"Xinhua News Agency released" client Seoul on February 12 sports special telegram
In 1999, when Pang Qing and Tong Jian, who were less than 20 years old, made their first international appearances, a song "Tango" was their first mark on the international stage.
In 2015, the two men, who had already passed the age of standing, still chose tango as the "last dance" in the final season of their figure skating careers.
"This season is leaving the game, and I want to start with what I want to end. It's just that after many years of sliding tango, it feels different from before," Tong Jian said.
On the 12th, the 2015 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships were unveiled in Seoul, South Korea, and Pang Qing and Tong Jian competed in the Four Continents for the sixth and final time. They have been resting since the Sochi Winter Olympics, but decided to make a comeback to the World Championships in Shanghai in March, so they saw the Four Continents as an important warm-up opportunity.
The music began, and Pang Qing's lace embroidered dress of "Chinese red" danced with Tong Jian, who was dressed in a black and red dress. Perhaps because they left the arena for too long, in the short program competition, the gliding speed of the two was average, and the opening of the outer point ice three weeks of jumping Tong Jian also appeared to land on the ground and support the ice with both hands, and finally scored 66. 87 points provisionally ranked fourth.
Although the score is temporarily behind, the couple still seems very relaxed, with a smile on their faces between words, and answering questions mostly ended with "haha".
"This time it's basically not bad, but the rhythm control and emotional expression are slightly rusty, which may be related to not playing in a year," Tong said. Returning to the stage, he felt "nervous and excited" and admitted that he still needed to find the rhythm of the game.
Pang Qing also laughed that in fact, when they came to training on the first day, the two felt "nervous", but they both said that the score was no longer important to them, and it was more important to return to the field.
During the competition, several five-star red flags in the audience were particularly eye-catching, and the cheers and shouts of the pre-game Chinese added a lot of life to the slightly empty stadium. After the end, the audience outside the venue threw flowers and dolls, which made them very moved.
"Today I saw a lot of Chinese ice fans on the scene, as well as Korean ice fans, although today's short show did not skate too well, but want to dedicate two shows to ice fans as a gift," Pang Qing said.
In Tong Jian's view, the two are no longer in the best age to play, and now the game is an "additional gain" for them, more than competition, more is to cherish and enjoy the present.
"After the 2010 Winter Olympics, we had four more years of competition and now we have two new sets of programmes, both extra for us. It's good to try to take advantage of the opportunities and end up with two good shows," he said.
The return of the veterans has also brought great encouragement to the younger generations. Zhang Hao (below), who partnered with Peng Cheng in pair skating on the same day, said that he trained on the same ice with Pang Qing and Tong Jian, and after seeing that they were affected by many injuries, it was very difficult to practice muscle movements and spins in the shortest time and achieve today's results.
Sui Wenjing, a young player who is partnered with Han Cong, admitted that the comeback of the two has brought a better training atmosphere for the Chinese team. "They are very powerful predecessors for me, I feel that the Chinese team is more united and stronger, and I hope that everyone will face it with a better appearance at the World Championships," she said.
The Canadian duo Ofhamel and Radford, who ranked first in the short program that day, were also honored to compete with the two veterans again, and looked forward to being as good as Pang Qing and Tong Jian at the same age.
Duhamel said that the day before the competition, he also relived pang Qing and Tong Jian's short performance at the 1999 ISU Grand Prix on Youtube, and it was this "tango" that they danced.
Text: Peng Qian Image: Li Qiaoqiao, Wang Lili, Meng Yongmin Editor: Wang Haoyu