Russians take gold in ice dance

LOS ANGELES – Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin don’t mess around. Their first medal at the world championships, and the Russians made it a gold.

Domnina and Shabalin’s powerful yet composed free dance was just enough to hold off training mates Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, giving the Russians the ice dance title at the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday night. Domnina and Shabalin finished with 206.30 points, 1.22 ahead of the Americans.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada won the bronze medal. Barely. They edged Meryl Davis and Charlie White by a mere 0.04 – a margin usually seen in swimming, not figure skating.

Domnina and Shabalin had never won a medal at worlds; their best finish was fifth in 2007. They were heavily favored last year, but had to withdraw after he aggravated a knee injury.

Now the title is theirs.

The power was undeniable, evident in every lift, spin and step they did in their “Spartacus” dance. But this wasn’t simple brute strength, it was combined with a grace and balance that made their lifts like a piece performance art. Many were done with him on one skate. That alone is incredibly difficult, but she was also unassisted, meaning she was working just as hard as he was.

On one, she faced him while he was crouched down, put her skate between his knees and rose up, extending her other leg behind her. It was as majestic as it was moving, yet he showed no signs of how difficult the move was.

They had wonderful unison, looking like shadow images as they flew across the ice.

Parts of Belbin and Agosto’s “Tosca” program were incredibly powerful but there were little details that needed just a touch more polishing.