The tribute of Olympic silver medalists Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh of Russia to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington helped them to their first major title at the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday.
Canada's Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz won the silver medal and Israel's Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski took the bronze for the first-ever world championship medal in figure skating for the country.
Lobacheva and Averbukh, who were dressed in partially torn outfits and had hair dyed white to symbolize the tragedy six months ago, put on an emotional performance featuring lifts and a quick-tempo step sequence that earned them 5.8s and 5.9s for presentation at the M-Wave ice arena.
"We've been going for this medal for eight years since Makuhari (site of the 1994 world championships in Japan) but we're glad we made the long trip," Averbukh said after receiving thunderous applause for their performance.
"Tonight was not just about Sept. 11, but about every catastrophe in life," he added.
The Russian duo had gotten off to a slow start early in the season due to Lobacheva's knee injury and returned to the world grand prix circuit last December. They took the silver medal at last month's Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Bourne and Kraatz capped the season with their best showing at the world championships, while five-time Israeli national champions Chait and Sakhnovski featured classic-style Jewish folk music
For host Japan, Rie Arikawa and Kenji Miyamoto finished last out of the 24 participating couples.
The women's free skating competition was scheduled for later on Saturday. Japan's Fumie Suguri was in second place going into the final event.