VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Upsets in ice dancing are a
rare occurrence. OK, let's be honest, they never happen.
|  | | Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France won their group in the Ice Dance compulsories, as was expected. |
So it was no surprise when the top two couples the past two
seasons won their compulsory dance groups Tuesday at the World
Figure Skating Championships.
Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio of Italy, the European
champions, finished first in their group. France's Marina Anissina
and Gwendal Peizerat, the reigning world champions, won the other
group.
"We feel comfortable and relaxed," Peizerat said. "And I
think it showed."
Compulsories are worth 20 percent of the final score, and the
top 15 finishers in each group advance. There are two dances, the
rhumba and the tango romantica, and each couple has to do the exact
same dance to the exact same music.
Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, bronze medalists at the
European championships, finished second behind the Italians, tied
with Canada's Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, who are four-time
world bronze medalists.
Three-time U.S. champions Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev were
fifth in their group. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who won
the world championships as juniors last year, tied for eighth in
the same division.
This was Anissina and Peizerat's first time competing since the
European championships, when a spectacular fall in the free dance
helped cost them the title. Peizerat fell backward on a turn, and
Anissina stumbled over him, injuring her back.
She was off the ice for about a week, and they had to withdraw
from the Grand Prix final last month.
"After Europeans we just realized how good we've been working
and trust in what we did," Peizerat said. "We felt great."
Notes
A lot has changed since the world championships were last held in Vancouver in 1960, and we're not just talking
about the costumes. In 1960, there were 79 competitors representing
14 countries. This year, there are 208 skaters from 46 countries.
An all-event ticket cost $16.75 in 1960. Now it's $595. ... Canadian pairs skater Kris Wirtz is the oldest competitor at worlds at age 31. Fifteen-year-old Bit Na Park, a singles skater from South Korea, is the youngest. ... Of the nine
husband-and-wife teams, six are competing in ice dancing. ... No
country has the maximum number of 18 competitors. Russia has the
most competitors with 16 skaters, followed by France's 14. The
United States sent 13 skaters.
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ALSO SEE
World Figure Skating results
Yagudin to compete despite pain in foot
World Championships participants- Ice dance competition
Men participants in the World Championships
World Championships participants- Ladies competition
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