She's got her man and her Olympic gold - but now Shen wants a baby

From James Toney, Sportsbeat, in Vancouver

PAIRS skating can be the most captivating of all Olympic sports - it's balletic, athletic and, when performed at its very best, totally hypnotic.

NEW FORCE: After many years of Russian dominance, China took the gold and silver in the Olympic figure skating pairs event (Getty Images)

But the real drama happens off the ice, in the kiss ‘n' cry zone, the area where skaters nervously await their scores, with fixed grins learned from watching too many Oscars ceremonies.

However, sometimes skaters can't bottle up their emotions.

Germany's world champion Aliona Savchenko sat with her head in her hands as she waited for her mark.

Partner Robin Szolkowy had fluffed his double axel and no amount of tissues could hide his partner's feelings.

She trudged past reporters with a face like thunder, Szolkowy wisely walking a few discreet paces behind, for Savchenko has a reputation that is most politely described as 'hot-headed'.

"Our performance was not the one we wanted to show," said Szolkowy, after the German duo left with bronze.

During the news conference that followed the frostiness had clearly not thawed, Savchenko sat staring at the floor while Szolkowy answered the questions.

Vancouver's Olympic pairs skating competition was certainly not a classic up there with 2006 - when Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier produced a stirring rendition of Love Story, which took the audience on a emotional rollercoaster every bit as draining as the original and much-mimicked chick flick.

But there was a happy ending for Chinese married couple Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo. 

They underlined the raw power of perseverance with a far from flawless but technically superior display to anything attempted by their rivals, including team-mates and silver medallists Pang Qing and Tong Jian, whose free skate routine was arguably more popular with the capacity crowd.

All that glittered had been bronze in their previous two Olympic appearances, in Salt Lake and Turin, and gold here was the culmination of a nearly two decades worth of toil and justification for their decision to come out of retirement.

"We are so happy, it has been our dream for so many years and now it has come true," said Zhao, a two-time world champion.

"We have been successful in many competitions but every time we saw our flag raised or heard our anthem played, we just always wished it was the Olympic Games.

"Now we've had that moment and we've won that medal, it means so much, it's beyond words."

China's podium one-two ends Russia's half a decade domination of Olympic pairs skating, indeed the best they could muster was Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov in fourth - and Kavaguti is Japanese.

Time will tell whether the Dragon has tamed the Bear but with three couples in the top five, this competition has certainly seen the tide shift.

"Records are set to be broken at some point. I always believed it was possible that someone would break the monopoly of their team," added Zhao.

Shen, now 31, was barely out of her teens when the pair began their long journey to Vancouver.

She only returned to competition after her partner promised to get married - now she's achieved her Olympic goal, she has another ambition.

"What else is there to do, it's hard to continue skating after winning the Olympics - so maybe it's time to have a baby," she joked.

AS IT HAPPENS: Day four from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

IN PICTURES: Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo claim pairs gold