Aliona Savchencko & Robin Szolkowy

Maria Petrova & Alexei Tihkonov

"We hoped to get on the podium," said Szolkowy. "We are surprised to win." His partner termed their victory "very cool." They gained three Level 4’s – for their pair combination spin and for their last two moves, the spiral sequence and the back outside death spiral. Savchenko, a sexy blond who performed in a revealing stone colored outfit, & the strong Szolkowy are the fast improving pair of the future. She was born in Kiev on January 19, 1984, and was the 2000 world junior champion. He was born of a Tanzanian father, who was a student in East Germany and became a doctor, and a German mother on July 14, 1979, in Greifswald, a university town in the northeast. The couple never married.

At one time he was a rink mate of current German champion Stefan Lindemann but turned to pairs when his singles career did not take off. He didn’t do too well as a pair either and had partially retired from skating, confining his efforts to synchronized skating. But Savchenko had met him at a junior event and remembered him. It was she who chased Szolkowy, moving with her mother from Ukraine in pursuit of him.

Petrova, who will turn 28 on November 29, and Tikhonov, who will be 34 on November 1, performed an early-in-the-season to stay second. They began with a double Axel to triple toe loop sequence but then she doubled her planned triple Salchow. They did only a double twist and their back outside death spiral rated only Level 1. They did, however, receive Level 4 for all three of their complicated lifts and for their pair combination spin.

Tikhonov explained, "We did only the double twist because with the new rules, it is more important to do the element very clean and get more points. Next competition we’ll see whether we will do the triple." They are trained by Ludmila Velikova, who picked their music which was from movies by Fellini, the famed Italian director. "She liked it," said Tikhonov, "and perhaps because the Olympics are in Italy." Their choreography is done by Alexander Stiopin.

Marcoux & Buntin, who are both 25 and have placed ninth in the past two world championships, were third in both sections. "It’s our first Skate Canada medal," said Buntin. "I think we performed as well as we could. There were a couple of technical mistakes which is normal for the beginning of the season." Reluctantly, Marcoux, whose first language is French, ventured a few words, "Like he said, next time we will do better." He put his hand down on the double Axel and she fell on it. She also fell right at the end on the throw triple Salchow.

They are trained by Richard Gautier, who saw the potential of Jamie Sale & David Pelletier and coached them to their world title, in St. Leonard, Quebec, and Manon Perron. Their choreography to Our Song by Paul Kunigis, was created by Julie Brault.

Staying fourth, although they were only fifth in the long, were Langlois, who is originally from Quebec, & Hay, who is from Alberta. They are definitely still in the developmental stage since they only decided to skate together in April. They met in Edmonton where both were training with previous partners. When they decided to skate together, they approached Lee Barkell and moved to Barrie, Ontario, to train with him.

The 24 year old Langlois is by far the more experienced partner and that shows. Hay, who is 22, faltered slightly at the beginning of one lift although he managed to keep Langlois airborn. She struggled to stay upright on the landing of their first move, a throw triple loop, and then stepped out of her solo triple toe. Later she fell on the double Axel and on the throw triple Salchow. The routine was choreographed to Adagio from the Concerto de Aranjuez. She was dressed in black lace and he in black pants and a deep red top.

Fourth in the long but staying fifth overall were Borzenkova, 24, & Chuvilaev, 27, who performed to the stirring sounds of Richard Strauss’ Thus Spake Zarathustra, which was the theme for the famous sci-fi movie 2001. Their coach, Tamara Moskvina, used this music for Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev for their Olympic gold medal winning 1998 season. The choreography was created by Ludmila Koblova. They recovered from both falling on their first move a triple Salchow, which was downgraded to a double.

Wakamatsu & Fecteau, who were eighth in their first world championship last March, again placed sixth. They have an audience appeal which survived a fleet of mistakes. She fell on their first move, a throw triple loop; their planned triple toe to double toe was downgraded to double-double, and he fell on the double Axel.

Nevertheless their spiral sequence was a Level 4 and their lifts complicated and interesting including the move Wakamatsu invented. During a lift, while she is being rotated, she assumes a split position with her head touching her ankle. Her feat has been copied by one of the Russian women competing here, Viktoria Borzenkova.

Wakamatsu was born on September 1, 1981 in Aomori, the northern tip of the main island of Japan. Fecteau was born on May 7, 1975, in the remote sounding Thetford Mines, in Quebec. They train alongside Marcoux and Buntin. Their music was La Revancha by Gutan Project and Quartango by Bond.

Steadily seventh were Mukhortova, who will be 20 on November 20, & Trankov, who was born in Perm in Russia on October 7, 1983. They gave a non-smiling performance to the well known Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Opus 43) by Sergei Rachmaninov. Skating in black with silver trim, they began with an excellent triple toe to double toe sequence but they executed only a double twist. The couple, who are trained by Ludmila & Nikolai Velikov in St. Petersburg, made several small errors but nothing major. Her landing on their side by side triple Salchows was scratchy and not held and, in their final combination spin, she lost balance at a point they were about to change feet. They had good lifts including a toe lasso which concluded with a non-rotational lift with him in a spread.

For Evora & Ladwig, this event was a test of their endurance. They train in Ellerton in Florida. Fleeing the hurricane, they came up to the University of Delaware where, on Monday, they fell during practice. He did his manly duty of making sure his partner got down from the lift unharmed, but in doing so a blade hit his elbow injuring him. It was very hard and painful for him to compete this week but they tried to do all they could. "They’ve been very good here getting me meds," Ladwig said.

Their routine, to Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet, is absolutely packed with amazing moves, some of which were not seen until last season. Many moves immediately follow each other which increases the risk level. The routine was choreographed by Jim Peterson, stressed the romantic nature of the music. I was surprised to find out, however, although they portray this mood so well, they are not an item. Evora, who wore pale lavender, explained, "Mark got engaged in March and I have a boyfriend. But, on the ice, we try to interprete the feel of the piece." She fell on the throw triple loop and he caught an edge on the triple toe which was downgraded to a double.

Searching for the right partner is a very challenging experience and often involves at least one party traveling long distances. That is especially true of Evora, who was born in New York but whose hometown is Sugar Land, Texas, (made famous in skating circles as the residence of the Tara Lipinski’s family at the time of her Olympic victory), & Ladwig, who is from Fargo, North Dakota. They train in Ellenton, Florida. Although their rink, JP Igloo, recently went through bankruptcy and sale, their coach, Kerry Leitch, says the rink is now in good shape and training facilities have not been curtailed.

2005 Skate Canada Pairs Medalists