Mixed Pairs

The Mixed Pairs’ competition in Wroclaw will not be remembered with great joy in Belgium. The country had entered title aspirants Menno Vanderghote / Julie van Gelder and the promising Nik De Roeck / Amber Van Wijk, who placed first and second after two rounds in Qualification, showing impeccable performances. However, both Pairs then suffered from a fall and resulting penalties during their Combined exercises. Vanderghote / Gelder lost hold of their leading position and were passed up by their team-mates, which dropped them out of the Final! The day had not been gracious to De Roeck / Van Wijk either; they suffered another fall in the Final, a mistake that left them with nary a chance for the podium; fifth. 

Enter Americans Kristin Allen / Michael Rodrigues to the applause of a hall full of fans. Dressed in red and black, their tango was simply fantastic and executed without any major mistakes. A magnificent 28.600, which was not topped by any other Pair. The Americans powered through two days of competition, and after having conquered the 2009 World Games in Kaoshiung ran off with the world title from Wroclaw!

China and Russia duelled it out for the podium. The ever magnificent Yan Huang / Shaolong Zhang, in terms of technique, performed incredible flight elements and gave their best artistically. They finished third behind Tatiana Okulova / Revaz Gurgenidze, with Russia in second, having scored higher in Artistic and Execution.