Zhangs to unveil quadruple jump
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-13 05:35

In 2003, Shen, despite an injured ankle, competed at the world championships. She did perfectly, but Zhao made a mistake in the short programme.

However, their flawless performance in the free skate earned them four full marks from the judges and they finally came from second place to successfully defend their world title.

After realizing his first dream of standing on the Olympic ice, the 33-year-old Zhao is waiting for a similar miracle this time.

"It's just the short programme. The small error won't effect the free skate," said Zhao. "We will fight again in the free skate.

In the other events on the first competition day of the Winter Olympics, China's Zhang Chengye came 50th in the men's 20km biathlon, with German's Michael Greis winning the first medal of this year's Winter Olympics. China's Gao Xuefeng came 25th in the men's 5,000m speed skating, with Chad Hedrick, of the United States, winning the gold.

China also made a successful Olympic debut in the ski jump contest. Li Yang came 26th to become the nation's first athlete to reach the final on the event.