American Pair Have Ice Dancing Fever

Heavy snowflakes blanketed the Palavela on Sunday night, but inside the ice palace of the 2006 Olympics it was hot-hot-hot as, to the beat of Latin rhythms, Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto vaulted into medal position with a captivating, crash-free free skate.

“Crash-free” being the operative phrase.

On a night in which Olympic ice dancing made like roller derby, three couples fell spectacularly, including Italians Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, when he accidentally dropped her at the end of their program -- after which they glared at each other, hands on hips, for more than 30 seconds near center ice.

The red-haired Fusar Poli sulked through kiss-and-cry, reacted with a dramatic hand over her eyes at the scores that dropped them from first after Friday’s compulsory to 10th, then stalked off ahead of Margaglio, not once looking back.

Heading into tonight’s free skate, Russians Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, the 2004 and 2005 world champions, second after the compulsories here, are back in their usual slot -- first. They earned Sunday’s highest score, 61.07

“Today a lot of couples fell,” Navka said later. “I think it is mental problem.”

Belbin and Agosto, the 2005 world silver medalists, moved up from sixth to second.

“Today we felt much more in control of our skating and much more confident than we did in the compulsory dance,” Belbin said. “So we hope to build off ... this performance tonight and do even better tomorrow and hopefully even give a more emotional performance.

“Because it is the final and we have nothing to lose.”

Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine, fifth after the compulsories, moved to third.

The two other American couples are well back, Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov 14th, Jamie Silverstein and Ryan O’Meara 16th.

No U.S. dancers have won an Olympic medal in ice dancing since 1976, when Colleen O’Connor and Jim Millns won bronze.

Then, as now, ice dancing is judged in part on expression, flair and emotion. Gregory, who whispered in her partner Petukhov’s ear as they finished, said later, “I told him I loved him.”

Then, as now, the costumes tend to the fanciful.

Grushina and Goncharov, for instance, performed in day-glo pink, she in a strappy short dress accented by a day-glo hair scrunchy, he in a glittery day-glo pink top open to the waist and black, tuxedo-style pants -- set off by day-glo pink piping.

With only a few empty seats in a hall seating about 8,200, the crowd was into it, though, one of the first times at these Games that fans have seemed energized -- waving flags, blowing horns and gasping at all the crashing.

Italy’s Federica Faiella got tangled up in her skates, reached out for partner Massimo Scali and executed an inadvertent takedown that left both on their knees. They fell from 10th to 21st.

A Canadian pair, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, had trouble as well. She let go of him too early on a complicated twirl and crashed hard to the ice. Fourth coming into Sunday’s skate, they fell to seventh.

Belbin, in a red backless dress, and the goateed, pony-tailed Agosto were the last of the 24 pairs to skate -- starting just moments after Fusar Poli’s disdainful exit.

They swirled and twirled first through a salsa number, segued into a rumba, finishing with a cha-cha. No falls. Smiles all around.

“It’s kind of the ultimate feeling,” Agosto said. “At the Olympic Games, and you skate really well.”