1995 Worlds Dance FD (BBC) | Grishuk-Platov defend title; Finns' amateur swansong gets silver

HD format, British coverage (commentators: Alan Weeks, Barry Davies, Sue Barker, Robin Cousins) 1995 World Figure Skating Championships (National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, UK). Ice dance - free dance, performances shown here marked with (^) below: Rank Name Nation TFP CD1 CD2 OD FD^ 1 Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov Russia 2 1 1 1 1^ 2 Susanna Rahkamo / Petri Kokko Finland 4 2 2 2 2^ 3 Sophie Moniotte / Pascal Lavanchy France 6 3 3 3 3^ 4 Shae-Lynn Bourne / Victor Kraatz Canada 8.2 5 4 4 4^ 5 Anjelika Krylova / Oleg Ovsyannikov Russia 9.8 4 5 5 5^ I've previously posted the Australian broadcast in various iterations, which used the BBC as originating. So this is like an extended play. ---------------------------- [from U.S. Skating Magazine, excerpts - words by by P. K. Robertson] DANCE - Normally one would expect the World Champions in ice dancing to have little trouble defending their title. This year, however, Oksana Gritschuk and Evgeny Platov of Russia were by no means certain to repeat. Since they had not competed all season due to Platov's knee injury, their new programs had not yet been subjected to the judges' scrutiny. Set to music from the film "Stepping Out," their free dance was based entirely on an attempt to translate tap dancing to the ice. Full of difficulty, it was perhaps more impressive than exciting. Certainly the audience reaction was somewhat muted, but all nine judges awarded first-place marks, giving this team their second gold medal in as many years. "This medal is special because we are going professional, and this will be our last World Championship," Platov said. "This is a good feeling." The European Champions Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko of Finland won the silver medals. The admittedly partisan crowd also preferred their free dance, performed to a medley of Beatles tunes. "It was our last performance as amateur skaters, and we wanted to take the moment and keep it in our memories forever," Rahkamo said. Moniotte and Lavanchy, in contrast, were a little disappointing... Their blues free dance seemed less original and innovative than the others and, although well skated, failed to leave a strong impression. Unlike the other medal-winning couples, these two plan to continue amateur competition and would have to be considered the favorites for 1996. ---------------------------- #figureskating #フィギュアスケート #eiskunstlauf #фигурноекатание #피겨스케이팅 #pattinaggioartistico #patinageartistique #icedance special thanks to Kim!