PYEONGCHANG, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese ice dancers Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu ended their first Olympic Games on Monday in Pyeongchang, failing to reach the free dance after they finished in 22nd place in short dance.
Twenty out of 24 pairs qualified for the long dance event scheduled for Tuesday.
Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir edged France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron into second place. The Canadian pair won gold in the Vancouver 2010 Games and the silver medal in Sochi. Virtue and Moir won with a season's best score of 83.67.
The French stunned the Gangneung Ice Arena when Papadakis had a wardrobe malfunction. However the pair managed to secure the second place with a score of 81.93 followed by the Americans Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue with 77.75.
China's figure skating history doesn't stretch back very far. In ice dancing, Huang Xintong/Zhengxu set the best result in China's Olympic history when they finished 19th in Vancouver in 2010.
Wang/Liu, the 2017 Asian Winter Games champions who came to Pyeongchang with the ambition to enter the final 12, were left perplexed after their routine was valued at 57.81 points; higher than the score in the team event (56.98).
"We are surprised with the score to be honest. We skated with even more confidence today than in the team event, feeling more assured with presentations and steps. We hoped we could qualify for the final 20, but it turned out to be such a great shame because there's no way for the fans to see our free dance," said a visibly upset Wang.
Liu came soothe his partner and said,"This is the Olympics. We have been working really hard to get this far, and we are happy at least [that] we had the opportunity for one dance."
"But, apparently, we have to train even harder and find out the way to get from 'being good' to 'being really good' if we don' t want to feel sorry next time in Beijing," Liu said.
For the 28-year-old Virtue and her 30-year-old partner Moir however, they are writing the final chapter of their distinguished careers and hopefully in the best possible way.
"Once you start, you've got keep going. We were really trying to drive that power into speed today. We really beat that against the French," said Moir.
"We will do some deep breathing, we will allow us to relish this moment maybe for 15 more minutes, and then we will regroup and refocus on tomorrow," said Virtue.
Charlie White who won the won the ice dance gold in Sochi, also believed the Canadian duo had better odds.
"Tessa and Scott in my opinion, have the stronger short dance. Gabby and Guillaume have the stronger free dance, and it's whoever can play their greater strength without making a mistake. In ice dancing, it's just like, if you make a mistake, it's done," said White.
