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Two new inductions into Skate Canada's Hall of Fame: a highlight at the 2007 national championships

A highlight at the 2007 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships will be the two new inductions into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame: ten-time Canadian Ice Dance Champions and 2003 World Champions Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, will be inducted into the athlete category, and renowned coach and choreographer Bernard Ford will be inducted into the builder category (coach). All were positive influences for ice dance in Canada and around the world.

“This is a real honour for me, and it is a very big surprise,” said Bourne. “It’s very flattering to receive such a recognition. I am very excited. When I heard that Bernard Ford was also being inducted, I thought that we’re (Bourne and Kraatz) in very good company.”

“I was really surprised to be nominated because we only retired three seasons ago, so I was surprised that it happened so quickly,” said Kraatz. “Being inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame definitely means a lot because we dedicated so many years to amateur skating. I want to thank Shae-Lynn for being as dedicated as myself. Without her, I wouldn’t be able to share this special moment.”

Bourne, of Chatham, Ont., and Kraatz, of Vancouver, won the senior Canadian ice dance crown from 1993-1999 and 2001-2003. After winning four bronze medals and one silver medal at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships, Bourne and Kraatz became the first North American ice dance team ever to capture the world championship title at the 2003 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Bourne and Kraatz are three-time Olympians. They placed 10th in their first time competing at the Games in 1994, and finished just off the podium in fourth in both 1998 and 2002.

Bourne and Kraatz, who retired from eligible competition after their world championship win in 2003, were also the 1992 Canadian Junior Ice Dance Champions.

Both Bourne and Kraatz have gone on to successful careers following their retirement from eligible competition. Bourne has a successful professional skating career and is coaching with her husband, Nikolai Morozov, while Kraatz and his wife, Maikki Uotila-Kraatz, are the Ice Dance Directors at the BC Centre of Excellence in Burnaby, B.C.

They are being inducted into the athlete category.

Ford, who was born in England and moved to Canada in 1971, is being inducted into the builder category (coach). A four-time British, European and world champion (1966-1969) with ice dance partner Diane Towler, Ford went on to a very successful coaching and choreography career following his retirement from amateur skating in 1969.

Ford has coached at the Olympic and world championship level, and has trained various Canadian ice dance teams to novice, junior and senior national and international titles. Among those he coached include Canadian Ice Dance Champions Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall, who, under Ford, won the national title from 1982-1986 and the bronze medal at the 1986 world championships, as well as 1990 Canadian Ice Dance Champions JoAnne Borlase and Martin Smith and 1991 Canadian Ice Dance Champions Michelle McDonald and Martin Smith.

As a choreographer, Ford has worked with numerous ice dance teams, including Canadian medallists and national team members Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

In addition to his coaching and choreography work, Ford has been influential at the ISU level. He co-invented the Cha-Cha Congelado, a compulsory dance that has been placed in the competitive syllabus of dances, and has assisted the ISU Ice Dance Technical Committee in several technical areas, including the production of teaching material for Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean’s new compulsory dance, the Rhumba D’Amour.

Click here for the complete list of members in the Skate Canada Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will be held on the ice of the Halifax Metro Centre at the conclusion of the 2007 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships in Halifax, N.S. on Sunday January 21, 2007.

Make sure you stay for the induction ceremony if you have tickets for the final on Sunday. If you have not purchased your tickets yet, click here for ticket information.