Virtue, Moir soar to 3rd Canadian title

There was little doubt Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir would take home gold at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in London, Ont., on Saturday.

And the three-time champs nailed it, setting a Canadian record at 107.82 for the free dance, for a total of 221.95 points.

Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier squeaked in to take second place, with 89.9 for the free dance and a 184.70 total — a scant .30 points ahead of the next pair — to join Virtue and Moir as the only Canadian ice dance pairs heading to the Vancouver Winter Games in February.

The two dance teams, although basically determined, will be officially announced Sunday.

Going into the performance, Crone, of Aurora, Ont., and Poirier, of Unionville, Ont., were .02 points behind skaters Kaitlyn Weaver, of Waterloo, Ont., and Toronto's Andrew Poje, who took third with 89.61 and a total of 184.40.

Both pairs made slight mistakes, including Crone losing her footing when the music changed from Nocturne to Bohemian Rhapsody.

But she and Poirier came back strong with spectacular, high-risk lifts that require a lot of strength.

Virtue and Moir, skating partners since 1997, danced to a symphony, and introduced the new exit to their signature lift, nicknamed "The Goose."

They were forced to make alterations to the move, which has Virtue poised on one leg on the back of a crouched Moir, because some judges thought the dismount was illegal. The new exit has Virtue flipping down horizontally down the front of Moir.