An Olympic love story skates to the altar
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Shen Xue (back) and Zhao Hongbo, China's first Olympic champion figure skaters in Vancouver 2010 winter Olympic Games, react at their wedding ceremony on ice in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2010. The wedding party is organized as part of a figure skating gala here on Saturday night. [Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang] |
The "Artistry on Ice" show was similar to the American "Stars on Ice," and featured world figure skating champions, including Asada Mao from Japan, Evgeni Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin from Russia, and Stephane Lambiel form Canada, among others.
Pop singer Zhang Liangying (third place in 2005 "Super Girl" singing competition) and violinist Lu Siqing also performed.
Before the wedding took place, there was strong criticism on the Internet from many Chinese who said that ticket sales made the wedding "crass, commercial and a publicity stunt."
The indignation was so great that on the day before the wedding, the couple held a press conference to refute accusations of commercialism. Fans had misunderstood, they said, adding that statements had been taken out of context and the wedding was only part of a larger event.
"We are only a small part of the two-hour extravaganza," said Zhao.
"When we perform on ice, we are trying to raise the popularity of ice skating in China," Shen said.
The 2006 men's Olympic gold medalist Plushenko of Russia, one of the world's most decorated male skaters, performed to "Sex Bomb."
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