Skating Updates

Marina Zoueva & Carol Lane talk about waiting for Worlds

A translation of the French Federation's offer to give Japan next year's Worlds

Yu-Na Kim gave a sneak peek of her new short program


& will make a pitch for Korea's bid for the 2018 Olympics

All That Skate Korea announcement

 Finally and most importantly, Worlds has been moved to Russia and will take place April 24th - May 1st!


The ISU announcement

Phil Hersh's take on it - includes snippets with Meryl Davis 

Universal Sports spoke to Ross Miner about Worlds' relocation . Apparently the rink in Sendai, Japan, is gone, which is where World Junior Champion and 2011 Four Continents Silver Medalist Yuzuru Hanyu trains if I'm not mistaken. :-/

They also spoke to Rachael Flatt, Mark Ladwig, Michal Brezina, & Meryl Davis 

Patrick Chan article

4 Continents Pairs Videos

Pang & Tong's short program


Pang & Tong's Freeskate


Evora & Ladwig's short program


Takahashi & Tran's short program


Takahashi & Tran's freeskate


Duhamel & Radford's Freeskate

4 Continents Pairs Freeskate & Overall Results

1. Qing Pang & Jian Tong TE 61.23 PCS 66.81;FS 128.04 = 199.45 Total (CHN)
2.Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford TE 66.55 PCS 55.32 ;FS 121.87 = 181.79 Total (CAN)
3.Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers TE 58.20 PCS 53.53.55 ;FS 111.75 = 171.73 Total (CAN)
4.Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin TE 57.16 PCS 54.56 ;FS 111.72 = 166.97 Total (USA)
5.Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch TE 58.93 PCS 53.88 -1.00 ;FS 111.81 = 166.22 Total (CAN)
6.Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig TE 53.57 PCS 53.50 -2.00 ;FS 105.07 =  Total 157.30 (USA)
7.Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran TE 52.56 PCS 51.82 -2.00 ;FS 102.38 = 152.63 Total (JPN)
8.Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker TE 51.35 PCS 47.51 ;FS 98.86 = 144.46 Total (USA)
9.Huibo Dong & Yiming Wu TE 47.38 PCS 41.31 ;FS 88.69 = 135.10 Total (CHN)
10. Yue Zhang & Lei Wang TE 45.63 PCS 42.69 ;FS 88.32 = 138.93 Total (CHN)

Detailed Freeskate Results
Protocols

Skating Updates

Mark Ladwig's heel broke off of his skate during the pairs short at 4 Continents, but Rudi Swiegler very generously lent him his skate so Mark and Amanda Evora could finish their short program.

Qing Pang and Jian Tong plan to wed after Worlds this season.

Pang and Tong are also leading after the pairs short by over 11 points.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, in their first competition of the season, have a narrrow lead over Meryl Davis and Charlie White after the short dance. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje sit in third, while Maia and Alex Shibutani are in fourth.

Rise is tonight, here is info from U.S. Figure Skating about the event. There will also be another showing of it March 7th in some locations.

It has been announced that Short Dance's compulsory segment next season will likely be the Rhumba. Also, Daisuke Takahashi was landing quad toes in practice in the main rink and is happy with his condition. Miki Ando says she isn't in prime condition and is somewhat tired.

4 Continents Pairs Short Results

1. Qing Pang & Jian Tong TE 39.29 PCS 33.12 - 1.00 = 71.41 Total (CHN)2. Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers TE 34.21 PCS 25.77  = 59.98 Total (CAN)
3. Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford TE 35.38 PCS 25.54 -1.00  = 59.92 Total (CAN)
4.Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin TE 29.02 PCS 26.23 = 55.25 Total (USA)
5.Kristen Moores-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch TE 28.12 PCS 26.29  = 54.41 Total (CAN)
6.Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig TE 28.14 PCS 25.09 -1.00 = 52.23 Total (USA)
7.Yue Zhang & Lei Wang TE 28.93 PCS 21.68  = 50.61 Total (CHN)
8.Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran TE 26.77  PCS 25.48 -2.00 = 50.25 Total (JPN)
9.Huibo Dong & Yiming Wu TE 25.41 PCS 21.00 = 46.41 Total (CHN)
10. Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker TE 23.60 PCS 22.00 = 45.60 Total (USA)

Detailed Results
Protocol

U.S. Nationals: Pairs Freeskate

I'm only going to be focusing on the final group here, but I have to say that as a whole, the U.S. pairs were much better than I expected them to be. Many years the pairs event is a complete splat fest; the winners are often the team that simply has the least amount of screw ups, and while that is not terribly unusual in skating, the extent to which it is true in pairs can be pretty painful. That said, this year even the earlier groups were rather respectable; some had much less difficult content than others, but for the most part what they did attempt was performed fairly well and I can definitely appreciate that.

That said, onto the final group. 

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett: The neckline of her dress was pretty; the rest of it almost was, but those feathers... Triple twist and side by side triple toes were both fine; not great, but at least done. Their throw triple flip was good, as well as the throw triple loop. Some trouble on the side by side double axel-double axel sequence on Jeremy's part, falling out on the first one, but he was able to do the second one just fine. Side by side spins were actually on the good side, and the lifts were done well enough, but at least one of the positions was kind of ugly. Death spiral was alright, the pairs spiral was ugly, and the pairs spin was okay ( Although I hate pairs spins in general.) Overall they skated pretty cleanly technically, but it wasn't particularly amazing on that front or artistically. They also had a lot of catchfoot moves, which while are good for gaining levels, can be rather unattractive at times and get old quickly. 59.36 TE 58.34 PCS ;117.70 FS =175.49 Total (3rd)

Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker: They also started with a triple twist, but had a collision on the catch, then did an okay side by side triple toe-double toe combo. Unfortunately, Mary Beth tripped while trying to skate next to Rockne (probably getting ready to turn for back crossovers or something) and they both went down. Somehow Rockne managed to get her up into the lift that was only a couple of seconds after that shocking wipeout. The throw double flip was next; was that intended to be a triple? Their pairs spiral was actually rather decent, and their death spiral was pretty, though a little wobbly on the change of hand. Side by side triple salchows and the throw triple loop were both alright; I'm kind of impressed that they're trying side by side sals this early on in the partnership. After a lift with an interesting position, they had side by side spins that got a bit off towards the end, but were decent otherwise and finished up with another good lift and an alright pairs spin. Their inexperience together obviously showed in some areas, but I was really impressed overall; most of the technical was pretty good, especially for only being together five months. They were a pleasing pair to watch visually too; there's some definite potential for this team and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do with more time and development. 55.16 TE 52.29 PCS -2.00; 105.45 FS =163.55 Total (4th)

Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin: They had a pretty strong opening with a good triple twist, solid side by side double axels, a throw triple loop that she had to work for but managed, and a nice side by side triple toe-double toe-double toe combo. Those were followed up with an alright lift, a well done death spiral (though not a variation I'm fond of), and side by side spins they lost some unison at the end. Pairs spiral could be better on his end, but the throw triple salchow after that was lovely. They closed the program with two good lifts and a pairs spin. That was a very elegant, very strong skate with an atmosphere about it. It even silenced the commentators! I nearly teared up at the end, and I'm not a crier. Most everyone who's reading this has probably heard by now, but for those that haven't, this program is in memory of John's late mother, who died just a month after he and Caitlin failed to make the Olympic team. I think it captured the emotions pretty well, and it is easily one of the more artistically moving programs that I've ever seen by an American pair. 61.97 TE 62.18 PCS ;124.15 FS = 188.45 Total (1st)

Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig: Good speed right off the start. First element was a triple twist that was good and quite light. Side by side triple toes were pretty solid, and the throw triple flip was alright. The side by side spins got messy at the end but I rather liked the flying sit at the beginning. They had some nice spread eagles to an alright spiral and then the double axel-half loop-double salchow, which was just managed. Their pairs spin was okay but she had to put her hand down on the throw triple loop. The death spiral was in a pretty ugly position, unfortunately, but  their lifts were mostly good, and one was really impressive. It was a pretty nice program overall but not with the same feeling as Yankowskas and Coughlin. 62.09 TE 60.26 PCS ; 122.35 FS = 185.22 Total (2nd)

 

Full Results and Protocols

U.S. Nationals and Europeans Updates

Mirai Nagasu won the ladies short program at U.S. Nationals with 63.35. Not far behind are Alissa Czisny (62.50), Rachael Flatt (62.32), and Agnes Zawadzki (61.54). Christina Gao and Vanessa Lam are in fifth and sixth respectively with 58.43 and 57.61. Ashley Wagner, who is reportedly struggling with the flu, sits in seventh (54.63) with Yasmin Siraj in eighth (49.91),and Caroline Zhang in tenth (48.48). Mirai was also charming the heck out of reporters in the mixed zone, saying things like...

"I have to do jumps anyway, so why not go ahead and land them?" and "The title was Total Package; I think it should have been Potential Total Package" (about her SKATING magazine cover.).

Her skating aside, things like that really make me cheer for Mirai. She's young, she's adorable, and she can make me laugh. The personality doesn't seem put on in any way - she's just acting like the seventeen year old girl that she is.

Eleven year old Nathan Chen completely decimated the rest of the field at Nationals for his second Novice National title in a row. His coach says that Nathan is planning to move up to Juniors next season and is working on a triple axel off ice. I really hope that he manages to stay injury free over the next few years and can adjust his jumps well as he gets taller - he clearly is a talent.

Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin are in the lead after the pairs short program with 64.30. Second are Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig with 62.87, third Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker with 58.10. Defending champions Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett are fourth with 57.79. Protocols for the short program are available if you click on Senior Pairs short program on this page (they also seem to be available for all other categories shortly after the events are over.)

Starting orders are up for the men's short program and the short dance.

Onto Euros...

To no ones surprise Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat are in the lead after the short dance (66.91). In second are Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev (65.46), third Sinead Kerr and John Kerr (62.87). Rounding out the top six are Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (60.93), Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko (60.91), and Nora Hoffmann and Maxim Zavozin (58.00). Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali are buried in ninth (57.18).

Short Dance Results
Protocols

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy claimed their fourth European crown with a final score of 206.20, despite losing the freeskate to Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov (203.61).Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov grabbed bronze with 188.24 and Katarina Gerboldt and Alexander Enbert, fourth(169.95).

Pairs Short Results
Protocols
Pairs Freeskate Results
Protocols

Florent Amodio has the lead after the men's short program with 78.11. Michal Brezina sits in second with 76.13 and Artur Gachinski third with 73.76. Kevin Van Der Perren is in fourth (73.61) followed by Tomas Verner (72.91), Samuel Contesti (72.78), and Brian Joubert (70.44). Gold medal favorites Brian and Tomas both fell once and based off the protocol it looks like Brian struggled with all of his jumping elements. Personally, I'm certainly hoping that Florent holds onto the lead for his first senior international title and am also hoping that Tomas will come back strong with a solid freeskate.

Men's Short Results
Protocols

Skating Updates

Ryan Bradley wishes you a Merry Christmas!

 Merry belated Christmas and any other holidays that any of you have been celebrating!

There hasn't been a whole lot of skating news going around this holiday season (aside from various countries nationals), but there has been a few items of note.

Jeremy Barrett proposed to Amanda Evora on Christmas Eve. While I'm not particularly in love with either of their respective pair teams, I'm really happy for them - I do have a bit of a soft spot for Amanda ever since I saw her reaction to being put on the Olympic team. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Marie-France Dubriel and Patrice Lauzon celebrated the birth of their first child, also on Christmas Eve!

Yu-Na Kim's management is demanding an apology from a Japanese tv crew for filming Yu-Na's training without permission. Here is Universal Sports take on the situation. Honestly, I find the whole thing rather ridiculous. If Yu-Na is in decent shape by the time Worlds comes around, she'll certainly be in the mix for a medal, so why even bother spying on her?

Miki Ando won the ladies title at Japanese Nationals in a convincing fashion, finishing with 202.34 points, while short program leader Mao Asada won the silver medal with a total of 193.69 points overall. Kanako Murakami finished in third with 187.52 points and Akiko Suzuki fourth with 175.96 points. Congratulations to Miki on her first National title in quite awhile and to Mao for fighting back after a dismal Grand Prix season.

Miki, Mao,and Kanako have been selected for the Japanese World team, while Akiko will be competing in place of Kanako at 4 Continents. My one regret for the ladies? That Akiko isn't on the World team. The three girls selected probably do have a better shot of medaling there than she does, but it's still a shame after seeing her consistently underscored on program components throughout this season, despite the fact that she is easily one of the more expressive ladies currently competing. Well, c'est la vie I suppose. On the brightside, Akiko has stated that she is planning on competing next season, so there is still hope yet!

As many others have stated (though I'm not sure it can be stated enough), Japan needs more than 3 spots for Worlds in singles!