Back-To-Back Golds Russian Ice Dancers Make Olympic History With A Second Straight Victory

This was Pasha’s last Olympic dance.

Dressed in purple, a silver and white cross cut across the front of her outfit, Pasha Grishuk glided on the ice for 4 minutes, following Yevgeny Platov’s every move, twisting and spinning and bringing a little heart and soul to a domed arena named White Ring.

And when this dance of desire and striving ended, the woman who named herself Pasha wept.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “I said, ‘Yevgeny, I am very proud of you.”’ Monday night, Grishuk and Platov of Russia made Winter Olympic history by becoming the first dance couple to win back-to-back gold medals.

Skating to “Victory,” a song they said was a cry of their souls and the capstone of their careers, they dramatically put their stamp on the Olympics.

They circled the ice with speed, power and charisma. And they were in sync every step of the way.

“We really brought a lot to this sport,” Grishuk said. “We did develop the sport. And we made it look like a sport.”

When Grishuk and Platov perform, ice dancing actually may look like an athletic contest instead of a ballroom show. But the Winter Games’ version of “A Chorus Line” still suffers from the same, old, petty intrigues and judging controversies.

This time, just about all the top couples had a complaint - except the winners. As usual, the event was predictable, the top 13 spots remaining unchanged after the two compulsory dances.

Silver medalists Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov griped about the judging, the scoring and their second-place finish.

“All I can say is, the public liked us better,” Krylova said.

France’s Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat won the bronze and seemed happy enough, not surprising because they skated a sloppy “Romeo and Juliet.”

Fourth-place Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz were frozen out of the medals from the outset. Their “Riverdance” routine gave them third in the free dance, ahead of the French. But having been placed not-so-surprisingly fifth in the first compulsory dance, the Canadians were doomed to go home without a medal.

“It’s funny,” Bourne said. “You’d think that I’d be real upset, but I don’t feel awful at all. You’ve got to look at it, laugh at it, and get past it.”

The American team of Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow began the event in seventh place and stayed there.

Trinidad and Tobago team 32nd

Moscow, Idaho’s Greg Sun, representing Trinidad and Tobago, finished 32nd out of 36 two-man bobsled teams.

Sun, the driver, and brakeman Curtis Harry timed 3:46.65. Canada and Italy shared the gold medal with times of 3:37.24.

“The fourth and final heat I drove my fastest of the week,” said Sun, a conditioning coach for Idaho’s men’s track team. “Most everything went well.”

CBS scores hockey

CBS’ coverage of the U.S.-Canada hockey game gave the NHL the exposure it was looking for when it sent its players to the Olympics.

The game, broadcast at 11:35 p.m. PST Sunday, got a 4.9 rating/14 share, the highest-rated network broadcast of a game involving NHL players in two decades.

Fox’s highest rating in four years of NHL coverage was a 4.1 for the All-Star Game in 1996, which featured the debut of the glowing puck. The previous high rating for the NHL from the past two decades was a 4.4 for Game 6 of the 1980 finals between the Flyers and the Islanders on CBS.

Sunday night’s prime time coverage, featuring Picabo Street in the downhill and ice dancing, got a 17.9 rating/28 share. That was 39 percent lower than the 29.3/44 from Lillehammer and 16 percent lower than the 21.2/32 from Albertville.

Quotable

Yelena Vaelbe of Russia is leaving the sport of cross country skiing after the Olympics. She’ll be missed not only for her talent, but for her way with words.

Vaelbe, who swept five gold medals at the world championships last year, helped Russia win the 20-kilometer relay Monday. Her final race will be Friday (Thursday night PST) in the 30K individual - her last chance for individual gold.

“I will try my best,” she said. “As we say, ‘It is hope that dies last.”’ She talked about her struggles on the World Cup circuit this season.

“As all people on this earth, I walk as a zebra with alternating white and black stripes,” Vaelbe said. “It’s possible that I am passing through my black stripe this year.”