OOOOOHHHHHHMG!!! Marie France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon were skating so brilliantly and then BAM! Marie France fell like a rock on her hip on their final spin. Who says ice dancing isn't as dangerous as the other skating disciplines?
Plus it came right after my favorite moment so far in any figure skating discipline--and it had nothing to do with skating. It was when Marie France slipped her hands through the chiffon halter of her costume and opened her arms to pull each side away from covering her chest, making you think for a moment she was going to do a "Moulin Rouge" show, hubba hubba. Instead she revealed a gold beaded and sequined halter underneath. Marvelous effect and
perfect for the latin style. Janet Jackson revisited--NOT! This was the
tasteful way to flash. My guy started applauding when Marie France did that, saying "Oh, yeah! She is
really talented!"
Oh, but poor D/L when they fell
right at the end. Shades of Bourne & Kraatz in '02. But this was such a crash from about 3-4 feet in the air right onto the ice onto the side of her hip, where there is the least muscle to cushion the fall, the most bone to hurt, and no hands or legs to help break the fall. The last shot of Marie France was of her being wheeled out on a stretcher, although she did smile for the camera. I SO hope they can skate in the final. Besides feeling bad for them, I've liked them more every year they've skated, which has been many.
Hope you're not hurt, Marie France, and that we see you and Patrice in the Free Dance. Best Wishes!!!
BTW, as we all saw or heard, the OD was a splatfest. In the past, "ice dance" and "splatfest" were two words that never went together. It seems to be the difficulty prompted by the COP, although in Fusar-Poli and Margaglio's case, I think it was due to their coming out of retirement so recently after not skating together for so long. Gags (I love being able to write Babs & Gags again, lol) looks like he just isn't in shape. He was never a great skater in his prime and I think as a couple, they just weren't ready for the difficulty demanded by the NJS. The compulsaries are one thing; they haven't changed. But the OD and FD--compared to '02, they're like the difference between driving a '68 Volkswagon Beetle and an '06 Porsche when all you've done is drive the '68 Bug.
I also
really loved Denkova & Staviski. They were so hot and really skating on the edge of control, which they can do like nobody's business, and then, dang! They missed a lift! No fall, thankfully, but bummer all the same for one of my favorite teams.
Navka & Kostomarov were perfection, but I would have liked more sex in their program. The rhumba
is the dance of love and I would have liked to have seen spice rather than simply great movement. I still remember Torvill & Dean's rhumba from '94 for just that reason. T/D were understated, but let's just say that as soon as they finished dancing, you wanted to have "some intimate time" with the one you loved. I got a fair amount of that from Denkova/Staviski, but not from N/K. However, N/K do move and look like gods, so, well, it's great to have that going for you, lol.
Happily, Tanith and Ben were great! They looked a bit cautious on the side-by-side FW, but everything else was in high gear. Their dance had the quality of dancing all out at a street party rather than as the prelude to inimacy, and IMO either approach works if choreographed and executed well. B/A definitely had great quality in choreography and execution. Man, Tanth really works it! And Ben's skating skills amaze me more every time I see him. Bravo Tanith and Ben!
And here's something I don't think I've ever said before:
Thank you United States Congress for making sure Tanith got her citizenship in time!
Of course I hope they win a medal (gold or silver, please), but no matter where they end up, Belbin & Agosto
belong as competitors at these games, as if there was ever any doubt about it. Now if only Congress could do the right thing on every other bill, lol.
So the final group for the FD is (THANK YOU Frau Mueller!):
1 NAVKA Tatiana / KOSTOMAROV Roman RUS 2 38.20 1 61.07 1 99.27
2 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin USA 6 37.36 2 60.53 2 97.89
3 GRUSHINA Elena / GONCHAROV Ruslan UKR 5 37.39 3 59.29 3 96.68
4 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier FRA 7 36.44 4 58.34 4 94.78
5 DENKOVA Albena / STAVISKI Maxim BUL 3 37.65 5 55.85 5 93.50
6 DUBREUIL Marie-France / LAUZON Patrice CAN 4 37.44 7 54.36 6 91.80
My guess for the podium is as follows (and we all know how accurate my predictions are
):
Gold: Navka/Kostomarov
Silver: Belbin/Agosto
Bronze: Denkova/Staviski
I've probably just jinxed them all. Tomorrow they'll all fall in practice and some hours later announce their withdrawal from the games. Okay, I really don't mean it!
Hee-hee, Babs/Gags ain't in the final flight, says b****y Rgirl. I can't help it. Jasper, your post is so hilarious--and so true.
Jasper said:
The Italians at the end of their program after he dropped her in the final spin: "She scowls, obviously blaming him for what happened and almost drives the poor man to tears. What scenes here in Turin! Their on-ice staring fight is doing themselves no favours - they look ridiculous!" (from eurosport)
She's awful.
Yes indeedy, JohnnyCoop. A RUMBLE it is and you chose the perfect word.
Fauvenik, you comment about Babs/Gags, "I thouught for sure she was going to b****-slap him!!!" had both my honey and me
. And both of us are too old to be doing that anymore. But hey, sometimes, when the muse strikes, you just have to live dangerously.
Off-Topic: How cool was it for speed skater Joey Cheek to give the bonuses from both of his medal-winning races to charity? Totally cool. Or should I say, Cold?
Rgirl
when one fall or two fall then the others tend to follow esp at Olympics since it is such high tense comp.
