It was an exciting moment for Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a retired married _ from Harbin, China. It was also a great moment for China because it was the country's first gold medal in the pairs figure skating competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Everyone was very quiet when Shen and Zhao were skating onto the ice. They were expecting something wonderful to happen. As soon as the music started, Shen and Zhao skated around the field quickly with beautiful style; every move was perfect. When the music stopped, all the people cheered. In the end Shen and Zhao won the Olympic gold medal. In China, winter sports are not as popular as they are in America and Northern European countries. So China sent only 90 athletes to Vancouver to take in a few, carefully chosen sports. Such a good decision also led to Wang Meng and Zhao Yang winning gold medals in the little known, but exciting sports of short track   speed skating. China did not win a lot of medals at these Winter Games. Most of the events are still very new to China and need to be developed. But Chinese athletes learn very quickly. For example, China's women's curling team  only began in 2003, but they were No. 1 at the 2009 World Women's Curling Championship. This means that with hard work and a bit of luck, China's winter stars could soon shine on the world stage. China's women's curling team won't be eight years old until  _  .
2003 2009 2010 2011