PARIS -- Gwendal Peizerat and Marina Anissina, the French pair who won the ice dancing gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics, retired Friday from amateur competition.

"They fulfilled their objective by winning the most prestigious award in skating," said Jean-Roland Racle, the sports director of the governing body of French skating.

The pair won France's first skating gold medal since 1932. They withdrew Friday from the World Figure Skating Championships, which are scheduled from March 18-24 in Nagano, Japan.