2007

World Figure Skating  Championships

Pairs Event

By Alexandra Stevenson

All photos Copyright 2007 by George S. Rossano

1. Skating to Romanza by Bacarisse last but one of the 22 pairs from 13 countries, dressed in black, she with a red ribbon on her bun, he with a red waist band, Xue Shen, 28, & Hongbo Zhao, 33, who are twice Olympic bronze medalists and twice world champions (’02 & ’03), took a significant lead of 3.42 with a masterful showing. There were a couple of moments when they weren’t absolutely perfect but these tiny minor missteps only seemed to enhance this Chinese duo’s appeal, making them a little more vulnerable and human, and less machine-like.

None of their eight elements received less than their spirals, which were given +0.71 GoE, and their first move, side-by-side triple toes, were executed with such floating synchronicity they earned +1.14 GoE with two of the eleven judges punching into the computer +2 GoE.

The panel did start out with the normal 12 judges drawn from the 15 judges invited to Tokyo who had been decided before this event. However, Judge No. 5, who turned out to come from China, went missing and so the fifth column was seemingly mysteriously wiped out in the printout of the Short Program detailed results. It turned out the Chinese judge had got on the wrong bus, and ended up at the practice rink and then was unable to get to the main arena in time. This new system does not have a problem with the situation and can operate with fewer judges. Mr. Yumin Wang does not appear to have been penalized by his non-show and was in the second draw for the free skating and was again one of the 12 drawn from the 15 judges present.

So Shen & Zhao skated their short program without a judge from their home country. Their throw triple loop was so impressive, five of the judges gave +3, the maximum GoE.

Five of their six "Level" moves were awarded the maximum 4. Their +1.10 triple Lutz lateral twist lift was deemed Level 2 by the Technical Specialist David Kirby and his assistant, David Moellenkamp.

When winning the Four Continents Championships, they had had a problem with the twist in the short program which had been deemed only Level 1 with a negative GoE. There was no sign of trouble this time. Their 55 component scores ranged from eight 8.25s down to three 7.25s. "I am happy with our performance," said Shen.

Zhao admitted, "It still hurts to do the jumps because of my Achilles injury, but I am happy to make our Personal Best today. The audience was cheering us up and I felt so good. I hope I will earn another PB score tomorrow to win these worlds before we retire."

2. The European champions, Aliona Savchenko, who turned 23 in January, & Robin Szolkowy, 27, from Germany, were second with a flamboyant showing to Once Upon a Time in Mexico. They have competed in the last two worlds placing sixth in both. The talented pair have been through enormous problems because their coach, 1997 world pairs champion Ingo Steuer, has been accused of working for the East German secret police in his teenage years. The current German authorities have tried, so far with only partial success, to have his credentials as a coach revoked. It meant that government funding for training for Savenchenko & Szolkowy could not be passed to him. This has been compounded by the problem of the German Skating Federation being near bankrupt.

The Germans’ throw was a triple flip which has a base value of 5.50, which is half a point higher than the throw triple loop performed by Shen & Zhao. Although one judge punched in +3, their GoE was +0.80. That meant their total score for their throw was 6.30 while Shen & Zhao earned 6.66.

Only four of the Germans’ six level elements were the maximum four. Their back outside death spiral was a 3 and their triple twist only a 1 and it earned only the base value. Their component marks ranged from a low of two 6.75s up to a high of two 8.25s.

Savchenko, who is a perfectionist, said, "We’re not entirely satisfied with our skate." Her partner explained, "The triple twist was not so good, but we did a good job and got close to our performance at German nationals (where they won their fourth consecutive title). For an athlete there is never a perfect performance but at German nationals we had a good feeling, and it was fun, whereas today things were a bit harder. We have high expectations of ourselves, so we will have to concentrate and pull ourselves together."

3. The defending world champions, Qing Pang & Jian Tong, who were beaten in the 2007 Four Continent Championships by their teammates, Shen and Zhao, lie third, a relatively insignificant 0.09 behind the Germans. They are both 27, and are the Chinese champions. However, they are coming back from losing much time because of her illness. They performed with great softness and feeling to Massenet’s O Doux Printemps d’Autrefois with lovely light blue outfits which fluttered and flowed in the breeze made developed by their speed.

"I am proud of my partner because she did so well today despite what she went through. I love the audience here since they are so polite and supportive, and I feel really good performing here in Japan." said Tong. This past summer, Pang was discovered to have a serious kidney ailment, pyelitis, and they were forced to withdraw from Skate America. She said, "My health is better than it was but I’m still not fully recovered and we need breaks in practice. My stamina is still not good."

Their progress was impeded by a car accident on January 1 in Beijing. "I was not wearing a seat belt," admitted Tong. "It was a head on collision and I crashed through the window. I blacked out for a little. I got 16 stitches."

They began with base level triple toe loops. Then came a beautiful lateral triple twist which gained Level 2 and +1.20 GoE. One judge punched in +3 GoE which meant it couldn’t be done better. They also receive a +3 from this same judge for their throw triple loop.

Three of their other five moves which are given a Level, got the maximum 4, the spirals, the press lift and the back outside death spiral. The Levels for their two spins (the flying camel change foot and the pair) were Level 3.

4. Lying 4.68 points behind are the new partnership of Yuko Kawaguchi, a Japanese 25 year old, & Alexander Smirnov, a Russian 22 year old. They teamed up together in 2006 but missed the Russian nationals and the 2007 Europeans because she broke an ankle in December. Kawaguchi is a long time pupil of Tamara Moskvina and is the first "outsider" ever to represent Russia although the world is afloat with Russians representing other countries.

Kawaguchi left Japan some years ago and turned up in New Jersey at the Hackensack rink where Moskvina was then teaching, to plead with the famed Russian coach of many pairs champions, to find her a partner. Moskvina teamed her up with Russian Alexander Markuntsov and they represented Japan becoming the first pair representing Japan to win a medal in an ISU championship, a silver at the 2001 world junior championships. They subsequently represented Japan in the world championships for 3 years 2001-2003.

After that partnership broke up, Kawaguchi teamed up with the American Devin Patrick and they placed 15^th in the 2006 US senior championships. But they didn’t get on and split up. Smirnov had competed in the world junior championships winning the bronze in 2006. Kawaguchi has learned to speak Russian and this partnership looks extremely promising although Olympic eligibility remains an unsolved problem for them.

They began with smooth +1.14 GoE triple toe loops. All their elements except their Level 1 triple Lutz, which was saddled with a slight -0.30 GoE, received the base value or greater. Their press lift, spirals and both spins received Level 4. The back outside death spiral was only Level 2. Their component marks ranged from a low of three 6.0s up to a high of two 7.50s.

Kawaguchi explained, "Skating for Russia is a big deal for me. I am very proud of it. I am pretty much recovered from my injury (breaking her ankle in December). I was able to practice fully last month." When their names were called to skate, they skated around in matching opposite circles and then came together in a very theatrical presentation. "We made that up," Kawaguchi explained, "to make us look as good as possible." Her partner merely said, "I am very satisfied with our performance."

5. Valerie Marcoux & Craig Buntin, who are both 26, were very disappointed at their national championships in which they lost the national title they had held for the previous three years. (They finished second.) But their performance here had them smiling again. They lie fifth only 1.34 behind Kawaguchi & Smirnov. Fifth is where they finished in the Calgary worlds where they rebounded after placing 11^th at the Olympics. They qualified for this season Grand Prix Final where they finished fifth.

They performed to Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White, beginning with good triple toes which gained a +1.0 GoE. Their Level 4 double twist also got a plus though this was a small +0.07. Their Level 4 spiral sequence received +0.29. The Level 4 flying camel change foot combination spin was given a small +0.07. Their Level 4 pair spin got base value. The Level 4 lift was awarded a +0.13. The throw triple loop was rewarded with +0.50 and their Level 2 back outside death spiral a +0.20.

6. Rena Inoue, 30, & John Baldwin, 33, began their Soul of Spain presentation with base level double Axels but things went wrong with their signature throw triple Axel. She struggled but couldn’t hold the landing. That meant they earned 5.50 for accomplishing the rotation but incurred a 1.0 fall deduction. "The takeoff was good but I couldn’t hold the landing," Inoue explained. "The chances are so slim of skating with a great partner like John and I am very happy. I am so grateful for what I have. I haven’t competed in Japan for a while but the Japanese fans still remember me and I am so honored." (Inoue represented Japan in two Olympics, 1992 and 1994, once in singles and once in pairs. She has lived in Los Angeles for many years and became a US citizen in 2005.) All six of their Level moves received Level 4 and better than base value. The component marks ranged from a high of three 7.25 to a low of one 5.25.

7. Jessica Dubé, 19, & Bryce Davison, 21, the current Canadian champions, survived a fall in the Four Continents’ championships in which his blade cut the left of her face from the nose to the end of the cheek bone when he traveled in a flying camel. Remarkably she was only off the ice for 10 days and the first thing they practiced when they got back on the ice was the flying camel. Davison said, "It was a good way to get back on the horse after being knocked off."

Dubé said, "I never thought about withdrawing from worlds" However, their Skate Canada association did check them out before making the determination they were in good enough shape to compete, which they obviously are.

They skated their Short Program to Galicie Flamenco by Gino D’Auri. Their solo triple Salchows, on which their blades clicked on the entry, and the Level 4 back outside death spiral gained the base value and the six other moves got positives. "We were a little too close I guess," said Dubé. "With what happened in Colorado, I was like, ‘Ugh’!" Her partner gave his explanation. "We were a little too anxious on the Salchows, our first move, and didn’t have the right pattern but we squeaked it out. We’re happy with it. We refocused right away. We totally focused on the jump."

8. Tatiana Volosozhar, 20, & Stanislav Morozov, 28, the two-time Ukrainian champions, lie 1.32 behind Dubé and Davison. Morozov is the former partner of the now German champion, Aliona Savchenko. They won the world junior title for the country of her birth, Ukraine. When they broke up, she went to Germany to entice Robin Szolkowy out of retirement, which she did quite successfully. Although they didn’t fall, they messed up their triple toe loops and their Level 1 back outside death spiral got a negative 0.30.

9. Only 0.39 behind the Ukrainians are Dorota, 31, and Mariusz Siudek, 34, one of only two married couples in these championships. (The other is Gregory/Petukhov in dance.) They are currently Poland’s most famous skaters, having won the bronze in the 2007 European championships. They competed in 3 Olympics, always placing in the top 10 and became Poland’s first pair to medal in worlds when they took the bronze in 2000.

"I’ve been skating for over 28 years," said Mariusz, "first alone and then pairs and then with Dorota for about a dozen of them. We had planned to stop competing after Torino but, once we heard Warsaw had gained the European championships, we decided to keep going for one more season." His wife added, "We felt big pressure to continue. To compete in my own country was a dream come true. For us, coming here to Worlds is a gift to be able to compete one more time."

The routine was set to music from a Polish movie, Never in Our Lifetime. Mariusz said, "We feel more like coaches now. This is the first time I have done the flying camel (in competition). It was not perfect, but I am proud I can do it. Even coming up to 35, I can learn new moves and improve."

Their opening move, a throw triple loop was superior, earning +1.09 but he stumbled out of their triple toe loops. They had three Level 4 moves, the pair combination spin, the spirals and their lift. The flying camel change foot combination spin was Level 3 as was their back outside death spiral. The triple twist was Level 2.

10. Shockingly, Dan Zhang, 21, and Hao Zhang, 22, the Olympic silver medalists and runners-up for the last world title, lie 0.23 behind the Poles. Skating to Spanish Caravan and Hello, I Love You, they began well with a Level 3 super triple Lutz twist which earned +1.10 and a +0.80 throw triple loop. Their side by side triple Salchows earned the base value but then the problems arose.

"I was a little shaky on the entrance of the (press) lift taking her up," Hao explained. "And I wasn’t counting properly so I did an extra rotation." That made the lift illegal and they lost all points for the move plus they were penalized with a two point deduction, one for doing the extra turn and one for presenting an illegal element which is a double whammy. (For a Level 4 press lift the base value is 4.0.)

11. Maria Petrova, 29, and Alexei Tikhonov, at 35 the oldest competitor in this event, drew to skate last and the 2000 world champions, who won the bronze in this event last year and were silver medalists in the recent European championships, were a disaster. "We did really stupid mistakes," admitted Petrova. "We obviously are unhappy with our performance. I think we were well prepared but maybe we are tired of figure skating and that is the reason. On the other hand, we really wanted to come to Japan and that’s why we are here.

Her partner said, "We never were ranked so low after the short program in a world championship in all our career. It’s upsetting that we made these small mistakes but they added up and we lost five, six points. We tried our best. I know how upset Maria now is. We tried to skate for ourselves and our fans. Tomorrow, we just want to skate a beautiful program."

They started their Handel’s Sarabande short program with a Level triple twist. Then he messed up the landing of his triple toe and she stepped out of the throw triple loop and put a hand on the ice. She also had a problem on the landing of their lift. They lie 0.64 behind the Zhangs.

12. Maria Mukhortova, 23, and Maxim Trankov, 23, who are the Russian champions, lie a minimal 0.22 behind their teammates. These youngsters were twelfth in their debut at worlds last year. She said, "It was a clean program for us and we are pleased with what we did." Her partner said, "I think it was a good performance after the injury. I got cut in the leg just a few days before coming here and got stitches. I’m also bothered by a shoulder injury."

13. Anabelle Langlois, 25, & Cody Hay, 23, are the third ranked Canadians. With her previous partner, Patrice Archetto, Langlois competed four times in this event with a best placement of second in 2002. They skated to Mr. Monotony. They began with very good triple toe loops, a Level 3 double twist and throw triple flip. Their Level 4 spirals received the base level. They did, however, have slight negatives on their flying camel change foot combination spin and their Level 3 lift.

She explained, "We had a really bad grip and the whole time we were wondering how we could put it down without breaking his hand. It was not a good feeling for me to know I could just break his finger off, but he did a good job at setting it down." Hay, who was competing in his first world championship, said, "We definitely had a few mistakes we can improve on. The side-by-side spin has been a little iffy for us and it has been the last one for us to get together. Our throws and jumps worked out a lot better. So, overall, we are definitely pleased. The whole environment is just so exciting and everything has been huge." The ending was good with a Level 4 back outside death spiral and a Level 3 pair combination spin. In another competition, the pair, who are trained by Lee Barkell, would have placed much higher. It was just a pretty amazing competition. As with the previous competitors, the distance between them and the pair above is minimal, just 0.18.

14. The new US champions, Brooke Castile, 20, & Benjamin Okolski, 22, had a shaky debut because she was ill. They drew to skate first and lie 1.45 behind Langlois and Hay. Castile said, "I have been very sick and I had a fever out there but I just went on autopilot and went out and did it."

Skating to Shine on You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd, they began well with a Level 4 pair combination spin which earned a slight positive. Their triple Lutz twist was Level 1 and had a slight negative but the throw triple Salchow got a +0.70. Their double Axel got a -0.70. They received a very slight negative on their Level 4 change foot combination spin. Their last three moves were also Level 4s.

He said, "It was 100 percent up to her. We really wanted to make an impression out there at our first championship. I did try to be strong on everything but I tried to do it more like our practices so she could feel comfortable with it. The spin was a little off at the end because the music was too loud and she couldn’t hear the exit call.

Pang & Tong

1. What a wonderful way to end your career – performing a brilliantly choreographed routine to the best of your ability in the sport’s most important annual event and receiving universal praise! Shen & Zhao will live long in the annals of figure skating along with the greats. They stepped into our consciousness many years ago (in the Edmonton worlds in 1996), fighting up to the top with routines packed with incredible difficulty but no apparent soul. Later, they began to develop artistically and their 2003 Washington Worlds’ free was a magnificent moment to remember, a triumph over her ankle injury.

They still haven’t retired officially. After their victory ceremony, Shen said with a shrug, "Right now I’m very tired, and what we need is a long break, maybe a year. There may be a comeback in the future, but when this will happen . . . ? We will have to look at our competence and ability as well as our physical strength to decide."

Her partner added, "Our efforts have paid off. From the first competition we took part in until today, we were able to see a beautiful outcome. I am very happy about that, and also because we were able to show a good performance to a nice audience. Competitions are very stimulating, but also very hard. So what I’m thinking of right now is that we need some time for ourselves and live a life. Of course, we like things that are fun, including exhibitions. We do have exhibitions in our plans. However, if I compete too much in serious competitions, my hair will grow a bit lighter, grey with the strain. The immediate plan is to return to China to our club and take it slow, and we do have plans to take part in Stars on Ice.

Their routine, to Thais’ immortal Meditation, was awarded 10.72 over their teammates, Pang & Tong’s Phantom of the Opera routine which was judged second best and pulled them up from third to win the silver. Overall, the gap between the gold and silver was 15.04. To climax your career with a win by such a stunning margin is the stuff of dreams.

However, it was not flawless. They received a slight minus, 0.13, for their Level 3 flying change foot combination spin. The routine began with a +0.29 combination of triple toe loop to double toe loop followed by a +1.29 double Axel. Their triple Lutz twist was only Level 1 but earned +1.30 added to the base value. Four of their moves gained Level 4 – their Group 5 Axel Lasso lift, their forward outside death spiral only they do, and their Group 3 lift. Three other moves, their straight line steps, the spirals, and their final Group 5 toe lasso lift, received Level 3 and positive GoEs. Their two throws, loop and Salchow, were wonderful and were positioned together well after the point where the ten per cent bonus marks click in. In addition these moves, respectively, earned 1.40 and 1.57 GoE marks. Their final spin the pair combination was Level 1 but earned +0.50. At the end he touched the ice. He explained, "I just wanted to thank the ice in Tokyo. I like Japan and am happy to do our last performance here."

2. None of Pang and Tong’s 13 elements were given a negative GoE and they were pleased with their showing. He said, "It was our best free of the season. Last year we were world champions but it was very hard for us this year because of her illness and my accident. But I am so happy about our result."

They began with a base value sequence of two double Axels followed by base value triple toes. They received three Level 4s (for their back outside death spiral, spiral sequence and for their last move, a Group 3 lift). Their final spin, a pair combination, was only Level 1. Their triple Lutz twist was Level 2 as was their flying change foot combination spin. Both throws gained significant positive GoEs, the triple Salchow +1.49 and the triple loop, which was in the second half of the program and therefore received a ten % bonus, +1.30. Their straight line steps, and the Axel Lasso and toe Lasso lifts received Level 3.

3. Savchenko and Szolkowy performed to Morricone’s The Mission and were not pleased with their showing. They earned 1.97 marks less than Pang and Tong and that was enough to drop them from second to third overall, 1.07 behind the silver medalists. "It would be an exaggeration to say we are depressed," said Szolkowy, "but, after the (great) free skate at the European championships, we did expect more. This free skate wasn’t bad, but the fact that we skated first (of the top four pairs) here and left the ice with this performance was bad. We still have mixed feelings between joy and disappointment. We can skate better than that. But that’s sport. We’ve had a hard season. It was difficult to skate the short yesterday and also difficult today, but we fought for it. Considering that, we did quite well. To be on the podium was our big goal and we fulfilled that. The bronze medal means a lot to us. Tomorrow morning at the latest, when we wake up, we will be very, very happy with it."

Because of the problems of their Federation not being able to help with their coach’s expenses because of his revealed connection with the East German secret police when he was 19, a project has been started to help the pair. "It was born out of need," Szolkowy said. "It started about one week before the European championships. It is an internet project of the Club for the support of figure skating in Germany and the goal is to support Aliona, myself, our coach, Ingo Steuer, get to the Olympic Games in 2010. It is an internet platform to give friends and sponsors the opportunity to support us financially or in other ways."

Their initial move, the throw triple flip, was good and earned +0.60 but then he missed their side by side triple toe loop. Their Level 2 triple Lutz twist gained +0.30. Then came a well done section with three Level 4 moves in a row, the toe lasso lift, the spirals and the Axel lasso lift. The last two of these moves both earned a substantial +1.29. That was followed by a very long and high +1.10 throw triple Salchow at the point where the bonus kicks in. However, they lost marks for their jump combination which was classed as a sequence of single Axel to double toe. The final two spins and their Group 3 lift were Level 4 and gained slight positives. The straight line steps and back outside death spiral were satisfactory Level 3s.

4. Volosozhar and Morozov, performing to Phantom of the Opera, presented the fifth best free to climb from eighth to fourth overall, a substantial 13.77 points behind the bronze medalists. They earned a personal best beginning with a sequence of two triple toe loop which incurred -0.43. Their following move, however, was a superb Level 2 triple Lutz twist which was rewarded with +1.10. Although there were three other negatives (on their triple Salchows, their throw triple loop and their Level 4 back outside death spiral, it was a showing of great future promise.

5. The Zhangs climbed all the way up from tenth to fifth overall with a free skate to The Offspring of Dragons which was judged the fourth best. While it certainly wasn’t anywhere near their normal extremely high level performance, Dan said she was happy. Hao said, "I did not do well today but our score is much better, so I am happy. Since (Dan) has not completely recovered from a cold, I pay more attention to her because communication is really important in pair skating. We are going back to our hometown (Harbin, in the north of China) and will take a long vacation until June. Then we will restart our training and improve our artistic side. We will keep competing at least three more years."

Their first move was a planned double Axel to triple toe but although he did a triple, he messed up the landing and put his hand down to keep from falling while she doubled the second jump. Their Level 3 triple Lutz twist was great, scoring +1.30 GoE and the following throw triple Salchow was given +0.90. Their Level 3 toe lasso lift and Level 4 pair combination spin earned small positives, but their Level 3 back outside death spiral was saddled with a small deficit. The throw triple loop was at the point where the bonus marks start, and they earned +1.00. Their side-by-side triple Salchows were just adequate and received their base value. Then came a series of moves which all earned slight positives, Level 4 spirals, Level 3 Axel lasso lift and circular steps, and a Level 4 flying camel combination spin. However, on their last move, a Group 3 Level 4 lift, she crashed down on the landing and they incurred a slight negative.

6. Marcoux and Buntin dropped a place with their L’Amour free. "I just feel speechless right now," said Buntin, who fell on his double Axel. "We had such high expectations of ourselves out here. We started out so strong. Getting off the ice knowing we could have done better is just really disappointing." She stepped out of the landing on the throw triple loop and skidded a bit on the landing of the throw triple Salchow. At one point they nearly collided with each other. This was one place lower than their finish in this event in 2006.

7. Dubé and Davison were consistently seventh throughout the event. He said, "We skated pretty well except for my fall on the (side by side) triple Salchow." He skidded off his edge and the jump was downgraded to a double. She fell on their second throw, a triple loop. These two falls and their final move, the pair combination spin, were the only elements for which they received negatives. They performed to D. Rice’s Blower’s Daughter.

8. Inoue and Baldwin were upset at finishing their eligible career on a down note, dropping from sixth to eighth with their Puccini free which was ranked eighth best. In Calgary they finished fourth in this event last year. She stepped out of their side by side triple toes and fell on their throw triple Axel. He messed up their double Axel late in the program and they went slightly over their music.

Inoue explained, "It’s the last skate and I am disappointed in our skate but I believe that this is what competitive skating is about. There are ups and downs and it just happened to be tonight was a down day. Johnny did such a great job and I feel like I pulled him down tonight. I would like to take this as a step and perform in shows."

Baldwin said, "It was the most flawed skates we’ve ever done together in our career. It was very sad to end like this since we are both such experienced skaters. I think Rena is a "Skating Goddess" of all women skaters. I don’t think Rena pulled anything down. She is the most consistent skater I know even including singles skaters. We may be back in 2009 for the Los Angeles World Championships."

10. Langlois and Hay were given ninth place for their free set to music from the soundtrack of The Notebook. That advanced them from 13^th to finish tenth, almost ten points ahead of Mukhortova and Trankov from Russia, who were 11^th. Langlois and Hay were 3.61 points, quite a distance, behind the new Japanese-Russian partnership of Kawaguchi and Smirnov, who dropped from fourth to ninth with a free skate that was ranked only tenth best.

The Canadians received negatives for only two of their elements, the combination triple toe to double toe, and the throw triple flip. They achieved four Level 4s – for their flying camel combination spin, for their spirals, their Group 3 lift and for their back outside death spiral.

It was Hay’s first world championship. Prior to teaming with Langlois in 2005, he had only had junior level experience. "I was nervous at first and I was shaky in the beginning but I was very glad to have her. It made me feel very settled. We haven’t actually thought ahead but we have been discussing about working on couple of new elements."

Langlois said, "I think Cody has definitely proven he’s worth it and he is a world class skater. We just tried to stay focused and do the program like we’ve been doing at home because we’ve been skating well in practice. We loved skating in Japan. I’ve been here before and it’s my favorite place to compete. It’s a great crowd out there. It was actually the best crowd we’ve had all year."

12. It was not the performance Castile and Okolski had hoped for. Even with two of the pairs lying above them having withdrawn, they were 13^th in the free, which they performed, rather appropriately to Clint Mansell’s Requiem for a Dream, and finished 12^th overall. The US will be entitled to two pairs next year when worlds are in Gothenburg, Sweden. Castile said, "I’m not feeling that well because I’m still sick (with the flu). My goal was just to finish this competition and not withdraw. It was definitely the worst run-through we’ve done all season." Okolski said, "We learned a lot just from being here and seeing all the other teams and how they deal with the pressure and get through the world championships. We also gained some experience skating a good short program. Unfortunately, we didn’t really repeat it in the long, but I feel we learned a lot."

WITHDRAWN

But though it was an evening to celebrate determination to succeed, it was also a time to contemplate that, sometimes, you can stay at the party too long. Former world champions, Petrova and Tikhonov, withdrew before the free, due to his right leg acute adductor syndrome.

Dorota and Mariusz Siudek had a problem during their warm-up for the free skate. Dorota explained, "When I saw Mariusz bend over, I knew 90% we wouldn’t be able to skate. He wanted to skate, but I didn’t want him to do permanent injury. I didn’t want to end like this. I want to bow after the program, not before it." She was in a flood of tears.

Her husband added, "It’s not the way you want to finish a career. I have experience with this vertebra (back injury which occurred two years ago.). This is just not a good time. I am fortunate to have a very good physiotherapist in Montreal (where the Poles have trained for several years) so I have been able to continue training with this problem. My back goes out every month or so. The doctor puts it back and after a few days, I am able to skate. Now, a new life for us has just started. We are going back to Poland, where we want to coach figure skating. We have both been trained as technical specialists in Canada. We have judged in Canada and will now judge in Poland. I am excited about the new judging system, the change of ideas and the technical aspect of determining levels. It’s a new passion now.

We had a great last four years with our coaches, Richard Gauthier and Manon Perron. They taught us not only figure skating but also about life in general. Richard gave us little coaching secrets. Most importantly, our life in Canada has completely changed Dorota. Richard has explained what is important in life and how figure skating is not the most important thing in the world. We hope to be back in Montreal to work with Richard and Manon in the future." Marcoux, who trained alongside the husband and wife, said, "We trained with them every day so they are good friends. We know sometimes his back hurts, but it’s just so sad to see them finish like that."

2007 Worlds Pairs Medalists