Renowned coach and choreographer Bernard Ford and 10-time Canadian ice dance champions Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz will be inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame.
Skate Canada announced Friday that Bourne, of Chatham, Ont., and Kraatz, of Vancouver, will be inducted into the athlete category on Jan. 21 in Halifax. Ford will enter as a builder.
``This is a real honour for me, and it is a very big surprise,'' Bourne said in a release. ``It's very flattering to receive such recognition. I am very excited. When I heard that Bernard Ford was also bring inducted, I thought that we're in very good company.''
Bourne and Kraatz became the first North American ice dance team to capture the world title when they won gold at the 2003 ISU world figure skating championships. They retired from eligible competition after the victory.
``I was really surprised to be nominated because we only retired three seasons ago,'' said Kraatz. ``Being inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame definitely means a lot because we dedicated so many years to amateur skating.
``I want to thank Shae-Lynn for being as dedicated as myself. Without her, I wouldn't be able to share this special moment.''
Bourne and Kraatz are three-time Olympians. They placed 10th at the 1994 Games and just missed the podium with fourth-place finishes in 1998 and 2002.
Bourne has a successful professional skating career and is coaching with her husband, Nikolai Morozov, while Kraatz and his wife, Maikki Uotila-Kraatz, are the ice dance directors at the BC Centre of Excellence in Burnaby, B.C.
Ford, who was born in England and moved to Canada in 1971, is a four-time British, European and world champion with ice dance partner Diane Towler. The Mississauga, Ont., resident went on to a very successful coaching and choreography career following his retirement from amateur skating in 1969.
Ford has coached at the Olympic and world championship level, and has trained various Canadian ice dance teams to novice, junior and senior national and international titles.
He has coached Canadian ice dance champions Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall, JoAnne Borlase and Martin Smith as well as Michelle McDonald and Martin Smith.
As a choreographer, Ford has worked with numerous ice dance teams, including Canadian medallists and national team members Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
Ford also co-invented the Cha-Cha Congelado, a compulsory dance that has been placed in the competitive syllabus of dances, and has assisted the ISU ice dance technical committee in several technical areas, including the production of teaching material for Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean's new compulsory dance, the Rhumba D'Amour.
The induction ceremony will take place at the conclusion of the 2007 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships, which will be held Jan. 15-21 at the Halifax Metro Centre.
