More than 400 skaters from 16 countries came to London, as well as more than 100 coaches, officials and support personnel as the world’s best synchronized skating teams took to the ice at John Labatt Centre for two days of competition to determine the 2007 world champions. Canada last held the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in 2003 in Ottawa, where team Canada 1 captured the bronze medal. The number of entries for each country is determined by the previous year's championship results. Leaders in the sport include Finland, Sweden, U.S., Russia and Canada. Downtown London Ontario was hopping Saturday morning as many of the 6000 plus ticket holders made their way to the John Labatt Centre to watch the final practices before competition. Once the competition got underway in the afternoon, the crowd expressed their approval and support for all teams, regardless of their country of origin, by encouraging all skaters and applauding teams for the 'wow factor' in unique lifts and daring maneuvers. The ice was their stage, and all twenty-one teams put their long program out there for the world to enjoy. The in-venue commentator kept the audience engaged in synchro trivia, and big red beach balls were circulated throughout the building while the music during the floods contributed to the excitement. The crowd responded with triumphant cheering, working the 'bam bams' and dancing about in their country's colours. At times the support was deafening. First time teams to Worlds, Team Sweden 2 (Team Boomberang), Team Russia 2 (Tatarstan) and Team Japan more than appreciated the crowd's support. Team Japan was so excited after their great skate; they huddled at centre ice and came out waving to crowd. Their way of saying, "thanks for the support". What an emotional high for the Jingu Ice Messengers. There was no doubt going into the program, that Team Sweden 1 was the favourite to win the gold. This was reflected in the final scoring. To finish over 20 points higher than all the other teams was truly remarkable, and proved that this Swedish team was clearly the best in the world. The Swedish formula for success? Hard work, a coach (Andrea Dohany) that knows synchro and a true love of the sport as expressed by Swedish team member, Magdelena Sievertsson. "It is pure love," she reported at the press conference after the competition. Team USA 2, after scoring a 69.75 in the short program, was sitting comfortably in third. They launched themselves into their "Black Magic Woman" routine. "It was like a switch that had flipped, and it seemed to switch on for all of us," stated U.S. skater Ashley Diederich. This momentum won the first medal at Worlds for Team USA 2 (Miami University). Winning the bronze medal made history for Team Canada 1 (Nexxice). A first medal for this team that trains out of the Burlington Skating Centre & the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club. Denver Flintoff, skater from Team Canada 1 told reporters that the tremendous noise and support from the local crowd, "definitely had an impact on how we skated, and we put that energy into our program." Their "Edward Scissorhands" program seemed to calm the crowd into a quiet trance with fluid and graceful movements. Placing sixth overall was Team Canada II, Les Suprêmes. Les Suprêmes, who were seventh in the short program, skated a very strong free skate that brought the John Labatt Centre crowd to its feet. The team was sixth in the free skate to finish the event with a total score of 189.68, placing Canada II sixth overall. All in all this was an evening of outstanding synchronized skating abilities. This team discipline of figure skating truly is making its mark in the world. In a farewell comment by International Skating Union Representative Mr. Courtney Jones, OBE he congratulated Skate Canada and Canadian fans for an unforgettable event and is now wondering how to get all the supporters to Hungary for the 2008 World Synchronized Skating Championships.
