Figure skatingVirtue and Moir's sizzle not enough

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Tessa Virtue, left, and Scott Moir lost their ice dance world title to a technically proficient U.S. team. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

Aside from the skating, the thing that will be best remembered about the 2011 world figure skating championships, which wrapped up over the weekend in Moscow, is that the power and money of the Russian government helped the event feel like one that had been in the works for three years, not three weeks.

The Russian figure skating federation came forward with its offer to hold the event after it was determined that Tokyo, the original host, was no longer able to do so in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 devastated the country.

The championships started with a bang when the men hit the ice on Day 1. Canada's Patrick Chan - a two-time silver medallist - took the lead after the short program with a record-setting score of 93.02, the highest ever posted. Chan followed it up the next day with two more record-setting scores in the free and overall totals to finish with a huge 22.57-point margin of victory over his next closest competitor, Japan's Takahiko Kozuka, who took the silver.

In an interesting twist, Kozuka was the best of the Japanese men - not defending world champion Daisuke Takahashi, who dropped from third after the short to fifth overall, or Nobunari Oda, who fell from second to sixth on the basis of an extra and consequently illegal triple toe jump element that was worth zero.

Bronze medallist Artur Gachnisky of Russia displayed sublime technique, but he's totally devoid of any kind of emotional reach or expression. At only 17 years old, though, that could change, giving him a chance to compete with the likes of Chan and Kozuka.

Gutsy show by Canadian pair

The pairs event produced a few remarkable moments. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, the runners-up at the Canadian championships, started their short program with a gorgeous triple twist lift with lots of speed going into and out of the element. I didn't notice until much later in the program that, in a show of remarkable guts, they had continued after Meagan accidentally broke Eric's nose with her elbow during the descent from that lift.

When it was all said and done, Duhamel and Radford and Canadian champions Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Strong showings.

The other noteworthy moment was the arrival on the international competitive scene by silver medallists Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia. Both skaters had been in long-term partnerships with other people until coming together about nine months ago. Volosozhar was not eligible to compete for Russia until fulfilling ISU country-change requirements that he completed in February 2011. Suffice to say that pairs skating has gotten interesting all of a sudden with the addition of this dynamic and talented team.

The rest of the podium was filled out with gold medallists Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from Germany, who earned their third world title, and bronze medallists Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China, who couldn't defend their 2010 title.

Single costs Kim ladies' title

The ladies were disappointing, with a couple of exceptions. The first was Miki Ando of Japan, who won her second world title. Ando was elegant, graceful and technically very solid in the short program, and skated a cautious, error-free free program to stay ahead of 2010 Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim.

Kim is a gorgeous skater, but she lost the title because she singled one of her planned triple jumps. If she had even been able to do a double flip instead of that single, she would have made up the 1.29-point difference to take the title instead of settling for silver for the second year in a row.

The bronze medal went to three-time European champion Carolina Kostner of Italy, who took her third world championship medal.

Virtue, Moir sizzle, but Americans win dance

The ice dance was as exciting as ever, with all three of Canada's entries finishing in the top 10.

2010 Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir held a lead of only 0.54 points after the short dance over ultimate champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States. In what I would consider to be a surprising decision, the Americans beat out the Canadians with strong,  polished and error-free skating while failing to deliver the same kind of sizzle offered by Virtue and Moir.

Another surprise was the bronze medal taken by the brother-and-sister American team of Maia and Alex Shibutani in their senior worlds debut. The podium sweep by skaters taught by legendary coaches Marina Zueva and Alexander Shpillband was also a well-deserved first.

Honourable mention has to go to Canada's national silver medallists, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, who were dazzling in their free dance, climbing from seventh after the short dance to fifth overall.

More than anything, the 2011 worlds will be remembered for providing us with a glimpse into the future, and the podium possibilities heading towards the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

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