U.S. Figure Skating Championship full of falls

Nancy Armour, Associated Press, Dallas, Texas

So much for that classy, elegant image of pairs skating. With spills, splats and bumps galore, this looked more like a roller- derby than a national championship.

Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn won their first pairs title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday night, but it was hardly a performance worth remembering. They botched three major elements and skated without any passion, looking as if they were simply going through the motions.

But they didn't have to do anything else - everyone behind them was just as bad. Or worse. None of the 16 couples skated cleanly, and there enough spectacular crashes to fill the nationals quota for years.

"I was expecting to go out and do a perfect, clean program," Dulebohn said. "We put too much emphasis on trying to be perfect."

It was such a rough night doctors had to get involved. Rena Inoue, who finished third with partner John Baldwin, needed five stitches in her left knee after crashing into a wall. And Johnny Stiegler got a cut on his hand after his sister skated over it.

"You just get up and keep going," Inoue said. "You can't let it stop you."

No, but watching it was enough to make the ice dance competition look good. At least there was some intrigue there.

Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev overcame a stumble in their free dance and held their place, becoming the fourth U.S. couple to win five ice dance titles.

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto caused a stir earlier in the week by winning the original dance, but they couldn't pull off what would have been a major upset. Like Lang and Tchernyshev, they slipped up in their footwork, and that was too big an error to justify a seismic shift in the standings.

Real change rarely happens in ice dance. Oh, sure, couples move up in the standings, but usually not until the teams ahead of them retire.

That's what made this week so exciting. The top U.S. couple since 1998, Lang and Tchernyshev normally would breeze through the competition despite only being on the ice for six weeks because of a cyst on her Achilles' tendon.

But up-and-comers Belbin and Agosto stunned them in the original dance.

That set up a showdown in the free dance. Skating first to Scorpions' "Still Loving You," Lang and Tchernyshev weren't nearly as dynamic as in the past. They also had a major mistake in their footwork, with Lang skating into Tchernyshev while he slid on his knees. She stumbled, but covered the error quickly.

Their marks left plenty of room for Belbin and Agosto, and Lang was dejected as she flopped on a couch backstage.

Belbin and Agosto put on a lively and entertaining show to an Elvis medley - complete with Agosto in a white sequined jumpsuit. Their lifts were spectacular, and they had the crowd oohing and aahing as he did a backward shoot the duck while carrying her across his knees.

But they made two mistakes, including one everyone in the arena could see. During their circular sequence footwork near the judges, they bumped into each other.

That was enough to give Lang and Tchernyshev the title with a 5-4 split.

Lang still was sitting on a couch when Belbin and Agosto's scores were posted. When she realized she and Tchernyshev had won, she scissor-kicked in the air in celebration and slapped high-fives with people around her.

There was little emotion in the pairs, just lots of bruises and bandages. Scott and Dulebohn were second to Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman the past three years, and all they needed to do was stand up to win their first title.

They couldn't do that. She fell on their side-by-side triple toe loop jumps, then crashed into his chest on their split triple twist. Their lift was clumsy, and they were out-of-unison on their spins.

And if that wasn't enough, she fell on the throw triple toe.