A minor injury has caused Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to withdraw from this weekend's Finlandia Trophy.
The two were the defending ice dance champions for the senior international competition in Finland. The event will be held from October 4-7, 2012 at the Barona Arena.
Moir has a slight muscle strain in his neck, and it was a late decision to withdraw from the competition.
"It is disappointing not to go to Finland, but this early in the season we feel it was better to be cautious and careful," said Moir. "We have a long season ahead of us, and just don't want to risk aggravating things by travelling and competing this weekend," said Moir.
The two will miss returning to Finlandia for a second time. "We had such a great summer of training, and we were really excited to debut our two new programs in Finland," said Virtue. "We had such a positive experience last year and were really looking forward to returning. The fans, our friends and the Finnish Figure Skating Association were so supportive of us that we couldn't wait to go back."
"Our bags were packed, and it was literally just four hours before our scheduled flight that we made the decision," explained Virtue. "However, injuries are part of being an athlete. We understand that, and we feel fortunate that Scott now has the time to recover 100 per cent. We will be back training hard to show off our programs at Skate Canada International in Windsor in just a few weeks."
