Russian fairytale closes as 'Tot and Max' clinch gold

Russian pair Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin stand on the podium of the pairs free skating program of the figure-skating competition at the Palavela ice rink in Turin, Italy, on Monday. PHOTO: AFP

Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin didn't want to leave the ice. The new Olympic champions skated a slow lap as Never Can Say Goodbye played in the background.

But after winning the Turin Games pairs title, extending a Russian streak dating back to 1964, "Tot and Max" are doing just that.

After the talented pair finished their winning routine in Monday's final, Marinin knelt in front of Totmianina and gently kissed her hand.

"It was appreciation of Tatiana for what she did for me," Marinin said. "It was a public appreciation."

Totmianina numerous comebacks to preserve the partnership, vowing the Turin Olympics would be their last in competition.

She had a horrifying fall in October 2004 in Pittsburgh and was knocked unconscious, spending two days in a hospital.

In December, she was again hospitalized with a stomach ailment, but the pair still won the European title for the fifth time.

"It was a long, long way and it wasn't the easiest way. I'm just thrilled with everything," Totmianina said. "We've done so well."

A Russian or Soviet pair has won the gold medal every year since 1964, and this one was as good as any.

The streak started with the Protopopovs, continued with Irina Rodnina winning three golds with two partners and even their coach, Oleg Vasiliev, who won in 1984 with Elena Valova.

"[This gold medal] is not comparable," Vasiliev said.

"This made me realize that this is hard work and how difficult it was this past five years to get over there," Vasiliev said.

And "Tot and Max" leave the scene and open the possibility of a Chinese sweep at the world championships in a month at Calgary. The Chinese finished 2-3-4.

Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao recovered from a dramatic spill to take silver, and Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were third and Pang Qing and Tong Jian were fourth.

Shen Zhao's first competition of the season was better than anyone could have predicted.

Zhao recovered incredibly fast from an August torn Achilles' tendon.

On both of their throws, a triple salchow and a triple loop, she soared much higher than the boards, and their flying triple twist was immense.

This was the first Olympic pairs event since the 2002 Salt Lake City scandal that led to the new code of points system. Then, a French judge admitted after the pairs competition that she'd been "pressured" to put Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze ahead of Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

The scandal so rocked the Olympics that the International Olympic Committee took the rare step of awarding duplicate golds to Sale and Pelletier.

The International Skating Union then decided to scrap its 6.0 scale for a more objective points-based system that rewards difficulty and innovation.