Figure Skating

Yet another figure skater has withdrawn from the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo next week.

The 2007 world men's champion, Brian Joubert, of France, pulled out Thursday with a right foot injury that requires surgery.

Joubert incurred the injury while training in Poitiers, France. Joubert has already made a trip to Japan this season, when he won the NHK Trophy and put himself back into Olympic contention.

Joubert is said to have cut his foot while attempting to land a triple Lutz. His coach Laurent Depouilly, said he now requires surgery: sewing back a bit of tendon, and checking that the bone has not been affected.

Joubert suffered a similar injury in February , 2007, a month before he won his world title. He took four days off the ice for that incident.

"Brian's morale is very good,'' Depouilly told media in France. He said that Joubert wanted to get back on the ice within days of the injury, but "there is no question of taking any risks.''

The first alternate on the men's list is Tomas Verner of Czech Republic, who is in line to take Joubert's place.

Earlier this week, reigning Olympic silver medalists in ice dancing, Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States, withdrew from the Grand Prix Final, after Belbin was said to have undergone surgery for a tooth problem.

Belbin had been suffering from an infected tooth that "required immediate oral surgery to avoid medical complications,'' according to a U.S. Figure Skating news release.

"Tanith had been attempting to control the infection with antibiotics, but unfortunately, surgery became necessary in order to prevent more serious problems,'' Agosto said. The surgery was completed on Tuesday.

It will be about a week before she can return to full training.

"Tanith and I are very disappointed that we won't be able to compete at the Grand Prix Final,'' Agosto said. "As soon as Tanith is ready, we'll be back on the ice and training for the U.S. championships in January.''

At the Grand Prix Final, Belbin and Agosto would have had to meet reigning U.S. champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who have registered higher scores than Belbin and Agosto this year in Grand Prix events.

Belbin and Agosto missed the U.S. championships last year becasue Agosto had a back injury/

At the world championships in Los Angeles last March, Belbin and Agosto won the silver medal while Davis and White were fourth.

Also, the Russian team of Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski withdrew from the Grand Prix Final because Novitski is suffering from the flu.

Khokhlova and Novitski finished only fifth at Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y. two weeks ago, and may prefer to stay at home in Russia to tweak their performances and routines.

The defection of the Americans and Russians has allowed Canadian silver medalists Vanessa Crone of Aurora, Ont., and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont. to qualify for their first senior Grand Prix Final. While others are saying no, Crone and Poirier are jumping at the chance to compete internationally again.

Crone and Poirier finished fourth and third in their two Grand Prix events this season and will join Canadian champions Tessa Virtue of London, Ont. and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., at the Grand Prix Final.

Joannie Rochette of Ile-Dupas, Que., has also qualified for the Grand Prix Final in the women's event.