Belbin earns first win as American citizen

ST. LOUIS – The newest American couldn’t wait to begin dancing her way to the Olympics.

Tanith Belbin, sworn in as a U.S. citizen on Dec. 31 and now eligible to represent this country in Turin, didn’t miss a beat Tuesday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Along with longtime partner Ben Agosto, she made a memorable first appearance on ice as an American.

Belbin and Agosto earned 107.89 points in winning both the compulsory dance and the original dance. It wasn’t perfect, but it was far superior to anyone else in the field.

“It’s nice to discuss it now that it’s finally all resolved and I can say I’m an American citizen,” she said. “It’s certainly a cloud lifted off our heads. We’re glad we can be identified with something other than the citizenship issue.”

Belbin was born in Canada, but has lived in the Detroit area since 1998. Though she and Agosto could represent the United States at international competitions such as the world championships, only U.S. citizens can be on the Olympic team. But she benefited from a change in the naturalization process last month.

Already two-time champions of this event, she and Agosto are overwhelming favorites to win the ice dance, which concludes Friday night. Unlike in the last three decades for an American couple, they have a strong chance of winning an Olympic medal.

“First of all, it’s nice that our first event after this has all happened is our most familiar competition, where we feel most comfortable, where we have the most support, and it’s always the most fun,” Belbin said. “We feel great that we can come out as a full American team here, our debut in that sense.”

While compulsory dance doesn’t exactly stir the blood of the audience – or, at times, the participants – the event carried some significance because of Belbin’s situation. Three of the other top couples also had citizenship issues, all of which have been resolved within the last year.

It carried some charm, too.

“I always really wanted to be completely a part of that moment when the anthem was playing, but I always felt like I want to be more of a part than I am,” Belbin said. “Now I feel really that I can just completely free myself and feel like yes, I’ve earned it.”

In the evening’s original dance, a spicy, fast-paced salsa/cha cha that had the crowd cheering throughout, they received 66.32 points under the new judging system being used at nationals for the first time.

“We’re dancing backstage, dancing more in the locker room,” she said.

Second place was held by Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov with 94.13 points. They were followed by Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin with 86.79.

Petukhov, a Russian, became a U.S. citizen last February. Zavozin, also Russian, was sworn in Dec. 30.