 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 (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held in ...

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

Personal life

Shen was born in

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. 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 d ...

. They were married shortly after. Shen and Zhao are the parents of a daughter, born 3 September 2013. In December 2017, it was announced that Shen had been appointed as President of the

Chinese Skating Association The Chinese Skating Association (CSA) () was founded in 1956. It was the second Asian country to join the International Skating Union (ISU). It hosts international and manages domestic short track speed skating and speed skating competitions. M ...

Career

Early career and development

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo began skating together in 1992.

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 Skati ...

coached them early in their careers. 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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, in Nagano, Japan, where they 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 quali ...

a year later with improved choreography and expression, and won the silver medal, becoming the first Chinese team to 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 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

. 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 an 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 b ...

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. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. While practising their throw quadruple salchow, Shen landed badly and 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 The 2003 Skate Canada International was the second event of six in the 2003–04 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario on October ...

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 (; 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, and five-time European champion. The pair began skating t ...

Maxim Marinin Maxim Viktorovich Marinin (, born 23 March 1977) is a Russian former competitive pair skater. With partner Tatiana Totmianina, he is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and five-time European champion. Career Marinin was bor ...

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, and moved up to finish second overall behind

Injury and 2006 Olympics

Shen and Zhao won gold medals at the 2004 Skate Canada, at the

2004 Trophée Eric Bompard 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

and at the

2004 Cup of China The 2004 Cup of China was the fourth event of six in the 2004–05 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing on November 11–14. Medals were aw ...

. Following their wins at all their Grand Prix events, they also won the 2004–2005 Grand Prix Final in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, 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 (; 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) European champion. Career Tikhonov began skating in his hometown, Samara ...

, 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 single skating, men's an ...

. 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 calcane ...

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 () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, 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 The 2006 Cup of China was the third 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 Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Nanjing on November 9 ...

, 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 ch ...

& 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, Nagano, Nagano on November 30 – December 3. Med ...

, 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 (20 ...

Tong Jian Tong Jian (; born August 15, 1979, in Harbin, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With his wife Pang Qing, he is the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, 2006 and 2010 World Champion, a five-time Four Continents champion (2002, 2004, ...

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

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, 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 (, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a retired Ukrainian-born German pair skater. One of the most decorated pair skaters, she ...

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 (20 ...

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 (), also known as Changchun 2007 ( zh, , s=长春2007, labels=no), 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 sec ...

, Shen and Zhao 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

by 14.08 points, who placed second in both the short program and the free skate. Shen and Zhao 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

, who again came in second place in the short and in the long program. Shen and Zhao finished the season with their third world title at the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, 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

, 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

. Following the win, they married and announced their retirement from the sport.

Return to competition

Shen and Zhao returned to competition in the 2009–2010 season to compete in the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, and were assigned to

2009 Cup of China The 2009 Cup of China was the third 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 Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on October 29 – November 1. ...

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

, 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 (, ; born 22 May 1986) is a Ukrainian-born Russian pair skater. With Maxim Trankov, she is the two-time 2014 Olympic champion in the pairs and in team events, the 2013 World champion, a four-time (2012, 2013, 201 ...

Stanislav Morozov Stanislav Oleksandrovych Morozov (; , born 1 February 1979) is a former pair skater who competed for Ukraine and now works as a coach in Russia. With partner Tatiana Volosozhar, he was a four-time (2005, 2007, 2008, 2010) Ukrainian national c ...

, 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

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

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, Shen and Zhao began their fourth Olympics. 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, again with a personal best score of 139.91 points, 1.90 behind

, 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 over

and a 5.77 margin over bronze medalists

. Their combined score was a world record at the time. 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, winning both the gold and the silver medals.

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

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

and

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, trading as Lenovo ( , zh, c=联想, p=Liánxiǎng), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, servers, conv ...

. 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 Stars on Ice is a touring figure skating show produced by IMG. It was co-founded in 1986 by Bob Kain, IMG executive, and Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in men's figure skating. The production is a theatrical show featuring a ...

in the United States and the 2009 Ice All Stars, this last one held in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

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 South Korean figure skater. Known for her well-rounded skills, achievements, popularity, and impact on the sport, she is one of the most ...

. 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 Yuna Kim 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 American competitive figure skating, figure skater and diplomat who served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Belize, United States Ambassador to Belize from 2022 to 2025. In ...

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 ...

performed in the show as well.

Programs

Competitive highlights

(With Zhao)

Detailed results

References

External links