SM: How did you cope with the uncertainty of whether you would be able to compete in this year’s Winter Olympics?
Belbin: I tried to take things step-by-step and focus on skating and it was more or less out of our control anyhow. Of course, as it came nearer to the Olympic deadline [for the 2006 games in Torino] it became somewhat apparent that there was a possibility [that I would be able to compete as an American], it was much tougher to focus on skating. Before that, we [were] kind of resigned to the fact that we would not be attending the Olympics.

SM: What inspired you to become an ice dancer?
Belbin: I had always been a performer at heart and once I was old enough to really appreciate ice dancing for the performance element that it offers, I felt like that was where I needed to be. When young skaters start out, it’s easy to be attracted to just the excitement of jumps and spins and think that’s the only thing worth any value in skating. But once I understood ice dancing and all its complexity and the technically demanding aspect of it, along with the performance, [I was hooked]. Ultimately, it was just a matter of what discipline allowed me to be most creative and most myself, and that was ice dancing.