Ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

was contested during the figure skating events at the 2006 Winter 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 Tatyana Aleksandrovna Navka (russian: Татьяна Александровна Навка; born 13 April 1975) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer and wife of Dmitry Peskov. With her dance partner Roman Kostomarov, she is the 2006 Olymp ...

Roman Kostomarov Roman Sergeyevich Kostomarov (russian: Роман Серге́евич Костомаров, born 8 February 1977) is a Russian ice dancer. With partner Tatiana Navka, he is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion (2004–05), three-t ...

, the reigning world champions, were the clear favorites.

Tanith Belbin Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin (born July 11, 1984) is a Canadian-American ice dancer and Olympic program host for NBC Sports. Though born in Canada, she holds dual citizenship and has competed for the United States since she began skating with Ben ...

Benjamin Agosto Benjamin Alexandro "Ben" Agosto (born January 15, 1982) 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 ...

, 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 vying for a medal.

Compulsory dance

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

Barbara Fusar-Poli Barbara Fusar-Poli (born 6 February 1972) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Maurizio Margaglio, she is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won nine Italian titl ...

/ Maurizio Margaglio. The Italians, who were bronze medalists at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

in Salt Lake City, 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 Petrova Denkova ( bg, Албена Петрова Денкова, born 3 December 1974) is a Bulgarian ice dancer. With partner and fiance Maxim Staviski, she is a two-time ( 2006– 2007) World champion, a two-time ( 2003– 2004) Europe ...

Maxim Staviski Maxim Staviski ( bg, Максим Стависки, links=no, born 16 November 1977) is a Russian-born naturalized Bulgarian ice dancer. With partner and fiancée Albena Denkova, he is a two-time (2006– 2007) World champion, a two-time (2003� ...

were another surprise finishing in third after the CD, followed by Canadians

Marie-France Dubreuil Marie-France Dubreuil (born August 11, 1974) is a Canadian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With her husband Patrice Lauzon, she is a two-time (2006–2007) World Figure Skating Championships, World silver medallist. Personal life Mari ...

Patrice Lauzon Patrice Lauzon (born November 26, 1975) is a Canadian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With his wife Marie-France Dubreuil, he is a two-time (2006–2007) World silver medalist. Personal life Patrice Lauzon was born in Montreal, Quebec, ...

. Reigning world bronze medalists, Ukrainians

Elena Grushina Elena Eduardovna Grushina (russian: Елена Эдуардовна Грушина or uk, Олена Едуардівна Грушина Olena Eduardivna Hrushyna; born 8 January 1975) is a Ukrainian ice dancer. With partner and then-husband Rus ...

Ruslan Goncharov Ruslan Nikolaevich Goncharov (russian: Руслан Николаевич Гончаров or uk, Руслан Миколайович Гончаров Ruslan Mykolayovych Honcharov; born 20 January 1973) is a Ukrainian ice dancer. With partn ...

, 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 (born 17 June 1978) is a French former competitive ice dancer. With partner Olivier Schoenfelder, she is the 2008 World champion, the 2007 European champion, and the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion. Delobel and Schoenfelder r ...

Olivier Schoenfelder Olivier Schoenfelder (born 30 November 1977) is a French retired ice dancer and coach. With partner Isabelle Delobel, he is the 2008 World champion, the 2007 European and the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion. Career Schoenfelder began skating ...

follow, while another team making a comeback, Lithuanians

Margarita Drobiazko Margarita Aleksandrovna Drobiazko (russian: Маргарита Александровна Дробязко; born 21 December 1971) is a Russian retired ice dancer. She began competing for Lithuania in 1992 when she teamed up with Povilas Vanagas. ...

/ Povilas Vanagas, who finished third at the 2006 European Championships, sit in eighth. The Israeli team of

Galit Chait Galit Chait ( he, גלית חייט, ''Galit Hayat''; born on January 29, 1975) is an Israeli former competitive ice dancer. She and her partner Sergei Sakhnovski competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006, becoming the 2002 World bro ...

Sergei Sakhnovski Sergei Sakhnovski ( he, סרגיי סחנובסקי, russian: Серге́й Сахно́вский; born May 15, 1975) is an Israeli ice dancer. With partner Galit Chait, he is the 2002 World bronze medalist for Israel. With previous partner Ek ...

found themselves in thirteenth after a fall during a step sequence. The Italian leaders and sixth placed Tanith Belbin / 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 / Kostomarov did not seem to be affected by this and gave a solid performance to finish first in this portion and overall. Belbin / 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 / 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 / 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 The kiss and cry is the area in a figure skating rink where figure skaters wait for their marks to be announced after their performances during a figure skating competition. It is so named because the skaters and coaches often kiss to celebrate a ...

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

Free dance

Dubreuil / 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 / Kostomarov were clearly in a class above their competition. Skating their passionate dance to

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

, the Russian favorites received the highest technical and program components scores. Finishing behind them in the free dance and fourth overall were Delobel / Schoenfelder, with strong elements as well. Bronze medalists Grushina / Goncharov finished third in the free dance with a clean, yet slow skate. Belbin / 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 / Staviski had strong technical content, but lost two points because of extending one of their lifts. Drobiazko / Vanagas finished sixth in the free, followed by Chait / Sakhnovski, skating to the classic dance music

Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

. Fusar-Poli / 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.

Results

Compulsory dance

Original dance

Free dance

Final standings

* WD = Withdrawn Referee: * Janet Colton Technical Controller: * Olga Gilardini Technical Specialist: *

Andrzej Dostatni Andrzej Dostatni (; born 9 December 1966) is a Polish former competitive ice dancer. With Honorata Górna, he became a three-time Polish Figure Skating Championships, Polish national champion and competed at the Figure skating at the 1988 Winter O ...

Assistant Technical Specialist: * Marie Bowness Judges (CD): *

Alla Shekhovtseva Alla Viktorovna Shekhovtsova (russian: Алла Викторовна Шеховцова; born 2 November 1964 in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk) is a Russian figure skating judge and ISU Technical Specialist and a former ISU Ice Dance Technical Committe ...

John Greenwood John Greenwood may refer to: Sportspeople * John Greenwood (cricketer, born 1851) (1851–1935), English cricketer * John Eric Greenwood (1891–1975), rugby union international who represented England * John Greenwood (footballer) (1921–1994) ...

* Rolf Pipoh * Walter Zuccaro *

Evgenia Karnolska Evgenia, Evgeniya, Yevgenia or Yevgeniya is a feminine given name which may refer to: Evgenia or Evgeniya * Evgeniya Augustinas (born 1988), Russian racing cyclist * Evgeniya Belyakova (born 1986), Russian basketball player in the Women's National ...

Katalin Alpern Katalin is a feminine given name and is a Hungarian variant from Catherine. Notable people with the name include: * Katalin Bánffy Hungarian noblewoman * Kata Bethlen (1700–1759) Hungarian writer, sometimes known in English as Katherine Bethle ...

Mayumi Kato Mayumi may refer to: *Mayumi (name) Mayumi (まゆみ, マユミ) is a common Japanese given name, particularly for females. Possible writings Mayumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *真弓 or 眞弓, "truth, bow" or ...

Linda Leaver Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

* Odette Coulson * Christine Hurth * Anastassia Makarova * Akos Pethes Judges (OD): *

* Walter Zuccaro * Rolf Pipoh *

* Christine Hurth *

* Odette Coulson * Akos Pethes *

* Anastassia Makarova *

Judges (FD): *

* Walter Zuccaro * Odette Coulson * Akos Pethes *

* Rolf Pipoh * Christine Hurth * Anastassia Makarova

References

External links

*
Dance Protocol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics - Ice dance

2006 in figure skating

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Mixed events at the 2006 Winter Olympics