Virtue, Moir lead ice dancing at worlds

TURIN, Italy, March 23 (UPI) -- Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Olympic gold medal winners last month, took the lead Tuesday in ice dancing at the World Figure Skating Championships.

Virtue and Moir totaled 44.13 points in the compulsory dance section of the competition and are in first place. U.S. skaters Meryl Davis and Charlie White were second with 43.25 points and Italians Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali were in third at 40.85.

Ice dancing comprising three nights of skating, with the original dance set for Thursday and Friday's free dance scored before the world champions are named.

Virtue and Moir took the gold medals in Vancouver at the Olympics while Davis and White won the silver medals.

Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin won the bronze and are the event's defending world champions but aren't in the 2010 field.