Some times a competition gives you special moments to savor and this Worlds 2006 Free Dance did here in Calgary.  The French Canadians Free Dance in this competition to the music of "Somewhere in Time" soundtrack is the most memorable both for their execution of the program as the final competitors of the night at home and their efforts to get back to competition after their accident.  "This program was the masterpiece of our career. It describes the best the passion we have for each other and for the sport", said Dubreuil.

 She said further of her world experience, "I'm just very thrilled at the work we've done the past four weeks and Patrice has been really, really strong and helped me through this," she said. "I have so many people I need to share this with. We didn't do it by ourselves. I was in a thousand little pieces four weeks ago."

 She reminded the press of the difficulties they faced to reach this moment. Dubreuil said, "As everybody knows, four weeks ago I was in a wheel chair in Italy. To be here today and to skate as strong as we did with very little practice on the ice, because we started skating only two weeks ago. The two weeks we skated were quite painful. We made it through because we're a strong couple. The way we skated tonight was memorable, for me, because these four weeks were hard. It makes this medal and this skate even more special for us."

 Bulgarians Albena Denkova & Maxim Staviski skated their "Adagio" by Tomasini Albinoni (arrangement by Alex Goldstein) with good strength and speed and received third place in the Free Dance but first overall to become world champions for the first time and the first for Bulgaria.  They skated this program more dynamically at the 2006 Olympics but there their program was 5th in the standings.  Their previous personal best for the Free Dance with 108.03 points took place at the 2003 Trophee Lalique competition. 

  "I don't believe it yet. We have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Finally when it's here and we are the World Champions, I don't know what to say. We're very, very happy and we worked for this very hard. We skated very well at the Olympics. This (the placement) was the decision of the judges. We're very pleased that they looked differently at us and our program here in Calgary and we got the gold medals," said Denkova.

 This is their seventh trip to the world championships. They previously medaled in 2003 (bronze) and 2004 (silver) but were 5th last year and at the Olympics.  She was ill for the 2005 World championships.   "This is very important for our country and for the development of figure skating in Bulgaria. I think everybody is celebrating now in Bulgaria", Denkova said.

 Their combined points total was 199.14 and they received $67,500 US prize money as the champions. Their Free Dance, garnishing 99.74 points, was only third in the Free Skate standings.  The difference is placement was a mere .45 of a point in their favor.   The difference came in their Program Component marks in their Free Dance plus their lead from the previous competition phases.  "I think our victory will boost the alcohol sales in Bulgaria.  We didn't dream about becoming it (becoming world champions), we worked hard for it," said Staviski.

 Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon of Canada who train in Lyon, France since 2002.  Their previous personal best for a Free Dance was 107.88 points at 2003 Trophee Lalique and their best total score was 203.69 from the 2004 Skate Canada competition

 Their previous best ranking at the world championships was 7th (2005) and this is their seventh world championship.  They have been competing as a team since 1995 and this silver medal earned them $40,000 US.  They will make a decision this summer as to whether they will compete next season.  They always take it one year at a time according to Lauzon.

 This program music played too loudly in the arena tonight but perhaps it was compensation for the loud Canadian crowd.  The program utilizes three John Barry selections, "The Journey Back in Time", "A Day Together" and "Theme from Somewhere in Time" from the movie soundtrack. 

 This is the dance they were unable to skate at the Olympic Games but now showcased it here in Calgary.  Canadian David Wilson choreographed this Free Dance for them. 

"A lot of love and support and our skating and our passion and our love all came together all at once, and we really enjoyed those four minutes," Dubreuil said.

 The key difference in the top two team's marks was the judges favored the Canadians on the technical marks but the Bulgarian had some higher program component scores.   The Bulgarians had 8.11 for skating skills over the Canadians 7.89 and also were slightly favored for linking footwork/movement 7.96 over 7.75.  Performance went slightly to the Canadians (8.04) over the Bulgarians (8.00).  The Bulgarians had a .04 lead in timing and surprisingly a .03 lead in choreography.  The Canadians technical score was 53.07 and the Bulgarians earned 51.56.

 Americans Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto performed to the music selections of "Bulenas", "Jaleo" by Luis Winsberg, and  Esteban's "Duende", earning 99.50 for their Flamenco Free Dance.  "We made leaps and bounds this season in our skating," said Belbin, "We are proud of ourselves to be able to go this far."

 He had a slight bobble just prior to their final rotational lift.  Agosto said of his mistake, "You mean that little flourish that I decided to add spontaneously? I guess you could say the spirit of flamenco got the best of me. We really feel that we performed our elements the best that we could have. It was really wonderful for us to give three really strong performances. We feel that our compulsory was the strongest we've performed the compulsory dance and the original dance was really strong as well, and tonight was a great way to end the season." 

 They train in Canton, Michigan with Igor Shpilband & Marina Zueva.  Her mother designs her lovely costumes.  "I'm not disappointed that there's movement in ice dancing," Belbin said. "Sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes it doesn't, but I'm not disappointed that there's movement. I think that everybody was complaining when the placements didn't move. Now they're moving, so don't complain. This is an exciting time. This is a great sport to be a part of. We're honored to be a part of this ice dancing momentum."

 A newly minted U.S. citizen since end of December 2005, Belbin was still embraced by her former Country here in Calgary and the crowd was very supportive.   This is their fifth trip to the world championships, Belbin and Agosto finished with 196.74 total points and won $27,000 US. "This is the first time we have moved up with a Free Dance (at Worlds) so we are really proud of ourselves to come out and do it when it really counted and do the best we can do. Our elements were strong," said Belbin.

 Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania skated their "Phantom of the Opera" Free Dance with passion and grace.  It was one of those numbers when you wished you could set aside the element checklist and just watch them.  They were mesmerizing.

 "If we had not done this, we would have really felt like we missed something in our career.  Finishing worlds skating clean, its great.  The audience was great, (with) standing ovations. 

 This performance earned them second in the Free Dance but they placed fourth, just missing a medal again.  This time it was just by .87 of a point that they missed a bronze medal.  "We are happy to end the season with a great performance, not like at the Olympics," said Drobiazko.

 The Lithuanians tied the Americans to the hundredth (52.58) on technical marks in the Free Dance but bested them by a mere.15 in the program component scores.  The difference for the Lithuanians was their scores from the other two segments.

Their personal best score was 100.89 at the 2005 European Championships.  This talented team still does not have a world medal but they definitely entertained the crowd today.  They scored 99.75 for the Free Dance and got 195.87 overall.

They worked E. Maslennikova, Igor Shpilband and R. Sinitsyn as their coaching team this year.   "Next year we are going back to the show life.  We definitely will not compete," said Vanagas.    This result earned them a check for $19,500 US.

 France's Isabelle Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder dropped from second place with their Free Dance which portrayed a carnival in Venice to fifth place in this dance and overall

They did not have a major error, just small mistakes that added up in their point scores.

They had strong innovative lifts in this program.  "Delobel said, "We skated a very nice performance.  The program was excellent."

 They use gloves as masks as part of this program. "To do this program without masks is impossible. One time during practice the idea came to me to use our hands as masks.  It's a real challenge, because to skate with gloves is not easy," said Delobel.

 Their personal best of 110.39 points is from the 2005 World Championships. This team trains in Lyon, France.  This time they earned  98.12 points for their Free Dance and 195.44 overall, and earned  $15,000 US in prize money.

 Galit Chait & Sergei Sakhnovski of Israel skated to Maurice Ravel's  "Bolero", a gutsy choice, considering it's previous history with Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean.  Their program was choreographed by Tatiana Druchinina.  They train in Montclair, New Jersey with Alexander Zhulin  & Evgeny Platov.  "It was not a good skate in my opinion. It's been a long time that we haven't been skating for the judges," said Sakhnovski.  He is looking forward to vacation time.  Chait said, "To skate our best, that's all you can ever expect.  I don't think I ever meet my expectations."   They remained 6th overall with a 6th place finish in the Free Dance.

 Americans Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukov made their third trip to the world championships, previously finishing 12th and then 11th.  They were 14th at the Olympic Games.  Here they moved up to 9th place overall and 10th place in the Free Dance.

"It is very exciting (placing in the top 10) because we have been trying to get there the past two years," said Petukhov.

 This team found each other over the Internet in 2000.  Petukov received his US citizenship in February 2005.  They married in February 2001 and train with Nikolai Morozov, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Walter Eizzo.  "We have three wonderful coaches we're working with.  This combination for us seems to really click and we just want to keep working harder and harder on everything.  We want to improve 100 percent again next year," said Gregory. 

  They skated their Free Dance to "Romeo & Juliet" by Sergei Prokofiev and "Vanessa Mae's "Art of War".  Their previous best finish in the Free Dance was the 2003 Skate America performance.  Their previous best-combined score was at the 2005 Four Continents completion.  "From the first time we heard that music we knew that it was it," she said.  

 Petukov said of their season, "Every competition is a challenging competition. You can't say that one is easier than the other. It's like every time all over again. You get yourself together, and you push it hard."

 Together with the American medalists, they assured three teams can compete at the 2007 World Championships when their ninth place finish plus Belbin & Agosto's 3rd place is combined for 12 points since 13 points were needed.

 Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin, the third team for the United States placed in 16th with their Tango de Roxane (from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack).  Their personal best for the Free Dance program was at the 2005 World Junior Championships.  There is no pressure on this team but this trip gives them invaluable exposure for down the road.

"We are just trying to improve our programs, just trying to prove to ourselves that we can skate clean and just show a lot of energy to the crowd and the judges," said Zavozin.

 Despite only knowing for a week they were competing here, they did a credible performance, earning 78.29 points for their Free Dance and 152.97 overall.

"We were training, just hoping and praying we would go.  We were so excited to get that call.  We were jumping up and down.  It is so exciting to be on the ice with all these great competitors.  We learned a lot from skating here," Matthews said.

 Zavorzin said of competing as a U.S. citizen, "It is an amazing feeling to finally be able to represent the country I compete for in every way."

 Canada's second team of Megan Wing & Aaron Lowe skated to Prolouge (Tango Apasiodado by Astor Piazzolla, Desde e Almy by Osvaldo Pugliese, Astor Piazolla's  "Milongo for Three" and "Bialongo".

 They were 10th at last year's world championships and this is their fourth world championship.  They were handicapped today by Lowe's bad bout of food poisoning which started the night before.  He was still feeling ill for their performance.

"We are happy with how it went under the circumstances.  It wasn't our best but we were happy we were able to finish," said Wing.  She practiced alone prior to the competition/

 She made a mistake on their twizzles.  "It was me.  I did one too many rotations because I was watching him too much," said Wing.  She added, "It was great skating in Canada. The crowd was wild."

 Nora Hoffmann of Hungary injured her back and arm during warm-ups for the Free Dance when a Japanese couple collided with her Friday.  She and her partner Attila Elek were first to skate and the referee would not grant a delay until later in the group.  She needed five stitches in her elbow.  "We really wanted to skate our Free Dance and she was so brave to do it, "said Elek.

 At the time of the accident the Hungarian couple were doing backwards twizzles while Nozomi Watanabe & Akiyuki were in the midst of a lift as they approached them.   Watanabe's skate hit Hoffman in the back and elbow. "There was no time on the warm-up to apologize but we will certainly do that now," said Watanabe.

 The Hungarians were allowed just two minutes from when their name was called to skate.  They considered withdrawing but did compete.  

 They appeared just seconds before the two minutes were due to be up, with the crowd cheering.  She said, "The crowd was very nice and they pushed me through the Free Dance."

 The accident did keep them from doing their best. "I forgot some of the steps, I was in so much pain," Hoffmann said.  Yes, it affected our performance," Elek added.  They lost a placement, finishing 18th in the Free Dance and overall.  The Japanese team finished just ahead of them.