LionDen
02-21-2006, 09:10 PM
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Ben Agosto and Tanith Belbin show off their silver medals. Now the duo has their sights set on gold for the world championships in March.
Duo becomes second American pair to win Olympic ice dancing medal
TURIN, Italy - Now that Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto have a silver medal, it’s time to think gold.
A day after giving the United States its first medal in Olympic ice dancing in 30 years, Belbin and Agosto were still trying to absorb what they achieved. But they were already thinking ahead.
“This whole season we really had our sights set on the world championships because we didn’t think we would be able to be here,” Agosto said Tuesday, referring to next month’s event. “They were our main goal, and we’re looking forward to improving our skates and moving up the ranks even further.”
The United States has long been one of figure skating’s powerhouses, winning a whopping 43 Olympic medals, 13 of them gold. But success has been a lot harder to come by in ice dancing, where the Americans have traditionally been bottom-feeders. Colleen O’Connor and Jim Millns won a bronze in 1976, the first year the event was an Olympic sport, but that was followed by three decades of futility.
Belbin and Agosto have changed all that. They’ve made a surprisingly quick climb up the ranks in a sport where change is glacial, and they established themselves as Olympic favorites after winning a silver medal at last year’s world championships.
The question was which Olympics.
Belbin was born in Canada and wasn’t due to get her U.S. citizenship until 2007 — too late for Turin. Congress took up her plight, though, and passed legislation that allowed her to take advantage of recent changes that shortened the naturalization process. She was sworn in Dec. 31, 2005.
“To be here at all was an amazing experience,” Belbin said. “We were very happy with how we did, and to have the result that we did was just icing on the cake.”
Now if they could only find some time to celebrate.
Belbin and Agosto reveled in their accomplishment Monday night, staying on the ice for about a half-hour after the medals ceremony. They took photo after photo, clowned for the crowd and seemed to thank every fan who came out to cheer them.
By the time they made it to the U.S. team house, where their families and friends were waiting, it was about 2:30 a.m.
“We had about half an hour to an hour there,” Belbin said. “It was a very blurry time because everything was happening so quickly and we were signing a lot of stuff, so we didn’t really have time to celebrate before they had to kick us out.
“Maybe in a few days we’ll have time to breathe and have dinner and talk about everything that happened.”
And then it will be on to the world championships, March 20-26 in Calgary.
The Americans finished second to two-time world champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, trailing by more than four points. But the Russians are planning to retire, and said they probably won’t go to the world skate.
That opens a spot in the standings — with Belbin and Agosto next in line. Olympic bronze medalists Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine also could challenge for the top spot if they don’t retire.
“I think we have a good shot at worlds,” Belbin said. “The door is opened a little bit further for us to challenge for that gold medal, and hopefully one year, if not this one, we can get that first American title.”
The Associated Press
Ben Agosto and Tanith Belbin show off their silver medals. Now the duo has their sights set on gold for the world championships in March.
Duo becomes second American pair to win Olympic ice dancing medal
TURIN, Italy - Now that Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto have a silver medal, it’s time to think gold.
A day after giving the United States its first medal in Olympic ice dancing in 30 years, Belbin and Agosto were still trying to absorb what they achieved. But they were already thinking ahead.
“This whole season we really had our sights set on the world championships because we didn’t think we would be able to be here,” Agosto said Tuesday, referring to next month’s event. “They were our main goal, and we’re looking forward to improving our skates and moving up the ranks even further.”
The United States has long been one of figure skating’s powerhouses, winning a whopping 43 Olympic medals, 13 of them gold. But success has been a lot harder to come by in ice dancing, where the Americans have traditionally been bottom-feeders. Colleen O’Connor and Jim Millns won a bronze in 1976, the first year the event was an Olympic sport, but that was followed by three decades of futility.
Belbin and Agosto have changed all that. They’ve made a surprisingly quick climb up the ranks in a sport where change is glacial, and they established themselves as Olympic favorites after winning a silver medal at last year’s world championships.
The question was which Olympics.
Belbin was born in Canada and wasn’t due to get her U.S. citizenship until 2007 — too late for Turin. Congress took up her plight, though, and passed legislation that allowed her to take advantage of recent changes that shortened the naturalization process. She was sworn in Dec. 31, 2005.
“To be here at all was an amazing experience,” Belbin said. “We were very happy with how we did, and to have the result that we did was just icing on the cake.”
Now if they could only find some time to celebrate.
Belbin and Agosto reveled in their accomplishment Monday night, staying on the ice for about a half-hour after the medals ceremony. They took photo after photo, clowned for the crowd and seemed to thank every fan who came out to cheer them.
By the time they made it to the U.S. team house, where their families and friends were waiting, it was about 2:30 a.m.
“We had about half an hour to an hour there,” Belbin said. “It was a very blurry time because everything was happening so quickly and we were signing a lot of stuff, so we didn’t really have time to celebrate before they had to kick us out.
“Maybe in a few days we’ll have time to breathe and have dinner and talk about everything that happened.”
And then it will be on to the world championships, March 20-26 in Calgary.
The Americans finished second to two-time world champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, trailing by more than four points. But the Russians are planning to retire, and said they probably won’t go to the world skate.
That opens a spot in the standings — with Belbin and Agosto next in line. Olympic bronze medalists Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine also could challenge for the top spot if they don’t retire.
“I think we have a good shot at worlds,” Belbin said. “The door is opened a little bit further for us to challenge for that gold medal, and hopefully one year, if not this one, we can get that first American title.”
The Associated Press