French Couple Take Ice Dancing Figure Skating Title

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 19, 2002

French Couple Take Ice Dancing Figure Skating Title

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Two-time reigning European champions Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France led from the first compulsory dance to take the Olympic gold medalin an entertaining final phase of the ice dancing competitions at Salt Lake Ice Center Monday evening.

Russian husband and wife couple Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, who finished third in the European championships, claimed the silver medal with European silver medalists Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio grabbing Italy's first-ever medal, a bronze, in the Winter Olympic history.

Throughout the three-day competitions, all the top eight placesremained unchanged from the first compulsory dance through the three-segment finals.

"We skated really well and this was the best program we ever did," said Peizerat, who finished third in the 1998 Nagano Games. "We chose something quiet that people can feel in their hearts andwe didn't think that should be loud."

Anissina and Peizerat became the first French ice dancers ever to win a gold medal and the first French figure skaters to win theOlympic gold since pairs skaters Andree Brunet and Pierre Brunte in 1932.

From a random draw, the French pair had to skate first in the final flight and produced a flowing program that showed off their line and deep edges. The routine also featured innovative lifts and moves.

To emphasize their theme of humanity and freedom in their program "Liberta", the French added fragments to U.S. civil rightsleader Martin Luther King Jr's famous "I have a Dream" speech to their music, earning 5.7-5.9 for technical merit and 5.8-5.9 for presentation.

Fusar Poli and Margaglio were up next among the three leading couples. The Italians entertained the crowd with their upbeat routine set to "I Will Survive", but all their dreams and hopes seemed to shatter when Margaglio fell in a diagonal step sequence.

The reigning world champions were visibly disappointed with Fusar Poli holding tears as their marks were as low as 5.5 for technical merit, but went up to 5.9 for presentation.

"He looked disappointed," Bourne said on her partner Kraatz, who was fourth in the previous Games, "It was just at the last moment. I think it was the best skate that we've ever done. We skated with our heart tonight."

However, after Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz of Canada tumbled to the ice in the last seconds, the Italian couple retained the bronze position for their country's first-ever medal in Olympic figure skating competition.

Last to skate were Lobacheva and Averbukh with spectacular lifts and fast-paced footwork in their program "A Time for Peace",that received marks up to 5.8 for technical merit and up to 5.9 for presentation to take the silver, but lost to Anissina and Peizerat on the thinnest of margins, a 5-4 split of the judges.

"We are very happy to have won the silver tonight. We lost thegold only by one judge, it was a 5-4 decision," said the Russian couple, who ranked fifth in the Nagano Olympics, "Each athlete is dreaming about the gold. The audience was wonderful and it was hard to skate. I don't really know why."

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