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r__._____ _.W. .W-v w W.fi,w so- W 7 w_. ___~. I c I j * ZO'WAI'i‘KlUU(’HRUlelk' Wednesday. laundry :U 2010 An Olympic dream denied I O O I O Judges call has local we dancers Slttlng on the suielmesfor Vancouver Winter Games I By 805 mec But the battle for second was much clos» ‘ t t w ., Chronicle Sta]? . er with the two teams separated by hun- ,. ' ’ dreths of a point heading into the free dance ‘ 0 3 t was written all over Kaitlyn Weaver's final. . O . . Iiace as the judges scores flashed up on Crone and Poirier went first in the final . 3 the screen after the final day of competi- head-to-head, and it looked like the nerves 1" 0 tion in ice dance at the Canadian figure skat- got to them when Crone fell during 8 fl . ing championships, required element called a twiule. . i Q . ‘ ‘ We're not going to the Olympics. It's unheard of to fall in ice dance and . . _ Her face went from elation, after receiv- recover a top podium placing. And the we '5 ing a rousing standing ovation from the Toronto duo seemed to understand that as em ‘ .4 \ j V ' crowd. to devastation and heartbreak all in a they huddled in a corner of the John labatt ' ‘ . g '3 J t matter ofminutes. Centre over what might have been a missed a I E. j‘z . . . “I could have done a lot worse things," opportunity. , it ~,‘ ’ . ‘ t} j, ‘ ‘ said Weaver speaking to how raw her emoâ€" All that Weaver and Poje had to do was r‘ l ' p. . 9A tions were at that moment caught on skate a clean program and deliver on what , ' f g '5 r 3' I national TV. “Unfortunately it‘s the judges' has been a promising season for the duo _ . fl 1: ‘ opinion that matters and we have to respect that included their first international medal. » i ‘ that. a bronze at the HomeSense Skate Canada ' t ' i - g r ‘ “For us it was comforting to feel that the international event held at the Kitchener 5. . .3 .. a audience was behind us during the entire Memorial Auditorium in November. . 7 y 9'. ' _ ._ program." They seemed to have seized that if , I i-‘ a “P ’ J Her partner Andrew Pole could only bury moment, delivering a crowd-pleasing num- -, _ ‘ ,-. ' ° ‘ his head in his hands when he realized their ber blemished only by a slight stumble by ‘ ' ”#5 V Olympic dreams had been dashed by 0.32 of Pole on a sideâ€"by-side element. ' I); ~â€"_ a point. The duo celebrated and so did the crowd »’ ' k _ ‘1 .. _; . , at the John Laban Centre. . 1‘3 --) '1':“"" " - s flaufi. Then came the scores, How could this A it ‘t r " _ ~ happen? " if", y f EJ " The CBC cut to commercials as boos - ' a 1 _ . l' r . 3 . ‘ ‘ q rained down from the crowd and onto the ‘ ' a; u; .« -- ’ ”WEE ’9, judges. I I i " If ‘ r ,' 1‘ t” . *‘- ~ “The audience has a reaction to the 1 'EJ' ? ‘ lit Q? 1" judges marks as well." said Weaver. “But at ‘ ' H :1" 1 ~~ £4- £433? .4 least they supported us which made us feel a M i... " Â¥ . . little bit better.‘ ‘ _ N g 2‘" . f ‘ - {ma ' How could the judges overlook the obvi- L‘ ‘ . f '. g}, r. if A . ous gafie and put Crone and Poirier on the . 3 g‘ ‘ ' ' ‘ plane to Vancouver? _ ,’. ‘ . ‘ Judging controversy has been nothing "i "v I r ‘ " ' .. 441' ‘, new to figure skating. One only has to look 7 ' ' ‘ at the most glaring example of Jamie Sale 7' t u and David Pelletier at the Salt lake City \Nfin- g ter Olympics in 2002. "‘ 5 . it was left to the CBC broadcasting crew ‘ ofTracy Wilson, and Olympic bronze medalâ€" , ' list in ice dancing at the Calgary Games in - . f L 1988, and Kurt Browning. a four-time men‘s \ . l } world champion. L I l Their explanations of the vagaries of the â€"M __,____W ‘ ‘ sport didn't satisfy. nor did Browning's Local ire dancer Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Pole performed a Spanish-themed number dur- | Fans Show their support for Weaver and Poje description of Weaver and Poie not ing the Canadian Skating Championships last week in London. ‘ during their final performance. “Whooshing” towards their ending. W "Ewe-“mi l Fans in the stands were less forgiving of something there, Something that connects citizen to pursue her Olympic dream, that l That‘s all that separated theWatcrloo pair the judges decision. Ralph Daehn wrote them with an audience and will serve them chase isn‘t over. } from the team that earned the second slot to Skate (‘anada "This kind of judging is Slln‘ well down the road. The 20-year-old said they're just getting ‘ l ‘ attend the \i'ancouverGaines. Vanessa (Lrone ply appalling and represents nothing less they get right back on their skates this started. 3 l and Paul l’oirier of'I‘oronto. than a disaster" weekend. skating at the ISU Four Continents "We don't have much of a choice to sit l i “it was hard for us," said Pole. who has lic- wanton to express what a lot ofothers event in Korea. ‘ home and be depressed about it." said l l been dreaming of partictpating at the in the audience were feeling. "The audience “We've done phenomenal work and are Weaver. “We had that day. ‘ ‘ Olympics ever since he first started skating is not an expert as the iudges are. but. at the happy at how we've improved," said Poje, 22, “it onwards and upwards and we're not i at the old Rink in the Park “this Will make same timc. it is not stupid either," he wrote. about the team that has only been together going to strip now. We’ve made a reputation E us stronger In the end " The reaction in response to the judging for four years "We've had a lot of positive for ourselves internationally and we've i “It was hard to tomprclictid My gilt rem should give Skate Canada something to feedback from people in the whole skating proved to Canada that we're worthy for l tion was shock You can't control what thr- think about.” community about how much we‘ve being a contender for the next quadrennial ” l itidgesopuuons were. but we were happy we While the controversy continues on improved and how much they like our pro l'hcy both said they didn't put in all that skated well," soc izil networking sitcs and to emails flying grams. hard work to let it get away from them now. ‘ There was no contest for first plat v as for between fans, Wcavr‘r and Pole were mag» "This definitely sets us up for our future And they are buoyed by the support they got l trier K-W Skatingtllub members l'essaVirtiit‘ nanimous in defeat. goals. This wasn‘t the last Chance for lls‘. especially from theirbomctowti. l and Scott Moir set a (‘anadmo record for The skated in the gala event that we're young and have other opportunities. "We want to thank the Kitchener-Water» ‘ ' their total combined score. and arc consul wrapped up the championships and earned so this will makes us stronger " loo c ommiimty for all the support we've f cred Canada's best gold medal hope in the another standing ovation. For Weaver, who moved to (Linada from received r it means the world to us." said skatingevcnts And that suggests to them that there is her native Texas and became a (,anadians Weaver l ,.. ., ___â€"_â€"____â€"__â€"_â€"__â€"â€"_â€"_â€"J