Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov of Russia took the lead in the pairs short program of the figure skating event at the Winter Olympic Games?in Sochi?on Tuesday after posting a personal best of 84.17 points.

Volosozhar/Trankov, having just won gold in the team event here, presented a perfect performance which was highlighted by triple twist lift and triple toeloop.

"We were concentrating on the inside. We were so nervous today but we did a good job," said Volosozhar.

"I was trying to find the right balance between the technique and the emotions and it seems to work. We finally set a record which is above 84 points," said Trankov.

"Now we must skate the free program, to go and forget about this performance. We have to understand that it's a new day."

Skating to "Pink Panther", Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy of Germany, bronze medalists at Vancouver Games, finished second with 79.64 points, as the 34-year-old Szolkowy stumbled on the triple toeloop.

Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov of Russia delivered a flawless Flamenco routine to earn 75.21 points..

"We started with a great throw. That was the easy part and then we could enjoy the rest," Szolkowy said.

"We had a good feeling, indeed the most important thing was to skate clean. We're glad that we did all our elements since we want to fight for the gold. The points don't matter for now. Let's see what comes out in the end."

Pang Qing/Tong Jian of China, bronze medalists in the Grad Prix final in 2013, were fourth with 73.30 points, as Pang under-rotated a triple toeloop in their side-by-side jumps.

"It wasn't a high score," the 34-year-old Tong said, "because the first element was not performed very well, but generally speaking, we did well.

"It's our last Olympic Games and I want to enjoy it and make it more meaningful. It's time to say goodbye to the ice rink, and I hope we can have a happy ending.

"Today's performance has raised our confidence. I will figure out how to maintain energy throughout the performance and to deliver every element as well as I can."

Another Chinese combination, Peng Cheng/Zhang Hao, who have paired up only for two years, took 70.59 points in seventh place.

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