Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform their short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ontario on Thursday, March 14, 2013. (DEREK RUTTAN/QMI AGENCY)
This town may be known as The Forest City, but it’s gold, silver and bronze on the minds of Canadian figure skaters at the world figure skating championships this week.
Canada has a long and proud history in figure skating — on Friday night Toronto’s Patrick Chan became the third Canadian to win a third gold medal in men’s singles — but it appears as though the sport is heading into a real golden age in this country.
For the first time in history, Canadian skaters could win medals in all four disciplines at the worlds. Already, Canada has won a bronze in the pairs at Budweiser Gardens — Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford on Friday afternoon and later Chan’s gold, his third straight world crown. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C. finished fifth. On Saturday, the dance team of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the 2010 Olympic champions, are almost a sure bet for a medal (they are sitting in second behind American rivals Meryl Davis and Charlie White heading into the freeskate). As well, Kaetlyn Osmond, of Marystown, NL, has a shot to move up one spot and win a medal in ladies singles. The Edmonton based skater is currently in fourth. Barring a complete meltdown, at the very least Canada will win medals in three disciplines in London — the first time since 2009.
