Langlois and Archetto Finish Fourth at Four Continents Championships
(February 14, 2003)
Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto, the silver medallists in the Pair event from the 2003 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships, just missed making it to the medal podium at the 2003 ISU Four Continents Championships.
The team, which trains with coach Jan Ullmark at Edmonton's Royal Glenora Club, skated a strong free program that was highlighted by an excellent opening throw triple Salchow. The duo also went on to complete side-by-side double Axels and a triple twist, but both missed the side-by-side triple toe loop. Their performance, which also included impressive lifts, was enough to earn them a fourth-place finish.
Langlois and Archetto's marks ranged between 5.2 to 5.5 for technical merit and from 5.2 to 5.7 for presentation.
"It was a step for us," said Archetto, speaking about the team's performance. "It's good (the free skate) compared to what we had all week. It's one thing at a time. We'll take it from there and we'll go to the Grand Prix Final."
The 2002 World Pair Champions, Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, of China, won the event. Shen and Zhao skated a flawless program that was highlighted by a side-by-side double Axel-triple toe loop sequence, a spectacular throw triple Salchow and throw triple loop, and a triple twist. The duo's performance earned them two perfect marks of 6.0 for technical merit and one for presentation.
It was a sweep of the medal podium for the Chinese teams, as Qing Pang and Jian Tong won the silver medal, and Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang captured the bronze medal.
"It is a great honour for the three of us (the Chinese teams) to be up there. It is a very happy moment for us here in Beijing," said Zhao. "We are very glad to have received for the second time a 6.0 for presentation. It's great to get a 6.0 for both technical merit and presentation."
Jacinthe Larivière and Lenny Faustino, the 2003 Canadian Pair Champions, finished in eighth-place, and the young Canadian team of Elizabeth Putnam and Sean Wirtz, who were skating in their first international event as a team, placed ninth.