Having finished their farewell program as national pair skaters at the ongoing¹ Championships in Tokyo, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo embraced on the ice with a kiss on the cheek from Zhao to his partner, waved to crowd, who were throwing toys and flowers as salute² towards the ice, kissed the ice for difficult good-bye and hugged their coach Yao Bin in tears.

China's Shen Xue (R) and Zhao Hongbo perform to win the pairs free program of the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo March 21, 2007. The pair, who had announced their retirement3 after the championships, won the world title. [Reuters]

That was the top Chinese ice lovers' emotional adieu, which yielded their third and most deserved world champion as a leaving present.

Having announced plans to retire at the end of the season when the Champions concludes, Shen and Zhao look poised⁴ to exit in a blaze of glory having finished top of the podium in every event they have entered this season, including the Grand Prix final and Winter Asian Games

Having paired with each other for as long as 15 years, they earned three world champions, two Olympic bronzes and numerous Grand Slams titles, merely missed, however, an Olympic gold.

With still three years away to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, 28-year-old Shen Xue and her 33-year-old partner seem to run short of energy.

"The intensive training in the national team is too much for us, so we have decided⁵ take a leave from the team for a while for a rest," said Shen Xue before the Championships.

The "while" Shen mentioned may be two years from now on. "We will return if our form remains⁶ at that time. After all, we need an Olympic gold," the pair said.

The pair needs to grab the demanded rankings at the Championships and Olympic qualifications the year before the Olympics to book a berth⁷ to Vancouver in 2010.

The 2010 Games emerged to be the best chance for the veteran pair to fulfill⁸ their Olympic dream as their arch rival, 2006 Turin Olympic gold winners Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim⁹ Marinin from Russia have retired¹⁰.

A bronze finish in Turin as it was, it was won under the condition that Zhao had just recovered from an injured Achilles tendon the year before.

Seen from their performance at the Tokyo Championships, where they delivered perfect toeloop jumps and throw jumps in a violin piece Meditation¹¹ from Thai by French composer Jules Massenet, they seem to stand a big chance to mark their names on the Vancouver gold.

But, in case they fail to roll back the years in 2009, is there any pair to become China's talismen for a Olympic gold?

The prospect¹² now seems bright as China still has newly-crowned world champion pair Pang¹³ Qing and Tong Jian and Turin Olympic silver medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao.

The veteran pair, however, is still cherishing, and will cherish their Olympic dream