2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing Worlld Cup

Fenninger wins Ofterschwang giant slalom

Anna Fenninger kept her end-of-season momentum going to win a women's Alpine ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Austrian, winner of a super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen a week ago, triumphed again with a combined time of two minutes 29.39 seconds.
"It's pretty exciting to win again today, a week only after that Super-G victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen," Fenninger told reporters.
"It's a good feeling to be able to switch so well from one speciality to the other and from hard to softer snow.
"It gives me a lot of confidence for the finals next week in Switzerland and also for the coming seasons. I know that I still have more in me," she said.
Fastest in the morning leg, the former super-combined world champion left World Cup leader Tina Maze 0.44 seconds adrift, but the Slovenian added another record to her haul by earning her eighth podium place in succession in the discipline.
Maze is now on a record 2,154 points in the overall World Cup standings and will be aiming at the formidable 2,500-point barrier in the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, next week.
"This season is really amazing, I'm so pleased by my performances, I'm skiing fast even when I'm tired as now," said Maze who made sure of the overall title last month and is in a position to win crystal globes in every discipline this season.
"I'm very proud of my great results and the records I have set this winter. Yet it's not over, and I'm looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow in the slalom.
"In fact I won't take a break now as I'll train some slalom later on this afternoon," she added.
German Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg was third in Saturday's race, 0.96 behind.
Finn Tanja Poutiainen, a former Olympic silver medallist, pulled out after hurting her knee in the morning run. Doctors suspected torn cruciate ligaments and Poutiainen will miss the Lenzerheide finals.

:update:

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ligety seals World Cup title with giant slalom win

American Ted Ligety won the Kranjska Gora giant slalom for a fifth time on Saturday to secure the World Cup in the discipline.
It was the triple world champion's fourth giant slalom crystal globe and the victory on the Podkoren slope, one of his favourites on the circuit, was his fifth of the season.
It rained heavily for most of the second leg, but with a combined time of two minutes and 35.43 seconds, Ligety finished 0.45 ahead of Austrian Marcel Hirscher while up-and-coming Frenchman Alexis Pinturault was third, 0.77 off the pace.
"It has been a rough and intense fight again, it was really tough to keep the skis under control because of the ruts and the wet snow," Ligety told reporters.
"It was exciting and I again took full risks as it's the best way to approach those conditions and win the globe. I really had an amazing season this winter," added the 28-year-old from Park City.
Ligety's achievement equals that of other great giant slalom specialists like Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen or Alberto Tomba. Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark clinched the giant slalom standings eight times from 1975 to 1984.
Incredibly, since his second victory in Slovenia in February 2009, Ligety has scored points in all his giant slalom races and has had 20 podium finishes in the discipline.
Last year, Hirscher beat Ligety in the discipline's standings after winning the last race at the finals at Schladming.
Only fourth after the first run, Hirscher raised his game in the afternoon to widen the gap on his nearest rival, Aksel Lund Svindal, in the overall World Cup standings.
The Norwegian finished sixth, 1.30 seconds behind Ligety, but now lies 69 points behind Hirscher overall.
With a slalom scheduled on Sunday, Hirscher has the opportunity to increase his lead further before the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide next week.
"I am happy to lose only half a second on Ted this time - not several seconds as has been the case in the season opener in Soelden, yet I must admit that Ted has been amazing this season in the speciality," Hirscher said.
"In tomorrow's slalom I'll apply the same tactics and ****** again as hard as possible."
Svindal was not too disappointed with the result and repeated his assertion that Hirscher was the favourite for the overall title.
"I was aiming for a top-six position today, it's my usual level this year in the speciality," Svindal said.
"Of course I'll keep fighting in Lenzerheide to keep it interesting for everybody, the spectators and the racers. But I'm not a dreamer, Marcel Hirscher has been incredibly consistent this season and I think he'll be very difficult to beat."

:update:

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Gwizdon wins but Berger claims another Crystal Globe

Magdalena Gwizdon executed the perfect race to win the ladies' 7.5km sprint at the biathlon World Cup in Sochi but third was still enough for Tora Berger to add to her collection of Crystal Globes.
Gwizdon led almost throughout with a slight drop to second at the 1.8km mark her only blip in the ladies' 7.5km sprint as she shot clear to claim her first victory of the season in 25:28.7 minutes. That denied what looked like a victory for Olympic sprint champion Anastasiya Kuzmina with the Belarusian having to settle for second 10.2seconds back after one miss in the range. Overall and individual Crystal Globe winner Berger too was pushed down after leading when crossing the finish line with Gwizdon and Kuzmina both placing ahead of her as she ranked third. Berger missed one target in the range and finished 3.5 seconds behind Kuzmina however it was enough for her to claim this year's Crystal Globe in the sprint at the Olympic test event in Sochi. With one more sprint left at the final round in Khanty-Mansiysk next week Berger's 71-point lead over Darya Domracheva at the top of distance standings cannot be overthrown. Domracheva did her best to keep the challenge going in Sochi but could only place fifth overall 18.2seconds behind Poland's Gwizdon and 0.2 adrift of Marie Dorin Habert in fourth.

 

[Smallville22]

Short Track Speed Skating World Championships

Christie ready for last and best shot at world title

Elise Christie's world title dreams will now come down to Sunday's efforts in her signature discipline.
Christie reached the semi-finals of the 500m at the short track speed skating World Championships in Debrecen but failed to progress. However, it's over double the distance that the World Cup champion has been at her best this season and the 22-year old Scot is certainly not short in confidence. But there was disappointment for British team-mate Jon Eley, the 2006 Olympic finalist, in his preferred 500m event. After crossing the line second in his semi-final, he appeared harshly disqualified for impeding a rival in the closing stages. He returned to the ice moments later to join ****** with Paul Stanley, Jack Whelbourne and Richard Shoebridge in the 3,000m relay but the highly-rated quartet could only finish third in their semi-final behind Holland and Russia, with only the top two progressing. China's Liang Wenhao and Wang Meng took the men's and women's 500m titles.

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Skiing World Championships

Britain's Woods claims slopestyle world silver

James Woods underlined why he is considered a hot prospect to win Great Britain's first-ever Olympic skiing medal as he claimed silver at the freestyle skiing World Championships in Voss-Myrkdalen.
Woods, 21, upgraded the bronze he won at the recent X Games in the slopestyle discipline, which makes its Olympic debut in Sochi, as he took second behind the USA's Thomas Wallisch.
It's Great Britain's first world skiing medal since Richard Cobbing's aerials silver in Altenmarkt 20 years ago.
Woods, who has also posted a succession of World Cup podiums this season, must have fancied his medal chances after making the final as second qualifier and finished just 2.2. points off top spot, while American Nicholas Goepper claimed bronze.
Meanwhile, British team-mate Katie Summerhayes just missed out on bronze in the women's slopesyle.
Summerhayes, 17, improved her qualifying position by one place to finish fourth as Canada's Kaya Turski took gold ahead of team-mate Dara Howell, while USA's Grete Eliassen claimed bronze.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Confident Germany win another team event in Finland

Severin Freund admitted he and his German compatriots were always confident they could win their second team event of ski jumping World Cup season as the tour moved back to Finland.
Freund, along with Richard Freitag, Michael Neumayer and Andreas Wellinger, took Germany to victory in the first team event of the season in Kuusamo in Finland back in November. And, with the World Cup returning to Finnish mountains in Lahti, Germany won again with Andreas Wank the only change from the quartet as he came in for Wellinger. Germany scored 1079.5 points from their eight jumps as Norway finished second with 1038.8 while Poland were narrowly behind in third with 1036.2. The individual event now follows on Sunday and Freund said: "The whole team likes this hill very much and we know we can jump very well in Lahti. "We already won in Kuusamo this winter and we like the Finnish hills very much because you really have take off at the table here and we can do that."

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Northug closes gap at top with Lahti win

Double Olympic champion Petter Northug closed the gap at the top of the men's cross country skiing World Cup standings with victory in Lahti, Finland.
The 27-year-old is currently third on 1050 points, just 16 behind Russia's Alexander Legkov, who finished eighth in the men's 15km on Sunday, and 123 behind overall leader Dario Cologna who did not compete due to illness. Northug's time of 34:35.6 minutes was 31.7 seconds better than second-placed Alexey Poltoranin of Kazakhstan, who is hot on the heels of the Norwegian in fourth place overall. Martin Johnsrud Sundby rounded off the top three with a time of 35:10.7 but is some way off the pace in the standings.

In the women's 10km Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk came out on top with a time of 25:38.9, taking her lead at the top to an almost unassailable 581 points. The 2010 Olympic champion beat off three Norwegian competitors with Marit Bjoergen in second 23.1 further back, Heidi Weng in third 25.5 adrift and Therese Johaug 28.2 off the pace.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Kostelic wins Kranjska Gora slalom

Ivica Kostelic used all his experience to win the men's World Cup slalom race in Kranjska Gora on Sunday, 10 years after his first victory in the Slovenian resort.
Hampered by a lingering knee injury, the Croatian had not won a slalom race this season but the 33-year-old broke his duck in style to earn his 26th World Cup victory after clear first-leg leader Alexis Pinturault messed up his second run.
The 33-year-old clocked a combined time of one minute 45.81 seconds to top the podium ahead of Marcel Hirscher who fought back from a poor morning run to claim second place and secure the World Cup title in the discipline.
Austrian Hirscher, who was 0.19 seconds adrift, secured the crystal globe he narrowly lost to Swede Andre Myrher last year after his only rival left in contention, Germany's Felix Neureuther, straddled a gate in the morning run.
Hirscher also strengthened his overall World Cup lead as closest opponent Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway now trails him by 149 points before the Lenzerheide finals next week.
"It's of course nice to have clinched that globe today but my main goal this morning was to achieve another strong race here," said Hirscher.
Another experienced skier, Ausria's Mario Matt, 33, took third spot, 0.34 behind Kostelic.
"I'm very relieved because this race was very important for me. It's a great feeling for it's not easy to stay at the top level, the competition is very dense," Kostelic said.
Kostelic was a little lucky that young Frenchman Pinturault overdid it in the second run and straddled a gate as he was leading the rest of the field by one and a half seconds.
"I knew that Alexis had to make a big mistake for me to win. So I was really pushing today but I was focused on that," Kostelic said.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Russia triumph in Biathlon World Cup relay

Russia warmed up for next year's 2014 Winter Olympics by laying down a marker in the men's 4x7.5km biathlon relay, taking first place in the World Cup event on home soil in Sochi.
On the Olympic course, getting a trial run 11 months before next year's show piece, the team of Anton Shipulin, Alexandr Loginov, Dmitry Malyshko and Evgeny Ustyugov came home in a time of 1:09:50.8 hours, a full 38.3 seconds ahead of second-placed Germany. It wasn't as plain sailing as the final result suggests however as Malyshko had to recover a deficit of 38.2 seconds himself after Loginov had struggled in the shoot, to give the hosts any chance of taking first place. And on the last leg Ustyugov produced an impeccable final shooting round to shrug off the challenge of Germany's Benedikt Doll and ski home with no trouble at all. Arnd Peiffer had brought the German's to within five seconds of Russia but multiple shooting errors from the inexperienced Doll allowed the chasing group to catch up, although the eventual second-place finish was their best result of the season. Sweden had moved into second place thanks to fine shooting from anchor Tobias Arwidson but he faded on the last stretch, eventually finishing seventh while the Czech Republic stole in for the final podium place.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Maze wins Ofterschwang slalom

Tina Maze won her duel with world champion Mikaela Shiffrin in the women's World Cup slalom on Sunday to keep her chances alive of scoring a grand slam of crystal globes this season.
Led by her young American rival in the morning run, the Slovenian overall runaway leader fought back in the afternoon to snatch her 10th victory of the World Cup season, her second in a slalom.
In a combined time of one minute and 52.85 seconds, Maze beat Swiss hopeful Wendy Holdener by 0.25 seconds while Shiffrin settled for third, 0.75 adrift.
"This victory is huge for me, and also somehow unexpected as I feel so tired now, I don't know how I'm doing it, where I find the energy to keep fighting and pushing myself ahead," an exhausted yet smiling Maze told reporters.
With 2,254 points, the utterly dominant Maze again increased the all-time points record in the overall World Cup and totals more than twice the score of nearest rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, who is on 1,065 points.
The Slovenian, who beat Hermann Maier's previous record total of 2,000 points last weekend, also improved on one of the Austrian's other record statistics by earning her 22nd podium of the season.
In the slalom World Cup standings, she now leads second-placed Shiffrin by seven points with only one race left at the Lenzerheide finals next week.
Maze remains in contention to win all four discipline World Cups on top of the overall big globe.
"It's pretty crazy now to be fighting for three more globes next week in Lenzerheide. I like slalom a lot but it's such a tough speciality that requires intense training," she said.
"I'll do my best to remain focused next week in Switzerland, but it'll for sure be tough as Mikaela is such a great skier."
While the Slovenian now has a possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make history in Lenzerheide, she is feeling the strain of a long season.
"I really feel tired now, it's so hard to ski in all disciplines and fight each time for victory. The rhythm of racing is incredibly intense," she said.
"I'm looking forward to the end of the season now. I can't think about the fact that I'll be skiing again tomorrow in Lenzerheide where we have a downhill training run."

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Freitag dominant in Lahti World Cup win

Germany's Richard Freitag led from start to finish as he recorded a clean victory in the individual men's ski jumping World Cup event in Lahti, moving him up to sixth in the overall standings.
The 21-year-old backed up his first-round jump of 126.5m, which had given him the overall lead at the halfway stage, with a bettered effort of 128.5m, the furthest of the day, to give him an overall score of 274.2 points. Freitag, a World Championship silver medallist this year already having finished second in the men's team large hill event in Val di Fiemme, was well clear of second-place Anders Bardal. The Norwegian, who took gold in the men's individual normal hill event at the 2013 World Championships, recorded a score of 266.9 points to take second place and solidify his second spot in the overall standings. And compatriot Anders Jacobsen, hot on his heels in third place overall, shared the final spot on the podium, taking third place on the day along with Severin Freund as both jumpers managed a combined score of 265.8 points.

 

[Smallville22]

World Short Track Speed Skating Championships

Britain's Christie secures historic short track medal

Elise Christie became the first British woman to win an individual World Short Track Speed Skating Championship medal on Sunday by claiming bronze in the 1,000m.
The 22-year-old Olympian saw off China's Yang Zhou, who was later disqualified, for a podium place, capping a busy week in Debrecen, Hungary.
Christie also finished fifth in the 3,000m superfinal after crashing out in the semi-final stage of the 500m on Saturday.
The Scot, Team GB's first-ever World Cup champion, finished the 1,000m final in a time of 1:32.281 minutes – while China's Meng Wang took gold in 1:31.549.
Silver went to Holland's Jorien ter Mors who also claimed bronze in the 3,000m superfinal.
In the men's 1,000m final Da Woon Sin claimed gold while in the in the 3,000m superfinal he was ****** to settle for silver by South Korean team-mate Yun-Jae Kim.

 

[Smallville22]

Snowboard World Cup

Marguc seals first World Cup win in giant slalom

Slovenia's Rok Marguc recorded his first ever snowboard World Cup victory with first place in the men's parallel giant slalom event in Arosa to rocket him up to third in the overall standings.
Before today the 26-year-old's best World Cup result this season had been a fifth-place finish in Rogla on home soil but in reaching the final, Marguc saw of f the challenge of Canada's Matthew Morison.
Marguc, who took gold in the parallel slalom at the 2013 Snowboarding World Championships, reach the final with victories over Italy's Roland Fischnaller, compatriot Zan Kosir in the quarter finals and Austrian Anton Unterkofler in the semi-final.
And having led in the first run by 0.38 seconds over Morison, in his first World Cup final of the season himself, Marguc extended his advantage to 13.47 seconds after the second run.
In earning his first victory, Marguc now rises to third in the overall World Cup standings after four of the 12 events, still behind Fischnaller and Austrian Andreas Prommegger.
Morison's second place moved him up to seventh in the standings whilst Unterkofler, who triumphed in the small final by beating Patrick Bussler, now lies in 11th.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Dahlmeier leads Germany to dramatic World Cup relay victory

Germany triumphed in a thrilling women's biathlon World Cup relay on the 2014 Winter Olympics track, taking first place on the final loop from the Ukraine in Sochi.
Andrea Henkel had given the Germans the lead after the first lap, but after Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle had lost ground, Miriam Gossner gave Laura Dahlmeier an 8.4 second deficit to make up on the last lap. And after 19-year-old Dahlmeier produced two clean shoots, she closed the gap on Ukraine's Mariya Panfilova to just five seconds, which she easily made up to pass her rival and win by 11.9 seconds. The 2013 IBU World Junior Sprint, Individual and Relay Gold Medalist had helped her team record a time of 1:09:27.1, ahead of the Ukraine and third-placed Norway who were 21.2 seconds back. And speaking afterwards of how difficult and dramatic the last loop was, Dahlmeier said said: "It was hard. I thought Tora [Berger] might come from behind and catch me. I knew I had to give my best and run as fast as I could."

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Skiing World Championships

Chapuis wins first major title at World Ski Championships

France's Jean Frederic Chapuis secured his first major title in style, winning the men's ski cross final at the Freestyle World Ski Championships from compatriot Bastien Midol in Voss, Norway.
The 24-year-old came into the World Championships in good form having secured a second-place finish in Germany last weekend but romped to victory in a four-man final. Chapuis saw off competition from Finland's Jouni Pellinen and America's John Teller as well as his fellow Frenchman Midol as he came through in the final after winning both his quarter and semi-final races.

In the women's race Switzerland's Fanny Smith beat reigning World Cup champion Marielle Thompson of Canada to become world champion for the very first time. The 20-year-old saw off the challenge of Thompson, France's Ophelie David and compatriot Jorinde Mueller to race to victory but she didn't have it all her own way en route. In the semi-final Smith was in last place but managed to finish in second to qualify for the final where she made no such mistake.

 

[Smallville22]

Speed Skating World Cup

Swings has enjoyable last day at speed skating World Cup final

Belgium's Bart Swings had a memorial final day at the speed skating World Cup final, claiming victory in the men's 1500m and mass start events in Heerenveen.
Swings, 22, beat nearest rival Zbigniew Brodka in the 1500m final, whilst USA's Shani Davis came third, but it was not enough to claim the overall title as the Pole had done enough over the five races to claim the overall standings title. In the mass start event Swings saw off the challenge of South Korea's Hyung-Joon Joo and Arjan Stroetinga from the Netherlands but the Dutchman secured the top-four finish he required to secure the overall honours. Stroetinga finished first in the overall standings on 330 points whilst Swings' first-place finish earned his second overall with the two well clear of Canada's Jordan Belchos in third.

In the women's 1500m race, Netherlands skater Ireen Wust pipped her compatriot Lotte van Beek by 1.91 seconds to win and secure herself a third-place finish in the overall standings despite having appeared in just three World Cup races. Christine Nesbitt, who finished third on the day, ended up in second overall whilst another Netherlands skater Marrit Leenstra claimed the overall title despite finishing down in eighth. The women's mass start was won by Irene Schouten of the Netherlands, who finished with 33 sprint points, whilst Canada's Ivanie Blondin finished second ahead of Bo-Reum Kim from South Korea. That third-placed finish for Kim gave her the overall title as Blondin cemented her spot in third behind Netherlands Mariska Huisman who came fourth on the day.

And in the weekend's second instalment of 500m racing, Sang-Hwa Lee of South Korea sealed her overall title in glory with a 0.01 second victory over China's Beixing Wang, whilst in the men's event Dutchman Jan Smeekens achieved the same goal, winning on the day to secure an overall title.

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Skiing - Woods and Christie boost Britain's Sochi hopes

Our round-up of all the week's British winter sports news looks at great weekends for James Woods and Elise Christie.
Freestyle skier James Woods and short track speed skater Elise Christie both won World Championship medals in a memorable week for British winter sports.
Woods took slopestyle silver at the World Championships in Voss-Myrkdalen, Great Britain's first medal at this level since Richard Cobbing's aerials second place in 1993.
And Christie claimed 1000m bronze in Debrecen, becoming the first British woman to win an individual world medal.
It means - with the men's and women's curling World Championships to come later this month - British Winter Olympic hopefuls have won three medals at world level this season, following Shelley Rudman's skeleton gold in St Moritz.
Woods declared himself 'totally thrilled' with a 'bang-on' performance, after gold was taken by American Thomas Wallisch.
However, Christie, the World Cup champion this season, was slightly less impressed with her display.
The Scot, who also finished sixth in the 1500m and fell in the semi-finals of the 500m, wanted to improve the colour of her medal but was also worried about disqualification after tangling with China's Yang Zhou.
"Even though Elise’s medal might not have been the colour she wanted, she and the other skaters have proven that we have a lot of opportunities going forward from here, which is very encouraging," said British short track performance director Stuart Horsepool.
“The team had a great first two days, we’ve had six top eights finishes and our first ever female World Championships medal, which is brilliant."
But Katie Summerhayes, who carried the Team GB flag at last year's Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, was buzzing after a career-high slopestyle fourth at the freestyle skiing World Championships.
Also in Voss-Myrkdalen, Rowan Cheshire was 17th in the women's halfpipe while Murray Buchan was 18th in the men's event.
Ellie Koyander ranked 37th in the women's moguls while Harry Gillam and Lloyd Wallace were 26th and 28th respectively in the men's aerials.
Emily Sarsfield placed 17th in the women's ski cross but there was disappointment for Pamela Thorburn who came home 29th.
Former downhill skier Ed Drake, who competed in four alpine events at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, failed to make the men's ski cross top 32.
Two-time Olympian Zoe Gillings secured another top ten finish with a ninth at the snowboard cross World Cup in Arosa, meaning she now sits ninth overall with two events to come in Switzerland and Spain.
Elsewhere, Serita Shone, who fractured her spine in two places during a training run at the bobsleigh British Championships two years ago, returned to the event - and won a medal.
Shone piloted Sian Huxtable to bronze in a race won by Vicky Olaoye and Sarah Adams with Deni Milner and Jo Nightingale second.
John Jackson and Bruce Tasker won the men's two-man national title, the end of a impressive season for Jackson, who finished fifth in the four-man event at the bobsleigh World Championships.
Kyle Smith and his team of Thomas Muirhead, Kyle Waddell and lead Cameron Smith combined as Scotland won the men's curling junior world title in Sochi, the official test event for next year's Games.
But defending champion Hannah Fleming and her Scottish women's rink settled for silver after losing to Russia in an extra end.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating - Skaters chase world gold with eye on Sochi

Precious medals, valuable momentum and coveted Olympic berths will all be on the line this week at the world figure skating championships with skaters looking to lay down their markers ahead next year's Sochi Winter Games.
London, a southern Ontario university town just north of Detroit, will provide an off Broadway setting as skaters chase positive reviews from the judges and fans before stepping onto the Olympic stage at the Russian Black Sea resort in 11 months.
Competition begins on Wednesday and while no Olympic medals will be awarded this week the results will determine how many entries countries will get in Sochi for each of the four events; men's and women's singles, pairs and ice dance.
For top skaters like American ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White, the worlds represent a chance to enhance their reputation and perhaps gain a slight edge on chief rivals Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada.
"It will be helpful to be able to say we are the reigning world champions heading into the Olympic year, especially since Scott and Tessa are the reigning Olympic champions," Charlie White told Reuters. "It doesn't hurt to have two world titles instead of one going into the Olympics."
Davis and White and Virtue and Moir have dominated the ice dance scene taking the top two spots at the last three worlds and Vancouver Olympics.
While the Americans had to settle for silver behind the Canadians at the 2010 Winter Games and again at last year's world championships, Davis and White have had the better of their good friends this season finishing in first ahead of their training partners at the Grand Prix finals and Four Continents.
"Our goal will be to secure three Olympic spots for next year," declared Moir. "As a country you always want to send as many athletes and make as many Olympians as possible.
"Tess and I would obviously like to be on top and that would go along way to achieving that goal."
The women's spotlight is certain to fall on South Korean Olympic champion Kim Yuna but not for her usual brilliance and artistry.
Kim makes her return to the world stage for the first time since 2011 and figure skating fans will be eager to see if she can still produce the magic that helped transform her into a global sporting *********.
Judges will also be watching for lingering signs of rust on Carolina Kostner after the reigning world champion from Italy sat out the entire Grand Prix season.
The layoff does not appear to have had any impact on the artistic Italian who signalled she is ready to take on all comers capturing a fifth European title in her return to competition in January.
Japan's Mao Asada, a twice world champion and 2010 Olympic silver medallist, arrives in London unbeaten in all competitions this season and appears back on top of her game after two years of mixed results.
Competing on home ice, two-time reigning world champion Patrick Chan should be the heavy favourite to complete a hat-trick of men's titles but the Canadian has lacked consistency this season leaving the gold medal up for grabs.
Bidding to become first skater since Russia's Alexei Yagudin (1998-2000) to claim three consecutive world titles, Chan's only victory this season came in January when he captured a sixth straight national title.
A second place finish at Skate Canada in October followed by an even more lacklustre third place at the Grand Prix final at the same Sochi arena that will host the Olympic competition next year set off alarm bells that all was not well in the Chan camp.
But Chan will not be surrendering his crown without a fight.
As part of his preparations the 22-year-old skater put himself through a sort of figure skating boot camp working with fitness guru Andy O'Brien, whose client list also includes the National Hockey League's top player Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby.
"It would be nice to ride that wave of winning a world championship all the way to Sochi," said Chan. "This is a real test for me."
Chan will have to be close to his best if he is to see off strong challenges from a trio of Japanese skaters, led by Daisuke Takahashi the 2010 world champion and Vancouver Olympic bronze medallist.
Javier Fernandez, the athletic Spaniard who flashed his credentials with a dominating display at the European championships, will also be a skater worth watching.
"It's true that I have already beaten the world champion this season but that was only one competition and Patrick Chan is a master on the ice," Fernandez told Reuters. "Of course I want to be first but my main goal is to be in the top five."
The pairs competition looks set to be a two ***** race between four-times world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany and European champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia.
China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian, world champions in 2006 and 2010, should also figure in the medal mix.

 

[Smallville22]

Olympic Games - People of Vienna reject chance to host Games

Vienna's plans to bid for the 2028 Olympic Games have been firmly rejected by the city's inhabitants in a referendum.
A resounding 71.94 percent of voters said no to the proposal with 28.06 percent in favour.
Austria hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, both in Innsbruck, and co-hosted the Euro 2008 soccer championship with Switzerland but has never staged a summer Games.
The rejection came 10 days after Swiss voters in the Graubuenden canton voted against a plan to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
"We accept the result of the referendum," Karl Stoss, president of the Austrian Olympic Committee, which had backed the proposal, told Austrian media.
"We would welcome any investments in sporting infrastructure by the city of Vienna so that we can offer top training conditions to our athletes and so that, from now on, Vienna can regularly stage big international sporting events, even if they are not on the scale of the Olympics."

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating - Fernandez enjoys last laugh over bullies

Growing up in a city awash with macho sporting icons, Javier Fernandez was mercilessly teased by schoolboy bullies who seemed to think he spent his time twirling around the ice on his toes in a tutu.
Fernandez has no idea where his tormentors have disappeared to but chances are they would have noted how successful their fellow pupil who chose to pursue a "girl's sport" has become.
The 21-year-old was having the last laugh in January when he became the first Spaniard to strike gold at the European figure skating championships by winning the men's title.
"In Spain they don't see skating as a boy's sport. So sometimes it was hard to admit that I wanted to be a skater," Madrid-born Fernandez told Reuters in as he prepared for this week's world championships in London, Ontario.
"When I was in school and said I'm a figure skater, in Spain they see figure skating like ballet, like something for girls.
"So they are always going to judge you in a bad way and say bad things about you. It's hard when people in your country think ice skating is a girl's sport. I was teased about being a skater but I didn't really care a lot."
It was just as well Fernandez developed a thick skin when he was still in school, because had he buckled under the pressure, he would not have been credited with putting Spain on the figure skating map.
"In a country with so many sporting champions, it's hard to fight for attention with sports such as soccer, tennis, F1, cycling as they win many competitions. But I'm hoping to make figure skating one of the top sports in Spain too," Fernandez, who tried a number of mainstream sports before losing his heart to figure skating, said with a distinctive Canadian twang.
The nation is currently enjoying a golden age in sports, with the country's football team being reigning world and European champions, tennis player Rafa Nadal owning 11 Grand Slam titles and Fernando Alonso steering his way to two Formula One championships.
Despite so many world class athletes coming off the Spanish production line, Fernandez was taken aback with the recognition he received for larking about as Charlie Chaplin in Zagreb's Dom Sportova arena.
"After the Europeans, I got the kind of letters of congratulations I was not expecting to receive. I even got one from the King and Queen of Spain," he said his voice trailing off in a whisper.
"I got one from the President (of Spain). I got one from Real Madrid as they are my team and that was very impressive for me. It was a very nice letter that I have saved."
Getting to a level that would get him noticed in Spain, let alone around the world did not happen overnight for Fernandez.
He initially showcased his ability to pull off soaring triple Axels, Salchows, loops and toeloops in annual summer camps run in Spain by 2006 Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko's coach Alexei Mishin.
However, with no year-round skating pedigree to fall back on in his home city, Fernandez relocated to New Jersey aged 17, then travelled to Moscow before settling in Toronto where he is now coached by former world champion Brian Orser.
Under Orser, who guided South Korea's Kim Yuna to Olympic glory in Vancouver three years ago, Fernandez has reached new heights as he is one of the few skaters able to execute three quadruple jumps in one programme.
That high-risk strategy not only paid off at the Europeans but he also became the first Spaniard to win gold at a Grand Prix event, beating twice world champion Patrick Chan on home ice in Skate Canada last October.
Despite his run of success, Fernandez did not want to get carried away at the prospect of beating Chan again this week.
"It's true that I have already beaten the world champion this season but that was only one competition and Patrick Chan is a master on the ice. Of course I want to be first but my main goal is to be in the top five."
Should he clinch the gold medal on Friday, Fernandez will head into next February's Sochi Winter Games as world champion but hopes it does not mean he will end up with an unwanted headache.
"I like being recognised a little bit. It's always nice to know that people love you a little bit and know what you are doing but I would not like to be famous like a soccer player who can't get rid of the cameras," he said. "I would definitely not like to be in that position. That may be why I chose figure skating."