Fusar-Poli and Margaglio, second in the world championships last year, easily won the free dance to sweep all three sections of the competition. Their dramatic routine to music from the movie "Romeo and Juliet" earned them marks from 5.7 to 5.9 and all firsts.

They also won at Skate America two weeks ago but felt they did better here than at Colorado Springs, where skaters were hindered by the high altitude.

"For sure it was the altitude, but it was also the confidence," Margaglio said. "The second competition is always better. You skate with more confidence, you feel more comfortable with the program, you know where to rest. You get the feeling of the competition."

Lithuanians Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas placed second. Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz finished third, moving up from fourth after the original dance.

In an event long dominated by Russians, the best from that country were junior world champions Natasha Romaniuta and Daniil Barantsev in sixth.

At the world championships in March, Russians failed to gain a medal. The last previous time a Russian or Soviet ice dance couple failed to medal was in 1968.

Nevertheless, the Russian influence was felt Sunday.

There were Russian coaches for the top two couples. Tatiana Tarasova works with the Italians and Yelena Chaikovskaya teaches the Lithuanians and Drobiazko was born in Moscow.

The Russian presence also was evident in the other events. Russians won both singles titles and were second and third in the pairs event.

Maria Butyrskaya was the women's champion and compatriot Evgeny Plushchenko won the men's competition.

Plushchenko beat American Timothy Goebel as both did a pair of quadruple jumps in their programs.

Butyrskaya topped American Sarah Hughes as both did six triple jumps. They both attempted triple-triple combinations. The Russian barely held hers on one foot, while Hughes lost her balance and needed to put down a hand to avoid sprawling on the ice.

Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis of France retained their lead to take the pairs event over world champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov, with Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin third.

The top skaters in all four events qualified for the Grand Prix final at Tokyo in February. Goebel and the Italian ice dancers clinched spots in the final with their placings here. Three-time world champion Michelle Kwan and the Canadian pair also are in the field based on their performances in the first two competitions.