Belbin and Agosto Set the Standard for U.S. Ice Dancing
by Sal Zanca, Special to U.S. Figure Skating Online |
| Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto Photo by Michelle Wojdyla |
Event Results, News and Photos
(3/18/05) — Let's talk about what a champion is all about. Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto had just achieved the highest finish for a U.S. ice dancing team in 30 years, yet they preferred to look back on U.S. ice dancers who came before them.
Belbin and Agosto's medal was the first for a U.S. ice dancing team in 20 years, but they spent time congratulating their teammates on a great performance as well.
And even though the twosome is not eligible for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, they did not spend time complaining. Take away the politics of citizenship and you will find two athletes who have just accomplished a major dream — they are World silver medalists.
“It has been such a long time for the United States (to get an ice dancing medal),” Agosto said. “We have grown up and started to work in our career looking up at these American ice dance teams that we never felt got the recognition that they deserved. It feels very good to be up here and give them a little nod and thank them for all their hard work that made it possible for us to be here.”
The last U.S. dance team to win a World medal was Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert in 1985, as they won the bronze. The last U.S. dance team to win a silver medal was Colleen O'Connor and Jim Millns in 1975.
There was more than just a medal at stake Friday night. Belbin and Agosto, along with teammates Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov, secured three U.S. ice dancing spots in next year's Winter Games for the first time since 1984.
“We would also like to congratulate our teammates Melissa and Denis who together with us helped us achieve three spots for the Olympics for the U.S. next year, and so we are really excited about that,'' Belbin said.
Next February, while three U.S. teams compete in the Olympics, Belbin and Agosto know what they will be doing.
“We will be on the ice training,” Belbin said.
“We will be working hard getting ready for the World Championships and hoping to improve our placements,” Agosto said.
Deep down, though, Agosto still has a tiny spark of hope.
“There are a lot of people working very hard on our behalf,” he said. “[There are] a lot of people lobbying and trying their best. So we are very grateful for all their efforts and the hard work they put into it.
“At this point we basically assume that we are not going to be able to go and [we have] kind of come to terms with that. At the same time there is that glimmer of hope that if something did happen we would be able to go.”
But for now, the silver medal is more than enough compensation, and it's a fitting end to a solid season.
“It is a great achievement, and we worked very hard, so hard to get those levels up this year,” Belbin said. "It's nice to see that it paid off.”
She ticked off the things that made it happen.
“Experience on the Grand Prix, the hard work of our coaches and a lot of concentration on the new rules,” she said.
Their gypsy dance to “Shedritsa” had the technical difficulty that has gained them success this year. The speed in their twizzles and their diagonal footwork were highlights of the routine which received higher technical scores than gold medalists Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia.
When Belbin and Agosto performed the dance at the 2005 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships they received straight 6.0s for presentation. Under the new judging system they received 111.54 points in the free dance and 221.26 overall.
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| Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov share the love after the free dance. Photo by Lindsay DeWall |
Belbin and Agosto followed the Russians on the ice.
“This was probably the most pressure we have skated under,” Belbin said. “Not only to follow the defending champions but heading into the free dance with our highest position ever.”
They beat out Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine for the second spot. Grushina and Goncharov actually finished fourth in the free dance, as France's Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder placed third in that segment.
Gregory and Petukhov finished 11th overall but look to be the top American team in Torino. The Olympic ice dancing final will be near the first anniversary of Petukhov's U.S. citizenship.
They skated a clean free dance to Pink Floyd and said it was one of their best performances of the year.
“We skated very well today,” Gregory said. “We're very pleased. We went out of the season with a boom. That was our main goal. We're trying not to concentrate too much on the placements, just our own skating and our own improvements.”
The team did improve – last year they finished 12th, and combined with Belbin and Agosto's second place-finish, there will be three ice dancing teams from the U.S. in Torino.
Oh yeah, there is one more thing that Belbin and Agosto will be doing next February as the three ice dancing teams compete.
“We will be cheering them on,” Belbin said.
