Russians dominate Olympic pairs figure skating

SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The seemingly unbeatable Russian team of Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov easily won the Olympic pairs figure skating gold medal Wednesday.

Skating before a home crowd that cheered their every turn and jump, the Russians added a second Olympic gold to the world championship and three European championships they have compiled.

They had a comfortable lead heading into the free skate portion of the competition Wednesday and their score of 236.86 finished off a huge Olympics for the dynamic pairing.

Volosozhar and Trankov had contributed a victory during the inaugural Olympic team figure skating event during the weekend and this became their second gold medal of the Sochi Games.

Another Russian pair won the silver medal. Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov rallied from third place into second during the free program and finished with a point total of 218.68.

Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy took the bronze with a 215.78. Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir of the United States finished ninth.