THE CANADIAN PRESS
Chances of Canadian champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir winning medals at the world figure skating champions in Goteborg, Sweden, next week were greatly enhanced with the announcement out of Moscow that the favourites for gold, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, have withdrawn.
Domnina reinjured in practice earlier this week the left knee on which she had surgery in December and Russian federation head Valentin Piseyev conceded on Wednesday that they would be unable to compete in Goteborg.
“It’s too bad,” Moir said during a Skate Canada conference call Wednesday. “It’s nice to go to a world championship when everybody is healthy and you can compete against the best.
“At the same time, we’re excited about the opportunity that lies ahead of us.”
At the 2007 world championships in Tokyo, Albena Denova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria won gold, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon of Montreal won silver, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the United States won bronze and Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France finished fourth. Domnina and Shabalin were fifth and Virtue and Moir were sixth.
The top two couples subsequently dropped out.
Domnina and Shabalin had put together a perfect season. They won the Grand Prix Final in December and the European title in January and were everybody’s pick to win their first senior world title.
Virtue, 18, of London, Ont., and Moir, 20, of Ilderton, Ont., have been hard at work at the ice dancing school to which they belong in Canton, Mich., in the four weeks since winning the Four Continents meet in South Korea.
“It was so exciting for us,” Virtue said of that win. “We tried to attack every element.
“It was a competition not to hold anything back. It was great to come out on top.”
They’ve focused their attention on the Argentine Polka that will be the compulsory that will kick off the 2008 world championships on Tuesday. Throughout the season, they’ve upgraded their lifts and their speed.
“We want to continue to get faster and stronger,” says Moir. “We’ve been making everything stronger and trying to perfect everything going into worlds.”
They fly from Toronto on Friday night, arriving in Sweden on Saturday, and they participate in their first practice there on Sunday.
Now that they’ve suddenly been thrust into medal contention, they’ll receive more attention upon arriving.
“We’ll have to rely on previous experiences in terms of maintaining our composure once competition begins,” says Virtue. “Our coaches do a great job of keeping us grounded and keeping our heads in the game.”
They are coached by Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva in Canton.
“We’re always competing to win,” Virtue replied when asked about the chance to be on the podium in Goteborg. “Every team is.
“That’s what makes it exciting. The podium is a goal of ours. We think we’re ready.”
They’ve shot up the rankings quickly since winning the world junior title in 2006.
“We’re really thankful for this new (judging) system,” said Moir. “We’re proving you don’t have to wait around.
“The skating is being rewarded.”