Biography
The unrelated Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao teamed up in 1997. They immediately had a lot of success on the junior circuit. They won two medals on the Junior Grand Prix in their first year on it and then placed 5th at the Junior Grand Prix Final. They also won the bronze medal at the 1999 Chinese national championships and the silver at the 2000 Chinese national championships.
In the 2000-2001 season, they won the Junior Grand Prix Final, placed third at nationals, and then won Junior Worlds. At the 2000 Junior Worlds, they performed a quadruple twist, the first quad twist ever performed at that event.
They stayed in the junior ranks in the 2001-2002 season, winning the Junior Grand Prix Final yet again. They won the bronze medal at the 2002 Four Continents Championships and then went to the 2002 Olympics, where they placed 11th. After the Olympics, they went to their first Worlds and came in 9th place.
In the 2002-2003 season, they competed at both the Junior and senior Grand Prix, due to ISU rules that pairs can do both in one season. They won the Junior Grand Prix event in China, then performed well at both their Grand Prix events, placing 4th in both of them. They went to Junior Worlds and once again won it before going to the World Figure Skating Championships and placing 6th.
Following that season, Zhang and Zhang became serious contenders. They consistently medaled at their Grand Prix events. They won the 2005 Four Continents Championships and then won the bronze at the 2005 Worlds.
Zhang and Zhang went into the 2006 Olympics as medal contenders. They had planned a for the free skate, a jump which had not yet been landed in competition. Zhang Dan fell on it during the free skate and suffered an injury, but chose to finish the program. There was a minor controversy about finishing the program because while Zhang Dan had been lying on in the ice from the fall, the referee had stopped the music, and the Zhangs took a certain amount of time to restart the program. ISU rules say that the program can be continued, if the referee agrees the stoppage was due to a valid reason, such as injuries or equipment failures. Once the referee has approved a continuation, the skaters are given two minutes to continue the program from the point where the music stopped. Zhang regrouped within this period and was able to finish the program. They won the silver medal, placing ahead of defending Olympic medalsts Shen Xue andHongbo Zhao. At Worlds, they won the silver, behind Pang Qing and Tong Jian.
In the 2006-2007 season, Zhang and Zhang placed first at Skate Canada, second at the NHK Trophy, and would go on to place third at the Grand Prix Final. They placed 5th at the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships later that season.
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