Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto

[Iulya]

New Myspace Blog from Tanith:

Freitag, März 06, 2009

Don't worry...be happy!
I just wanted to post a quick note for anyone planning on attending our club's Worlds send-off show this evening: Due to reasons unrelated to Ben's injury, we will not be skating in the exhibition tonight... but don't worry! We had a good training week and everything is still on track in our preparation for Worlds. We had another positive monitoring session this morning and one more planned next week, so we've got plenty of eyes on us giving us helpful feedback during these final few weeks. I just wanted to stop any red flags from going up right away! We are still going strong and will hopefully see you all soon.
xoxo-Tanith

sursa: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum

[emiii03]

eu de aici inteleg ca vin la CM dar nu au fost prezennti la o gala?

[andreeas]

eu de aici inteleg ca vin la CM dar nu au fost prezennti la o gala?

ai inteles bine.
eu sper sa fie pe podium la CM.

[Iulya]

Un nou interviu aici si mai multe poze ( tot in leg cu interviul) aici

[Iulya]

Olympic silver medallists Belbin on comeback trail
By Barry Wilner, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A little more than three years ago, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto weren't simply ice dancing with the stars, they were the stars.

Not a lot has gone as planned since Belbin, a native of Kingston, Ont., now skating for the U.S., and Agosto became the first Americans to medal in Olympic ice dancing in 30 years, skating off with silver medals in Turin. And with the Vancouver Games rapidly approaching, they could use a return to normality in their careers.

You know, things like winning the national championship - their streak of five titles ended in January when they bypassed the event because of Agosto's back injury. Like medalling at worlds - they finished second twice and third twice.

But order has not been the order of the day this season for Belbin and Agosto, who will make a highly anticipated return to competitive skating at the world championships in Los Angeles later this month.

"This world championship is going to be, if anything, the biggest mental challenge we have had to deal with in our careers," Agosto says. "It has been a year full of firsts, really. We moved to new coaches, we have new techniques in our skating and new choreography and new programs on top of this injury. And I never had an injury like this before, so it has been a lot to deal with."

Indeed, even before Agosto damaged his back, upheaval was the buzzword for the couple whose innovation, energetic style and genuineness have lifted the sport from afterthought in America to the medals podium. After spending nearly a decade with coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva in the Detroit area, they switched to Natalia Linischuk and Gennadi Karponosov, who work out of Aston, Pa. That not only meant a change in locale, but alterations in their on-ice presentation.

"We feel so much more capable as athletes, and the confidence level is higher," Belbin says. "We're seeing progress from the Grand Prix season to now in just a couple of months, and that tells me we will be at a higher level for next year."

That would be the Olympic year, but Vancouver must remain far off the radar for Belbin and Agosto. Having missed so much time this season, they understand the need to fully concentrate on worlds.

"We had some judges come in to do a preliminary monitoring and they were blown away," Agosto says. "They could see a large improvement and that we were far beyond where they thought we would be.

"We're better and stronger and more mature and reaching for the goals we set for this year. We will be strong at worlds.

"Next year, we'll be able to improve even more and come out healthy and have that drive - we won't have to catch up."

U.S. figure skaters have spent decades playing catch-up in ice dancing. From 1976, when Colleen O'Connor and Jim Millns won bronze, no U.S. couple took an Olympic medal until Belbin and Agosto broke through at Turin. While Americans occasionally medaled at worlds, a 20-year slump was broken in 2005 by Belbin and Agosto when they took silver.

Their recent success has led to a surge in po****rity and achievement in the discipline that once was ridiculed: If you can't skate singles, you go to pairs and if you can't handle pairs, you go to ice dancing. When they join the Stars on Ice tour after worlds, T and B will be among the headliners.

Yet, Belbin and Agosto aren't necessarily the host country's leading duo for the Los Angeles worlds, which begin March 24. National champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, former training partners with Belbin and Agosto in Michigan, have been rising on the international stage, as well.

Plus, there's depth throughout the U.S. ice dancing ranks, leading some to believe the United States has its best chance at owning the maximum three berths for the Vancouver Games in that event, while the Americans could struggle to get three in men's, women's and pairs. Results at the LA worlds will determine the number of slots for each country at the 2010 Olympics.

"From what I have seen in Meryl and Charlie, when we trained alongside of them we trained very hard and pushed each other and believed we could achieve results regardless of what country we are from," Belbin says. "It's so nice to be a part of such a strong generation of ice dancing.

"The sport has changed so much and it's a challenge to keep up with it. For the U.S. to move up from behind to the top while the sport is evolving is pretty amazing. We're sure it will continue to where, hopefully, the U.S. will be a powerhouse.

"We would feel great if we made a mark."

Agosto is even more emphatic in his predictions of American success.

"I've always been very proud of our accomplishments and very happy ice dancing has become more po****r in the USA," he says, "and it gives me a feeling of it is all worth it. All the hard work we put in is worth it, not only good for us but for the whole sport - it is starting to grow.

"To be a part of that growth is very special and an honour that people say it had something to do with what we have done. We're lucky to be in the place we are and skating at the time we are as far as the growth is concerned.

"I think it will even grow a little more and someday we will see a U.S. sweep of the podium at worlds."

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/FigureSkat...666096-ap.html

[Iulya]

Belbin, Agosto say they are ready for worlds
Couple counts Agosto's injury as "blessing in disguise"
http://web.icenetwork.com/images/200...7/QedNLIr3.jpg
(03/12/2009) - Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto accentuated the positive during their pre-worlds media teleconference Wednesday.

Not only has Agosto recovered from a back injury, allowing the five-time U.S. ice dance champions to compete at the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles in 10 days, but they might just be better than ever, they said.

That wasn't the case at the Grand Prix Final in December, where Agosto's back pain forced the couple to withdraw after the original dance.

"I was diagnosed with a herniated disk in my lower back and also a bulging disk," he said.

"We weren't able to trace it to any traumatic incident; it just started getting worse and worse until finally it was really bad."

Agosto was off the ice for three weeks, forcing the couple to miss the 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a chance at a sixth consecutive title. In their absence, their former training mates Meryl Davis and Charlie White easily won their first U.S. crown.

Now, after rest, therapy and several injections, Agosto said he is fully fit.

"I [started with] baby steps, stroking," he explained. "From there on it's been gradual adding, adding, walking the fine line between getting the work done that needs to be accomplished, but not injuring myself again.

"At this point I don't really feel that I'm tentative; I feel I can go into my elements with the same vigor."

Belbin went even further, not only is she ready to compete, she's improved her technique.

"I didn't take a day off while he was recovering. I trained the day after we came back from the Grand Prix Final," she said. "It gave me great opportunity to work on my extension, my control . . . maybe this had been a blessing in disguise. It's always hard to find time to work on basic technique by yourself."

Agosto said his partner's regime has really paid off.

"It was a shock for me when I came back to skate with Tanith, it was like trying to skate with a race horse," he laughed. "I felt like a rodeo cowboy, a little bit. I just had to hold on."

The couple, who won an Olympic silver medal in 2006 and three world medals, trained for almost a decade under Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva in Canton, Mich. After slipping to fourth place at worlds last season, they packed their bags for Aston, Penn., to work with 1980 Olympic ice dance champions Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponossov.

Early season results were respectable but not spectacular. Prior to Agosto's injury, they placed second to world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder at Skate America, then second again to new training mates Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin at Cup of China.

Since arriving in Aston, the skaters, along with their coaches, have assessed their weaknesses and done everything they can to improve. Now, after the enforced lay-off, they hope improved speed and edge quality will lead to a return to the world podium.

"[Our new coaches'] biggest goal for us was just to improve our power and flow across the ice," Belbin said. "That's what they thought was most lacking.

"They thought we were expending energy but not using it correctly. They did a lot of work with us, leg work, pressing into the ice more, so we were not scrambling around the ice as much."

Belbin, in particular, has been frank discussing her relative weaknesses, saying, "My extension and leg lines, I know I need to work on a lot more." In her partner's absence, she upped the ante with Pilates and ballet classes on alternating days and even practiced compulsory dances by herself.

"I finally realized how powerful I can be in order to not hold Ben back," she said.

The couple wasn't simply slotted on to the U.S. world team, which also includes Davis and White as well as 2008 world junior champions Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates. A panel of judges did an initial monitoring session at their rink in late February, and members of U.S. Figure Skating's international selection committee are in Aston today to see all three programs they will perform in Los Angeles: a Paso Doble compulsory; an original dance to 1930s-style Broadway music; and free dance to selections from Tosca.

"We will run through all of our programs and they will kind of put a stamp on it," Belbin explained. "We know we're ready. . . In this case they need to see all three [programs] in same day and that's no problem."

"For us its good practice, because we were not able to finish the Grand Prix Final and we had to sit out nationals," Agosto added. "It's good for us to have people there and some pressure where we have to perform and do our jobs."

Agosto emphasized no special provisions have been made to compensate for his injury.

"Surprisingly, almost every bit of our programs is the same. We made a lot of tweaks in footwork in the never-ending quest [to get the] highest levels possible. We did make one change to a lift, partially because of my back and partially because we felt it was a questionable position for me anyway."

The ice dance picture at worlds is clouded. Delobel and Schoenfelder missed the European Championships due to Delobel's shoulder injury and may not compete. Canadian champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were out of action last fall due to injuries to Virtue's legs, while Domnina and Shabalin struggle with Shabalin's ongoing knee problems.

"I think this entire year has just been, I don't know, a giant gamble," Belbin said. "No one knows how anyone will skate with the injuries and setbacks. I don't think there has been a clear leader this season and the podium is wide open.

"We just want to come out and show these programs now that we've had time to get comfortable with them. At the beginning of the year everything was so new to us."
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[Iulya]

Blog entry from Tanith

Mittwoch, März 18, 2009

To our skating family
Happy week-before-worlds everyone!
With our final monitoring sessions behind us, Ben and I have been happily training as much as we can stand leading up to these much anticipated championships. We can't wait to take the competitive stage and perform for you all again.
Unfortunately, the real purpose of this message is on a much sadder note. Yesterday, we were given the news that our beloved ballet coach/choreographer, Vitaly, had passed away unexpectedly in his home. Although this is of course a very personal matter for all of us who admired and respected him on so many levels, I chose to share this with you all in hopes that it may bring a few more prayers to his family during this difficult and emotional time. The skating community has a great heart at it's core and whether you knew him personally or not, I know many of you will take a moment to send a wish from your own heart to his loved ones and think of our lost colleague.
With that being said, Vitaly wanted nothing more from us when we took the ice than to skate with our souls on the outside and believe in ourselves as much as he did. We will dedicate our performances at Worlds to his memory and I can think of no better way to honor him that to skate like he knew we can, from our hearts.
Thank you to everyone for taking a moment and allowing me to share this with you. We always must remember to live in the present and without regret, lest we allow ourselves to miss those moments we can never have back .
xoxo- Tanith

[whisper]

Imi pare rau pentru pierderea coregrafului lor! RIP!

Multumesc Iulya!

[Iulya]

U.S. ice dancers pass the fitness test
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are certified by judges, meaning next week's world championships in Los Angeles could be up for grabs.
By Helene Elliott
March 19, 2009
The news was almost buried in a press release, but ice dancer Tanith Belbin was ready to shout it to the world.

In a curious bit of understatement, U.S. Figure Skating officials sent out an e-mail Wednesday to say 15 U.S. skaters will compete in the World Figure Skating Championships next week in Los Angeles. The inclusion of Belbin and Ben Agosto, who missed the U.S. championships because he had a back injury, was almost glossed over.

It should have been written in capital letters and eye-catching ink colors. The five-time U.S. champions and 2006 Turin silver medalists were certified by a panel of judges last week as being good to go, and they're eager to compete in an event that has no clear favorite.

"We had no question that we would be able to prove to them that we were ready for worlds. We had been ready for weeks," Belbin said Wednesday.

"But it's just nice not to have to make that the focus right now and for them to be able to say, 'Wow, that was a great run-through,' instead of, 'Wow, I can't believe you're standing.' "

After withdrawing from the U.S. championships, they had requested and were granted a place on the world team providing they could prove they'd be fit for the highest level of competition. Placements at these world championships will determine the number of spots each nation will have at the Vancouver Olympics, and a subpar performance by a still-ailing skater or duo could result in fewer Olympic berths for the U.S.

Belbin and Agosto had performed for a panel of monitors several times at their home rink in Aston, Pa., but their big moment arrived last Thursday. They did all three of their competitive programs with only a two-hour break before their finale, a stern test of their stamina.

"They'd come a week or so earlier to see us skate -- not necessarily to do the run-throughs but to make sure we were capable of performing the elements, and then they needed to come back to see how well our condition was within the run-throughs," Belbin said.

As soon as they had finished, they were told they were good to go, easing their anxiety and freeing them to focus on their final weeks of training.

"It was nice to have that portion of the entire situation resolved and to be able to move past this without that injury cloud hanging over our head," Belbin said. "Because it really felt like it was still present, even though he was healed, simply because the monitoring was still going on.

"It was in the forefront of our minds because people were there, talking about it all the time."

Belbin said that in some ways they're in better shape than they were before Agosto's disk problems forced them out of the Grand Prix Finals and ended their streak of U.S. titles at five.

"This week has been even better than last week," she said. "I think we're peaking at just the right moment."

If that's the case, the ice dance event could be wide open.

World champions Isobel Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France withdrew because she hadn't recovered from shoulder surgery. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, the 2008 world silver medalists, have been slowed by her double-shin surgery and lost to U.S. champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the Four Continents Championships. Last year's bronze medalists, Jana Khoklova and Sergei Novitski of Russia, withdrew from the Grand Prix Final but won the European title.

"I have no idea how this event is going to play out. There are probably five or six of us who are completely confident in saying we can win," Belbin said.

"So it's definitely going to be a big grab bag in the end, and hopefully the right people can step up to the plate and prove themselves and take the championships. And I know that if Ben and I skate as well as we possibly can at this point that we can take it, and hopefully that's how it turns out."

Agosto's injury was only one of many obstacles the duo has faced recently.

After slipping from second at the 2005 world championships to third place twice and fourth last year, they decided to change coaches and training sites. They left the Detroit area and longtime coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva for the Philadelphia suburbs and Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov, the 1980 Olympic ice dance gold medalists.

The benefits have been slow in appearing, but Belbin said a judge who had monitored them returned to this week to compliment them.

"She took the time to really tell us how great she thinks the improvements that we've made have been and how much she can see the work I put in when I was skating by myself for that length of time while Ben was recovering, and just to tell us she thinks this is going to be a stage for us to show the new Tanith and Ben," Belbin said.

"I know that statement has kind of been quoted all year, but we truly feel like we reinvented ourselves and pushed ourselves to that next level, and we're excited to be able to show people that. And hopefully they can recognize and appreciate the improvements that we've made."

Sadly, one of the people who helped facilitate those improvements won't be at the world championships to see them.

Belbin said the duo learned Tuesday that Vitaly Popov, a ballet coach and choreographer they worked with in Aston who had collaborated with Linichuk and Karponosov the last nine years, had died unexpectedly at his home.

"He was the one who created our lift this year," Belbin said. "I credit him with helping with my extension all year and making us better skaters. It's very tragic, and obviously Natalia and Gennadi are taking it very hard.

"But there's absolutely no question we know what we need to do in order to have him be remembered the best in our hearts and minds, and that's to go and skate as well as he would have wanted us to."

helene.elliott@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw...,1696885.story

[whisper]

Ma bucur pentru ei! Sper sa aiba un rezultat bun la mondiale.

Multumesc Iulya

[Iulya]

Belbin, Agosto aren't stopping anytime soon
World silver medalists to appear on The Today Show April 6, with Evan Lysacek

(03/31/2009) - Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, fresh off a silver-medal winning performance at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships last week in Los Angeles, are not about to sit on their laurels. The 2006 Olympic silver medalists and 2010 medal hopefuls are in the midst of a busy schedule during which they will perform in five shows with the Smucker's Stars on Ice tour, appeared at the taping of the TV blockbuster show, Dancing with the Stars, and help benefit a great cause at the Figure Skating in Harlem Gala in New York.

Belbin and Agosto will begin performing with the Smucker's Stars on Ice tour April 3 in Hershey, Pa., and then will skate April 4 in Bridgeport, Conn., April 5 in Boston, April 10 in Manchester, N.H., and close with a show April 11 in Portland, Maine.

Headlined by 2006 Olympic Silver medalist Sasha Cohen, the Smucker's Stars on Ice cast will feature all of the fireworks and theatrics of the Stars on Ice tours in the past, with creative ensemble numbers and individual routines featuring Olympic, world and national champions. Evan Lysacek, the newly crowned 2009 world champion, also announced he will be on tour for five shows as well.

The Figure Skating in Harlem event, which is honoring Tai Babilonia and New York's First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson, will be held at the Wollman Rink in Central Park April 6 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. In addition to Belbin and Agosto, Lysacek will also be at the star-studded event, as will six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes, Olympic bronze medalist Timothy Goebel, 2006 world champion Kimmie Meissner, Olympic champion Viktor Petrenko and reigning American champion Alissa Czisny.

Belbin and Agosto, the most decorated American ice dancers in history, had quite a roller coaster of a season. After missing the world podium for the first time in four years last season when they placed fourth, the couple announced it would leave its longtime coaches in Detroit and train instead with 1980 Olympic champions Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov in Aston, Pa. Then Belbin and Agosto were forced to withdraw from the 2009 U.S. Championships as Agosto recuperated from a back injury.

But their up-and-down season ended on a very high note, with Belbin and Agosto showing they are still one of the best teams in the world. With the Olympics in Vancouver less than a year away, there is no doubt Belbin and Agosto are medal contenders.

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...e_pressrelease

[mikeyy]

Ben Agosto pe twitter: http://twitter.com/Ben_Agosto

[Iulya]

Un mic vid cu cateva sfaturi de la Tanith si Ben:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnPVgAGIgS8

[Iulya]

Ben Agosto pe twitter: http://twitter.com/Ben_Agosto

Tanith Belbin pe twitter:
http://twitter.com/TanithJLB

[Iulya]

US ice dancing pair set sights on gold in 2010
http://media.buffalonews.com/smedia/...filiate.50.jpg
http://www.buffalonews.com/breakings...ry/836338.html

[Iulya]

Belbin, Agosto build energy for Spokane, Vancouver
World silver medalists prepare for likely final push
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[Iulya]

Ice dancer Belbin has put on weight, and she couldn't be happier
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/van...urn=oly,220122

[ricochet4]

Fain. Nu-mi placea ca arata ca o acadea pe bat. Acum arata cum trebuie.

[Iulya]

Silver medalists Belbin, Agosto may retire from competitive ice dancing
http://thestamfordtimes.com/story/483057

[andreeas]

http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story...726&type=media

[ice_girl]

Ce pacat ca s-au retras din competitii:huhu:, erau unii dintre dansatorii mei preferati.