Controversy clouds Lithuanian dance finish

VILNIUS - To say that the Winter Olympics isn't Lithuania's cup of tea would be an understatement. The country's only true hope for its first Winter Olympic medal since it regained independence was a spectacular performance by their ice dancing pair Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas.

The two finished a respectable fifth in Salt Lake City on Feb. 18. France's Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat won gold, Russia's Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh took silver, and Italians Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio picked up the bronze.

The Lithuanian delegation protested the fifth-place finish, demanding bronze for its pair. An official investigation is expected to conclude later this week.

Speaking from Salt Lake City early in the competition, Lilija Vanagiene, the mother of Povilas and one of the duo's coaches, told a local TV station that Lithuania doesn't have the same influence as the sport's perennial heavy hitters.

Vanagiene's comments were directed at the Italian and Canadian couples, who held on to second and third places throughout the entire ice dancing competition despite mistakes.

It seemed that regardless what you did on the ice, the results were predetermined, she said.

"After the Italians fell, the judges put them ahead of us," said Drobiazko after the final results were announced. "We skated better than them tonight and nothing changed. Funny sport."

The top eight places remained the same throughout the entire competition despite falls from the second- and fourth-place pairs.

The Lithuanian delegation said it was preparing to launch its own investigation into the judges' integrity and possible collusion.

The Lithuanian skaters said they believed their performance was worthy of bronze at least, given the obvious slip-ups by the Canadian and Italian pairs.

Figure skating has been surrounded by controversy in recent days. In the pairs figure skating event, a French judge's results were thrown out due to allegations of vote rigging and pressure to vote for a Russian couple that was awarded the gold medal. Protests from the Canadian couple that finished second followed. They were subsequently awarded a gold medal as well.

Lithuania's expectations going into the ice dancing event had been high. The Lithuanian pair placed fourth in the European championship in late January and won the bronze medal in the Canadian Grand Prix in 2001 and the European and World Championship in 2000.

This is the fourth Winter Olympics for the Lithuanian pair, who have placed 16th, 12th, and, most recently, 8th in Nagano.

Other Olympic news:

Sandis Prusis, the pilot of the Latvia-1 bobsled, finished a disappointing 10th in the two-man competition, 2.49 seconds behind the winner, Germany's Christoph Langen. Prusis will make another attempt to win a medal in the four-man competition, which starts Feb. 22. Gatis Guts, pilot of Latvia-2, finished in 13th place, 2.57 seconds behind Langen.

Latvia's Ilmars Bricis, who placed third in the Biathlon World Championship last year, finished a disappointing 51st, 6 minutes, 15.3 seconds behind Norway's Ole Einer Bjoerndalen. None of the biathletes from the Baltic countries finished in the top 25 places in the men's 12.5-kilometer pursuit race. Estonia's Dimitri Borovik finished 26th. Olegs Maluhins, who placed 30th, was the best Latvian biathlete on the day, finishing 3:35.9 back. Estonia's Indrek Tobreluts and Latvia's Jekabs Nakums finished the race 41st and 54th respectively. Estonia's Janno Prants did not finish the race.

Borovik again led all Baltic competitors in the men's 10km sprint biathlon, finishing in 30th place, 1:58.8 behind the winner - Bjoerndalen. Bricis did little better in this event, placing 40th. Prants finished five places and 12 seconds behind Bricis, and Maluhins one place behind him. Nakums placed 52nd, Latvia's Gundars Upenieks finished 65th, Estonia's Roland Lessing ended the afternoon in 70th, and Lithuania's Liutauras Barila was 82nd.

Latvia's Anzela Brice finished the women's 7.5km sprint biathlon race in 58th place, 3:51.1 behind the winner, Germany's Kati Wilhelm. Lithuania's Diana Rasimoviciute finished in 66th place.

In the men's cross country skiing 4-by-10km relay, which was won by Norway, Estonia finished in ninth place.

In the men's 10km freestyle pursuit, Estonia's Jaak Mae finished in ninth place, 51.7 seconds behind the winner, Spain's Johann Muelegg. Latvia's Juris Germanis finished in 54th place and Estonia's Priit Narusk placed 56th.

In the women's cross country skiing 5km free pursuit, Estonia's Kristina Schmigun finished in 15th place, 56.5 seconds behind the winner, Russia's Olga Danilova.

In a women's singles luge competition that was swept by the Germans, Latvia's Anna Orlova placed a respectable 9th, 2.275 seconds behind winner Sylke Otto. Right behind her was her teammate Iluta Gaile, in 10th place. Marija Tiruma, also Latvian, placed 18th.

In the men's doubles luge competition, Latvia's Ivars Deinis and Sandis Berzins finished 10th, 0.824 seconds behind winners Patric-Fritz Leitner and Alexander Resch of Germany.

Estonia's Margus Hernits placed 27th out of the 28 skaters who competed in the men's figure skating competition.

Estonia's Jens Salumae placed 49th out of the 50 competitors who participated in the individual K120 ski jumping event.