Dance Bridesmaids Once More

The music for their free dance seemed to suggest the right finish.
At Last, Etta James once sang. And it was a phrase Canadian skating fans hoped to use when Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon were crowned ice dance champions at the world championships in Tokyo.
Instead, it's this again ... not just yet.
For the second straight year, the five-time Canadian champs came up a whisker short in their bid for the world gold. Last year in Calgary, Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria got them by a scant 0.45 points.
Earlier today in Tokyo, it was another close call. When the final results were tabulated after a thrilling free dance final, Stenkova and Staviski were world champs again with 201.61 points. Right behind with 200.46 were the Canadian bridesmaids, who led after the compulsories but slipped behind after Thursday's original dance.
“We have a saying: 'If you aim for the moon and miss, you'll end up with the stars,' ” Lauzon told reporters afterward. “We didn't win but we still have our silver medal and I think we'll be very happy thinking about it (Saturday).”
It was likely the last great duel between these two teams — Denkova and Staviski have indicated they will now retire. Will Dubreuil and Lauzon, both now in their 30s, do the same? Bet on the answer not coming for a few months yet. But don't wager too much that the answer will be yes.
If the classy couple does call it quits, the future of Canadian ice dance appears to be in very capable hands. Worlds rookies Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir showed they're on the verge of contending for medals by placing an impressive sixth, with a flair that suggested they could be future champions someday soon.
The London, Ont., area couple, which became Canada's first-ever world junior ice dance champions in 2006, are clearly on the fast track. Former world champions Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz finished 14th in their worlds debut; Dubreuil and Lauzon were 10th.
“We definitely want to be competitive with the top teams in the world over the next few years,” said Moir, 19 (Virtue is 17). “We're hoping next year to push the envelope and get into that last group.”
Americans Tanith Belbin (originally from Kingston, Ont.) and Ben Agosto were fortunate bronze medallists after a free dance that included two major errors.
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Kitchener, Ont., finished 20th.
The efforts of the top two Canadian entries again secured three ice dance berths for the 2008 worlds in Sweden, which no doubt brought cheers from a hungry group of young teams eager to make their own debut on the big stage.
It should be some fight next year in Vancouver, to be sure.