Post by Admin on Apr 16, 2015 20:32:10 GMT
The sound of the 8,000 fans in Hamilton's First Ontario Center was deafening as the Canadian teams took the ice on Saturday. Team Canada 1 (Nexxice from Burlington, Ont.) and Team Canada 2 (Les Supremes from St. Leonard, Que.) joined the ranks of the 23 other teams looking for podium hardware at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships. Nexxice headed to the free program in the lead, albeit a slim lead; only 2/3 of a point ahead of defending champions Team Finland 1 (Marigold Ice Unity).
Since the first world championships for synchronized skating were held in 2000, the only non-Scandinavian team to win the title was Nexxice, and that was in 2009. The team has been so close to the top for the last three years, coming away with silver worlds medals on each occasion. Goosebumps for me are few and far between in skating. I am often so focused on the "what" and "how" that skaters are doing, that the way I experience a performance is almost clinical.
Nexxice's free program to Rhapsody in Blue was a notable exception. It was as beautiful a program as I have ever seen in synchro; lyrical, graceful and uplifting. For me, the four and half minute program seemed like it was over in a blink – my personal "outstanding performance benchmark." Nexxice skated first in the final group and would have to wait for the final four teams to skate. Their biggest threat, Marigold Ice Unity, also skated well and in the rarest of scenarios, posted a tie score with Nexxice. Both teams earned 143.67 but the Finns earned slightly more (.66) in the program components score, which includes choreography, skating skills and the like, and that broke the tie.
If ever there was an example that proved once again that the lead established in the short program, however small, can make all the difference. Nexxice took their second world title with a score of 214.73 while Marigold Ice Unity had to settle for silver with 214.06. Team Russia 1 (Paradise, from St. Petersburg), came third, becoming the first Russian team to earn a world medal.
