U.S. Pair in Sixth After Compulsories

The U.S. had hoped for a better result in the first of three days of ice dancing competition Friday night at the Palavela.

There were medal hopes for Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, and although they performed well, they sit in sixth place after compulsories.

Tonight is the original dance portion of the program. Italy’s Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio are in first place, and Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia are in second, followed by Bulgarian’s Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski. Other U.S. pairs are Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov (15th) and Jamie Silverstein and Ryan O’Meara (18th).

The free dance is Monday.