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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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Grishuk, Platov lead after ice dance compulsories
19:00- Start
Pasha Grishuk had to scramble just slightly for balance while stepping to a waltz Friday but she and partner Evgeny Platov managed to take the lead after the compulsories of the Olympic ice dancing competition in Nagano.
Grishuk stepped on the ice with her free foot to keep herself from falling while being dipped by Platov but the defending champions from Russia, nevertheless, edged the flawless compatriots Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov with their daring skating.
''I wanted to (twist) faster than any other skaters so that's why I lost balance,'' said Grishuk, who together with Platov have been leading the ice dancing scene for four years.
In the second compulsory dance using the Argentine Tango, Grishuk and Platov, the four-time world titlists, showed finesse while skating in perfect synch with each other and to the rhythmical music at the White Ring ice arena in Nagano.
The tango, Grishuk said she thought, was ''perfect -- we couldn't do any better.''
The Russian couple scored five 5.9s and four 5.8s for timing and expression and between 5.9 and 5.7 for technique for their tango, receiving first-place votes from eight of the nine judges.
The Polish judge gave two-time world silver medalists Krylova and Ovsyannikov a better total mark.
Grishuk and Platov are aiming to post their 22nd consecutive victory at these winter games -- a streak that began when they triumphed at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games when Grishuk still used her given name Oksana.
She changed her name this season to avoid confusion with Oksana Baiul, the Ukrainian women's champion at Lillehammer, and to gain fame for herself by winning a second Olympic crown -- a feat that has never been done by ice dancers.
Third place went to Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France, followed by Canada's Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, the world bronze medalists in 1996 and 1997.
Aya Kawai and Hiroshi Tanaka, the only Japanese ice dancers taking part in the Olympics, finished 22nd among a field of 24 couples.
The ice dance competition continues with the original dance Sunday. The men's free skating takes place Saturday. (Kyodo News)
Results of the figure skating ice dance compulsory program Friday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at White Ring, Nagano:
1. Pasha Grishuk and Evgeny Platov, Russia
0.4 point (first dance 0.2, second dance 0.2)
2. Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov, Russia
0.8 (0.4, 0.4)
3. Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, France
1.2 (0.6, 0.6)
4. Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, Canada
1.8 (1.0, 0.8)
4. Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, Russia
1.8 (0.8, 1.0)
6. Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, Italy
2.4 (1.2, 1.2)
7. Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow, U.S.
2.8 (1.4, 1.4)
8. Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas, Lithuania
3.4 (1.6, 1.8)
8. Irina Romanova and Igor Yaroshenko, Ukraine
3.4 (1.8, 1.6)
10. Sophie Moniotte and Pascal Lavanchy, France
4.0 (2.0, 2.0)
11. Kati Winkler and Rene Lohse, Germany
4.4 (2.2, 2.2)
12. Sylwia Nowak and Sebastian Kolasinski, Poland
4.8 (2.4, 2.4)
13. Katerina Mrazova and Martin Simecek, Czech Republic
5.2 (2.6, 2.6)
14. Tatjana Navka and Nikolai Morozov, Belarus
5.8 (2.8, 3.0)
15. Galit Chait and Sergey Sakhnovsky, Israel
6.2 (3.4, 2.8)
15. Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, Ukraine
6.2 (3.0, 3.2)
17. Diane Gerencser and Pasquale Camerlengo, Italy
6.6 (3.2, 3.4)
18. Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski, Bulgaria
7.2 (3.6, 3.6)
19. Chantal Lefebvre and Michel Brunet, Canada
7.6 (3.8, 3.8)
20. Dominique Deniaud and Martial Jaffredo, France
8.2 (4.0, 4.2)
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22. Aya Kawai and Hiroshi Tanaka, Japan
8.8 (4.2, 4.6)
23. Elizaveta Stekolnikova and Dmitrii Kazarlyga, Kazakstan
9.0 (4.6, 4.4)
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun