French couple takes lead in compulsory dance at Lalique

Michael McDonough, Associated Press, Paris

French couple Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder waltzed to the top of the ice dance standings at the Lalique Trophy on Thursday.

Wearing a flowing white dress with full-length gloves, Delobel and her partner scored highest in the compulsory dance, an Austrian waltz.

The two are hoping for a breakthrough win at the Lalique, the fourth leg of the ISU Grand Prix series. Many big-name skaters are absent from the event, including Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, who withdrew because of Bourne's Achilles tendon injury.

The men's, women's and pairs' events get underway Friday, along with the original dance.

Delobel and Schoenfelder took provisional first place with a factored placement of 0.4. Ukrainians Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov sat second, and rising young Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto were third.

French Olympic champions Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat will make an appearance at the Lalique, but only at Sunday's gala. The pair has retired from amateur competition.

The Lalique is the first major skating event in France since the Winter Olympics judging scandal in Salt Lake City.

The disgraced head of French skating, Didier Gailhaguet, is under an International Skating Union ban but has said he will attend the event as a spectator.

"I have no reason to be absent from the Lalique Trophy," Gailhaguet was quoted as saying in Thursday's edition of French sports daily L'Equipe. "I will respect the sanctions as they stand, which means I won't be accredited."

Gailhaguet is banned from attending ISU events as an accredited official, although the ISU has said he isn't banned from attending as a spectator.

Gailhaguet said he had bought tickets to attend the event.

"It makes me sad in a way but it also makes me laugh as I am one of the organizers of this competition and one of the Grand Prix creators," he said.

Gailhaguet received a warning letter from the ISU after attending an ISU junior Grand Prix event in Courchevel, France last August. However, after investigating whether Gailhaguet breached the restrictions imposed, the ISU decided not to take any action against him.

Gailhaguet and French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne each drew three-year bans from ISU meets for their role in the Winter Olympics pairs scandal. The ISU said it had evidence Gailhaguet pressured Le Gougne to vote for the Russian couple that won the gold medal. Duplicate gold was awarded to the Canadian pair after the scandal broke.