1995 Worlds Ice Dance (NBC) Quickstep Original & Free Dance | Grishuk & Platov Defend Title

Summary: The ice dance competition at the 1995 World Championships as shown here featured the Original Dance (Quickstep) and Free Dance, with reigning Olympic and World champions Oksana Grishuk (Оксана Грищук) & Evgeni Platov (Евгений Платов) entering as clear favourites after leading the compulsory dances. The Original Dance challenged every couple to interpret the Quickstep with lively musicality, crisp footwork and buoyant rhythm. Among the highlights were Finland's Susanna Rahkamo & Petri Kokko, whose stylish Quickstep to Claude Bolling's Borsalino delighted the Birmingham crowd and would later inspire the ISU's Finnstep compulsory dance. The American team of Renée Roca & Gorsha Sur (Горша Сур) pursued a top-10 finish to secure two U.S. entries for the following year, while Canada's rapidly rising Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz impressed with their elegant skating. Despite Evgeni Platov competing through a knee injury that had forced the champions to miss the European Championships, Grishuk & Platov comfortably retained first place heading into the Free Dance, ahead of Rahkamo & Kokko and France's Sophie Moniotte & Pascal Lavanchy, who had been required to change their Original Dance music shortly before the event after objections from the assistant referee. The Free Dance saw the leading contenders present contrasting musical styles. Grishuk & Platov performed their technically demanding Fred and Ginger-inspired routine to "Steppin' Out", though commentators noted it was less polished than usual as Platov's knee injury appeared to affect their preparation. Rahkamo & Kokko charmed the audience with a Beatles medley featuring "Yesterday" and "A Hard Day's Night", while Moniotte & Lavanchy delivered an ambitious and expressive routine that featured impressive lifts despite a few costly mistakes. Bourne & Kraatz once again won over the crowd with their fresh, athletic style and exceptional edge quality, confirming themselves as one of the sport's brightest emerging teams despite narrowly missing the podium. The final standings saw Grishuk & Platov successfully defend their World title, adding a second consecutive World crown to their Olympic triumph from the previous season. Rahkamo & Kokko claimed Finland's first World ice dance medal with silver, while Moniotte & Lavanchy secured bronze for France. Bourne & Kraatz finished a promising fourth, and Renée Roca & Gorsha Sur achieved their goal of a top-10 placement, ensuring two American dance teams would qualify for the following World Championships. --- VHS60fps format, American coverage (commentators: Sandra Bezic, Greg Gumble) 1995 World Figure Skating Championships (National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, UK). Ice dance - Original dance (OD, designated rhythm, 1995/96 season: Quickstep) and Free Dance (FD) performances shown here marked with (^, *) below: Rank Name Nation TFP CD1 CD2 OD^ FD* 1 Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov Russia 2 1 1 1^ 1* 2 Susanna Rahkamo / Petri Kokko Finland 4 2 2 2^ 2* 3 Sophie Moniotte / Pascal Lavanchy France 6 3 3 3^ 3* 4 Shae-Lynn Bourne / Victor Kraatz Canada 8.2 5 4 4^ 4* 10 Renée Roca / Gorsha Sur United States 21 11 11 11^ 10* --- Chapters 00:00 Renée Roca / Gorsha Sur 🇺🇸 - Quickstep Original Dance 03:45 Shae-Lynn Bourne / Victor Kraatz 🇨🇦 - Quickstep 07:06 Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov 🇷🇺 - Quickstep 10:41 Sophie Moniotte / Pascal Lavanchy 🇫🇷 - Quickstep 14:18 Susanna Rahkamo / Petri Kokko 🇫🇮 - Quickstep 18:38 Original Dance Standings 18:45 Ice Dance Final Preview - Free Dance Begins 20:24 Renée Roca / Gorsha Sur 🇺🇸 - Free Dance 25:14 Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov 🇷🇺 - Free Dance 31:25 Susanna Rahkamo / Petri Kokko 🇫🇮 - Free Dance 38:03 Sophie Moniotte / Pascal Lavanchy 🇫🇷 - Free Dance 43:51 Shae-Lynn Bourne / Victor Kraatz 🇨🇦 - Free Dance 50:03 Final Results & Champions Interview --- #figureskating #フィギュアスケート #eiskunstlauf #фигурноекатание #피겨스케이팅 #pattinaggioartistico #patinageartistique #patinaçãoartística #icedance