‘Beautiful’ Russian pairs figure skaters strike silver at Olympics
Russian pairs figure skaters Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov have been hailed for a "beautiful" showing at the Winter Olympics as the duo who are part of coach Eteri Tutberidze's group came within a whisker of gold at the Beijing Games.
Chinese stars Sui Wenjing and Han Cong made up for missing out on gold by an agonizing 0.43 points in 2018, denying Russian athletes a clean sweep on the podium as they edged out Tarasova and Morozov in a nail-biting showdown.
Sui and Han's redemption also pushed Russian world champions Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, who were praised for an eye-catching display, into third.
There was further joy for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) as Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky came fourth.
Legendary Russian figure skater Irina Rodnina, who won gold at three consecutive Games in the pairs competition, said she was "very pleased" for Tarasova and Morozov.
"I always said that I like this couple more than the others: how they are matched, how they look," Rodnina told Championat.
"They handled the elements and the emotions. [They are a] really beautiful couple – we can't deny it.
"I am also very happy for the St. Petersburg guys. We must understand that they have risen so high – third and fourth place.
"They have everything ahead of them. Yes, there were small blots, but these are blots that do not spoil the overall impression."
The result marks another memorable result for Tutberidze at the end of a testing Games for the 47-year-old.
Tutberidze has endured fierce criticism from some quarters over the scandal that has followed star pupil Kamila Valieva during the Games as a result of the 15-year-old's controversial anti-doping case.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was among those to question Tutberidze's treatment of Valieva after the European champion finished fourth in the individual competition.
It remains unclear whether the gold medal that Valieva helped the ROC to win in the team competition will be allowed to stand.
The medal ceremony for the competition was canceled while Valieva and her team await a verdict on her positive test for a non-performance enhancing heart drug, detected in a sample taken at the Russian championships on December 25.
The Beijing Games end on February 20 2022.
