Delobel and Schoenfelder Withdraw from Worlds

[Buttercup]

It's official: Isabelle and Olivier will not defend their title in LA and will focus on the Olympic season (the article is in French). They will be replaced by Blanc/Bouquet.

I'm sure they did everything possible to be ready in time, but if Isabelle is not fully recovered, it's for the best. I hope to see them in great shape and with beautiful programs next season.

[Kinga]

:(
I really wanted them to defend the title. Their FD this year deserves it even more than last year Piano. :(
I hope that they are healthy next season (I am curious whether they keep Pink Floyd FD)

[Buttercup]

I am curious whether they keep Pink Floyd FD

I hope they will. It's a lovely program for which they received good scores, and they've skated it in international competition only three times - right?

[Joesitz]

One can only hope that Isabelle continues to improve and will be 100 per cent for her training and competiting in 2010 Olys.

[lcd]

One of the ramifications of this though, it certainly puts in doubt the ability of France to keep 3 spots at the Olympics next year, and improves odds for say, Canada to score that magic 13 or better, and perhaps (perhaps) for Italy as well.

[Tinymavy15]

I kept waiting for this to be offical. With the russians still a question mark and Virtue and Moir not 100%, things look pretty good for the americans.

[Buttercup]

I kept waiting for this to be offical. With the russians still a question mark and Virtue and Moir not 100%, things look pretty good for the americans.

K/N aren't a question mark, though. And B/A are as much a question mark as DomShabs, I would like to see them skate myself and make up mind based on that. But I agree that things are looking very good for Meryl and Charlie - though I'm sure they want to win on merit, not because others are injured or aren't in peak form. I hope this is it in terms of injuries, and good luck to all the skaters!

lcd, I think the French will struggle to get 3 spots for next season. The Italians are pretty iffy too, I can't see any scenario in which C/L will be higher than 8th, and they could drop lower because it's such a strong field. With the Canadians, it's really hard to say because we don't know what kind of shape Tessa will be in.

[museksk8r]

Oh no, I feel really bad for DelSchoes and their many fans. Poor Isabelle, I really hope she recovers fully soon. Best wishes to Isabelle and Olivier in preparation for the Olympic season! Hope they come back soaring!

[SailorGalaxia518]

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

Friday Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, who won the world title in 2008, officially announced that they would have to let their teammates go to the 2009 worlds without them after learning Delobel's recovery will require more time.

[1795]

*dead*

.....go davis and white! *tentatively*



i will be at 2010 OLYMPIC FD.....i will kill 10 babies if i have to.

[SamuraiKike]

That's too bad. I wasnt a fan of their FD this season at all, but they will be missed.


France can forget about their 3 spots at Vancouver though, and that really really really sucks for Carron/Jost . In a best case Scenario PechalatBourzat will place 6th, and that's if they beat both FaiellaScali and the Kerrs which is a very big IF. C/J best hope is a 10th place finish and that's if they beat both S/B and C/P which is also a very big IF.

[AwesomeIce]

This whole entire season just STINKS.

[rosee]

I hope that they are healthy next season (I am curious whether they keep Pink Floyd FD)

I can't find the article right now, but they said that they won't keep their FD. They already have a lot of ideas for FDs that will look even more like "them".

[GiuliaPlum]

They will keep Pink Floyd as Gala program.

[Buttercup]

France can forget about their 3 spots at Vancouver though, and that really really really sucks for Carron/Jost . In a best case Scenario PechalatBourzat will place 6th, and that's if they beat both FaiellaScali and the Kerrs which is a very big IF. C/J best hope is a 10th place finish and that's if they beat both S/B and C/P which is also a very big IF.

I disagree. I think it is unlikely that they will keep three spots, but I can certainly see P/B finishing higher than sixth, since they will come in as the top French team and have a high-scoring FD. C/J might finish as high as 8th or 9th - they would need to beat the NA teams to do so, but they are capable of it; theoretically they could also finish ahead of C/L - they came close to doing so at Euros. It seems unlikely that both will happen, but it is a possiblity. And I believe both of the French teams are better than you give them credit for. Also, we still need to see if there will be any other WDs, before or during the event.