A life outside of the rink

Champion pairs figure skater Zhao getting used to new role as coach

Zhao Hongbo has just completed his fifth Winter Olympics trip but, this time, it was as a coach of China's figure skating pairs team and not as an athlete.

It was not a particularly successful campaign as the Chinese pairs failed to get a medal at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games as the veteran pair of Pang Qing and Tong Jian finished fourth and Zhang Hao and Peng Cheng were eighth.

It was the first time since the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games that China didn't get a medal in its favorite event - the pairs.

However, new coach Zhao said he will try to get young pairs to attempt the quadruple twist, the most difficult elements in the world right now, to get them prepared for the next Winter Olympics.

"This time was practice for me. I just wanted to watch and learn so I can be more prepared for future Games," said Zhao, who is coaching four pairs in the national program.

"We will try the difficult elements next year, when those young pairs are capable of doing them. I hope they can practice more when they are young so their efforts will be repaid in the future."

Zhao and his partner and wife, Shen Xue, were the first Chinese figure skaters to win Olympic gold when they triumphed at the Vancouver Games in 2010.

They also collected bronze at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Games and three world titles.

They retired after Vancouver and skated in shows before hanging up their skates for good in 2012. Zhao immediately turned to coaching.

"I love figure skating," Zhao said. "When I won the Olympic title four years ago, I knew my love toward this sport was deep in my bones. I wanted more people to know about figure skating and do more for the sport. Being a coach is tiring, but I am enjoying it.

"Coming back as a coach is a different feeling than coming as an athlete," said 40-year-old Zhao. "It is more about using your heart and your brains now. I have to think carefully when I make training plans. It is more tiring than being an athlete here."

Zhao's coaching has earned plaudits from his old coach, Yao Bin, who put together the Chinese wonder pair and is head coach of the figure skating team.

"Zhao is young and energetic. So, it is time to let him do more in training," Yao said. "I will help him in controlling the whole situation, but I won't interfere in his coaching. He has advanced training methods and is capable of leading the pairs teams well."

His former teammates also gave Zhao the thumbs up.

"Teacher Zhao was like my older brother, but now he is my coach. Since he retired only recently from the sport, he still knows how to do the elements at a very high level and can teach us well," said Zhang, who teamed up with Peng in 2012 after his former partner, Zhang Dan, retired.

"He knows me very well my strengths and weaknesses. So he can help me to improve. Our elements and artistic performances have improved a lot under his guidance.

"If it was not for his help, we would not have been able to progress so fast and achieve our good results."

Zhao's wife, Shen, also chipped in at training and provided assistance to the female pairs skaters.

"Shen has helped me a lot she paid much attention to detail in my training," said Peng, 16.

"She also taught me how to release the pressure on the ice. To me, she is the strongest female partner in the world. She can still pass on more useful information to me."

For Zhao, more has changed than just the transition from athlete to coach, as he and Shen had a daughter in September. Zhao already has plans for her.

"My daughter will soon be five months old. I will let her try skating," he said.

"I can see already that she loves sport. She just started swimming."

leilei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/18/2014 page24)