Russian ice dancers Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin stood atop the winners' podium at the World Figure Skating Championships early Saturday in Los Angeles, winners of the first gold medal for Russia at the world championships since 2005.
It was just one step toward their goal: success at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, part of reviving their once-dominant country in figure skating.
"We gave all of our emotions on the ice," Domnina said. "So right now, we don't have any emotions. We can't believe it yet."
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the United States, the 2006 Olympic silver medalists, were second with 205.08 points, 1.22 points behind Domnina and Shabalin. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada were third, with 200.40
TENNIS
Williams sisters all that's left for U.S. Serena Williams won Saturday at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., and she and sister Venus are the lone remaining U.S. females with the second round not yet complete.
Serena reached the third round by winning 6-2, 6-3 against 19-year-old Californian Alexa Glatch. No. 5-seeded Venus also won her opening match, beating Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-3. Seeded players had first-round byes.
The showing at Key Biscayne by American women is hardly a surprise, because only four are ranked in the top 100, and the sisters are the lone U.S. players in the top 30. Former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said the situation is worrisome.
"We don't really have anyone right now," Davenport said. "If you look at the rankings, with only Venus at 28 and Serena at 27, it's not a good state."
