The ISU World Figure Skating Championships will have to go on with out Canadian Olympic bronze medalist, Joannie Rochette, 24-years-old. She held strong through the passing of her mother at the Olympic games to take the podium, but now she will be sitting out to regroup from her loss. She told press:
“With everything that has happened over the past few weeks, I have missed a significant amount of training time. That means I’m not prepared either emotionally or physically to skate well at these championships and once again challenge for the podium. Whenever I compete I want to give my best to the fans, and to respect the competitive nature of the sport. I just would not be able to do that for either the fans or myself next week.
“I also want to thank everyone in both Canada and around the world who have been so supportive of me. There has been so much kindness shown to me and to my family. I want you all to know that your words of encouragement have truly helped me to get through this very difficult time. I also want to wish our Canadian team members all the very best as they compete in Torino. They all have my best wishes for a great competition.”