SOCHI, Russia -- From bubble to … bronze?
Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir scored a season's best 117.94 points for their free skate Saturday night, solidifying the U.S. hold on third place in the inaugural team competition. The Americans have 34 points heading into the remaining three free programs Sunday, well behind Russia (47 points) and Canada (41) but three points ahead of fourth-place Italy.
It was quite a turnaround from the beginning of the night, when the U.S. was squarely on the bubble for the finals. Only the top five in the 10-team event made the finals, and the Americans were seventh.
But Meryl Davis and Charlie White not only put the Americans on safe ground but also moved them into the medal mix. Ashley Wagner made sure they didn't lose any ground, redeeming herself with a solid performance that answered all those critics who said she didn't deserve to be on the U.S. team after her struggles at last month's national championships.
Simon Shnapir and Marissa Castelli said they were inspired by Ashley Wagner's performance before them.
"Oh yeah, definitely," said Castelli. "We were lucky to come in and be able to watch her before our event. She had that intensity and that fire in her, and we just took it we embraced it and used it in our performance as well."
There are few athletes more into the team event than Davis and White, who have been saying for months they not only would participate but also do both programs. Sure, it's a chance for a second medal for the two, who are the Americans' best – and, likely, only – shot for a gold medal.
But their passion and enthusiasm for the team is genuine, and everyone who watched them Saturday night could see it. Knowing the Americans needed a boost, Davis and White won the short dance and lifted their team into third place, with Wagner still to skate.
"I know that everything hasn't been 100 percent perfect, but that's part of what being a team is … being there for each other," White said.
The Americans won the silver medal in Vancouver largely on the strength of their athleticism. They knew that wouldn't be enough to get them gold in Sochi, so they spent thousands of hours over the last four years improving their artistry and expression.
It was well worth the time. Their short dance, to selections from "My Fair Lady," is both refined and whimsical, with the connection between them so effortless it's easy to forget they are skating on a sheet of ice and not dancing on a parquet floor. Everything they do is perfectly polished, from their deep edges to the way they use every inch of the rink.
But it's in their twizzles, rotating turns, where their brilliance really shines through. Try patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, and see how difficult that is. Now imagine doing that in time with another person. That, essentially is a twizzle. Davis and White are so in sync, however, they look like mirror images.