(March 23, 2007)

The two-time world silver medallists in the kiss and cry in Tokyo

Five-time Canadian Ice Dance Champions Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon are now two-time world silver medallists.

Dubreuil and Lauzon skated an outstanding free dance at the 2007 world championships on Friday to Etta James’ At Last and were just over a point away from the gold medal, which was won by the 2006 world champions Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, of Bulgaria.

The Canadian Champions, who wowed the sold out Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium with their breathtaking lifts and exquisite footwork, were pleased with their performances this week.

“We skated with a lot of love and joy, and we just felt really free out there, which felt great,” said Dubreuil. “This championship has been great for us. It was our first world championships coming in as medallists from last year, so being the chased skater instead of the one doing the chasing was a little bit different, but it was a great experience.”

Placing sixth overall in their first senior world championships were Canadian silver medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. The 2006 world junior champions made a climb up the standings, finishing ninth in the compulsory dance and sixth in both the original dance and the free dance to finish sixth overall with a total score of 183.94.

Virtue and Moir were also impressive with a dazzling free skate.

“It was certainly a good time to get our personal best,” said Moir on achieving a new international personal best score in the free dance. “It was a harder run through than usual. Maybe it was because of the pressure. We really wanted to make a splash on the senior circuit, and hopefully we have made a great impression.”

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, the Canadian bronze medallists, moved up the standings after the free dance. Weaver and Poje, who have only been together since July 2006 and have already won a bronze medal at the recent world junior championships, were 18th in the compulsory dance, 23rd in the original dance and 20th in the free dance to finish 20th overall with a total of 140.14 points.

This was also Weaver and Poje’s first time competing at the senior world championships.

“We’re so excited and proud of how far we’ve come in such a short time,” said Weaver. “I don’t think we could have skated our free dance better. It was definitely a highlight for us.”

Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto won the bronze medal, earning a total score of 195.43.

The media interviews Joannie Rochette in the media mixed zone after the short program		Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje after the free dance		Marie-France Dubreuil and Maxim Staviski strike a pose after the free dance
Mira Leung with Canadian team leader Debbi Wilkes		A happy Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir pose for a photo with coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva