(November 27, 2005)

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir capped off their ISU Junior Grand Prix season with a gold medal at the 2005 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.

The young ice dancing duo have had a tremendous season on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, winning two gold medals, one in Montreal and the other in Canillo, Andorra, which qualified them for the Junior Grand Prix Final for the second year in a row. They won silver at last year's Final.

Standing in first after the compulsory dance and the original dance, Virtue and Moir, the 2005 world junior silver medalists, delivered another solid free dance, placing first in the final portion of the competition to win the gold medal.

Skating to Malaguena, Virtue and Moir performed a technically difficult dance that featured strong edges and intricate footwork. Their presentation was also outstanding.

Virtue and Moir earned 36.66 points for technical elements and 42.92 for program components, bringing their total for the free skate to 79.58. Added to their point total from the compulsory and original dances, Virtue and Moir had 168.47 points overall.

Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White were second with 160.85 points, while the Italian team of Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte finished third with 159.49.

The men's event also concluded on Saturday, with Canada's Patrick Chan moving up from ninth after the short program to place third in the free skate and finishing fifth overall.

Chan, the 2005 Canadian Junior Men's Champion, performed well in the free skate, completing a number of difficult triple jumps, including a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, a triple Lutz-double toe loop-double loop combination and another triple Lutz later on in the program.

The judges awarded 58.06 points to Chan for technical elements and 52.82 points for program components, giving him a total of 110.88 for the free skate.

His overall competition score was 154.60, placing him fifth. This was Chan's first trip to the Junior Grand Prix Final and first season competing on the Junior Grand Prix circuit.

Japan's Takahiko Kozuka was first with 178.72 points. Two American skaters, Austin Kanallakan and Geoffrey Varner, were second and third, respectively.

Skate Canada congratulates Virtue, Moir and Chan for their accomplishments this weekend at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.