Pang and Tong aim at figure skating golds in Turin Olympics
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-14 09:54

COLD WEATHER

The pair, both natives of Harbin in far northeast China, a city known for its cold weather, winter ice festival and Russian influence, have been skating together for 12 years.

"At the last Olympics, we got ninth place. Afterwards, we set our minds to getting a medal four years later," Tong said.

They had a strong year in 2004, winning the Four Continents and taking bronze at the world championships, where Shen and Zhao took the silver.

Then they seemed to plateau, settling for fourth at the 2005 worlds and remaining China's number three pair behind the Zhangs.

Pang and Tong readily acknowledge that they will have to dig deep to finish in the top three in Turin, especially in the long programme in which Tong is meant to portray the Phantom from the musical and Pang his beloved Christine.

"We need to bring what we have inside to the outside. It used to be we were externally good -- our skating was pretty, but it didn't really connect with the music," Tong said.

"Now we need some more time to meld with the music, to get closer to the music, so the audience and the judges won't see two skaters, they will see the characters brought to life."