2003 World Figure Skating Championships

28 March

Free Dance

Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali (ITA), 2003 National Champions
Scali: The program was good, we had a little problem with our balance on the spin so I just put down my foot but it was just a small mistake and the rest of the program was  perfect.  The twizzle was good, everything was good.  The public really enjoyed this especially the diagonal steps.  (the rubber chicken) This chicken was born in Canada.  We bought it because it was funny.  We took it to our first competition this season, Skate Canada and we bring it with us to every competition now. 

Megan Wing/Aaron Lowe (CAN), 2002 Four Continents bronze medalists
Wing:  I hurt my left knee Wednesday during a warm up off the ice.  It felt very good to be able to skate at all in a big competition.  We appreciate it even more since it was a  little iffy whether we were going to be able to start at all. It feels really good.  It  is nice to be back after a couple of year off.

Lowe:  Megan is the strongest girl in this competition.  She has been getting 10 to 12 needles every day before practice.   For her to skate aw sell a she did tonight… I’m just very happy.  This was the best performance we’ve done all season.

Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin (RUS), 2003 World Junior Champions
Domnina: I preferred the audience at Europeans in Malmoe, they were clapping more and louder. We don’t yet have any plans for the new season, there was just no time to think of that.

Shabalin: This was our first season together and for both of us the most successful so far. We are very pleased with it. We had a little mistake on the spin, we rushed into it. We got some deductions for that. (On switching between junior and senior events) It was a bit difficult because of the different Compulsory Dances. We had to prepare different ones for each competition. And it was also a bit hard psychologically.

Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA), 2003 Four Continents silver medalists
Belbin: (On the audience response) You have no idea how much it helps us to hear them.  It’s a very demanding program and just to know that we are connecting with them like that it really pushes us right to the end.  We had a great time and we hope that they did too.  This was the icing on the cake.  To have it end on such a high note for us was very rewarding.

Agosto: Awesome, We really take all the energy they have to give and it makes it so much easier for us to pour ourselves into it, it is so much fun.  It felt smooth to us, felt like we were right on top of it and kept our flow pretty well so we are really happy with it.

Marie-F. Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon (CAN), 2001 Four Continents bronze medalists
Dubreuil:  So many things have happened in a few months it’s hard to believe.  I need time to look back on the season.

Lauzon:  We’re hoping nest year will be our big jump in the rankings.  We’ve been in forth at nationals for four years before we actually won. 

Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder (FRA), 2003 National Champions
Delobel:  It was really good for us, our last free dance of the season, the best, we did everything.  We skated really good and we are happy.  The audience went so crazy for the Americans but they were great for us also. 

Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovski  (ISR), 2002 World bronze medalists
Chait:  (On going back to the Paganini program) We decided to change our program after the Grand Prix Final.  The judges thought our program was good but the music was too heavy for a public audience.  We talked it over with our coach and he agreed.  It has been a tough season.  We learned a lot this year and are very happy we skated well here in all three events.

Saknovski:  We changed our program because we wanted something new.  Every team here has been through one or two tough seasons.  We want to skate three more years and prove ourselves.  We want a medal.

Naomi Lang/Peter Tchernyshev (USA), 2002 Four Continents Champions

Lang: I gave it just everything.  It’s been an emotional season.  It hasn’t been that long of a season for us, just three competitions but it feels like three years.  We’ve been especially this year under so much stress with Tanith and Ben and really running after us.  Everything happens for a reason but it is so good that the U.S. has two teams in the top ten.

Tchernyshev:  I just want to say I’m so proud of my partner, she gave it all today when it was needed.

Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz (CAN), 2002 World silver medalists
Bourne:  (First Canadian world ice dance champions):  I need to be pinched, it’s so hard to believe.  We are so glad we stayed and did this year, it was well worth it.  It was our best year ever and I still don’t think it has completely hit me that we are actually world champions, unbelievable.   The emotions just take over naturally, you can’t control that, we just wanted to skate great.  Thank you Canada.  It’s been a great ride.

Kraatz: I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet, it is one of those things that will come later down the road.  We have to thank (the late) Rob (McCall) and Tracy (Wilson) got ice dancing in the forefront in North America.  Tonight is our night so I am just very happy.  I had to keep telling myself tunnel vision, just stay focused.

Elena Grushina/Ruslan Goncharov (UKR), 2002 Winners of 3 Grand Prix events
Grushina:   Tonight’s performance was okay.  Practice here was good.  The battle for third place with the Bulgarians and Navka and Kostomarov did not affect us or the way we practiced this season. 

Goncharov: It is difficult for us to assess a program until we see it on TV.  (The retirement of other couples) will not affect us.  We will work the same.

Irina Lobacheva/Ilia Averbukh (RUS), 2003 European & 2002 World Champions
Averbukh: Of course, the Canadian couple is very popular here in America, and the audience has waited a long time for them to win this gold medal. But in spite of the antagonism, I think we were able to draw part of the audience on our side with our performance. I’m very happy with the performance. We are not happy with the result, obviously. It was a political decision. It was like a reward for a long career. We lost today. For us, it was important to come here and to overcome ourselves. We did not want to run away from it.

Albena Denkova/Maxim Staviski (BUL), 2003 European silver medalists
Staviski: I have so many emotions right now. When the Canadians and Ilia (Averbukh) switched places, I was afraid that it would happen to us as well. I watched Roman (Kostomarov) skate, and they skated well, and he is my friend. To wait for the result is much harder than to skate! Whoever has the stronger nerves wins. It was hard for us to go out and skate. It was so loud in the arena, and we didn’t know if we should start or not. (On winning the first figure skating medal at Worlds for Bulgaria) I can’t imagine how the reactions in Bulgaria will be.

Tatiana Navka/Roman Kostomarov (RUS), 2003 European bronze medalists
The couple declined to comment.