World Figure Skating : Soviet Ice Dancers Retain Their Title

Soviet ice dancers Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin struck a series of sculptured poses in a splashy and sinuous routine to win their second straight world title Saturday.

The pair combined precision with passion in a dramatic finale to the 1986 World Figure Skating Championships.

In the pairs event, 14-year-old Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov dethroned fellow Soviets Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev.

In Saturday’s closing event, the Moscow ice dance pair drew three perfect 6.0 scores for artistry and bravos from a sellout crowd at Vernets Sports Center with their four-minute program to rhapsodic music and piano crescendos.

The performance turned back a threat from stylish compatriots Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, who finished second. Canadians Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall were third.

The 26-year-old Bestemianova, wearing a sleek black leotard with deep V’s in front and back, and Bukin, 28, finished with a factored placement total of 2.4, followed by Klimova and Ponomarenko at 3.6.