Virtue and Moir
Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir appear bound for the world figure skating podium after a strong showing in 2007 while Patrick Chan continued his meteoric rise this year.
The only medals won by Canadians at the world championships in Tokyo last March were silver – the second in a row for ice dancers Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.
As it turns out, the Montreal couple probably would have won gold at the 2008 world meet in Goteborg, Sweden, next March had they not decided to take this season off because two-time world champions Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria are out of competition due to the criminal charges against Staviski following a traffic fatality.
The absence of Dubreuil and Lauzon opened a door for Virtue and Moir, the ice dancers from the London, Ont., area who were sixth in Tokyo. It was a marvellous showing given it was the first senior world championship for the 2006 world junior gold medallists. Finishing fourth at the Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy, on Dec. 15 was another boost in their partnership.
Virtue, 18, and Moir, 20, now aim for the world podium in Goteborg.
Chan, the 16-year-old Torontonian who was fifth nationally last winter, showed he has arrived by qualifying for the GP Final and finishing fifth. Chan could knock three-time Canadian champion Jeff Buttle off the top of the national podium in Vancouver, Jan. 16-20.
Buttle, the 25-year-old native of Smooth Rock Falls, Ont., who won 2005 world silver and 2006 Olympic bronze, didn’t qualify for Turin, and his lack of big jumps is making it difficult for him to challenge the likes of world champion Brian Joubert of France and former world champ Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland, who resurfaced to win the GP Final with Joubert absent.
Chris Mabee, the 22-year-old skater from Tillsonburg, Ont., broke through to grab silver at the 2007 nationals, but both Buttle and Mabee could be overtaken by Chan in Vancouver. It should make for quite a show, and it is expected to include the return of Emanuel Sandhu, the former Canadian champion who begged off the GP circuit this season after crashing to 16th in Tokyo. The 27-year-old Vancouver resident will be the mystery man of the nationals.
Pairs skaters Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison will be among Canada’s top medal prospects in the sport for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Dube, 20, of Drummondville, Que., and Davison, 21, of Cambridge, Ont., have finished seventh at the last two world championships. The only reason they didn’t move up last March was because they lost training time after Dube’s face was slashed by Davison’s skate during a competition in Colorado. They’re young enough to climb further up the world rankings leading to 2010, and a fourth-place finish in the GP Final magnified their potential, but it might be difficult for them to reach the world podium any time soon given the Chinese and German domination of the discipline.
Dube and Davison will have no trouble repeating as Canadian champions, while Anabelle Langlois, 26, of Grand-Mere, Que., and Cody Hay, 24, of Grande Prairie, Alta., appear ready to step up for silver.
Canadian champion Joannie Rochette is in a situation somewhat similar to that of Buttle in that, after finishing fifth at the 2006 Olympics, she’s slipped back. The 21-year-old native of Ile Dupas, Que., was 11th in Tokyo and like Buttle didn’t gain enough points to get to the GP Final this season.
Asians are dominating women’s singles. New Jersey-based Miki Ando and California-based Mao Asada gave Japan a 1-2 finish in Tokyo, with Toronto-based teen Yu-Na Kim of South Korea taking bronze. The three could dominate the discipline for years to come, leaving the likes of Rochette to continue struggling to master the difficult jump combinations Asians seem to have down pat. Kim just won the GP Final.
Rochette should win a fourth straight Canadian title in Vancouver, with 18-year-old Mira Leung of Vancouver and 26-year-old Lesley Hawker of Barrie, Ont., determined to mount challenges.
Source: A good year for Canadian figure skating
