Three US couples among top seven in ice dancing after Olympic short program

After Monday’s short dance, the first portion of the Olympic ice dancing competition, three American teams are among the top seven. Two American teams sit in the top four, led by Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue in third. Two hundredths of a point separate that duo from Maia and Alex Shibutani, in fourth. Less than 2½ points separate the Shibutanis from Madison Chock and Evan Bates in seventh.

They are all in medal position. They all came here with good reason to think they would be. Less than a point separated those teams at the U.S. national championships, where Hubbell and Donohue earned a narrow win.

“I think that U.S. ice dance, how competitive it is, has really pushed us all to be the best we can be,” Chock said, “and to be as strong, and work as hard as we possibly can.”

Of the top 25 teams in the International Skating Union’s world rankings, seven represent the United States, including three of the top 11. No other country has more than five teams in the top 25. Only one other, Russia, has two in the top 10.

But the quality of U.S. ice dancing pulls more than just Americans into its orbit. Of the 24 teams that competed in the short dance Monday, 12 have either trained with U.S.-based coaches, still train with U.S.-based coaches, or are American. Leaders Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue of Canada trained in Michigan. The fifth-place team, Italian duo Anna Cappellini and Luca Lonotte did, too. The British pair at No. 10, the Japanese pair (15), the Korean pair (16) — well, they all trained in the United States at some point, too.


Source :- bangordailynews