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Posted at 10:20 a.m., Sunday, November 4, 2007

Figure skating: Joubert captures Skate Canada

Associated Press

QUEBEC CITY — World champion Brian Joubert of France won Skate Canada today, hours after U.S. ice dancer Melissa Gregory was injured in a fall.

Joubert won gold despite jumps that weren't anywhere near the quality he produced in winning the world title last March in Tokyo.

Kevin Van Der Perren of Belgium edged Joubert in the free skate and finished second overall, while Canadian champion Jeff Buttle, the 2006 Olympic bronze winner, was third.

The same scenario occurred at Skate America last week, when Japan's Daisuke Takahashi won the title even though U.S. champion Evan Lysacek won the free skate.

American Jeremy Abbott was eighth and countryman Scott Smith was ninth Sunday.

Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took the gold. Virtue and Moir scored 99.62 points in the free dance to clinch the overall title.

Italians Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte finished second overall, while Pernelle Carron and Mathieu Jost of France were third.

Virtue and Moir entered the day with the lead after getting first-place marks for their original dance.

Gregory was responsive and alert in a hospital after a scary accident during the warmup for the free dance. A CT scan showed the head and neck areas clear, and it was expected she'd be released later Sunday.

Gregory and skating partner Denis Petukov, who are married, were practicing a rotational lift. He was holding her with one arm when they lost their connection. Both fell.<

Gregory came down on her chest on the Colisee Pepsi ice. After several minutes being attended to, she was taken away on a stretcher as coach Priscilla Hill stood at the boards wiping away tears. Petukov stood beside the stretcher consoling before an ambulance arrived.<

Dr. Pierre Fremont, the event's chief medical officer, said "her vital signs are stable."

"She is responsive and alert and undergoing further tests," Fremont said in a news release<

Gregory, 26, who is from Highland Park, Ill., and Russian-born Petukhov, 29, teamed in 2000 and they were married in February 2001. He received U.S. citizenship in February 2005.

They were 14th at the 2006 Olympics, and they were second at the U.S. nationals and 10th at the world championships last season. This was their first Grand Prix meet of the new season. They were in fourth place going into the free dance.