The Russian pairs who failed to win medals in figure skating at the Vancouver Olympic Games lacked control and skill, three-time Olympic champion Irina Rodnina said Tuesday.
Russia's main contenders for medals - European 2010 champions Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov - finished in fourth place on Monday with 194.77 points. Russia's second pair Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov took seventh place, and Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov came 11th.
"The burden of responsibility and, of course, skill are likely to have played their part. Because skill also means the ability to bring your nerves into balance with your technical level," Rodnina told RIA Novosti.
Two Chinese pairs took the first two places in Figure Skating pairs at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Canada. Xue Shen and Hogbo Zhao confidently won their gold medal after taking the first place in the short program on Sunday and the first place in free skating on Monday, garnering 216.57 points in aggregate.
Their fellow countrymen Qing Pang and Jian Tong took the silver with 213.31 points and the German pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won bronze with 210.60 points.
VANCOUVER, February 16 (RIA Novosti)
