CALGARY, Alberta — Winning a world title was even sweeter for China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian one month after barely missing the medals stand in the Olympics.
Ranked third in a nation where pairs are king, they soared past countrymen Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao to win the World Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday.
Olympic silver medalists Zhang and Zhang, best remembered for coming back from her horrific fall in the Turin free skate, were second, followed by Russia's Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov.
"I am so happy for how we skated," Tong said.
"I was very surprised we won because I made a mistake," Pang added of her fall on side-by-side triple toe loops.
"But only that mistake. The rest of the program, we performed all the other elements to our best."
So much so that they climbed past their countrymen, something they couldn't do in Turin, where Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were third; Shen and Zhao are the only other Chinese world winners, taking the 2002 and 2003 crowns. Until now.
Absent from these worlds were Olympic gold medalists Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, and Shen and Zhao.
Stunningly, American champions Rena Inoue and John Baldwin rallied from sixth to fourth with a brilliant free program that didn't even feature a clean throw triple axel, their trademark.
"We skate like that at home," Baldwin said. "They key part is to put it out in competition. Definitely to get programs out like that at the world championships was very important."
Canadian champion Joannie Rochette thrilled the crowd earlier Wednesday by winning her qualifying group with an elegant free skate that surpassed her performance at the Olympics.
In Turin, Rochette rallied from ninth to fifth. At worlds, she received a personal-best 117.12 points to edge Yukari Nakano of Japan and American Emily Hughes in Group B.
"The Olympics helped me a lot," said Rochette, the two-time Canadian champion who was just 11th at last year's worlds. "A lot of people didn't know me before and they know me now."
They know her as a contender for Canada's first women's gold at worlds since Karen Magnuson in 1973 and the first world medal since Liz Manley won silver in 1988.
Rochette can do the math, too. She knows that Olympic champion Shizuka Arakawa of Japan and bronze winner Irina Slutskaya of Russia are not in Calgary.
"I know five minus two equals three," she said with a laugh when asked about earning a medal. "But I am not focusing on that."
If not, she was probably the only Canadian in the building who wasn't. Rochette drew the loudest cheers, by far, from the crowd of 6,520. Then she landed seven triple jumps, added balletic presentation in time to her music, good speed and deep edges that were refreshing compared to most of the 22-woman field in the first qualifying group. On one memorable spiral, she changed her edge and her upper body position at the same time.
"This was good for the confidence," she said. "I know qualifying is not real important for the final standings, but they help with the confidence."
Qualifying counts 0.25 toward the total score.
Hughes expected this to be her international debut on the senior stage, but then a little thing called the Olympics entered her schedule. The 17-year-old sister of 2002 Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes was an injury replacement for Michelle Kwan in Turin, and skated well in finishing seventh against a strong field.
The competition in Calgary isn't quite so accomplished, and Hughes easily could improve on her finish in Italy.
"Going to Torino gave me a lot of experience and confidence," she said. "Seventh place made me feel I deserved to be there and definitely belonged in this group."
Nakano is new to this group. One of Japan's many rising stars in women's skating, she wasn't even at the Olympics. But with Arakawa on the sidelines along with another Olympian, Miki Ando, Nakano made the best of her opportunity in her first senior worlds.
She received encouragement from 18-year-old countryman Nobunari Oda, who is second in the men's event through the short program in his debut at this level.
"He gave me some good advice," Nakano said. "He said this competition isn't so scary, so don't be afraid."
Italy's Carolina Kostner, the 2005 world bronze medalist who succumbed to the pressure of skating in a home Olympics last month, wasn't much better Wednesday. Kostner, ninth at Turin, showed little spark and cut short several jump combinations to wind up a charitable fourth.
Elena Sokolova, the top Russian at the worlds, was the first skater on the ice after a 6 a.m. practice. She didn't look very lively, hitting only three triple jumps cleanly.
"I skated better than they marked me," she said after placing sixth. "It's sport and sometimes bad things happen, but always we are skaters, we are athletes, and we need to be strong."
The stronger qualifying group, featuring Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen, fellow American Kimmie Meissner, Japan's Fumie Suguri and Yoshie Onda, was scheduled for Wednesday night.