Pair pulls off historic throw
ST. LOUIS – Rena Inoue and John Baldwin parlayed a history-making throw into an Olympic invitation last night during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
The skaters ran away with the pairs championship at the Savvis Center after becoming the first team to perform a throw-triple axel in international competition.
That helped them jump from fourth place to a final score of 181.05, more than 15 points better than the 165.82 accumulated by runners-up Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parchem.
“We wanted to put our mark on the sport and push people to the next level,” Baldwin said.
Hinzmann and Parchem, who skate out of the Detroit Figure Skating Club, edged short-program leaders Katie Orscher and Garrett Lucash (165.16) to capture the second and final American berth in next month’s Olympics.
“It’s hard to put words into what we’re feeling right now,” said an obviously crestfallen Lucash. “… For some reason, we had to fight through all our elements in a negative way.”
In all likelihood, the top two teams’ success was largely ceremonial. The United States hasn’t won a pairs medal since 1988, and these teams are long shots at best. Inoue and Baldwin, from Santa Monica, Calif., finished 11th at the 2005 world championships. Hinzmann and Parchem, who were third at last year’s nationals, have not competed in the international event.
As expected, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto skated away with the ice-dancing championship.
The world’s silver medalists, who hope to capture America’s first Olympic medal in the discipline since 1976, finished 30 points ahead of runners-up Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov (185.26).
The final few dances had the crowd of 7,990 up and roaring at their conclusions.
“We’re very happy with how we skated tonight,” Agosto said. “We drew so much from the audience. They were just fantastic.”
The Chicago native and Belbin, a newly minted U.S. citizen, will be among the favorites in the Turin Games. The other American teams that will join them there are Gregory and Petukhov and third-place finishers Jamie Silverstein of Pittsburgh and Ryan O’Meara (178.46).
Horsham’s Brent Bommentre and partner Kim Navarro were fifth, with a point total of 173.76.
A decision on the petition of Michelle Kwan to be granted one of three Olympic berths – even though she couldn’t compete in these championships due to injuries – will be made after tonight’s finals.