Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev are finished, and so is their five-year reign in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
The defending ice dance champions withdrew before the original dance Tuesday night in Atlanta because of a cyst on Lang’s left Achilles’ tendon. She has had the cyst for more than a year, but it became inflamed recently.
Tanith Belbin and Chicagoan Ben Agosto, silver medalists the past three years, won both the compulsory and original dances. The free dance, worth 50 percent of the final score, is Friday.
The United States can send two couples to the world championships. Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov of Northbrook, third last year, are in second place.
“This was our strongest performance,” Agosto said. “Everything flowed together very nicely.”
