PITTSBURGH — World champion pairs skater Tatiana Totmianina of Russia fell headfirst onto the ice during the free skate at Skate America on Saturday, a terrifying fall that ended the competition.
Maxim Marinin had just lifted Totmianina into the air in a one-handed lift when they lost their balance. Totmianina tumbled to the ice as the crowd gasped.
Paramedics tended to the fallen skater, who lay motionless on her side on the ice for a few minutes with her partner hovering over her.
She was carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to the trauma center at nearby Mercy Hospital. Officials would not release details on her condition, citing patient privacy laws.
U.S. figure skating officials said Totmianina was "stabilized well" by an attending physician before being taken to the hospital.
"It is premature to say anything beyond that. She must be assessed by the trauma physician," Dr. Shelana Gibbs of Mercy Hospital said in a statement.
Totmianina and Marinin, in first place after the short program, were the last couple to skate in the pairs.
Dan and Hao Zhang of China took first place in the pairs. Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov of Russia were second, and Americans Rena Indue and John Baldwin Jr.
Earlier in the women's final, American Angela Nikodinov skated to a first-place finish after completing 10 jumps while the rest of the field fell — literally.
Japan's Miki Ando, who led entering the free skate, fell while attempting a quadruple salchow and a triple lutz. She ended up third, behind Canada's Cynthia Phaneuf, who also couldn't complete several triple jumps.
In ice dancing, Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto won the competition for the second straight year.
Dressed in gypsy-inspired costumes, they skated a program with perfectly synchronized turns that brought the crowd to its feet.
"Our energy felt really good," Agosto said.
They were followed by Israel's Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski and Canada's Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe. Both pairs said placing in this competition gives them momentum entering Skate Canada this week.
"It's probably one of the best performances we've given at the beginning of the season," Lowe said.
The competition wasn't without controversy, though. The sister and brother team of Sinead and John Kerr from Great Britain said they would protest a decision by the technical specialist to deduct points from them for repeating a diagonal step sequence. The duo, who finished fifth, contended their program only has one such sequence, and they shouldn't be penalized for repeating an element.
On Friday, France's Brian Joubert won the men's competition. Americans Ryan Jahnke and Michael Weiss finished second and third, respectively.