Ice Dancing Takes Top Billing In Ontario

ONTARIO (AP) -- Soon after Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the first gold medal in ice dancing for the United States at the world championships, they got busy changing everything.

 The skaters from suburban Detroit turned down many of the spoils that came from their breakthrough victory, preferring to install new short and long programs despite having just five months before the season began.

 Davis and White will find out whether their singular focus was worth it starting Friday night at Skate America, the opening Grand Prix meet of the season and their first competition since winning worlds at Moscow in April.

 "We want to go out there and make it look like we've never won anything in our lives," White said after practice Thursday. "That's how hungry we are."

 Having tangoed their way to a world title, Davis and White will debut a rumba and samba in their Latin-inspired short dance and a lighthearted waltz set at a masquerade ball in their free dance. They had help on their short dance from Elena Grinenko, a professional ballroom dancer who appeared on the first season of "Dancing With the Stars."

 "We're coming into this season really confident and really excited," Davis said. "Kind of ready to work and ready to get down to all the really important details in the program."

 They went through only portions of their long dance during practice, with rival skaters and coaches keeping a close eye on the world champs.

 "We're adjusting to it very happily," Davis said, giggling at the new title in front of their names. "It's something that we'll take with us for a very long time."

 Having won a world title with their old routines, there was no pressure for Davis and White to replace them, only pressure to do so in a short amount of time.

 "The year leading into the world championships before they won, they were working so hard I didn't think it was possible to work any harder," said Igor Shpilband, one of their coaches. "But after the worlds, there was so much desire. You tell them to do little things, they're going to go harder. They have so much drive. That's what made it possible to change the program.

 "They're pretty comfortable with the material and it's only going to get better."

Davis and White will be heavy favorites to defend their Skate America title, with Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France figuring to settle for a lower spot on the podium.

The other American couples are Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, skating together for the first time this season, and Isabella Cannuscio and Ian Lorello, who are making their debut at this event.

The men's event begins Friday night without Olympic champion Evan Lysacek. The American, back in training since his win at last year's Vancouver Games, pulled out of the season's first two Grand Prix events.

 That opened the door for a trio of young American men to make a bigger impression on the international stage.

 "We're all sort of new kids on the block," Richard Dornbush said.

 He's easily the most accomplished of the three, having finished ninth at worlds and second at U.S. nationals this year. The 20-year-old is competing near his hometown of Corona, Calif., and will have family and friends in the audience at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

 "I'm a little bit worried about jetlag and there was a little bit of traffic," he said, joking. "It took me all of half an hour to get to the hotel."

 Douglas Razzano of Chandler, Ariz., who turns 23 on Saturday, is making his Grand Prix debut as a late replacement for Lysacek. He finished 10th at nationals after being in fifth place after the short program.

 Armin Mahbanoozadeh, a 20-year-old from Great Falls, Va., was third at Skate America and 10th at the world junior meet last year. He finished sixth at nationals this year.

 Dornbush plans to open his Western-themed long program with a quad toe loop, a jump he landed for the first time at a local meet in September.

 "Right now I'm really trying to just sort of make a name for myself and put something out there that will maybe show everybody what I can do," he said. "I also want the opportunity to try the quad out there because it's definitely going to be necessary."

 The top men's competitors include Takahiko Kozuka of Japan, Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic and Florent Amodio of France.

 Ice dancing and the men's event are likely to overshadow the women's competition, which begins Saturday night with a decided lack of star power.

Defending champion Rachel Flatt of the United States is sitting out. Inconsistent American Caroline Zhang, last year's silver medalist, returns and countrywoman Alissa Czisny is competing at Skate America for the first time since 2005, when she won.

The top foreigners include Italy's Carolina Kostner, who was due to arrive Thursday night, and Russia's Ksenia Makarova.