WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND-UP

In the ladies' competition there was a lot of butt-ice collisions and in the end, the not-very-exciting but always reliable Miki Ando of Japan won the World Championship for the second time as a result of her very steady performance. The exquisite YuNa Kim of South Korea placed second. Our ladies didn't do very well, although Alissa Czisney did manage to eke out a 5th place finish. When is this young woman going to understand how remarkably talented she is and quit skating with a look of bewilderment on her face. Yes, dear, you DO deserve to be there! Miki's victory was a big shot in the arm for the beleagured nation of Japan.

THE BIG NEWS, the absolutely fantastic news is that Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States made history by becoming the first American ice dancers to EVER win the World Championship. And they did it by outskating in every way their off ice friends and on ice rivals, Virtue and Moir of Canada. The real thrill was the fact that there were TWO American pairs on the medal stand, since the team of Alex and Maia Shibutani of Canton, Michigan, trained by the same coaches as Meryl and Charlie and Tessa and Scott and yet skating in a completely different style than their training mates, placed third in the world in their FIRST World Championships. This brother and sister team are the real deal. They have the edges, the musicality, and the grace and strength to stand them well in coming years! You'll continue to hear good things about all three of these couples since they all are planning - at the moment - to stay in competition until the Olympics in Russia, three years hence.

All in all, it was a great championships.