Belbin and Agosto withdraw from Grand Prix Final due to illness

Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto (USA)
at Cup of China.
Photo: AP/Elizabeth Dalziel)

World silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto announced their withdrawal from the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo next week.  According to U.S. Figure Skating, Belbin suffered from an infected wisdom tooth and had to have surgery to repair the issue before any complications arose.  Doctors advised her to avoid strenuous activity for a week, hindering their training for the Grand Prix Final.

"Tanith and I are very disappointed that we won't be able to compete at the Grand Prix Final,” Agosto told USFS. “As soon as Tanith is ready, we'll be back on the ice and training for U.S. Championships in January.”

Their withdrawal means that the showdown between them and the two other top teams in the world, Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and fellow Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White, will have to wait until at least the Four Continents Championships.  The three teams have by far been the most dominant in the ice dance circuit this season.  The absence of Belbin and Agosto also sets up a battle for the bronze medal between the next four teams.

Belbin and Agosto will be replaced at the Final by the first substitutes, 2008 World bronze medalists Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski.

UPDATE (thanks to reader pioux): Khokhlova and Novitski have also withdrawn from the Grand Prix Final.  They had a subpar performance at Skate America two weeks ago, as Khokhlova was feeling the fatigue from the season's traveling.  The sixth spot now goes to the second substitutes, Canadian silver medalists Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier.