Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Ice dancing

Ice dancing
Ice dancing
Ice dancing is a form of figure skating which draws from the world of ballroom dancing. It was first competed at the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, but did not become a Winter Olympic Games medal sport until 1976....

was contested during the figure skating events at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Four figure skating events were held at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, at the Palavela venue.Lithuanian ice dancers Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas became the first figure skaters to compete at five Olympics....

.

This competition began with a compulsory dance, the Ravensburg Waltz, on February 17, in which all couples performed the same dance. The original dance, in which skaters performed to a designated set of rhythms (Latin combination), was held two days later, and the 4-minute free dance concluded the competition on February 20. 24 couples entered the competition, and all of them continued through to the free dance. Coming into the competition, Russians Tatiana Navka

Tatiana Navka

Tatyana Aleksandrovna Navka is a Russian ice dancer who has also competed for the Soviet Union and Belarus...

and Roman Kostomarov

Roman Kostomarov

Roman Sergeyevich Kostomarov is a Russian ice dancer. With partner Tatiana Navka, he is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion , three-time Grand Prix Final champion , and three-time European champion .- Career :Kostomarov began skating at the age of nine and a coach put him in ice...

, the reigning world champions, were the clear favorites. Tanith Belbin

Tanith Belbin

Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin is a Canadian-American ice dancer. Though born in Canada, she holds dual citizenship and has competed for the United States since she began skating with Benjamin Agosto in 1998. With Agosto, Belbin is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, four-time World medalist,...

and Benjamin Agosto

Benjamin Agosto

Benjamin Alexandro Agosto is an American ice dancer. With partner Tanith Belbin, Agosto is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time World medalist, the 2004–2006 Four Continents champion, and 2004–2008 U.S. champion....

, who won silver medals at the last World Championships, aimed to win the first Olympic medals in ice dance for USA since 1976. Teams from Ukraine, France, Canada, Israel, Lithuania, Italy, and Bulgaria were also vieing for a medal.

Compulsory Dance

There were a few surprises during the Compulsory Dance, which saw reigning world champions (undefeated this season) Navka and Kostomarov finishing second to the Italian team of Barbara Fusar-Poli

Barbara Fusar-Poli

Barbara Fusar-Poli is an Italian ice dancer. With partner Maurizio Margaglio, she is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won eight Italian titles and competed at three Olympics.-Career:Early in her career, Fusar-Poli competed with Matteo Bonfa...

and Maurizio Margaglio

Maurizio Margaglio

Maurizio Margaglio is an Italian ice dancer. With partner Barbara Fusar-Poli, he is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won eight Italian titles and competed at three Olympics.- Competitive career :Early in his career, Margaglio competed with...

. The Italians, who were bronze medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics

Figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics

-Full Results:Referee:* Sally-Anne StaplefordAssistant Referee:* Junko HiramatsuJudges: Wendy Langton Merja Kosonen Janet Allen Nicolae Bellu Yuri Kliushnikov Volker Waldeck Alexander Penchev Mieko Fujimori Evgenia Bogdanova Jarmila Portová -Ladies:Hughes, fourth after the technical program, skated...

in Salt Lake, decided to make a comeback at these Olympic Games and had not competed at any international events since the last Games. They edged the Russians in the technical score and tied them in program components. Bulgaria's Albena Denkova

Albena Denkova

Albena Denkova is a Bulgarian ice dancer. With partner and fiance Maxim Staviski, she is the 2006 & 2007 World Champion, the 2003 & 2004 European silver medalist, and the 2006 Grand Prix Final champion...

and Maxim Staviski

Maxim Staviski

Maxim Staviski is a Bulgarian ice dancer. With partner and fiancée Albena Denkova, he is the 2006 & 2007 World Champion, the 2003 & 2004 European silver medalist, and the 2006 Grand Prix Final champion...

were another surprise finishing in third after the CD, followed by Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil

Marie-France Dubreuil

Marie-France Dubreuil is a Canadian ice dancer. With partner and husband Patrice Lauzon, she is the 2006 & 2007 World silver medalist.-Biography:...

and Patrice Lauzon

Patrice Lauzon

Patrice Lauzon is a Canadian ice dancer. With partner and wife Marie-France Dubreuil, he is the 2006 & 2007 World silver medalist.- Biography :...

. Reigning world bronze medalists, Ukrainians Elena Grushina

Elena Grushina

Elena Eduardovna Grushina is a Ukrainian ice dancer. With partner Ruslan Goncharov, she is the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, 2005 World bronze medalist, and two-time European silver medalist.- Career :...

and Ruslan Goncharov

Ruslan Goncharov

Ruslan Nikolaevich Goncharov is a Ukrainian ice dancer. With partner Elena Grushina, he is the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, 2005 World bronze medalist, and two-time European silver medalist.- Career :...

, finished in fifth. The biggest surprise was the sixth place finish of Belbin & Agosto, who were originally seen as the main pair who could really challenge the Russian domination of Navka & Kostomarov. The French team of Isabelle Delobel

Isabelle Delobel

Isabelle Delobel is a French ice dancer. With partner Olivier Schoenfelder, she is the 2008 World champion, the 2007 European champion and the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion....

and Olivier Schoenfelder

Olivier Schoenfelder

Olivier Schoenfelder is a French ice dancer. With partner Isabelle Delobel, he is the 2008 World champion, the 2007 European and the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion.-Career:...

follow, while another team making a comeback, Lithuanians Margarita Drobiazko

Margarita Drobiazko

Margarita Aleksandrovna Drobiazko is a Lithuanian ice dancer. She began competing for Lithuania in 1992 when she teamed up with Povilas Vanagas, whom she married in June 2000...

and Povilas Vanagas

Povilas Vanagas

Povilas Vanagas is a Lithuanian ice dancer. He competed with wife Margarita Drobiazko, whom he married in June 2000. They are the 2000 World bronze medalists, three-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalists, two-time European bronze medalists , 1999 Skate Canada champions and competed in five Winter...

, who finished third at the 2006 European Championships, sit in eighth. The Israeli team of Galit Chait

Galit Chait

Galit Chait is a former Israeli ice dancer with partner Sergei Sakhnovski. They competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006.- Personal life :Chait was born in Israel and moved to New Jersey as a child with her parents...

and Sergei Sakhnovski

Sergei Sakhnovski

Sergei Sakhnovski is an Israeli ice dancer with partner Galit Chait. They have been competing internationally for Israel since 1996. In 2002 they were the first Israeli ice dance team to win a medal at World Championships...

found themselves in thirteenth after a fall during a step sequence. It is interesting to note that the Italian leaders and sixth placed Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto were separated by just over a point, so the Americans could easily make up that difference.

Original Dance

In the second portion of the dance competition, mistakes prevailed. Navka and Kostomarov did not seem to be affected by this and gave a solid performance to finish first in this portion and overall. Belbin and Agosto gave a crowd-pleasing performance which was placed second by the judges, putting them just over 1 point behind the Russians overall.

CD leaders Fusar-Poli and Margaglio had a very disappointing skate with Margaglio losing his balance causing both to fall. They finished tenth in the OD, keeping them well out of contention for a gold medal with Navka and Kostomarov almost 10 points ahead of them. At the end of the performance, Fusar-Poli gave her partner a withering glare and broke down in tears in the "kiss and cry

Kiss and cry

The kiss and cry is the area in an ice rink where figure skaters wait for their marks to be announced after their performances during a figure skating competition. The skaters and coaches often kiss to celebrate after a good performance, or cry after a poor one...

" area just offstage. They were seventh overall heading into the free dance.

Grushina and Goncharov were good enough to finish third in the OD and overall, while Delobel and Schoenfelder were right behind. Despite troubles on their combination spin, Denkova and Staviski were able to land in the top five. Chait and Sakhnovski finished sixth in the OD and ninth overall, followed by Dubreuil and Lauzon who received a 2-point deduction for a painful fall that required Lauzon to carry his partner off the ice. Drobiazko and Vanagas also received deductions for a fall and for holding a lift for too long.

Free Dance

Dubreuil and Lauzon announced they would withdraw from the free dance portion of the competition after Dubreuil's nasty fall on a rotational lift in the original dance, leaving them out of medal contention. Dubreuil had fallen on her right hip during the original dance, leaving her too badly injured to compete effectively.

Navka and Kostomarov were clearly in a class above their competition. Skating their passionate dance to Carmen

Carmen

Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...

, the Russian favorites received the highest technical and program components scores. Finishing behind them in the free dance and fourth overall were Delobel and Schoenfelder, with strong elements as well. Bronze medalists Grushina and Goncharov finished third in the free dance with a clean, yet slow skate. Belbin and Agosto captured the audience's attention with a powerful and exciting skate as they danced to flamenco music, but made tiny mistakes in their final twizzles and step sequence. This put them in fourth for the free dance but second overall. Their silver medal is the first for the Americans in 30 years. Fifth in the free and overall, Denkova and Staviski had strong technical content, but lost two points because of extending one of their lifts. Drobiazko and Vanagas finished sixth in the free, followed by Chait and Sakhnovski, skating to the classic dance music Bolero

Bolero

Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...

. Fusar-Poli and Margaglio finished eighth in the free with a solid program, but the most memorable moment of their skate was at the end, when Fusar-Poli fell to her knees in tears, forgiving her partner for the fall in the OD.

Compulsory dance

Rank								Deduction
1	38.78	19.10	19.68	7.75	7.86	7.86	8.07	0	#19
2	38.20	18.52	19.68	8.00	7.61	7.89	8.04	0	#11
3	37.65	18.60	19.05	7.75	7.50	7.64	7.57	0	#16
4	37.44	18.72	18.72	7.43	7.39	7.54	7.68	0	#20
5	37.39	18.12	19.27	7.71	7.57	7.71	7.89	0	#9
6	37.36	18.29	19.07	7.64	7.54	7.64	7.71	0	#12
7	36.44	17.82	18.62	7.46	7.43	7.39	7.50	0	#21
8	35.23	17.13	18.10	7.32	7.11	7.29	7.25	0	#2
9	33.37	17.06	16.31	6.64	6.39	6.46	6.61	0	#6
10	33.20	16.85	16.35	6.57	6.43	6.57	6.61	0	#10
11	31.58	16.01	15.57	6.29	6.11	6.21	6.32	0	#18
12	31.42	16.27	15.15	6.11	5.96	6.11	6.07	0	#17
13	31.07	14.80	17.27	7.07	6.79	6.82	6.93	1	#22
14	30.90	16.18	14.72	5.89	5.71	6.00	6.04	0	#13
15	30.51	15.67	14.84	6.04	5.75	5.96	6.04	0	#4
16	28.59	15.16	13.43	5.46	5.18	5.43	5.43	0	#24
17	27.95	14.71	13.24	5.39	5.14	5.36	5.32	0	#8
18	27.53	14.76	12.77	5.11	5.04	5.14	5.18	0	#3
19	27.53	14.37	13.16	5.36	5.11	5.25	5.36	0	#23
20	27.27	13.84	13.43	5.54	5.14	5.36	5.46	0	#5
21	24.93	13.75	11.18	4.54	4.36	4.46	4.54	0	#7
22	24.28	12.75	11.53	4.71	4.46	4.57	4.71	0	#1
23	23.88	13.00	10.88	4.46	4.14	4.43	4.39	0	#15
24	23.51	12.92	10.59	4.32	4.14	4.21	4.25	0	#14

Original dance

Rank									Deduction
1	61.07	30.39	30.68	8.07	7.96	8.11	8.07	8.14	0	#22
2	60.53	30.54	29.99	7.79	7.75	8.00	7.86	8.04	0	#24
3	59.29	29.22	30.07	7.82	7.79	8.07	7.96	7.96	0	#17
4	58.34	28.91	29.43	7.82	7.68	7.68	7.71	7.79	0	#18
5	55.85	26.62	29.23	7.82	7.68	7.54	7.71	7.68	0	#19
6	55.65	28.17	27.48	7.29	7.07	7.29	7.29	7.25	0	#14
7	54.36	27.47	28.89	7.68	7.54	7.39	7.57	7.75	2	#20
8	52.79	28.81	26.98	7.18	7.07	6.93	7.14	7.14	3	#15
9	52.36	26.66	25.70	6.82	6.71	6.82	6.71	6.75	0	#16
10	51.73	24.33	29.40	7.71	7.64	7.61	7.89	7.82	2	#23
11	50.28	26.03	24.25	6.39	6.18	6.43	6.46	6.46	0	#11
12	49.17	26.52	22.65	6.04	5.82	6.00	6.00	5.96	0	#1
13	47.15	25.24	21.91	5.82	5.68	5.89	5.79	5.71	0	#2
14	47.00	24.74	22.26	5.89	5.71	5.89	5.93	5.89	0	#4
15	46.59	25.67	20.92	5.68	5.50	5.54	5.50	5.36	0	#13
16	46.00	25.73	20.27	5.46	5.36	5.29	5.32	5.25	0	#3
17	44.07	24.30	20.77	5.61	5.46	5.29	5.46	5.46	1	#8
18	44.04	23.74	20.30	5.43	5.25	5.36	5.36	5.32	0	#10
19	43.83	23.97	20.86	5.54	5.39	5.57	5.54	5.46	1	#6
20	43.83	24.59	19.24	5.07	4.86	5.18	5.18	5.07	0	#12
21	43.25	21.92	24.33	6.46	6.32	6.29	6.50	6.43	3	#21
22	42.06	23.82	18.24	4.86	4.75	4.82	4.79	4.79	0	#9
23	41.21	24.28	16.93	4.61	4.46	4.50	4.54	4.25	0	#5
24	39.92	23.04	16.88	4.54	4.36	4.57	4.50	4.32	0	#7

Free dance

Rank									Deduction
1	101.37	51.73	49.64	8.25	8.11	8.36	8.32	8.46	0	#21
2	99.50	51.43	48.07	8.04	7.93	8.00	8.14	8.00	0	#24
3	99.17	51.40	47.77	7.86	7.86	8.04	8.07	8.07	0	#20
4	98.17	50.24	47.93	7.93	7.93	8.00	8.07	8.07	0	#23
5	96.03	51.34	46.69	7.79	7.71	7.75	7.89	7.82	2	#22
6	95.19	49.80	45.39	7.54	7.39	7.71	7.57	7.75	0	#16
7	94.44	49.59	45.85	7.54	7.54	7.75	7.79	7.68	1	#19
8	92.95	47.93	46.02	7.54	7.54	7.71	7.89	7.79	1	#17
9	88.03	47.96	41.07	6.86	6.71	6.96	6.86	6.93	1	#15
10	87.92	47.87	40.05	6.64	6.57	6.79	6.71	6.75	0	#12
11	86.43	47.75	38.68	6.43	6.32	6.54	6.54	6.50	0	#14
12	85.81	48.20	37.61	6.32	6.14	6.36	6.39	6.21	0	#11
13	85.57	46.00	39.57	6.61	6.46	6.61	6.71	6.68	0	#13
14	81.64	45.17	36.47	6.14	6.04	6.04	6.14	6.04	0	#10
15	78.87	45.77	33.10	5.68	5.39	5.54	5.57	5.46	0	#9
16	77.90	44.94	32.96	5.57	5.43	5.54	5.50	5.46	0	#8
17	77.14	45.26	31.88	5.39	5.18	5.39	5.43	5.25	0	#5
18	76.87	44.60	32.27	5.46	5.29	5.43	5.43	5.32	0	#7
19	76.65	43.66	33.99	5.71	5.50	5.68	5.79	5.75	1	#6
20	71.08	43.90	27.18	4.57	4.39	4.61	4.54	4.64	0	#3
21	69.88	42.14	28.74	4.86	4.68	4.86	4.82	4.79	1	#4
22	69.61	41.99	27.62	4.68	4.50	4.71	4.61	4.57	0	#1
23	64.69	40.26	26.43	4.43	4.39	4.46	4.46	4.29	2	#2

Final standings

Rank	Name	Total Points	CD	OD Original dance The original dance was a segment of an ice dancing competition. It was usually the second of three programs, sandwiched between the compulsory dances and the free dance. Until 1994, it was known as the original set pattern dance...	FD Free dance (figure skating) The free dance is a part of an ice dancing competition. It is the second part of the competition to be contested, after the short dance.-Structure and content:...
1	/	200.64	2	1	1
2	/	196.06	6	2	4
3	/	195.85	5	3	3
4	/	194.28	7	4	2
5	/	189.53	3	5	5
6	/	183.46	1	10	8
7	/	183.21	8	8	6
8	/	181.16	13	6	7
9	/	173.76	9	9	9
10	/	167.43	11	11	13
11	/	166.40	12	12	12
12	/	164.48	14	13	11
13	/	164.37	10	21	10
14	/	159.15	15	14	14
15	/	153.41	17	15	15
16	/	150.40	18	16	18
17	/	149.47	19	18	16
18	/	149.31	16	17	19
19	/	148.24	20	19	17
20	/	137.99	22	20	21
21	/	136.60	21	22	22
22	/	135.80	24	23	20
23	/	128.49	23	24	23
WD	/		4	7

WD = Withdrawn

Referee:

Janet Colton

Technical Controller:

Olga Gilardini

Technical Specialist:

Andrzej Dostatni
Andrzej Dostatni
- External links :* at Sports Reference...

Assistant Technical Specialist:

Marie Bowness

Judges (CD):

Alla Shekhovtseva
John Greenwood
Rolf Pipoh
Walter Zuccaro
Evgenia Karnolska
Katalin Alpern
Mayumi Kato
Linda Leaver
Odette Coulson
Christine Hurth
Anastassia Makarova
Akos Pethes

Judges (OD):

Evgenia Karnolska
Walter Zuccaro
Rolf Pipoh
Alla Shekhovtseva
John Greenwood
Christine Hurth
Linda Leaver
Odette Coulson
Akos Pethes
Mayumi Kato
Anastassia Makarova
Katalin Alpern

Judges (FD):

Alla Shekhovtseva
John Greenwood
Katalin Alpern
Evgenia Karnolska
Walter Zuccaro
Odette Coulson
Akos Pethes
Mayumi Kato
Linda Leaver
Rolf Pipoh
Christine Hurth
Anastassia Makarova

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