Word: zaitsevs
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...world champions in the graceful art of pairs figure skating. Not only were the Americans still getting better, still adding to their repertoire of lifts and leaps, but they would be competing against the Soviet Union's husband-and-wife team of Irina Rodnina, 30, and Alexander Zaitsev, 27, who had taken the Olympic gold medal in 1976 and who had won six world titles. Last year, when Randy and Tai won the world championship, the Soviets were not competing; Irina was having a child. The Russians too had added new moves to their traditional routines...
...Eric's sister Beth, 19, leads an American bid to sweep all three medals. In the pairs' figure skating, America's Tai Babilonia, 19, and Randy Gardner, 20, open their duel with the Soviets' husband-and-wife team of Irina Rodnina, 30, and Alexander Zaitsev, 27, in the "short program," which lasts two minutes or less and involves set routines. The most unforgiving event of the pairs' competition, the test could give an advance indication of who will win the gold...
...World Champion Vladimir Kovalev, like Countryman Zaitsev, is fast, strong and sure, if a bit wooden. East Germany's Jan Hoffmann is a methodical craftsman, usually not daring enough to take chances but steady enough to walk over those who risk and fall short. Tickner, 26, whose turn in the round-robin of world champions came in 1978, is like a sophisticated Broadway chorus dancer who can give you the big moves but takes particular delight in demonstrating the fun and precision of a few simple tap steps...
...gold in the 1,000-meter race to go along with two bronze medals in the 500 and 1,500. Galina Stepanskaya, 27, a last-minute addition to the Soviet speed skating team, took the 1,500-meter race. The favored figure-skating duo, Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev, though performing slightly off their usually impeccable form, easily won the gold medal. Also, the juggernaut Russian hockey team beat but did not embarrass a youthful American squad...
...women's competition, Dorothy Hamill and Diane de Leeuw will skate for the gold medal. In pairs, there should be no contest. Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev, a Russian duo, have won every major pairs title in recent years, and with good reason. Skating in synchronous movements and precise combinations, they mesh like the gears in a Swiss watch. Beyond form, they skate to their music with exquisite choreography and complete the most pyrotechnic maneuvers with consummate grace. They started skating together when Rodnina's original partner, Alexsei Ulanov, left her to marry another skater. Though married themselves...