Winter Olympics 2022 - Chinese pair Han Cong and Sui Wenjing delight home fans with figure skating world record

Published 04/02/2022 at 11:11 GMT

Cong and Wenjing produced a new best score of 83.83 points in the pairs short programme, beating the previous record holders Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Galliamov from Russia with a brilliant routine in front of a limited home crowd at the Capital Indoor Stadium. Watch every moment of the Games on discovery+.

'What an amazing performance' - Chinese pair break world record with 'fabulous' routine

Chinese figure skaters Han Cong and Sui Wenjing produced an early moment to savour for home fans at the Winter Olympics by setting a new world record on the opening day of the team competition.

A score of 82.83 in the pairs short programme was the best ever recorded to take the win over Russian couple Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Galliamov - who suffered a double blow, having previously held the record.

Skating to music from "Mission Impossible 2", the Pyeongchang 2018 silver medallists produced a flawless performance, beginning with side-by-side triple toe-loops and incorporating a throw triple flip in front of small contingent of delighted Chinese supporters.

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It was just enough to beat the world champions - who also produced an impressive performance, achieving a score which was also better than their previous best mark.

"We did our best and showcased our hard work - it's paid off," Sui said via an interpreter.

"Hopefully in the individual event we can skate even better, our coach said we need to relax more."

"We consider this a gift to all of the Chinese people," added Han.

Mishina and Galliamov beat their own record score themselves, with 82.64, but it was not enough to beat the Chinese pair.

"We're happy that we have almost the same score... of course we would like to have two tenths more," Mishina said.

"But, it's OK. We have almost the same and we got nine (points) for the team."

Team USA lead the standings after the opening event, with the Russian Olympic Committee second and China third.

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