Home favorites lead ice dancing, Chinese pair far behind
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Twice world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir entertained home fans in the packed Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver on Sunday, hitting a season best score of original dance to lead the ice dancing rankings at the ongoing Olympic Winter Games.
The hosts' favorites, who claimed the bronze medal in last year's worlds, danced to Spanish Flamenco, as the original dance competitions were themed folk and country dances, and collected 68.41 points to overtake the lead from Russia's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin on 111.15 points overall.
Judge panel awarded Virtue and Moir a highest level four for their lift and twizzles, while their two step sequences earned a level three.
"It felt amazing. We just stayed in the moment every step. We were actually quite relaxed. It wasn't until we were sitting there that I realized what happened," said Virtue.
"Right about now, we have to forget about what we've done and focus on the free dance. We're going to skate for our fans and for our country," Moir added.
Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States, who were on the third place after Friday's compulsory dance, moved up to the second on 108.55 after they danced to the Bollywood-themed Indian Dance to earn 67.08.
Three out of the four elements were granted a level four, including the lift, twizzles and the circular step sequence.
Domnina and Shabalin, the reigning world champions, scored 62.84 points with the Aboriginal Dance but slipped from first to third with 106.60 overall.
The silver medalists of both the 2006 Turin Games and the 2009 world championships, Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the U.S. skated last in a "Moldavian Dance" and kept in the fourth place on 103.33 points.
It's the first time in Winter Olympic Games' history that North America sit in favorites against the Russians before the free dance is presented in ice dancing.
"We do like our chances. Meryl and Charlie and us, we're part of the new Ice Dance system, and that's the way it should be," commented Moir.
China's sole pair Huang Xintong and Zheng Xun were still on the 19th place out of 23 couples in the ice dancing competitions. They chose a Greek flavored dance rather than a Chinese folk.
"It might be easier for the umpires to better understand a story told with Greek music," said Huang at the mixed zone.
"We really liked the music. It sets a lovely tone and puts the audience in a good mood, which puts us in a good mood. We thought that Chinese music may not be well understood by the judges," Zheng added.
"We were able to show our best in the competition today. We completed all our elements as well as possible," Huang said.
Former American Cathy Reed and Chris Reed, representing Japan at these Olympics, took 50.81 points in Sunday's original dance and moved from the 18th to 16th with an overall score of 80.30.
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