Scott Moir

SOCHI, Russia - On paper, the ice dance competition that begins Sunday looks like this: Only two teams come in with a legitimate chance at gold. Reigning Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. have become solid favorites with five straight wins over their longtime frenemies, reigning Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada. The latest was a whomping in the team event here, which White said "sent a message. " There was a time in ice dance when "on paper" meant with indelible ink, with results determined well before a competition.

His shaggy blond hair flew, her porcelain body floated, the two old friends leaned on each other, spun off each other and moved together in the synchronicity of a lifetime. On a chilling Monday night at the Winter Olympics, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the gold medal in ice dancing by dancing as if there were no ice. Their skates were slippers, the Iceberg Skating Palace was their ballroom and their jukebox blared "Scheherazade" for four minutes that represented a triumph of 17 years.

Best bets for the Sochi Olympics on Monday: Women's hockey The U.S. and Canadian women's teams continue on their collision course for the gold medal as they both should dispatch their opponents in the semifinals. The U.S. plays Sweden, which is 1-11 against the U.S. Canada gets to play Switzerland. After that the U.S. would get a chance to avenge its 3-2 loss earlier in the tournament. Ice dancing Heading into the free skate things are just as everyone expected.

SOCHI, Russia - Seventeen years of skating together, learning together, growing up together. Seventeen years since an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old were thrown together as an ice dance team, a pairing that irritated the younger member, Charlie White. He already had been doing it for six months, and Meryl Davis was just starting, so he was back to dance square one while she caught up - quickly. Seventeen years during which Davis said there never was doubt about whether they should stick it out. FRAMEWORK: Best images from Sochi Seventeen years leading to a free dance so physically and mentally demanding it left them looking as if they had spent 17 years of energy on the four minutes of skating, unable to do anything but collapse into each other's arms when it was over Monday night at the Iceberg Skating Palace.

LONDON, Canada - Gracie Gold is plainly reverential toward Yuna Kim, whom the 17-year-old Gold came to idolize in the two years leading up to Kim's victory at the 2010 Olympics. It makes no difference that she now is Kim's competitor. This was Gold's first encounter with Kim, and she was excited and a little intimidated in the South Korean's presence. Gold would be too busy with her own preparations for Thursday's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships to catch anything but the end of Kim's performance.

LONDON, Canada - Gracie Gold is plainly reverential toward Yuna Kim, whom the 17-year-old Gold came to idolize in the two years leading up to Kim's victory at the 2010 Olympics. It makes no difference that she now is Kim's competitor. This was Gold's first encounter with Kim, and she was excited and a little intimidated in the South Korean's presence. Gold would be too busy with her own preparations for Thursday's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships to catch anything but the end of Kim's performance.

When her peers at the Fletcher School of International Relations at Tufts University would ask Michelle Kwan what she does outside the classroom, she'd say she used to be a figure skater. If they pressed her for details she had a standard response. "I'm like, 'I was OK. I went to the Olympics,' " she said. "They don't know that side of my life. They see me doing presentations on North Korea and talking about Kim Jong Il. " After decades of performing the gravity-defying jumps and dazzling spins that lifted her to nine U.S. championships, five world titles and silver and bronze Olympic medals, the Torrance native is building a fascinating second career as a budding expert on North Korea's dictator and other weighty matters.

Without Evan Lysacek and Evgeni Plushenko to push him, Olympic bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi had to challenge himself. Takahashi gave Japan its first men's title at the World Figure Skating Championships at Turin, Italy, on Thursday and he did it with flair, attempting a rare quadruple flip. Canada's Patrick Chan won the silver for a second straight year and France's Brian Joubert took the bronze, both making up for disappointing Olympic results. U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott finished fifth and newcomer Adam Rippon, winner of the 2008 and '09 junior world titles, was sixth, ensuring the Americans will have three spots again at next year's world championships.

His shaggy blond hair flew, her porcelain body floated, the two old friends leaned on each other, spun off each other and moved together in the synchronicity of a lifetime. On a chilling Monday night at the Winter Olympics, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the gold medal in ice dancing by dancing as if there were no ice. Their skates were slippers, the Iceberg Skating Palace was their ballroom and their jukebox blared "Scheherazade" for four minutes that represented a triumph of 17 years.

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka lost for the first time this year when she was beaten by Marion Bartoli , 6-3, 6-3, in Wednesday night's quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Fla. Azarenka had won 26 consecutive matches, a streak that began at the start of this year. Her start was the best on the women's tour since Martina Hingis was 37-0 to begin 1997. Azarenka had won her four previous tournaments this year, including the Australian Open for her first Grand Slam title.

Best bets for the Sochi Olympics on Monday: Women's hockey The U.S. and Canadian women's teams continue on their collision course for the gold medal as they both should dispatch their opponents in the semifinals. The U.S. plays Sweden, which is 1-11 against the U.S. Canada gets to play Switzerland. After that the U.S. would get a chance to avenge its 3-2 loss earlier in the tournament. Ice dancing Heading into the free skate things are just as everyone expected.

SOCHI, Russia - On paper, the ice dance competition that begins Sunday looks like this: Only two teams come in with a legitimate chance at gold. Reigning Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. have become solid favorites with five straight wins over their longtime frenemies, reigning Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada. The latest was a whomping in the team event here, which White said "sent a message. " There was a time in ice dance when "on paper" meant with indelible ink, with results determined well before a competition.

SOCHI, Russia - U.S. Figure Skating called a report it is involved in collusion to fix the ice dance result in favor of U.S. couple Meryl Davis and Charlie White "categorically false. " The French newspaper L'Equipe, quoting an anonymous Russian coach, said the United States and Russia have struck a deal that would help Davis and White win the ice dance gold and Russia win pairs and the team event. The U.S. dancers have been in close competition with Canadian rivals Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir for five seasons.

LONDON, Canada - Gracie Gold is plainly reverential toward Yuna Kim, whom the 17-year-old Gold came to idolize in the two years leading up to Kim's victory at the 2010 Olympics. It makes no difference that she now is Kim's competitor. This was Gold's first encounter with Kim, and she was excited and a little intimidated in the South Korean's presence. Gold would be too busy with her own preparations for Thursday's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships to catch anything but the end of Kim's performance.

LONDON, Canada - Gracie Gold is plainly reverential toward Yuna Kim, whom the 17-year-old Gold came to idolize in the two years leading up to Kim's victory at the 2010 Olympics. It makes no difference that she now is Kim's competitor. This was Gold's first encounter with Kim, and she was excited and a little intimidated in the South Korean's presence. Gold would be too busy with her own preparations for Thursday's short program at the Figure Skating World Championships to catch anything but the end of Kim's performance.

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka lost for the first time this year when she was beaten by Marion Bartoli , 6-3, 6-3, in Wednesday night's quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Fla. Azarenka had won 26 consecutive matches, a streak that began at the start of this year. Her start was the best on the women's tour since Martina Hingis was 37-0 to begin 1997. Azarenka had won her four previous tournaments this year, including the Australian Open for her first Grand Slam title.

SOCHI, Russia - Seventeen years of skating together, learning together, growing up together. Seventeen years since an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old were thrown together as an ice dance team, a pairing that irritated the younger member, Charlie White. He already had been doing it for six months, and Meryl Davis was just starting, so he was back to dance square one while she caught up - quickly. Seventeen years during which Davis said there never was doubt about whether they should stick it out. FRAMEWORK: Best images from Sochi Seventeen years leading to a free dance so physically and mentally demanding it left them looking as if they had spent 17 years of energy on the four minutes of skating, unable to do anything but collapse into each other's arms when it was over Monday night at the Iceberg Skating Palace.

Kyle Busch denied teammate Denny Hamlin a weekend sweep at his home track Saturday night by stretching his final tank of gas 107 laps to win at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia. Busch won the spring race at Richmond for the third consecutive year, needing only to make it to the checkered flag before his gas tank ran dry. Lurking behind him was Hamlin, ready to pounce for a victory that might have snapped his early season slump. Hamlin had already won his charity race, held Thursday at the track, and followed it with Friday's win in the Nationwide Series race.