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Crowd pleasers Canadians Sale, Pelletier team to win pairs crown
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Jamie Sale had been looking for some kind of sign all week. Then, as she and David Pelletier sat outside having juice Wednesday morning, it came to her. Literally. Barbara Underhill, who won the 1984 pairs title with Paul Martini, walked around the corner. "It was too weird," Sale said. "As I was talking to her, I got the weirdest feeling in my stomach." It's going to take a while for her stomach to settle down now. Sale and Pelletier gave the Canadian crowd what it was craving Wednesday night, winning the pairs title in the World Figure Skating Championships. In only their third season together, Sale and Pelletier won all but one of their competitions and will go to the Salt Lake City Olympics as the favorite for gold. "This is the best day of my life," Pelletier said. When they saw their marks -- all 5.9s for artistry except one 5.8 -- Sale jumped up and thrust her fists in the air. It took another few moments to realize they were in first, and when they did, Sale's mouth dropped open, she put her hands on the side of her head and said over and over, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" "As a kid growing up in skating, you watch your idols and you say to your parents, 'I'd love to be there,' or 'I'd love to be like them,' " she said. "But when you're actually competing, you don't really see it. "I just couldn't help it. The emotions just poured out." Two-time world champions Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze finished second, the third time they've lost to Sale and Pelletier this year. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China, silver medalists the past two years, were third. "Inside, I know I skated how I can, and it was not bad skating," Sikharulidze said. "I don't think we lost, we're just in second place. That's it." U.S. champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman were seventh after a program marked by uncharacteristic mistakes. Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, skating even though Scott pulled a hip flexor during warmups, were 11th. Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis of France, bronze medalists last year, withdrew because Bernadis has a severely torn right abdominal muscle. He was injured during warmups for Monday's short program, and can't skate for a month. Skating to Tristan and Isolde, Sale and Pelletier put on a demonstration of what pairs skating should be. No gimmicks or cheap tricks, just beautiful skating. Their combination lift was breathtaking. They flew across the ice, never losing their speed even as he twisted her high above the ice in several intricate and unusual positions. Their unison was equally impressive. On their side-by-side spins, they moved totally as one, almost as if they were connected. Their only error was her singling an axel, but some of the judges might not have seen it because their view was blocked by his body. The crowd was on its feet before their music stopped, and Sale doubled over, overcome with emotion. Pelletier skated over and hugged her, and she finally stood up, a huge smile on her face. She had good reason to smile, because the program was more than enough to top Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze, silver medalists in the Nagano Olympics. The Russians missed last year's worlds after she tested positive for a banned substance in the European championships, which she said came from cold medicine. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze's program to a Charlie Chaplin medley was cute and playful, a departure from their usual classical, serious programs. They had their usual speed and technical difficulty. But it was their Oscar-worthy portrayal of Charlie Chaplin's endearing quirkiness that won them the silver medal. As Sikharulidze duck-stepped around a coy Berezhnaya, you could almost see Chaplin; all that was missing was the cane and the bowler. The audience laughed, and the judges got a kick out of the program, too, giving them six 5.9s for artistry and three 5.8s. That topped Shen and Zhao, even though the Chinese had higher technical marks. The Chinese have the difficult tricks -- they could easily do quadruple throw jumps -- but they lack polish. The American pairs needed a combined placement of no worse than 13 to get a third U.S. team for Salt Lake. They looked in good shape after Abitbol and Bernadis withdrew, but both teams collapsed. Normally so consistently solid, Ina fell on their triple toe loops and again on their throw triple salchow. Scott pulled her right hip flexor during the warmups and couldn't get any rotation on her jumps, crashing three times. "It was hard this year fighting for two spots," Ina said. "We're so much capable of more than we did tonight, it hurts to see us skating the way we did."
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