German pair claim free skate gold

Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot have wowed the judges with a brilliant and haunting performance to claim both a pairs free skate world record and an Olympic gold medal at the PyeongChang Games.

The Germans rallied from fourth place to the top of the podium on Thursday.

Outside the medal places after a disappointing short program on Wednesday in which Massot doubled a triple jump, the two performed a flawless free skate and fell to the ice in tears after finishing their routine.

After waiting anxiously for three more pairs to skate, they both wept when the gold was confirmed, with Savchenko, who claimed two Olympic bronzes with former partner Robin Szolkowy, sobbing in Massot's arms as he pressed his face into her hair.

Snapping off a flawless series of jumps and flowing choreography, the two broke their own world record in the free skate with 159.31 points for a total of 235.90.

Silver went to Chinese world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, who narrowly missed out with a total of 235.47, as Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford secured bronze for Canada.

North Koreans Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik were out of sync on a double Axel but their inspired free skate still earned them a personal best score of 124.23 points.

They finished 13th overall with a combined total of 193.63 points, another personal best.