Trophee Eric Bompard: Freeskate and Final Results

(I'll update this as each event finishes)

Men's Freeskate Results
Protocols 
Overall Results

* Honestly, the men were an absolute disaster - if you watch it, don't get your hopes too high for great skating.

Pairs Freeskate Results
Protocols
Overall Results

Ladies Freeskate Results
Protocols
Overall Results

Free Dance Results
Protocols
Overall Results 

Skating Updates

A few pieces of skating news while we wait for the ladies short to start...

Daisuke Takahashi confirms again that he plans to skate until Sochi; also talks about quads and his readiness for this season, among other things.

Brandon Mroz's quad lutz was officially recognized.

Adam Rippon plans a quad lutz at Skate Canada; if he lands it, he'll be the first one to do so internationally.

Ashley Wagner and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir spoke to Icenetwork about this season.

Skate Canada: A Preview

It is almost time for what will almost certainly be the most... interestingly scored event of the Grand Prix. I'll give it to you straight - I am both really looking forward to this and yet dreading how the scoring will play out. In any case though, I'm certainly hoping for much better skating than we saw at Skate America last week.

Ice Dance: Virtue/Moir are clearly the team to beat here - unless they have an absolutely massive meltdown, I just can't see them not winning, especially in their home country and with Pechalat/Bourzat withdrawing due to Bourzat being ill, I don't think there's anyone here to challenge them. Cappellini/Lanotte and Weaver/Poje seem likely to be in the medal hunt. Also of note is the new team of Madison Chock/Evan Bates, both of which have been U.S. National medalists and Worlds competitors with former partners; I have yet to see them skate, but it'll be interesting to see how they do here, as a team that will be hoping to snag that third U.S. Worlds spot come January.

Pairs: World silver medalists Volosozhar/Trankov shouldn't have much trouble here. I think it'll probably a battle for the other two spots on the podium between Sui/Han, Takahashi/Tran, Lawrence/Swiegers, and Duhamel/Radford. Jessica Dube will be competing with her new partner Sebastian Wolfe and maybe they could play spoiler but it's hard to say, especially with them having skated together for less than a year.

Ladies: Like Skate America, there are a lot of ladies here that have medal potential. Akiko Suzuki did very well on the Grand Prix last year, despite less than generous PCS from the judges, and Mirai Nagasu could be a huge factor if she keeps it together in her freeskate. Cynthia Phaneuf will have the home country advantage and has placed in the top 5 at Worlds and Alena Leonova just missed out on a World bronze last season, so if their jumps are there, they're ones to keep an eye on. Rachael Flatt wasn't scored generously internationally last season, but still managed to medal at both of her events and make the Grand Prix Final and is often one of the more consistent competitors. Ashley Wagner has a different style than most of the other ladies and might do very well if her jumps are clean, but she is prone to two footed landings on her triples. Lastly, Elizaveta Tuktamisheva, fresh out the junior ranks, is definitely a girl to keep your eye on. Despite her youth, she is known for consistently landing difficult triple-triple combinations and there's even a video floating around on youtube of her landing a triple axel! The ladies definitely look to be one of the most exciting competitions of Skate Canada and I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

Men: There are probably three main guys to watch out for here; Patrick Chan, Daisuke Takahashi, and Adam Rippon. In all honesty, I'll be surprised if Patrick doesn't leave with the gold here; he fell three times at the Japan Open a few weeks ago and still was the top scoring man. With his generous scores in general and this being one of the events with the most inflated scores, that's probably just the way it's going to be. The 2010 World Champion Daisuke Takahashi is planning to try a quad in both programs this season, but it's hard to say how ready his jumps will be considering his screw removal surgery in his knee a few months ago. I believe in him wholeheartedly, but he just simply might not have enough mileage on his jumps yet for them to be steady here. Adam Rippon started off last season with a bang at the Japan Open but fizzled out as the season went on. If he stays confident and he can control his triple axel and his new quad - the lutz, he has a great shot at medaling here.

Of course, there are other men who could be factors and given the events of last week, it'd be silly of me to disregard them! Kevin van der Perren will be fresh off his silver at Skate Canada and while I doubt that he'll be able to replicate that result here, it definitely proves that if more complete overall skaters really falter on their jumps, his jumping prowess could stand him in good stead. Javier Fernandez, Denis Ten, and Ross Miner likely all have quads planned and if they hit them as well as their other jumps... things could get interesting. Also of note is Chan's countryman, World Junior Champion Andrei Rogozine will also be competing - I haven't the slightest idea where he might end up, but I'll be keeping an eye out.

Here's the online streaming schedule.

Skating Updates

Daisuke Takahashi is not retiring and plans to compete next season. He says he wants to take things one season at a time, but has also stated in several interviews that he would like to compete in Sochi. Daisuke will be having knee surgery to remove the screw left from his prior surgery to repair his ACL and meniscus (this month, if I am not mistaken).

Daisuke also spoke to Icenetwork about his 5 favorite things.

Controversy abounds about whether or not Rachael Flatt should have competed at Worlds with her fractured tibia. While I am of the opinion that she should have withdrawn, I think it's more important to be asking why her coach Zakrajsek would even let her compete in such pain (and in fact, has a history of letting or supporting his skaters do so.)

Meryl Davis and Charlie White make history as the first American ice dance team to ever win Worlds. Alongside Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, they created another historic moment; it was also the first time that North America swept the entire ice dance podium at Worlds.

The ISU President gave out some more details on the team skating event for Sochi.

Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin are calling it quits (despite their 6th place finish at Worlds...). She is looking for another partner while he is weighing his options.

Yu-Na Kim donated her prize money from her silver medal win at Worlds to UNICEF to help Japanese children.

An article on Alena Leonova.

Takahiko Kozuka talks about his flawless freeskate at Worlds.

Worlds Free Dance and Final Results

Free Dance results

Protocols

Overall results

Post free dance interviews

Meryl Davis and Charlie White (1st)



Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (2nd)



Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani (3rd!)



Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (5th)

Worlds Short Dance Results

Short Dance Results

Protocols

Post short dance interviews

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (1st)



Meryl Davis & Charlie White (2nd)



Maia & Alex Shibutani (4th)

Skating Updates

So sorry for the lack of posting! I've been enjoying the calm before the storm that is Worlds. Updates will definitely be a LOT more frequent when it is about to start. That said, here's some recent skating news!

There will be a free Russian live stream of Worlds!

Japanese skating fans should be pleased to hear that Fuji TV will be covering Worlds.

A new Alissa Czisny article by Phil Hersh.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir talk about Tessa's injury at 4 Continents, and how the delay of Worlds has enabled them to polish their free dance.They have changed a lift to avoid straining her quad again.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White also believe that the wait has been beneficial, but haven't made any changes to their programs.They're trying not to think about the prospect of being the first U.S. Dance team to win Worlds too much.

An interview with Rachael Flatt.

The Final Round of Fantasy Skating is open!

Patrick Chan talks about his hopes for Worlds. 

Ryan Bradley talks about Worlds (of course) and competing against Daisuke Takahashi at World Juniors in 2002. 

Maia and Alex Shibutani spoke to Icenetwork about their five favorite things.

An update from the ISU. Of interest is the fact they have approved the idea of 3 new pro am competitions, as well as allowing (requiring?) seeded skaters to compete in 3 Grand Prixs each season.

4 Continents Men's Short Videos

I posted Daisuke Takahashi's short a few posts ago, so if you're looking for that particular video, scroll down a bit. =)

Adam Rippon (Please... grow your hair back out. :-/)


Takahiko Kozuka


Yuzuru Hanyu


Jeremy Abbott


Shawn Sawyer


Kevin Reynolds

4 Continents Ice Dance Videos

Virtue & Moir Free Dance attempt and withdrawal.


Virtue & Moir Short Dance



Davis & White Free Dance

Shibutani & Shibutani Free Dance

4 Continents Free Dance & Final Dance Results

You may have heard by now, by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir withdrew after completing a few elements, reportedly due to a tightness in her thigh muscles. A Skate Canada team leader claims that it is unrelated to her recent shin surgery.

1. Meryl Davis & Charlie White TE 50.01 PCS 53.01 ;FD 103.02 = 172.03 Total (USA)
2. Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani TE 48.76 PCS 44.58 ;FD 93.34 = 155.38 Total (USA)
3. Vanessa Crone & Andrew Poirier TE 47.27 PCS 42.90 ;FD 90.17 = 151.83 Total (CAN)
4. Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje TE 42.29 PCS 43.40 ;FD 85.69 = 151.14 Total (CAN)
5. Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein TE 44.15 PCS 41.15 :FD 85.30 = 142.44 Total (USA)
6. Xingtong Huang & Xun Zheng TE 40.01 PCS 37.35 ;FD 77.36 = 130.29 Total (CHN)
7. Xiaoyang Yu & Chen Wang TE 40.92 PCS 34.25 ;FD 75.17 = 125.75 Total (CHN)
8. Xueting Guan & Meng Wang TE 35.10 PCS 28.39 ;FD 63.49 = 106.26 Total (CHN)
9.Danielle Obrien & Gregory Merriman TE 35.72 PCS 26.30 ;FD 62.02 = 104.69 Total (AUS)
10. Corenne Bruhns & Benjamin Westenberger TE 24.95 PCS 22.92 ;FD 47.87 = 88.55 Total (MEX)
11. Maria Borounov & Evgeni Borounov TE 24.66 PCS 19.05 ;FD 43.71 = 72.23 Total (AUS)


Detailed FD Results
Protocols

4 Continents Short Dance Results

1. Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir TE 35.64 PCS 33.76  =  69.40 Total
2. Meryl Davis & Charlie White = TE 34.50 PCS 34.51 = 69.01 Total
3. Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje TE 36.50 PCS 28.95 = 65.45 Total
4. Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani TE 34.22 PCS 27.82 = 62.04 Total
5. Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier TE 33.50 PCS 28.16 = 61.66 Total
6.  Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein TE 30.94 PCS 26.20  = 57.14 Total
7. Xintong Huang & Xun Zheng TE 28.42 PCS 24.51 = 52.93 Total
8. Xiaoyang Yu & Chen Wang TE 27.78 PCS 22.80 = 50.58 Total
9. Xueting Guan & Meng Wang TE 24.72 PCS 18.05 = 42.77 Total
10. Danielle Obrien & Gregory Merriman TE 42.67 PCS 17.67 = 42.67 Total
11. Corenne Bruhns & Benjamin Westenberger TE 25.28 PCS 15.40 = 40.68 Total
12. Maria Borounov & Evgeni Borounov TE 15.62 PCS 12.90  = 28.52 Total

Detailed Short Dance Results
Protocols

Skating Updates

Meryl Davis and Charlie White talk about their preparations for Nationals, including changing a section of the music in their free dance and how that program differs from ones they've had in the past.

Patrick Chan is planning on putting two quad toes into his freeskate at Canadian Nationals as a test drive for Worlds. They will be back to back and he is also taking out his first triple axel.

Evan Bates talks about what he and Emily Samuelson have been doing while he's been off the ice and how he is recovering. He and Emily are also planning to attend the free dance in Greensboro.

Richard Dornbush was interviewed by Universal Sports and shares what he learned from Nationals last year, who his favorite skaters are, and how he started skating.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are still uncertain that they will be competing at Nationals. They reportedly are leaving the decision until the last minute but should be announcing their final decision in the next few days.

Lastly, Rachael Flatt has gotten a new short program to East of Eden, a Michelle Kwan staple. Comparisons are inevitable and likely to be unfavorable, but at least it is something different for her. She will be debuting the program at Nationals.

P.S. If anyone has any suggestions for things you'd like me to write about, feel free to leave a comment to let me know! I'd love to have some new ideas. =)

Skating Updates

Ryan Bradley talked to Universal Sports about the heartbreak of missing out on the Olympics by one placement and what is inspiring him to compete at Nationals this season. I wish him all the best at Nationals!

Sarah and Drew also spoke to Ryan about his comeback and to Rachael Flatt about her debutante ball that she attended with Patrick Chan as one of her escorts. They also spoke to several other skaters about their New Years Resolutions.

Christina Gao was interviewed and talks about training with Adam Rippon, her goals, and the Junior Grand Prix.

Johnny Weir is officially coming out in his autobiography "Welcome to My World" (which hits stores this Tuesday) and in the excerpt that is in the latest issue of People magazine .

 NTV apologized for filming Yu-Na Kim without permission, though still maintains that the footage they shot was shot in a public rink and wasn't filmed secretly with hidden cameras.

Universal Sports talks about two time Russian champion Adelina Sotnikova and this year's fourth place finisher at Russian Nationals, Julia Lipnitskaya.

Evan Lysacek will be skating in the exhibition at U.S. Nationals and filming his exhibition program for the RISE movie.

The starting orders for Canadian Nationals are online now and reveal that Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir plan to compete there.

Jeremy Ten will not be competing at Canadian Nationals, as he had surgery on a chronic foot injury. I for one am definitely wishing him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him skate pain free in the future.

Lastly, the Stars on Ice tour is going to Japan. It has the skaters that are on  the Canadian and American tours this year as well as Takahiko Kozuka, Shizuka Arakawa, Daisuke Takahashi, Miki Ando, and a few others on select dates. If only the American tour had this kind of a lineup!

30 Days of Skating - Day 15: Predict Gold Medalists for 2014

 It's really not possible to predict that at this point - we're not even quite halfway through this skating season, and the 2010 Olympics were just 10 months ago. But if I had to attempt an educated guess as to who will win in Sochi, I'd say...

Men: Daisuke Takahashi (if he stays in and healthy), Patrick Chan (the judges ADORE him), or maybe Florent Amodio, Adam Rippon, or Takahiko Kozuka. (I would have put Nobunari Oda as well, but he'll probably do too many combinations or something *sigh*).

Ladies: Hahaha... that is probably the hardest one to predict. But if Yu-Na Kim gives it another go, she'd probably have an excellent chance, maybe Mao Asada if her jump technique tweaking pays off, Kanako Murakami, or one of the young Russian girls that are still in juniors (since everyone is raving about them.).

Pairs: Savchenko and Szolkowy seem like a good bet at this point, especially because I don't believe that Pang and Tong will keep competing for that long (I really thought that I heard they were retiring after this past Olympic season!). Sui and Han might be in the mix, as well as a handful of up and coming Russian teams and Kavaguti and Smirnov.

Ice Dance: Davis and White are definitely one that I can see winning gold in a few years (with good programs, of course.). They haven't dominated in quite the fashion people thought they would this season, but they have several years to work out any kinks in their skating and they are still young for a top ice dancing team. Virtue and Moir, the reigning Olympic gold medalists, can't be counted out either, if they decide to stay in and her surgery pays off. I'm also keeping my eye on the Shibutanis, Crone and Poirier, and Weaver and Poje.

All in all though, these are all just guesses on recent seasons and this one thus far. I'm sure we'll see quite a bit of up and comers taking names, especially in ladies and ice dance.

30 Days of Skating - Day 14: 5 Favorite Dance Teams

I don't watch nearly as much ice dancing as I should, but I do have a few teams that I really like.

Based off of the last half of last season and the beginning of this season, my current favorites are Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

The Shibutanis have really impressed me this season; even with my incomplete knowledge of ice dancing's technical aspect, they seem like they really have a handle on all of the elements they attempt (their twizzles especially are ridiculously good.). More than that though, I really enjoy how they perform. They make ice dancing look fun, easy, and beautiful, and skate so ethereally that it looks like they are skating on air. I really, really hope that they make the World team this season.

Davis and White and Virtue and Moir both really impressed me at the Olympics and Worlds. Both skated lights out, and it's really interesting to see this changing of the guard in ice dancing take place, after beginning a few years ago. It'll be interesting to see how they shape up against each other once Virtue has fully recovered from her surgery.

I also used to like Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto a lot, but they lost their luster for me after the 05-06 season ended. I suppose they were attempting to move onto "more mature" programs, but I don't think what they choose fit their style very well and they began to bore me (which was a factor in my watching ice dancing less).

I know that's only four, but those are the only ones I can list even somewhat definitively, haha. Who are your favorite ice dancing teams?

30 Days of Skating: Day 5 - Your favorite dance program

Honestly, I'm not too sure - I'm not nearly as familiar with ice dancing as I should be.

However, I really did enjoy Marlie and Virtue/Moir's Olympic free dances, and Marlie's Bollywood OD was really cool too.