Zhao Hongbo

Zhao Hongbo (born 22 September 1973) is a Chinese retired pair skater.

They placed 11th at the 1991 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

He began skating with Shen Xue in 1992, under the tutelage of Yao Bin.

They competed at their first Olympics in 1998, in Nagano, Japan and finished fifth.

They went on to the 1999 World Figure Skating Championships a year later with improved choreography and expression, and won the silver medal, becoming the first Chinese team to ever win a World Championship medal.

Shen and Zhao improved each year, and were considered to be one of the top teams in the world.

They won another silver medal at the Worlds in 2000, and a bronze in 2001.

In 2002, they became the first Chinese pair skating team to win a World Championship.

They are also the first Chinese pair skaters to win a medal at the Winter Olympic Games.

They were considered strong medal contenders in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

They won the bronze with a strong performance, missing a throw quadruple salchow attempt.

They became the first Chinese pair to win a medal at the Olympics for figure skating.

At the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships held in Nagano, Japan, Shen and Zhao won their first World Championship, becoming the first Chinese pair skaters to win a gold medal in the history of figure skating.

Later in March 2003, as the defending world champions, the team also won their second World Championship in Washington D.C., United States.

While practising their throw quadruple salchow, Shen landed badly and severely injured her landing foot and ankle.

She required several treatments to numb the foot entirely so that she should compete.

The pair performed a brilliant long program that earned them several perfect 6.0's for both technical merits and presentation.

In the 2003–2004 season, competing for the first time under the Code of Points, they placed second at the 2003 Skate Canada and won the 2003 Cup of China.

They won their third Grand Prix Final gold medal at the 2003–2004 Grand prix Final, where they won both the short program with 66.00 points and the free skate with 130.08.

The team earned a total of 196.08 points to finish 18.78 points ahead of their new rivals Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin of Russia, who were second in both the short and the long program.

Their attempt to win a third straight World title in 2004 was thwarted when Zhao fell during their short program and the team placed fourth in that segment.

They rebounded to win the free program with a string of 6.0s, but it was only good enough for second overall behind Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin.

Shen and Zhao won gold medals at the 2004 Skate Canada, at the 2004 Trophée Eric Bompard and at the 2004 Cup of China.

Following their wins at all their Grand Prix events, they also won the 2004–2005 Grand Prix Final in Beijing, China, placing first in the short program with 70.52 points and in the free skate scoring 136.02.

Overall they won the gold medal earning a total of 206.54 points, 19.22 ahead of Maria Petrova & Alexei Tikhonov, who placed second in both segments of the competition.

As a result, they set a new world record for the short program, for the free skate and for the combined total score under the ISU Judging System.

In 2005 Zhao's Achilles tendon injury forced them to withdraw from the World Championships, and weeks later, he ruptured the tendon during practice.

They missed the entire competitive season and were unable to return to the ice until weeks before the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

They placed fifth in the short program with 62.32 points and third in the free skate with 124.59.

Their lack of adequate preparation was obvious, but they managed to win a second Olympic bronze medal earning 186.91 points, 17.57 points behind Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin, who won the gold medal.

The 2006–2007 proved to be a very strong season for the pair.

Shen and Zhao announced their engagement after the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships.

They were married shortly after.

With his wife Shen Xue, Zhao is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion (2002, 2003 & 2007), a three-time Four Continents Champion (1999, 2003 & 2007) and a six-time Grand Prix Final champion (1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006 & 2009).

Shen and Zhao were the first Chinese pair team to win a medal at an International Skating Union event and at the World Figure Skating Championships.

In 2010, they were the first Chinese skaters to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in any figure skating category, ending almost half a century of Russian and Soviet pair skating dominance.

Zhao was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang and is of Manchurian ethnicity.

Shen and Zhao are the parents of a daughter, born 3 September 2013.

They currently live and coach in Shenzhen, Guangdong.

Early in his career, Zhao skated with partner Xie Maomao.