Team USA ice dancing press conference recap

Read Mickey Brown's notes from the Team USA ice dance press conference Friday at the Main Press Center in Vancouver.

• None of the three teams have made any changes to their programs since the U.S. Championships. Both Meryl Davis and Tanith Belbin said they've been focused on fine-tuning their Tango Romantica. Tanith and Ben Agosto didn't skate the dance at either of their Grand Prix events in the fall. Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva brought in one of the dance's inventors, Elena Tchaikovskaya, to work with Meryl and Charlie.

• Tanith and Ben's costume designer lives in Brooklyn. Because of the recent snowstorms in the northeast, she had to send one of her assistants to Philadelphia by train to deliver their compulsory dance costumes, which were picked up at the station by the IceWorks rink manager.

• Johnny Weir has decorated the walls of his and Tanith's room with posters of Audrey Hepburn and motivational phrases. He also unpacked all of Tanith's clothes for her. • Johnny calls Tanith "Nita," which is short for "Tanita," a Russian name he gave her years ago.


Tanith Belbin Quotes
"The room smells amazing. [Johnny] said it smelled like wet dog when he got there."

"I got to meet Chris Chelios at the last Olympics and have a beer with him. How many people can say that?" -- talking about one of the highlights of her last Olympic experience.

"I want to take a bath. [Johnny] got there first and took the room with the private bathtub. He's going to switch with me after he's done competing." -- talking about what she's most looking forward to doing in the room.

"He's so talented -- so maddeningly talented -- we all want to see him come through when it matters most." -- talking about Johnny Weir.

Meryl Davis quotes
"We haven't changed the routine or the free dance or the OD. We've just been perfecting things."

Charlie White quotes
On making bets: "We haven't gotten around to any bets. We don't want to jinx anyone. We are really excite to see the hockey."

Evan Bates quotes
"It's hard to develop a connection when you're 10, 11, because you're kinda grossed out by girls." -- talking about the difficulty of trying to portray emotion when you're a young ice dancer.

"Hopefully, the judges won't think about birthdays." -- talking about his and Emily's relatively young age.

Emily Samuelson quote
"In free style, you have to do a lot of jumping and spinning, and I was tired of having bruised hips." -- talking about why she chose ice dancing.


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