Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Ice dance

Ice dance at the XX Olympic Winter Games
Venue	Palavela Turin, Italy
Dates	February 17, 2006 February 19, 2006 February 20, 2006
Competitors	24 pairs from 16 nations
Winning score	200.64
Medalists
Tatiana Navka / Roman Kostomarov   Russia Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto   United States Elena Grushina / Ruslan Goncharov   Ukraine
←  2002 2010  →

Ice dance 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 / Roman Kostomarov, the reigning world champions, were the clear favorites. Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto, 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 / Maurizio Margaglio. The Italians, who were bronze medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics 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 / Maxim Staviski were another surprise finishing in third after the CD, followed by Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon. Reigning world bronze medalists, Ukrainians Elena Grushina / Ruslan Goncharov, 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 / Olivier Schoenfelder follow, while another team making a comeback, Lithuanians Margarita Drobiazko / Povilas Vanagas, who finished third at the 2006 European Championships, sit in eighth. The Israeli team of Galit Chait / Sergei Sakhnovski 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" 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, 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. 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

Rank	Lady's name	Man's name	Nation	TSS	TES	PCS	SS	TI	PF	IN	Deduction	StN
1	Barbara Fusar Poli	Maurizio Margaglio	Italy	38.78	19.10	19.68	7.75	7.86	7.86	8.07	0	#19
2	Tatiana Navka	Roman Kostomarov	Russia	38.20	18.52	19.68	8.00	7.61	7.89	8.04	0	#11
3	Albena Denkova	Maxim Staviski	Bulgaria	37.65	18.60	19.05	7.75	7.50	7.64	7.57	0	#16
4	Marie-France Dubreuil	Patrice Lauzon	Canada	37.44	18.72	18.72	7.43	7.39	7.54	7.68	0	#20
5	Elena Grushina	Ruslan Goncharov	Ukraine	37.39	18.12	19.27	7.71	7.57	7.71	7.89	0	#9
6	Tanith Belbin	Benjamin Agosto	United States	37.36	18.29	19.07	7.64	7.54	7.64	7.71	0	#12
7	Isabelle Delobel	Olivier Schoenfelder	France	36.44	17.82	18.62	7.46	7.43	7.39	7.50	0	#21
8	Margarita Drobiazko	Povilas Vanagas	Lithuania	35.23	17.13	18.10	7.32	7.11	7.29	7.25	0	#2
9	Oksana Domnina	Maxim Shabalin	Russia	33.37	17.06	16.31	6.64	6.39	6.46	6.61	0	#6
10	Federica Faiella	Massimo Scali	Italy	33.20	16.85	16.35	6.57	6.43	6.57	6.61	0	#10
11	Sinead Kerr	John Kerr	Great Britain	31.58	16.01	15.57	6.29	6.11	6.21	6.32	0	#18
12	Megan Wing	Aaron Lowe	Canada	31.42	16.27	15.15	6.11	5.96	6.11	6.07	0	#17
13	Galit Chait	Sergei Sakhnovski	Israel	31.07	14.80	17.27	7.07	6.79	6.82	6.93	1	#22
14	Jana Khokhlova	Sergei Novitski	Russia	30.90	16.18	14.72	5.89	5.71	6.00	6.04	0	#13
15	Melissa Gregory	Denis Petukhov	United States	30.51	15.67	14.84	6.04	5.75	5.96	6.04	0	#4
16	Nathalie Pechalat	Fabian Bourzat	France	28.59	15.16	13.43	5.46	5.18	5.43	5.43	0	#24
17	Nozomi Watanabe	Akiyuki Kido	Japan	27.95	14.71	13.24	5.39	5.14	5.36	5.32	0	#8
18	Jamie Silverstein	Ryan O'Meara	United States	27.53	14.76	12.77	5.11	5.04	5.14	5.18	0	#3
19	Nóra Hoffmann	Attila Elek	Hungary	27.53	14.37	13.16	5.36	5.11	5.25	5.36	0	#23
20	Kristin Fraser	Igor Lukanin	Azerbaijan	27.27	13.84	13.43	5.54	5.14	5.36	5.46	0	#5
21	Alexandra Kauc	Michal Zych	Poland	24.93	13.75	11.18	4.54	4.36	4.46	4.54	0	#7
22	Anastasia Grebenkina	Vazgen Azrojan	Armenia	24.28	12.75	11.53	4.71	4.46	4.57	4.71	0	#1
23	Julia Golovina	Oleg Voiko	Ukraine	23.88	13.00	10.88	4.46	4.14	4.43	4.39	0	#15
24	Alexandra Zaretski	Roman Zaretski	Israel	23.51	12.92	10.59	4.32	4.14	4.21	4.25	0	#14

Original dance

Rank	Lady's name	Man's name	Nation	TSS	TES	PCS	SS	MO	PF	CH	IT	Deduction	StN
1	Tatiana Navka	Roman Kostomarov	Russia	61.07	30.39	30.68	8.07	7.96	8.11	8.07	8.14	0	#22
2	Tanith Belbin	Benjamin Agosto	United States	60.53	30.54	29.99	7.79	7.75	8.00	7.86	8.04	0	#24
3	Elena Grushina	Ruslan Goncharov	Ukraine	59.29	29.22	30.07	7.82	7.79	8.07	7.96	7.96	0	#17
4	Isabelle Delobel	Olivier Schoenfelder	France	58.34	28.91	29.43	7.82	7.68	7.68	7.71	7.79	0	#18
5	Albena Denkova	Maxim Staviski	Bulgaria	55.85	26.62	29.23	7.82	7.68	7.54	7.71	7.68	0	#19
6	Galit Chait	Sergei Sakhnovski	Israel	55.65	28.17	27.48	7.29	7.07	7.29	7.29	7.25	0	#14
7	Marie-France Dubreuil	Patrice Lauzon	Canada	54.36	27.47	28.89	7.68	7.54	7.39	7.57	7.75	2	#20
8	Margarita Drobiazko	Povilas Vanagas	Lithuania	52.79	28.81	26.98	7.18	7.07	6.93	7.14	7.14	3	#15
9	Oksana Domnina	Maxim Shabalin	Russia	52.36	26.66	25.70	6.82	6.71	6.82	6.71	6.75	0	#16
10	Barbara Fusar Poli	Maurizio Margaglio	Italy	51.73	24.33	29.40	7.71	7.64	7.61	7.89	7.82	2	#23
11	Sinead Kerr	John Kerr	Great Britain	50.28	26.03	24.25	6.39	6.18	6.43	6.46	6.46	0	#11
12	Megan Wing	Aaron Lowe	Canada	49.17	26.52	22.65	6.04	5.82	6.00	6.00	5.96	0	#1
13	Jana Khokhlova	Sergei Novitski	Russia	47.15	25.24	21.91	5.82	5.68	5.89	5.79	5.71	0	#2
14	Melissa Gregory	Denis Petukhov	United States	47.00	24.74	22.26	5.89	5.71	5.89	5.93	5.89	0	#4
15	Nozomi Watanabe	Akiyuki Kido	Japan	46.59	25.67	20.92	5.68	5.50	5.54	5.50	5.36	0	#13
16	Jamie Silverstein	Ryan O'Meara	United States	46.00	25.73	20.27	5.46	5.36	5.29	5.32	5.25	0	#3
17	Nathalie Pechalat	Fabian Bourzat	France	44.07	24.30	20.77	5.61	5.46	5.29	5.46	5.46	1	#8
18	Nóra Hoffmann	Attila Elek	Hungary	44.04	23.74	20.30	5.43	5.25	5.36	5.36	5.32	0	#10
19	Kristin Fraser	Igor Lukanin	Azerbaijan	43.83	23.97	20.86	5.54	5.39	5.57	5.54	5.46	1	#6
20	Anastasia Grebenkina	Vazgen Azrojan	Armenia	43.83	24.59	19.24	5.07	4.86	5.18	5.18	5.07	0	#12
21	Federica Faiella	Massimo Scali	Italy	43.25	21.92	24.33	6.46	6.32	6.29	6.50	6.43	3	#21
22	Alexandra Kauc	Michal Zych	Poland	42.06	23.82	18.24	4.86	4.75	4.82	4.79	4.79	0	#9
23	Alexandra Zaretski	Roman Zaretski	Israel	41.21	24.28	16.93	4.61	4.46	4.50	4.54	4.25	0	#5
24	Julia Golovina	Oleg Voiko	Ukraine	39.92	23.04	16.88	4.54	4.36	4.57	4.50	4.32	0	#7

Free dance

Rank	Lady's name	Man's name	Nation	TSS	TES	PCS	SS	MO	PF	CH	IT	Deduction	StN
1	Tatiana Navka	Roman Kostomarov	Russia	101.37	51.73	49.64	8.25	8.11	8.36	8.32	8.46	0	#21
2	Isabelle Delobel	Olivier Schoenfelder	France	99.50	51.43	48.07	8.04	7.93	8.00	8.14	8.00	0	#24
3	Elena Grushina	Ruslan Goncharov	Ukraine	99.17	51.40	47.77	7.86	7.86	8.04	8.07	8.07	0	#20
4	Tanith Belbin	Benjamin Agosto	United States	98.17	50.24	47.93	7.93	7.93	8.00	8.07	8.07	0	#23
5	Albena Denkova	Maxim Staviski	Bulgaria	96.03	51.34	46.69	7.79	7.71	7.75	7.89	7.82	2	#22
6	Margarita Drobiazko	Povilas Vanagas	Lithuania	95.19	49.80	45.39	7.54	7.39	7.71	7.57	7.75	0	#16
7	Galit Chait	Sergei Sakhnovski	Israel	94.44	49.59	45.85	7.54	7.54	7.75	7.79	7.68	1	#19
8	Barbara Fusar Poli	Maurizio Margaglio	Italy	92.95	47.93	46.02	7.54	7.54	7.71	7.89	7.79	1	#17
9	Oksana Domnina	Maxim Shabalin	Russia	88.03	47.96	41.07	6.86	6.71	6.96	6.86	6.93	1	#15
10	Federica Faiella	Massimo Scali	Italy	87.92	47.87	40.05	6.64	6.57	6.79	6.71	6.75	0	#12
11	Jana Khokhlova	Sergei Novitski	Russia	86.43	47.75	38.68	6.43	6.32	6.54	6.54	6.50	0	#14
12	Megan Wing	Aaron Lowe	Canada	85.81	48.20	37.61	6.32	6.14	6.36	6.39	6.21	0	#11
13	Sinead Kerr	John Kerr	Great Britain	85.57	46.00	39.57	6.61	6.46	6.61	6.71	6.68	0	#13
14	Melissa Gregory	Denis Petukhov	United States	81.64	45.17	36.47	6.14	6.04	6.04	6.14	6.04	0	#10
15	Nozomi Watanabe	Akiyuki Kido	Japan	78.87	45.77	33.10	5.68	5.39	5.54	5.57	5.46	0	#9
16	Nóra Hoffmann	Attila Elek	Hungary	77.90	44.94	32.96	5.57	5.43	5.54	5.50	5.46	0	#8
17	Kristin Fraser	Igor Lukanin	Azerbaijan	77.14	45.26	31.88	5.39	5.18	5.39	5.43	5.25	0	#5
18	Jamie Silverstein	Ryan O'Meara	United States	76.87	44.60	32.27	5.46	5.29	5.43	5.43	5.32	0	#7
19	Nathalie Pechalat	Fabian Bourzat	France	76.65	43.66	33.99	5.71	5.50	5.68	5.79	5.75	1	#6
20	Alexandra Zaretski	Roman Zaretski	Israel	71.08	43.90	27.18	4.57	4.39	4.61	4.54	4.64	0	#3
21	Anastasia Grebenkina	Vazgen Azrojan	Armenia	69.88	42.14	28.74	4.86	4.68	4.86	4.82	4.79	1	#4
22	Alexandra Kauc	Michal Zych	Poland	69.61	41.99	27.62	4.68	4.50	4.71	4.61	4.57	0	#1
23	Julia Golovina	Oleg Voiko	Ukraine	64.69	40.26	26.43	4.43	4.39	4.46	4.46	4.29	2	#2

Final standings

Rank	Name	Nation	Total points	CD		OD		FD
1	Tatiana Navka / Roman Kostomarov	Russia	200.64	2	38.20	1	61.07	1	101.37
2	Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto	United States	196.06	6	37.36	2	60.53	4	98.17
3	Elena Grushina / Ruslan Goncharov	Ukraine	195.85	5	37.39	3	59.29	3	99.17
4	Isabelle Delobel / Olivier Schoenfelder	France	194.28	7	36.44	4	58.34	2	99.50
5	Albena Denkova / Maxim Staviski	Bulgaria	189.53	3	37.65	5	55.85	5	96.03
6	Barbara Fusar-Poli / Maurizio Margaglio	Italy	183.46	1	38.78	10	51.73	8	92.95
7	Margarita Drobiazko / Povilas Vanagas	Lithuania	183.21	8	35.23	8	52.79	6	95.19
8	Galit Chait / Sergei Sakhnovski	Israel	181.16	13	31.07	6	55.65	7	94.44
9	Oksana Domnina / Maxim Shabalin	Russia	173.76	9	33.37	9	52.36	9	88.03
10	Sinead Kerr / John Kerr	Great Britain	167.43	11	31.58	11	50.28	13	85.57
11	Megan Wing / Aaron Lowe	Canada	166.40	12	31.42	12	49.17	12	85.81
12	Jana Khokhlova / Sergei Novitski	Russia	164.48	14	30.90	13	47.15	11	86.43
13	Federica Faiella / Massimo Scali	Italy	164.37	10	33.20	21	43.25	10	87.92
14	Melissa Gregory / Denis Petukhov	United States	159.15	15	30.51	14	47.00	14	81.64
15	Nozomi Watanabe / Akiyuki Kido	Japan	153.41	17	27.95	15	46.59	15	78.87
16	Jamie Silverstein / Ryan O'Meara	United States	150.40	18	27.53	16	46.00	18	76.87
17	Nóra Hoffmann / Attila Elek	Hungary	149.47	19	27.53	18	44.04	16	77.90
18	Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat	France	149.31	16	28.59	17	44.07	19	76.65
19	Kristin Fraser / Igor Lukanin	Azerbaijan	148.24	20	27.27	19	43.83	17	77.14
20	Anastasia Grebenkina / Vazgen Azrojan	Armenia	137.99	22	24.28	20	43.83	21	69.88
21	Alexandra Kauc / Michał Zych	Poland	136.60	21	24.93	22	42.06	22	69.61
22	Alexandra Zaretski / Roman Zaretski	Israel	135.80	24	23.51	23	41.21	20	71.08
23	Julia Golovina / Oleg Voiko	Ukraine	128.49	23	23.88	24	39.92	23	64.69
WD	Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon	Canada		4	37.44	7	54.36

• WD = Withdrawn

Referee:

• Janet Colton

Technical Controller:

• Olga Gilardini

Technical Specialist:

• Andrzej Dostatni

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

External links

• 2006 Winter Olympics at the International Skating Union
• Dance Protocol