TURIN, Italy -- At last, a figure skating medal for the United States -- in ice dancing, of all things. And yet another Olympic gold for Russia.\nTanith Belbin and partner Ben Agosto snapped the U.S. medals drought in figure skating with a silver Monday night. They were behind Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, who gave Russia a gold medal hat trick -- pairs, men's and dance. No nation has swept the four skating events in one games, and Russian Irina Slutskaya is favored in the women's competition.\n"I am extremely proud that we've been able to achieve this for our country," said the Canadian-born Belbin, who became a U.S. citizen on Dec. 31.\n"It's only our first Olympics. We're competing with second- and third-time Olympians, so this is great to come here and get a medal the first time out when we didn't even know we'd be here.\n"Can't ask for more."\nBelbin and Agosto won the first dance medal for the United States since a bronze in 1976 by Colleen O'Connor and Jim Millns, and only the second medal of any kind. It also is the only medal for American figure skaters at these Olympics.\nElena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine won the bronze.\nSunday's original dance was marred by falls and an injury that forced the top Canadians out of the free dance. Italian favorites Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio were back, friends again, after their flop and subsequent venomous staredown.\n"We were angry at ourselves, but between each other everything is OK," Poli said.\nNot only were they OK on ice, but they kissed and made up after four minutes of tense skating featuring some intricate lifts and carries. She put her arm around his shoulder as they sat next to each other this time -- observing their mediocre scores that placed them sixth.\nThose marks were in sharp contrast to the winners, whose 200.64 total was the only score higher than 200 points and won by 4.58 over Belbin and Agosto.\nAmericans Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov were 14th, and Jamie Silverstein and Ryan O'Meara finished 16th.\nRising stars in the sport since 2000, Belbin and Agosto's silver medal at last year's world championships marked them as contenders. When Belbin became eligible to compete for the United States seven weeks ago, their Olympic schedule was pushed up four years.\nAlthough Belbin and Agosto have won three U.S. titles, they were barred from the Olympics until she got her citizenship -- all U.S. competitors must be Americans. They paid back everyone who sped up the naturalization process, surging from sixth after compulsories to second through the original dance.\nThe couple remained in second with a passionate flamenco free skate that far surpassed their program at nationals, but was not completely clean, and certainly was not in the same league as Navka and Kostomarov's playful routine to "Carmen."\nNo matter. Considering where U.S. dance has been, or hasn't been, through the last three decades, silver was just super.
\n"It's kind of surreal," said Agosto, who held up the medal and did a peek-a-boo look through the whole in the center. During their victory lap, he stopped whenever he saw an American flag in the stands and held up the prize.\n"It's great now to have a set -- a world and an Olympic silver medal," added Belbin, who wiped away tears on the medals stand. "That's amazing."\nGold was hardly unexpected for the Russians. Following the leads of pairs champs Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, and men's winner Evgeni Plushenko, Navka and Kostomarov won the original dance and free dance after a second place behind Fusar Poli and Margaglio in compulsories.\nAs the crowd waved Russian flags and chanted "Our Heroes," Navka and Kostomarov waved from the top step of the podium -- a place their countrymen simply own in Turin.
