to move up and down
Cramping their style: Canada’s two-time world ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir lost to American rivals Meryl Davis and Charlie White for the second consecutive competition at the Four Continents championships on Sunday.
Virtue and Moir had a strong start to their sizzling “Carmen” program, but had to stop about three minutes in when Virtue felt a cramp in her leg. The Canadians were able to resume a couple of minutes later.
“I just had some cramp in my legs to deal with. I’m glad we collected ourselves and kept pushing through the program,” Virtue said. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
Our obsession with figure skating continues at the U.S. championships: Agnes Zawadzki competes in the Ladies Short Program during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
This one is for all the marbles: Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir sit in second place heading into Saturday at the Grand Prix figure skating final in Russia after their performance on Friday.
Other photos: Japan’s Akiko Suzuki performs during her women’s short program, but at right, Japan’s Mao Asada leads. (Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images and YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images)
FLASHY: Elena Ilinykh (R) and Nikita Katsalapov (L) of Russia perform during their short ice dance event in the NHK Trophy, the last leg of the six-stage ISU figure skating Grand Prix series. (Photo: AFP PHOTO/Toru YAMANAKA)
BOTTOM: Mao Asada of Japan performs during women’s short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
(Source: nationalpost.com)
Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko of Russia perform in the ice dance free dance at the Trophee Eric Bompard Grand Prix event at Bercy arena in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. (Photo: Francois Mori/The Associated Press)
Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., were the ice dance victors at the Rostelecom Cup on Saturday.
Virtue and Moir also dominated with a season-best 173.99 points. It is the third time in four seasons that the Canadians have won the maximum two Grand Prix in a season.
“It was great, a really solid performance for us,” said Virtue. “From beginning until the end there was a little bit more intensity in every movement. Our goal this year was not to repeat any element we’ve done in the past; every lift, footwork and spin is new. That’s risky in ice dancing and at this point in the year we have to stay focused on the big goal and continue building to the worlds.”
Canada’s golden couple: Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir
Let’s make a bet, I suggest to Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. How many people will notice them if they walk down the street in downtown Toronto?
“Nobody,” says Moir, from Ilderton, Ont., with a snarky grin. “How many people do you think?”
At least a half dozen should stop, smile and say something, I think. They are walking to the Eaton Centre shopping mall. It is sunny and it is lunchtime.
“It should be zero to three,” says Virtue, from London, Ont., trying to figure out the terms. “No, zero to two people.”
It is unclear what the terms are, and it is unfair to Virtue and Moir. After winning the gold medal in ice dancing at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, their faces were everywhere. It felt like they belonged to Canadians. (Photos: Peter J. Thompson/National Post, Reuters)
Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir get a little tangled up during the free dance event of the World Team Trophy 2012 figure skating competition. (Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/ Getty Images)
Second-place showings from Patrick Chan and ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir on Thursday have Canada sitting fourth following the opening day of the ISU World Team Trophy figure skating event in Tokyo.
Chan, the two-time reigning men’s world champion from Toronto, skated a season-best short program despite his fall on a triple Axel. He finished with 89.81 points, well back of world silver medallist Daisuke Takahashi of Japan, who set a world-record 94.00 in the short. Jeremy Abbott of the U.S. is third with 86.98.
Ice dance champions Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue of Canada perform during the exhibition gala event at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Nice April 1, 2012.
Photo: Vincent Kessler/Reuters
