Later, another local hero claimed gold when Russia's Alexei Urmanov won the men's freestyle competition. Todd Eldredge of the U.S. finished second, and France's Phillippe Candeloro placed third.
Reprising their classical routine to Rachmaninoff that won the silver at this year's Olympics, Dmitriyev and Mishkutyenok thrilled the crowd and easily outclassed the competition on the same rink where they often train.
Dressed in matching black outfits, the 1992 Olympic champions produced none of the stumbles that plagued other pairs or the women skaters earlier in the day. Their marks ranged from 5.7 to 5.9 for technical merit, with 5.9s across the board for artistic impression.
They led a Russian clean sweep of the medals. Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov took the silver and Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov the bronze.
The two American pairs, who struggled during Thursday night's technical program, had a much better time with the free skate but failed to move up.
Lance Travis and Stephanie Stiegler, 14, held on to fifth, while Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval survived a near fall on a throw-triple to finish sixth out of the seven pairs.
In front of a nearly empty arena earlier in the day, Surya Bonaly of France gave a straightforward performance to take the lead after the women's technical program.
"I don't think anybody in all of St. Petersburg realizes that the women's figure skating technical program is going on at the very moment," lamented former world champion Dick Button, who is covering the competition for the TBS television network.
The low turnout at the 7,000-seat arena -- competitors, coaches, officials and soldiers together nearly outnumbered the few hundred spectators -- led to one uninspired performance after another. Five of the eight competitors, including all three Americans, botched the required jump combination.
After the women, things got even quieter when the ice dancers emerged for the original dance, the rhumba.
Irina Romanova and Igor Yaroshenko of Ukraine retained the lead they held after the compulsories over a weak field.
In the women's volleyball final, Russia defeated the U.S. in straight sets, 15-8, 15-10, 15-4 to capture the gold medal.
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