Russian skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov win pairs gold

SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Russia picked up a one-two in the pairs figure skating event at the Sochi Games, with Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov winning gold.

The silver went to fellow Russians Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, which follows Russia's gold in the team event earlier this week. Volosozhar and Trankov were expected to win gold after they won the 2013 World Championship title. Skating to "Jesus Christ Superstar," they scored an 84.17 in the short program, followed by a 152.69 in the free program for a total of 236.86, giving them a healthy lead of 18.18 points ahead of their fellow Russians.

The German pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy had to settle for bronze after Szolkowy fell on a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and later fell on a throw triple salchow. Silver medalists at 2010 games, Chinese duo Pang Qing and Tong Jian came in fourth.

The best placed Americans were Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, who came in ninth with a disappointing score of 187.82. U.S. pair Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay also made it to the final and placed 12th overall.

[BBC] [NYT]