Russians-Americans 1-2 in ice dancing

TURIN, Italy, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- World champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia outlasted their U.S. challengers Monday night to win the Olympic ice dancing gold medal.

Nevertheless, the United States enjoyed its best finish in the event since ice dancing became a part of the Olympics in 1976.

Navka and Kostomarov earned a score of 101.37 points for their free dance, giving them a total of 200.64 for the three elements of the competition.

Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto had only the fourth best free skate, but it was good enough to hold onto the second-place position they had after Sunday's night original dance.

Their 196.06 points gave them a silver medal, one notch above the only other medal the United States has ever won in Olympic ice dancing. That was the 1976 bronze won by Colleen O'Connor and James Millns in Innsbruck.

The bronze medal awarded Monday night went to Ukraine's Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov. They narrowly missed the silver with 195.85 points.

Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon of Canada did not compete after Dubreuil fell heavily during the original dance.