PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 11 -- Well, look at this. There are some surprises in compulsory ice dance.
Defending champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto earned a 6.0 for presentation, the first perfect mark awarded in compulsory dance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Tuesday.
|
_____ 2004 Summer Olympics _____
• Look back at the Athens Games, highlighted by Michael Phelps's eight medals and marked by unfounded worries over terrorism.
• Photos
| | |
|
"It's wonderful. It's such a gift to receive a 6.0," Belbin said, a big grin on her face. "The compulsory dance, you don't usually see them, so that was really nice."
Perfect marks are a rarity, and practically unheard of in compulsories. Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean got seven of them at the 1984 world championships, when there were still two compulsory dances, and three at the Olympics that year.
Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko earned a 6.0 in compulsories at the 1989 worlds, and Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin got one two years later.
While judging tends to be a little more generous at national championships, they're still not giving the 6.0s away. Belbin and Agosto's perfect mark was only the 17th for dance at nationals.
And this one has even more meaning because the 6.0 is on the verge of becoming extinct. The International Skating Union has a points-based system where final scores will be in the triple digits, and it will be used at the world championships in March. U.S. Figure Skating is expected to adopt the new system in time for next year's nationals, so this week is the last chance American skaters have to see the 6.0 mark.
"No matter how far we get away from this system, a 6.0 will have a positive ring," Belbin said.
