An inspired performance by Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo has given China its first ever Olympic gold medal in figure skating.

Buoyed by a record-setting short program heading into Monday's action, the three-time world champions in pairs figure skating scored 139.91 on their free skate for a total score of 216.57.

The husband and wife team, skating to "Adagio" choreographed by Canadian Lori Nichol, won bronze at both the 2002 and 2006 Olympics, and came back from a three-year retirement for one last shot at Olympic gold.

The gold-medal performance snapped a Russian stranglehold on the top of the podium that stretched back to 1964. Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier shared gold with Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. Canadians Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul were the last non-Russians to stand alone atop the podium, in 1960 at Squaw Valley.

China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian actually had the best routine Monday, scoring 141.81 on a flawless free skate, but they had to settle for silver after finishing fourth in Sunday's short program. They had a total score of 213.31.

Two-time defending world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, who trailed Shen and Zhao by less than a point after the short program, won bronze with 134.64 points in the free skate and 210.60 overall

Jessica Dube of St-Cyrille-de-Wendover, Que., and Bryce Davison of Huntsville, Ont., finished sixth, scoring 121.75 points for their emotional but flawed rendition of Marvin Hamlisch's "The Way We Were." They scored 187.11 points overall.

Much like their short program, Dube and Davison's routine was undermined by missteps. Dube fell on a jump and stumbled on another.

After the free skate, Dube shrugged her shoulders and shook her head as she approached the judges' booth.

Anabelle Langlois of Hull, Que., and Cody Hay of Edmonton, finished ninth with a total of 179.97 points. Langlois and Hay, who skated to "Grand Canyon Suite," missed all of last season while Langlois recovered from a broken fibula.

They got off to a rocky start when Langlois fell on the side-by-side triple Salchows, then late in their program, she two-footed her landing on a throw triple flip. Langlois smacked herself in the forehead in frustration after.

Dube, 22, and Davison, 24, won bronze at the world championships in 2008, but needed virtually a flawless short and long program to have any hope of a podium finish amid a stacked pairs field in Vancouver. Their chances took a serious hit when Dube fell on her half of the side-by-side triple Salchows in the short program.

Skate Canada officials said they hoped for three medals in Vancouver, but that four would be a definite possibility. Canada's top hopes lie with ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, world silver and bronze medallists, and reigning world silver medallists Patrick Chan and Joannie Rochette in men's and women's singles. Chan and Canadian teammate Vaughn Chipeur skate in the men's short program Tuesday.