events

Belbin and Agosto Stay in Medal Contention

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto give shout outs to the folks back home along with coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva. Photo by Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images Sport

2006 Olympic Winter Games Photos, News and Blogs

(2/19/06) - Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto jumped from sixth overall to second with a technically demanding original dance Sunday night at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The U.S. team finished second in the free dance but had the highest technical elements score of the night. They are now in position to win the first U.S. Olympic ice dancing medal in 30 years.

Russian World champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov moved into the lead while three of the final five couples fell during their programs.

One of those couples was the Italian team of Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, whose hopes of a gold medal crashed to the ice in the final 10 seconds of their program. A fall on the rotational lift resulted in a two-point deduction and a glaring stand-off at mid-ice between the two ice dancers. They dropped from first overall to seventh with a 10th-place finish in the original dance.

Skating last, Belbin and Agosto avoided the splatfest with a clean program that included their trademark rotational lift and good synchronization on their midline step sequence. With less than two points separating them from the leaders, the gold is still up for grabs.

“This is an extremely close competition, and I think this is the first time we've been in a competition where it is this close,” Agosto said. “Tonight we feel like we were confident in this dance. It just makes everything count all that much more.

Mistakes ran rampant through the field; those with significant mistakes included Italians Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, and Bulgarians Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavisky, who struggled on their combination spin.

Belbin said after tonight there's no telling what will happen in Monday's free dance.

“Nobody wants to fall, and there are a lot of emotions involved in not only figure skating and the sport, but in addition to that at the Olympic Games it's really heightened,” she said. “I think that everyone will go home tonight, have a good night's sleep and realize that the competition is not over. I think that tonight was just testament to the fact that dance is just really unpredictable at this point and you really get rewarded for good skating. I don't think there should be any disappointment in any of the skating tonight, because a lot can happen tomorrow, and they'll have a great opportunity to redeem themselves."

Navka and Kostomarov resumed their place at the top with a saucy Latin combination that combined difficulty and style.

“We are very happy,” Kostomarov said. “It was a tremendous responsibility. Others were falling, but we had a clean skate. We were working very hard because in the compulsory dance we were not feeling in a condition.”

Third place went to Ukrainians Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov.

“Very good, clean, with all the elements, expression,” Goncharov said.

All three American teams moved up as Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov are in 14th.

We skated really strong and we're really happy,” Gregory said. “We can't wait to go out tomorrow and finish the competition strong as well.”

Jamie Silverstein & Ryan O'Meara conquered nerves to jump to 16th.

“I was nervous finally,” Silverstein said. “I wasn't the last time, and that was a shocker. Once we got to the rhumba and I had such a fantastic partner out there holding me up it was a blast. It might not have been as crisp as normal but I think it was good. We want to do our country proud.”

O'Meara agreed with Silverstein, saying that their original dance was one of the best moments of the Games for them.

“I thought Opening Ceremonies would be the best part, but tonight was the best part so far,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. It just seems that all of the work we've put in throughout our lives and the last year is really paying off. It's a big reward just to be here and competing and to get to do it with her is great. We've both worked hard for it.”