Tanith belbin and ben agosto

Not long after Ben Agosto switched from singles skating to ice dance at age 10, he faced up to the reality that winning medals on a global stage might be impossible for a U.S. ice dancer.

Why wouldn’t he think that way, given the evidence?  After all, one of his first coaches, Susie Wynne, had retired from competition after finishing fourth at the World Championships with Joe Druar, having decided, as she puts it, “We had topped out.  That was the best we could do.”

That fourth place would, in fact, be the best finish for a U.S.

team at worlds over nearly two decades since Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert won their third straight world bronze in , a span in which Soviet and Russian teams won 15 of 18 world titles, four of five Olympic titles and nine of 15 Olympic medals.

Until Agosto and Tanith Belbin ended that drought in

After partnering with Belbin and moving to Detroit in , Agosto became perplexed about why the two obviously talented ice dance teams with whom they would share training ice, Elizabeth Punsalan - Jerod Swallow and Naomi Lang – Peter Tchernyshev (both five-time U.S.

champions), never placed higher than sixth on a global podium.

Fortunately, the apparently Sisyphean (or quixotic?) quest to reach such a podium did not discourage either Belbin, a native Canadian, or Agosto, a native Chicagoan.

“In hindsight, I’ve wondered how we managed dealing with that reality,” Belbin said.  “But in the moment, it never occurred to us.  It was always just a matter of keep working and see how far you can go.  In some ways, that benefitted us, because there were no expectations.”

That still was the case as Belbin and Agosto prepared for the World Championships in Moscow.  “I thought it would be great if we finished in the top five,” Agosto said.

Ice dance for years had been a discipline where movement in the standings was glacial.   Belbin and Agosto had finished fifth in , so few would have dared foresee what happened in   they won the silver medal, matching the best world finish ever by a U.S.

team, which had happened most recently in

“I was shocked,” Agosto said.

What has happened since is even more shocking for a country whose ice dance results once had suggested the athletes had two left feet.

When Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their second straight world title in Montreal this March, it was the 17th time at least one U.S.

ice dance team had won a medal in the last 19 world meets.

“It seems surreal,” Belbin said.

Belbin and Agosto started those two decades of winning not only at worlds but at the Olympics.  A Winter Games silver in made them the second U.S. team to win an Olympic dance medal, following Colleen O’Connor and Jim Millns in

U.S.

dancers now have won medals in five straight Olympics.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White, longtime training mates of Belbin and Agosto, won two of those medals, silver in and first-ever U.S. Olympic dance gold in   That was the culmination of a year partnership in which they also were the first to win gold at worlds, doing it in and again in

At its May 6 annual gala, the Ice Theatre of New York is honoring both Belbin and Agosto and Davis and White “not only for their accomplishments as artistic Olympians and national champions but also as important role models in our ‘icy’ world,” according to Moira North, ITNY founder and artistic director.

“In thinking about what this honor means,” Davis said, “I found myself so grateful that it really gives me the chance to reflect on our competitive career as well as all of the special moments that I don't always get to remember on a daily basis - and to think about all of the people who were part of our journey that I don't get to see or speak with frequently.

“So many of the people who are involved with Ice Theatre of New York were a part of our journey.  Being honored alongside Judy Blumberg (Alumni Award) and Sandra Bezic (Choreography Award), and, of course, alongside Tanith and Ben, it almost feels like coming home.  It's so special.”