Monday, February 20, 2006
The harder they fall......
One of the reasons I find ice dancing less exciting than pairs skating is that there are no throws, taking the element of danger out of the sport. Or at least I THOUGHT ice dancing wasn't dangerous. After watching the last five couples in the original dance competition tonight, I have changed my mind.
I have to admit that I had never seen the original dance segment before because I always grew bored with the compulsories and figured the rest wouldn't be very interesting either, so I had always switched it off. But I had left the tv on tonight after some speed skating, and the segment coming up included the Americans, so I took a peek. I was surprised to discover that in the original dance part of the competition, the partners don't have to stay in constant contact like in compulsories. They can also do lifts during their routine, choose different kinds of music, and do non-traditional footwork. This is much more the kind of stuff i wanna see.
So there I was, greatly enjoying the routine of the Canadian pair of Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, when the unthinkable happened. Toward the very end of their performance, Lauzon was spinning Dubreuil around in a lift they'd probably done a million times, when all of a sudden, Dubreuil lost her grip and went crashing to the ice! She got up and did the final moves of the routine, but she had landed hard on her right hip and knee and could not skate off the rink without her partner's help. Lauzon had to carry Dubreuil off the ice, and later, she went to the hospital. How scary! And potentially horrible because there is still a third segment of skating to be completed.
I don't know if the next couple had seen the Canadians fall or if they were just victims of bad luck, but ANOTHER fall near the end of their routine! So it was no surprise that the next two to skate, Russians Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, began their routine unusually tentatively. But they relaxed during the second half of the skate and got the highest point total of the night. Then the Italian faves, Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, took their turn. Unlike during the compulsories, Margaglio seemed slow and out of synch with his more exuberant partner. They made me uneasy, and sure enough, THEY fell too! Fusar-Poli looked absolutely furious as they tumbled out of first place (literally!) and into seventh.
The last to skate were the Americans, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. They came into the original dance placed sixth, which made them seem unlikely for medal contention, that is, until the calamities of their competitors. Both skated extremely well with confidence and skill and smiles throughout. The crowd that had been stunned by the Italians' fall finally realized halfway through the Americans' routine that they were seeing something special and began to cheer again. Their score was good enough for second place, which give them a chance for a medal going into the free skate. The only trail by 1.38 points, which is awesome.
Should mention that I have had help with the Olympics blog entries. I've been going to Olympics websites and cutting and pasting alll the athletes' names. There's no way I can remember, let alone spell, all the names, so this way, I know I've gotten them right, heh heh.
And I'm never going to think of ice dancing as a safe sport again.
I have to admit that I had never seen the original dance segment before because I always grew bored with the compulsories and figured the rest wouldn't be very interesting either, so I had always switched it off. But I had left the tv on tonight after some speed skating, and the segment coming up included the Americans, so I took a peek. I was surprised to discover that in the original dance part of the competition, the partners don't have to stay in constant contact like in compulsories. They can also do lifts during their routine, choose different kinds of music, and do non-traditional footwork. This is much more the kind of stuff i wanna see.
So there I was, greatly enjoying the routine of the Canadian pair of Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, when the unthinkable happened. Toward the very end of their performance, Lauzon was spinning Dubreuil around in a lift they'd probably done a million times, when all of a sudden, Dubreuil lost her grip and went crashing to the ice! She got up and did the final moves of the routine, but she had landed hard on her right hip and knee and could not skate off the rink without her partner's help. Lauzon had to carry Dubreuil off the ice, and later, she went to the hospital. How scary! And potentially horrible because there is still a third segment of skating to be completed.
I don't know if the next couple had seen the Canadians fall or if they were just victims of bad luck, but ANOTHER fall near the end of their routine! So it was no surprise that the next two to skate, Russians Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, began their routine unusually tentatively. But they relaxed during the second half of the skate and got the highest point total of the night. Then the Italian faves, Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, took their turn. Unlike during the compulsories, Margaglio seemed slow and out of synch with his more exuberant partner. They made me uneasy, and sure enough, THEY fell too! Fusar-Poli looked absolutely furious as they tumbled out of first place (literally!) and into seventh.
The last to skate were the Americans, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. They came into the original dance placed sixth, which made them seem unlikely for medal contention, that is, until the calamities of their competitors. Both skated extremely well with confidence and skill and smiles throughout. The crowd that had been stunned by the Italians' fall finally realized halfway through the Americans' routine that they were seeing something special and began to cheer again. Their score was good enough for second place, which give them a chance for a medal going into the free skate. The only trail by 1.38 points, which is awesome.
Should mention that I have had help with the Olympics blog entries. I've been going to Olympics websites and cutting and pasting alll the athletes' names. There's no way I can remember, let alone spell, all the names, so this way, I know I've gotten them right, heh heh.
And I'm never going to think of ice dancing as a safe sport again.
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