ICE DANCE: Chait, Sakhnovsky disappointed

Chait: We are not satisfied with the way we performed here.

By SHIMRIT BERMAN
It was a diffcult week for Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovsky, the top Israeli ice dance team who finished in eighth place at the Turin Olympic games on Monday night. During the competition the couple considered retiring straight after the Olympics. However their performance made them decide to continue at least until next month's World Championships in Calgary, Canada. "We are not satisfied with the way we performed here," Chait said, "so we feel we have something to prove." Chait and Sakhnovsky skated their free program, "Ravel's Bolero", immediately after the local favorite, Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio. "It was very hard to skate after the Italians. We got zero from the crowd, they gave everything to the Italians. Sometimes you skate for the audience but tonight there was no connection," Sakhnovsky said. Although the Israelis gave a clean performance they receieved a one point deduction from the judges. "We actually don't know what it was for," said Chait. "We will have to check what happened later." It may not have been their last competition but it was their last Olympics and emotions were hard to avoid. The veteran skaters also performed at the Salt Lake City Games four years ago finishing sixth as well as Nagano in 1998 where they placed 14th. "It is a very sad day for us," said an exhausted Chait following their routine. "I can't believe it's over. But now we are getting ready for the Worlds. We performed well today but not good enough." The second Israeli ice dance team Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky finished in , second to last place 24th position in their very first Olympic Games. "We were lucky to have been given this chance. We jumped right into the deep water," Roman said.