Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (USA) are in the
lead going into the free dance tomorrow.
Photo: AP/Mike Groll
The ice dance competition continued today at Skate America with the original dance phase, which was won by five-time U.S. champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. With their performance, they extend their lead to just under 14 points ahead of the 2008 World bronze medalists, Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski. There was no change in the standings after the original dance from the compulsory dance, but there was some shakeup in the point totals, and the free dance is shaping up to be an interesting fight for the silver and bronze.
Belbin and Agosto were one of the dance teams who skated to a folk/country dance that was not from their home countries. Incidentally, many of the top American dance teams this season have opted to skate to non-American folk music. Their Moldavian folk original dance earned them a 60.95, an improvement on their score two weeks ago at Cup of China. With their lead, they should not have any problem winning their second Grand Prix event this season and joining compatriots Meryl Davis and Charlie White in the Grand Prix Final.
Khokhlova and Novitski had multiple problems in their original dance but were able to retain their second place position as a result of their lead after the compulsories. Khokhlova has been suffering from the tolls of the travels they have had during the past few weeks to compete in the Grand Prix series, and the fatigue seems to have caught up with their performances. They only hold a slight advantage over the third place team going into the free dance.
Italian silver medalists Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte took advantage of the Russians’ mistakes to move within 0.24 after the original dance. They skated a solid Italian folk dance to put themselves in a position to pull of the upset and win the silver in the free dance.
U.S. bronze medalists Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre are currently in fifth with a total score of 81.47. The third American team, World junior champions Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein continue their debut season with a seventh place standing after the original dance.
DANCE (after the original dance)
1. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto USA – 100.23
2. Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski RUS – 86.47
3. Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte ITA – 86.13
4. Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski ISR – 83.83
5. Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre USA – 81.47
6. Kristina Gorshkova and Vitali Butikov RUS – 75.96
7. Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein USA – 73.43
8. Xiaoyang Yu and Chen Wang CHN – 71.58
9. Caitlin Mallory and Kristjan Rand EST – 71.47
10. Zoe Blanc and Pierre-Loup Bouquet FRA – 67.05
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