China's Han and Sui win emotional Olympic gold in pairs skating

BEIJING: China's Han Cong and Sui Wenjing won Olympic gold in pairs figure skating on an "unforgettable" Saturday (Feb 19) night in Beijing where they broke yet another world record to the delight of a screaming home crowd.

Spinning around the rink to "Bridge Over Troubled Water", they scored 239.88 in total to beat Russia's Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov by a whisker - 0.63 points.

Han and Sui's score was also just clear of the previous world record of 239.82 - which had been held by the bronze medallists, Russia's Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov.

It is the third time the Chinese pair have broken a world record this Games, soaring through their mission to bring home their first Olympic title.

The two-time former world champions did it with style, landing a rare quadruple twist - an overhead throw which no other competitors attempted - to seal victory on home ice.

"I think this is an unforgettable night," said Han. "We realised our dreams in our homeland."

They first performed to the Simon and Garfunkel song when Sui returned from serious injury in 2017, and won the world championship with it.

Before they went on the ice, Sui said she had told Han: "We can do this.

"'Bridge Over Troubled Water' brought us our first gold medal ... We have created many miracles and today we are going to do the same."

Sui and Han have been skating together since they were teenagers.

"People had doubts about us because our heights are relatively similar," Sui said.

"When people say something is a dead end, don't be afraid -? blaze your own path."

Such was the confidence in Sui and Han's ability to win in Beijing that the pairs event was made the final of the four figure skating disciplines for the first time since 1956.

Their gold was