French duo take ice dance lead at worlds
GOTHENBURG, Sweden (AFP) — French pair Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder hold the lead in the ice dance world championships after the compulsory section of the competition in Gothenburg on Tuesday.
The 2007 European champions produced a sparkling display to an Argentine tango as they built a lead of over five points on Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir while the Russian team of Jana Khokhloa and Sergei Novotski lie third.
The American champions Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto who are expected to challenge for the gold after finishing third in 2007 suffered a major disappointment when Belbin fell which left them trailing in fifth just behind the Italian pair of Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali.
"I don't know what happened, it's just a freak accident which has never happened before," explained Belbin.
"It's always easier to come from behind and to skate with nothing to lose. I think we have absolutely nothing to lose after what happened here," she continued.
Delobel said she was happy with their lead but refused to write off her rivals and said the American's could still get back amongst the medals.
"Sure, they lost points but there can always be a turnaround in the situation. Mistakes can happen very quickly even if falls are rare in ice dance and it happened to us at the 2006 European championships in Lyon".
"Five points is a good advantage and if we skate without mistakes for the rest of the competition we can do it but we can't forget about our opponents."
The next stage in the competition is set for Thursday with the original dance.
