Ottawa, ON: Skate Canada announced today that it has been awarded the hosting of the 2007 Synchronized Skating Championship by the International Skating Union.

The Championships will be held at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, March 29 – April 1, 2007 and will feature more than 20 teams from 18 countries.

‘With the popularity of synchronized skating in Western Ontario, the City of London is a great fit with an excellent facility for this event,’ said Pam Coburn, Skate Canada Chief Executive Officer. ‘This discipline of figure skating is growing rapidly internationally and is intent on becoming an Olympic sport by 2010. We had enormous success with this Championship when it was held in Ottawa in 2003.’

‘We are honoured to have been selected to host this very prestigious event and are confident that City of London will set a new standard as a host city for this highly regarded ISU World Championship,’ said John Winston, General Manager Tourism London.

With an estimated 600 skaters and support personnel involved in the competition, the economic impact for London should reach $9 million with 8,000 hotel room nights booked for the event. In 2003, the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships held in Ottawa saw record crowds with a total attendance number of 13,623 over two days of competition.

The first World Synchronized Championships were held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA in 2000. The standards for the sport have developed significantly since that time with teams executing more difficult footwork at greater speeds while in tight formations. The number of entries for each country is determined by the previous year’s Championship results. Leaders in the sport include Finland, Sweden, US, Germany and Canada.

London will also be the venue for the 2005 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships, January 17-23, 2005. All-event tickets are currently on sale for the 2005 event. Sales have been brisk with packages priced at $150 for lower bowl and $125 for upper bowl, plus taxes and service charges. Packages include admission to 11 different sessions over seven days of competition. Tickets are available by phone through all Ticketmaster phone centres, by the Internet at www.ticketmaster.ca, or in person at the John Labatt Centre box office.

For more information contact:

Brenda Gorman
Public Affairs Director
(613) 747-1007 ext. 2517