COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- American ice dancers Morgan
Matthews and Maxim Zavozin are calling it quits, two years after
winning the world junior title.
Matthews said Monday it was her decision to end their six-year
partnership, blaming the split on creative differences and
conflicting opinions about training. Both are looking for new
partners.
"It was based on the past several years of our career
together," she said. "We skated together for six years and a lot
can change in that amount of time; we just grew apart."
Matthews and Zavozin met at a tryout at the 2001 U.S. Figure
Skating Championships, and quickly established themselves as a
couple who could help Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto improve the
United States' reputation in dance. They were the junior Grand Prix
champions in 2004, and were third at junior worlds that year.
They won the junior world title in 2005, three years after
Belbin and Agosto claimed that same title. When the Russian-born
Zavozin became an American citizen in December 2005, they seemed
likely to be part of the U.S. team at the Turin Olympics.
But they faltered at the national championships, and missed out
on the Winter Games. They took a step backward at this year's
nationals, finishing fifth.
"I was planning to work through it and to become even better
than we have been," Zavozin said. "My goal, like it was with
Morgan, is to be one of the best teams in the world with whoever
I'm going to skate with next."