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2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Ice Dance FD and Final Result

2011-04-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Ice Dance - Free Dance

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 111.51
2 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 107.50
3 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 96.91
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 95.25
5 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 94.35
6 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 92.57
7 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 90.39
8 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 90.12
9 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 89.65
10 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 88.99
11 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER 85.42
12 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 83.18
13 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 78.47
14 Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU 77.85
15 Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Alexander SHAKALOV UKR 76.39
16 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR 74.54
17 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 70.84
18 Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE GEO 70.67
19 Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI ITA 70.22
20 Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS GBR 69.79

Ice Dance - Final Result

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 185.27
2 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 181.79
3 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 163.79
4 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 163.54
5 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 160.32
6 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 160.23
7 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 154.50
8 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 153.77
9 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 151.86
10 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 151.13
11 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER 140.95
12 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 140.86
13 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 133.33
14 Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU 131.01
15 Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Alexander SHAKALOV UKR 128.70
16 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR 126.29

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Ladies' FS and Final Result

2011-04-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

Ladies - Free Skating

1 Miki ANDO JPN 130.21
2 Yuna KIM KOR 128.59
3 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 124.93
4 Alena LEONOVA RUS 124.17
5 Alissa CZISNY USA 120.78
6 Mao ASADA JPN 114.13
7 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 112.24
8 Kiira KORPI FIN 109.71
9 Ksenia MAKAROVA RUS 105.60
10 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 104.63
11 Sarah HECKEN GER 103.10
12 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 100.16
13 Joshi HELGESSON SWE 98.83
14 Rachael FLATT USA 97.39
15 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 97.18
16 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 97.12
17 Bingwa GENG CHN 92.89
18 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 92.78
19 Juulia TURKKILA FIN 90.98
20 Ira VANNUT BEL 89.05
21 Cheltzie LEE AUS 85.45
22 Elena GLEBOVA EST 78.50
23 Irina MOVCHAN UKR 77.47
24 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 75.77

Ladies - Final Result

1 Miki ANDO JPN 195.79
2 Yuna KIM KOR 194.50
3 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 184.68
4 Alena LEONOVA RUS 183.92
5 Alissa CZISNY USA 182.25
6 Mao ASADA JPN 172.79
7 Ksenia MAKAROVA RUS 167.22
8 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 167.10
9 Kiira KORPI FIN 164.80
10 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 156.24
11 Sarah HECKEN GER 155.83
12 Rachael FLATT USA 154.61
13 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 152.78
14 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 150.44
15 Joshi HELGESSON SWE 149.08
16 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 144.76

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Ice Dance SD

2011-04-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Ice Dance - Short Dance

1 Q Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 74.29
2 Q Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 73.76
3 Q Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 70.97
4 Q Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 66.88
5 Q Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 65.88
6 Q Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 65.51
7 Q Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 65.07
8 Q Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 64.12
9 Q Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 61.47
10 Q Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 61.01
11 Q Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 57.68
12 Q Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER 55.53
13 Q Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 54.86
14 Q Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU 53.16
15 Q Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Alexander SHAKALOV UKR 52.31
16 Q Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 52.17
17 Q Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR 51.75
18 Q Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI ITA 49.80
19 Q Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE GEO 49.44
20 Q Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS GBR 46.73

21 Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR HUN 45.41
22 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 45.02
23 Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ ESP 44.98
24 Brooke Elizabeth FRIELING / Lionel RUMI ISR 44.43
25 Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST SUI 41.58

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Ladies' SP

2011-04-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Ladies - Short Program

1 Q Yuna KIM KOR 65.91
2 Q Miki ANDO JPN 65.58
3 Q Ksenia MAKAROVA RUS 61.62
4 Q Alissa CZISNY USA 61.47
5 Q Alena LEONOVA RUS 59.75
6 Q Carolina KOSTNER ITA 59.75
7 Q Mao ASADA JPN 58.66
8 Q Rachael FLATT USA 57.22
9 Q Kiira KORPI FIN 55.09
10 Q Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 54.86
11 Q Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 53.26
12 Q Sarah HECKEN GER 52.73
13 Q Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 52.62
14 Q Amelie LACOSTE CAN 51.98
15 Q Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 51.61
16 Q Joshi HELGESSON SWE 50.25
17 Q Ira VANNUT BEL 49.23
18 Q Cheltzie LEE AUS 48.20
19 Q Bingwa GENG CHN 47.89
20 Q Elena GLEBOVA EST 46.28
21 Q Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 45.99
22 Q Juulia TURKKILA FIN 45.70
23 Q Irina MOVCHAN UKR 45.68
24 Q Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 45.40

25 Sonia LAFUENTE ESP 44.59
26 Karina JOHNSON DEN 42.19
27 Bettina HEIM SUI 37.23
28 Dasa GRM SLO 36.63
29 Belinda SCHÖNBERGER AUT 35.73
30 Viktoria PAVUK HUN 33.70

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Ice Dance SD Starting Order

2011-04-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Warm-Up Group 1

1 Brooke Elizabeth FRIELING / Lionel RUMI ISR
2 Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ ESP
3 Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE GEO
4 Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI ITA
5 Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU

Warm-Up Group 2

6 Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS GBR
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN
8 Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST SUI
9 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR
10 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER

Warm-Up Group 3

11 Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR HUN
12 Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Alexander SHAKALOV UKR
13 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE
14 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN
15 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA

Warm-Up Group 4

16 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN
17 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN
18 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN
19 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA
20 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS

Warm-Up Group 5

21 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS
22 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA
23 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA
24 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA
25 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Ladies' SP Starting Order

2011-04-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Warm-Up Group 1

1 Karina JOHNSON DEN
2 Irina MOVCHAN UKR
3 Dasa GRM SLO
4 Belinda SCHÖNBERGER AUT
5 Juulia TURKKILA FIN
6 Bettina HEIM SUI

Warm-Up Group 2

7 Cheltzie LEE AUS
8 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR
9 Bingwa GENG CHN
10 Amelie LACOSTE CAN
11 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA
12 Elena GLEBOVA EST

Warm-Up Group 3

13 Sonia LAFUENTE ESP
14 Viktoria PAVUK HUN
15 Ira VANNUT BEL
16 Sarah HECKEN GER
17 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE
18 Joshi HELGESSON SWE

Warm-Up Group 4

19 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN
20 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN
21 Alena LEONOVA RUS
22 Carolina KOSTNER ITA
23 Ksenia MAKAROVA RUS
24 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO

Warm-Up Group 5

25 Miki ANDO JPN
26 Alissa CZISNY USA
27 Kiira KORPI FIN
28 Rachael FLATT USA
29 Mao ASADA JPN
30 Yuna KIM KOR

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Pairs' FS and Final Result

2011-04-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

Pairs - Free Skating

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 144.87
2 Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV RUS 140.38
3 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 130.12
4 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 124.82
5 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 122.49
6 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 117.18
7 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN 114.20
8 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 106.31
9 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 101.27
10 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 100.94
11 Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK ITA 99.52
12 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 95.75
13 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 95.13
14 Huibo DONG / Yiming WU CHN 88.46
15 Klara KADLECOVA / Petr BIDAR CZE 87.31
16 Natalja ZABIJAKO / Sergei KULBACH EST 82.21

Pairs - Final Result

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 217.85
2 Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV RUS 210.73
3 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 204.12
4 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 187.36
5 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 187.13
6 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 175.94
7 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN 173.03
8 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 163.17
9 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 160.10
10 Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK ITA 157.15
11 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 155.91
12 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 149.65
13 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 147.38
14 Huibo DONG / Yiming WU CHN 137.75
15 Klara KADLECOVA / Petr BIDAR CZE 132.51

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Men's FS and Final Result

2011-04-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Men - Free Skating

1 Patrick CHAN CAN 187.96
2 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 180.79
3 Artur GACHINSKI RUS 163.52
4 Brian JOUBERT FRA 156.38
5 Michal BREZINA CZE 156.11
6 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 152.72
7 Florent AMODIO FRA 152.04
8 Richard DORNBUSH USA 151.88
9 Nobunari ODA JPN 150.69
10 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 149.10
11 Ross MINER USA 147.53
12 Ryan BRADLEY USA 142.26
13 Tomas VERNER CZE 140.93
14 Denis TEN KAZ 138.99
15 Peter LIEBERS GER 137.86
16 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR 136.48
17 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 131.81
18 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 128.76
19 Jorik HENDRICKX BEL 127.50
20 Paolo BACCHINI ITA 124.17
21 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 122.87
22 Kim LUCINE MON 113.12
23 Nan SONG CHN 112.31
24 Joey RUSSELL CAN 107.04

Men - Final Result

1 Patrick CHAN CAN 280.98
2 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 258.41
3 Artur GACHINSKI RUS 241.86
4 Michal BREZINA CZE 233.61
5 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 232.97
6 Nobunari ODA JPN 232.50
7 Florent AMODIO FRA 229.68
8 Brian JOUBERT FRA 227.67
9 Richard DORNBUSH USA 222.42
10 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 218.26
11 Ross MINER USA 217.93
12 Tomas VERNER CZE 216.87
13 Ryan BRADLEY USA 212.71
14 Denis TEN KAZ 209.99
15 Peter LIEBERS GER 205.59

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Pairs' SP

2011-04-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

Pairs - Short Program

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 74.00
2 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 72.98
3 Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV RUS 70.35
4 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 64.64
5 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 62.54
6 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 59.16
7 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN 58.83
8 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 58.76
9 Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK ITA 57.63
10 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 56.86
11 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 54.64
12 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 53.90
13 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 52.25
14 Huibo DONG / Yiming WU CHN 49.29
15 Klara KADLECOVA / Petr BIDAR CZE 45.20
16 Natalja ZABIJAKO / Sergei KULBACH EST 44.35

17 Stacey KEMP / David KING GBR 44.14
18 Adeline CANAC / Yannick BONHEUR FRA 43.92
19 Lubov BAKIROVA / Mikalai KAMIANCHUK BLR 38.20
20 Danielle MONTALBANO / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI ISR 37.43
21 Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER AUT 35.34
22 Alexandra MALAKHOVA / Leri KENCHADZE BUL 30.10

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Men's LP Starting Order

2011-04-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Warm-Up Group 1

1 Paolo BACCHINI ITA 23
2 Kim LUCINE MON 24
3 Nan SONG CHN 20
4 Jorik HENDRICKX BEL 22
5 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 19
6 Joey RUSSELL CAN 21

Warm-Up Group 2

7 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 14
8 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 15
9 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR 17
10 Peter LIEBERS GER 16
11 Ross MINER USA 13
12 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 18

Warm-Up Group 3

13 Brian JOUBERT FRA 9
14 Tomas VERNER CZE 8
15 Richard DORNBUSH USA 11
16 Michal BREZINA CZE 7
17 Ryan BRADLEY USA 12
18 Denis TEN KAZ 10

Warm-Up Group 4

19 Patrick CHAN CAN 1
20 Nobunari ODA JPN 2
21 Artur GACHINSKI RUS 4
22 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 3
23 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 6
24 Florent AMODIO FRA 5

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Men's SP

2011-04-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Men - Short Program

1 Patrick CHAN CAN 93.02
2 Nobunari ODA JPN 81.81
3 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 80.25
4 Artur GACHINSKI RUS 78.34
5 Florent AMODIO FRA 77.64
6 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 77.62
7 Michal BREZINA CZE 77.50
8 Tomas VERNER CZE 75.94
9 Brian JOUBERT FRA 71.29
10 Denis TEN KAZ 71.00
11 Richard DORNBUSH USA 70.54
12 Ryan BRADLEY USA 70.45
13 Ross MINER USA 70.40
14 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 69.16
15 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 68.34
16 Peter LIEBERS GER 67.73
17 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR 65.16
18 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 64.59
19 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 64.36
20 Nan SONG CHN 63.78
21 Joey RUSSELL CAN 61.69
22 Jorik HENDRICKX BEL 60.74
23 Paolo BACCHINI ITA 58.96
24 Kim LUCINE MON 58.81

25 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 58.41
26 Viktor PFEIFER AUT 56.68
27 Min-Seok KIM KOR 56.19
28 Alexander MAJOROV SWE 54.24
29 Maxim SHIPOV ISR 50.10
30 Misha GE UZB 49.61

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Pics

2011-04-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

More pics(daylife.com)
And more pics (ice-dance.com)

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Pairs' SP starting order

2011-04-26T19:18:00.001-07:00

Warm-Up Group 1

1 Danielle MONTALBANO / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI ISR
2 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN
3 Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER AUT

Warm-Up Group 2

4 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN
5 Huibo DONG / Yiming WU CHN
6 Natalja ZABIJAKO / Sergei KULBACH EST

Warm-Up Group 3

7 Klara KADLECOVA / Petr BIDAR CZE
8 Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV RUS
9 Adeline CANAC / Yannick BONHEUR FRA
10 Alexandra MALAKHOVA / Leri KENCHADZE BUL

Warm-Up Group 4

11 Lubov BAKIROVA / Mikalai KAMIANCHUK BLR
12 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA
13 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN
14 Stacey KEMP / David KING GBR

Warm-Up Group 5

15 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS
16 Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK ITA
17 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER
18 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN

Warm-Up Group 6

19 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER
20 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA
21 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN
22 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Men's SP starting order

2011-04-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Warm-Up Group 1

1 Viktor PFEIFER AUT
2 Min-Seok KIM KOR
3 Richard DORNBUSH USA
4 Nan SONG CHN
5 Denis TEN KAZ
6 Ross MINER USA

Warm-Up Group 2

7 Joey RUSSELL CAN
8 Paolo BACCHINI ITA
9 Maxim SHIPOV ISR
10 Peter LIEBERS GER
11 Misha GE UZB
12 Jorik HENDRICKX BEL

Warm-Up Group 3

13 Ryan BRADLEY USA
14 Kim LUCINE MON
15 Anton KOVALEVSKI UKR
16 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN
17 Alexander MAJOROV SWE
18 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP

Warm-Up Group 4

19 Florent AMODIO FRA
20 Brian JOUBERT FRA
21 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE
22 Patrick CHAN CAN
23 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN
24 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL

Warm-Up Group 5

25 Michal BREZINA CZE
26 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN
27 Tomas VERNER CZE
28 Artur GACHINSKI RUS
29 Samuel CONTESTI ITA
30 Nobunari ODA JPN

2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Preliminary Rounds

2011-04-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Men

1 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 165.00
2 Alexander MAJOROV SWE 136.64
3 Michal BREZINA CZE 130.87
4 Peter LIEBERS GER 129.89
5 Viktor PFEIFER AUT 123.22
6 Paolo BACCHINI ITA 122.29
7 Joey RUSSELL CAN 118.37
8 Kim LUCINE MON 117.78
9 Maxim SHIPOV ISR 116.42
10 Jorik HENDRICKX BEL 109.59
11 Misha GE UZB 109.39
12 Min-Seok KIM KOR 98.67
13 Mark WEBSTER AUS 95.84
14 Justus STRID DEN 95.16
15 David RICHARDSON GBR 93.20

Ladies

1 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 98.88
2 Joshi HELGESSON SWE 91.70
3 Sonia LAFUENTE ESP 91.17
4 Ira VANNUT BEL 90.29
5 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 87.04
6 Juulia TURKKILA FIN 86.49
7 Karina JOHNSON DEN 78.52
8 Dasa GRM SLO 77.42
9 Elena GLEBOVA EST 76.13
10 Irina MOVCHAN UKR 75.96
11 Belinda SCHÖNBERGER AUT 75.85
12 Bettina HEIM SUI 72.74
13 Roberta RODEGHIERO ITA 71.83
14 Sabina MARIUTA ROU 68.63
15 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR 67.75

Ice Dance

1 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 87.22
2 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER 83.67
3 Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU 77.63
4 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 75.45
5 Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Alexander SHAKALOV UKR 75.00
6 Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE GEO 70.90
7 Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ ESP 70.26
8 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 68.96
9 Louise WALDEN / Owen EDWARDS GBR 68.58
10 Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST SUI 67.94
11 Kira GEIL / Tobias EISENBAUER AUT 64.55
12 Danielle OBRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN AUS 63.57

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011- Moscow, Russia April 24, May 1

2011-03-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

In its statement of March 21, 2011 the ISU communicated the decision of the Japan Skating Federation (JSF) to decline holding the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011, initially allotted to the JSF and scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan this week.

In the meantime, the ISU has received applications to hold the Event during the months of April or May of this year from its Member federations in Austria (Graz), Canada (Vancouver), Croatia (Zagreb), Finland (Turku), Russia (Moscow) and USA (Colorado Springs or Lake Placid).

The ISU thanks those Member federations for their spontaneous reaction during these truly dramatic and exceptional circumstances emanating from the crisis in Japan and highly appreciates their efforts for having prepared an application on such short notice. The ISU reiterates that in the light of the dramatic situation in Japan the staging of sporting events becomes relatively secondary and a solution satisfying all involved is extremely difficult. Nevertheless, it is in the best interest of the ISU and its Members to hold the Championships as soon as possible.

The ISU has reviewed all applications received and after careful evaluation the ISU Council decided to allot the Championships to the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, to be held in the Megasport Arena in Moscow/Russia, on April 24-May 1, 2011.

The organization of this major Event with little time to prepare will require a high level effort from the Figure Skating Federation of Russia which has assured the ISU of its full cooperation including in areas such as easy access to entry visas and security. The preparation for the updating of all relevant details (time schedule, Announcement, entry confirmations etc) have already begun and the ISU will revert as soon as possible with the necessary information.

Under these extraordinary circumstances the ISU asks for the full cooperation and understanding of the skating community and all involved entities in making this a successful Event. The full cooperation of all participating ISU Member federations hopefully attending in full strength will be of utmost importance.

Finally, the ISU is convinced that the Japanese delegation coming to Moscow deserves and will receive special attention and respect. At a time like this, words cannot express feelings but the ISU wants to let the skating friends of the Japan Skating Federation and the people of Japan know that the thoughts and wishes of the Skating family continue to remain with them.

isu.org

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami - 2011 World Championships postponed/could be canceled

2011-03-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011 Tokyo

Lausanne, March 14, 2011

Taking into account the continued critical developments in Japan, the ISU’s primary concern for the safety of all participants, spectators and members of concerned entities as well as the travel advisories from many governments to avoid travel to Japan until the situation is settled, the ISU in consultation and agreement with the Japan Skating Federation (JSF) and in line with the advise of the Japanese authorities, has concluded that the staging of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011 scheduled to be held on March 21-27, 2011 is not possible and the Championships will not be held during that time.

The postponement of the Event or alternatively the final cancellation is under evaluation.

The same applies to the ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating scheduled to be held in Yokohama on April 14-17, 2011.

It is understood that a postponement of the above-mentioned World Championships as well as the holding of the ISU World Team Trophy is subject to the confirmation by the competent Japanese authorities that the situation is back to normal conditions allowing the safe conduct of major ISU sports Events in the Tokyo area.

As soon as the situation in this respect has been finalized, the ISU will inform all parties concerned of the decision taken.

Ottavio Cinquanta Fredi Schmid

President Director General

isu.org

ISU says Tokyo world figure skating venue intact

2011-03-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

The International Skating Union says it has no plans to cancel the figure skating world championships in Tokyo, which is scheduled to begin on March 21.

ISU spokeswoman Selina Vanier tells The Associated Press that the Yoyogi National Stadium appears to be unscathed by an earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday.

Vanier says Japanese Skating Federation officials have made "an initial assessment and there is no damage."

The stadium was built 50 years ago in the Shibuya district as a venue for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Vanier says the ISU would be in contact with Japanese officials before changing plans for the weeklong event.

universalsports.com

Morozov's team was already training in Japan, everyone is OK. Florent Amodio tweeted two hours ago:

florentamodio i'm fine and our team too !!

Volosozhar and Trankov of Russia landed with their coaches a few hours before the quake but have been in contact with the Russian Federation. (source)

Please pray for Japan.

Zhang, Toth end professional relationship

2011-03-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

Felicia Zhang and Taylor Toth, the 2010 U.S. junior pairs champions, announced Thursday they have ended their two-year partnership.

"We want to thank our coaches and the staff at U.S. Figure Skating for the abiding support and dedication," Toth said.

After competing at two events in the 2009 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, Zhang and Toth captured the junior title at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash. They wrapped up the 2009-10 season at the 2010 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where they finished 10th.

This season saw Zhang and Toth finish seventh at the Nebelhorn Trophy, seventh at Skate America and fifth at Trophée Eric Bompard. The team withdrew from the 2011 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, when Zhang, suffering from bruised ribs, was unable to perform many of the required elements for pairs.

Both athletes intend to continue skating pairs and are looking for new partners.

"I plan to pursue my passion as a pairs skater and begin, with much verve, on a search for a partner to compete next season," Toth said.

Zhang also plans to continue her singles career. She has competed at the U.S. Championships in singles three of the last four years, winning the novice bronze medal in 2008 and placing sixth as a junior in 2010.

"I would like to thank Taylor for the experience-filled two seasons we had together and wish him the best of luck in the future," Zhang said.

icenetwork.com

Denney, Barrett announce end of partnership

2011-03-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett, who represented the United States in pairs at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, announced Thursday they have ended their three-year partnership.

Denney and Barrett's competitive career began in 2008 and includes three medals at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships: silver in 2009, gold in 2010 and bronze in 2011. The team finished 13th at the 2010 Olympic Games and followed that with a seventh-place finish at the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships in Torino, Italy.

Their best finish in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series was fourth, which they accomplished twice, once at the 2009 NHK Trophy and again at 2010 Skate America.

"We are thankful to all our coaches and their contributions to our success," Denney said. "We have been blessed to have such an amazing journey."

Denney plans to continue her skating career. "I feel I'm just starting to scratch the surface when it comes to what I'm capable of," Denney said. "My goal is to find a new partner and begin competing again by next season."

"Caydee was such a good partner," Barrett said. "I know she will be successful in whatever she decides to do."

Barrett intends to stay active in skating by coaching and performing in shows.

"I feel happy with everything that I have accomplished," Barrett said. "I look forward to giving back to the sport that has given so much to me."

icenetwork.com

Comments from Dube, Davison on split

2011-03-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

Three-time Canadian pair champions Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison have ended their partnership after nine years as a team. They spoke to the media Thursday about their decision to split. Here are some comments from that press conference.

Three-time Canadian pair champions Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison have ended their partnership after nine years as a team. The duo planned to compete this season, but was forced to sit out after Davison underwent knee surgery in October.

The 2008 world bronze medalists spoke to the media Thursday about their decision to split. Here are some comments from that press conference:

On why the team split...

Jessica Dube: In the last couple months I've been doing singles and doing other stuff. I had a lot of things change in my life and I really enjoyed it that way. I found some kind of spark again inside of me and I didn't really want to lose that. It's really bad timing with the injury, but I needed something to remind me of how I enjoy skating. I guess the injury made me realize that and that there was a lot of other things in life I wanted to change like go back to school and maybe do singles again and it made me make that decision.

On whether they will look for new partners...

JD: I love to do pairs. If the right person came along I would look at the opportunity and consider it. I'm not saying I'm not ever going to do pairs again because I love it too much to just put it behind me.

Bryce Davison: When you've had success in something, you don't want to take massive steps backwards... It would have to be a very special partner to step into the top 10 in the world right away...It's not easy to find a partner at that level. I'll look, but at the same time you have to keep all your options very open and realize there's more to life than just skating...You keep your options open and see what presents itself.

On if Davison was surprised the partnership ended...

BD: A little bit of a surprise, yes...I was focused on healing and getting back. That was my main goal. When I sat back and looked at it, that's when I said, ‘This is not a bad thing.' I totally respect her decisions for ending it. It wasn't something I was surprised and got mad about. It has been a large part of our lives, so it's always going to be disappointing when it ends, but there is going to be a time when it ends, no matter what.

On whether they have spent much time together since Davison's surgery in October...

BD: Jess and I have been talking the entire season while I have been injured, but because of the extent of my injuries I wasn't able to live by myself because I was fully non-weight bearing. Couldn't drive, couldn't do anything for three months. I was living with my parents, which is an interesting thing when you haven't since you were 14, so we were talking the whole time, but we haven't seen each other too much... It's not necessarily that we drifted apart, but it made us step back and look at things.

Davison's top moments from their partnership...

BD: When we made the Olympic team for Torino was definitely one of my highs, but also when we skated for the first time in London after our accident. When I look back at it that was probably my most terrifying moment as a figure skater, but my most special memory that I will never ever forget.

universalsports.com

Canadian pair Dube, Davison end partnership

2011-03-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

Dube and Davison's best international result was a bronze medal from the 2008 World Championships. They had hoped to challenge for an Olympic medal at the Vancouver Games, but struggled with consistency during the Olympic season and finished sixth.

The pair may be most well know for a horrific accident at 2007 Four Continents, where Davison's blade sliced Dube's cheek on a side-by-side spin.

Both Dube and Davison plan to stay involved in figure skating. Dube competed as a singles skater at the Canadian Championships in January, finishing sixth.

universalsports.com

2011 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships - Ladies' LP

2011-02-20T08:37:00.000-08:00

Ladies - Long Program & Final Result

1 Miki ANDO JPN 134.76
2 Mao ASADA JPN 132.89
3 Mirai NAGASU USA 129.68
4 Rachael FLATT USA 118.08
5 Alissa CZISNY USA 109.87
6 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 107.49
7 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 104.95
8 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR 96.68

1 Miki ANDO JPN 201.34
2 Mao ASADA JPN 196.30
3 Mirai NAGASU USA 189.46
4 Rachael FLATT USA 180.31
5 Alissa CZISNY USA 168.81
6 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 163.14
7 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 162.59
8 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR 147.15
9 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 137.48
10 Cheltzie LEE AUS 127.90

2011 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships - Ladies' SP & Men's LP

2011-02-19T06:57:00.000-08:00

Ladies - Short Program

1 Miki ANDO JPN 66.58
2 Mao ASADA JPN 63.41
3 Rachael FLATT USA 62.23
4 Mirai NAGASU USA 59.78
5 Alissa CZISNY USA 58.94
6 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 57.64
7 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 55.65
8 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR 50.47

Men - Long Program & Final Result

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 160.51
2 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 157.27
3 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 151.58
4 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 148.98
5 Adam RIPPON USA 137.30
6 Jinlin GUAN CHN 137.30
7 Jialiang WU CHN 136.48
8 Nan SONG CHN 134.66

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 244.00
2 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 228.01
3 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 225.71
4 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 223.52
5 Adam RIPPON USA 210.01
6 Jinlin GUAN CHN 201.98
7 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH USA 200.67
8 Jialiang WU CHN 199.78
9 Nan SONG CHN 195.13
10 Shawn SAWYER CAN 192.94
11 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 191.55
12 Misha GE UZB 182.06

2011 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships - Men's SP, Pairs' LP & Free Dance

2011-02-18T06:40:00.000-08:00

Men - Short Program

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 83.49
2 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 76.73
3 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 76.43
4 Adam RIPPON USA 72.71
5 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH USA 66.40
6 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 66.25
7 Shawn SAWYER CAN 65.71
8 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 65.47

Pairs - Long Program & Final Result

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 128.04
2 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN 121.87
3 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 111.81
4 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS CAN 111.75
5 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 111.72
6 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 105.07

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 199.45
2 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN 181.79
3 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS CAN 171.73
4 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 166.97
5 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 166.22
6 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 157.30
7 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 152.63
8 Mary Beth MARLEY / Rockne BRUBAKER USA 144.46
9 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 138.93
10 Huibo DONG / Yiming WU CHN 135.10

Ice Dance - Free Dance & Final Result

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 103.02
2 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 93.34
3 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 90.17
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 85.69
5 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 85.30
6 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 77.36

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 172.03
2 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 155.38
3 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 151.83
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 151.14
5 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 142.44
6 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 130.29
7 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG CHN 125.75
8 Xueting GUAN / Meng WANG CHN 106.26
9 Danielle OBRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN AUS 104.69
10 Corenne BRUHNS / Benjamin WESTENBERGER MEX 88.55
11 Maria BOROUNOV / Evgeni BOROUNOV AUS 72.23
WD Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN

2011 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships - Pairs' SP & Short Dance

2011-02-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

Pairs - Short Program

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 71.41
2 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS CAN 59.98
3 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN 59.92
4 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 55.25
5 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 54.41
6 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 52.23

Ice Dance - Short Dance

1 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 69.40
2 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 69.01
3 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 65.45
4 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 62.04
5 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 61.66
6 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 57.14

Denney, Barrett out of Four Continents

2011-02-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

2011 U.S. bronze medalists Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett were forced to withdraw from the 2011 Four Continents Championships Friday, after Barrett was injured in a training accident at their rink in Coral Springs, Fla.

Reached by telephone Saturday, Denney said the injury happened close to the end of a practice session on Friday morning, as the pair did side-by-side triple toe loops.

"We had just skated a clean long program," she said. "After the program we went around to do another set of triple toes. I had done mine with a fast landing, a clean fast run-out, and his was a slower landing, and before I could even see anything my leg went right into the calf on his right leg."

"I didn't think it was that bad," Barrett said. "I wasn't even going to check it, but I pulled up my pants and there was a huge hole in my leg. It cut all the way to the muscle, so I had to get 12 stitches on the muscles, 14 to close that up and 16 on the outside."

Barrett says he will be on crutches for one to two weeks. He asked the doctors at the Coral Springs Medical Center if there was any way he and Denney could still compete in Taipei City next week, but they said that even taking the trip could be risky.

"They said even the flight would be bad, and landing on it could do more damage," Barrett said. "I can't put any pressure on it."

Barrett said he was still in quite a bit of pain, as of Saturday afternoon.

Denney said that the pair had been skating well since the AT&T US Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro.

"We've been skating so great," she said. "I really felt like we were peaking at the right time. Today and yesterday was rough. This morning, I was thinking, why I am here, shouldn't I be packing? It's still sort of a shock. This is something Jeremy and I wanted to do so badly, to redeem ourselves from nationals, because it's something I know we would have done."

Denney will continue to practice on her own until Barrett recovers.

"I feel like when I'm on the ice it's my safe little place," she said. "Right now it's hard not having Jeremy on the ice but I'll be doing what I love to do and keeping going. It's an emotional time right now."

Both Denney and Barrett wish last-minute substitutes Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker the best.

"It's unfortunate that we can't go," Barrett said, "But it's great for them and I'm sure they'll do good. It's short notice but it will be a good experience."

"I wish Mary Beth and Rockne all the very best of luck," added Denney, "And we will be supporting them and all of team USA from home."

icenetwork.com

2011 Russian Figure Skating Nationals

2011-01-31T18:48:00.000-08:00

Men

1 Konstantin Menshov Saint Petersburg 225.17

2 Artur Gachinski Saint Petersburg 211.28

3 Zhan Bush Chelyabinsk 204.98

4 Sergei Voronov Moscow 204.71

5 Ivan Tretiakov Moscow 204.54

Ladies

1 Adelina Sotnikova Moscow 197.44

2 Alena Leonova Saint Petersburg 187.68

3 Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Saint Petersburg 180.71

4 Julia Lipnitskaya Moscow 176.27

5 Ksenia Makarova Saint Petersburg 173.91

Pairs

1 Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov Moscow 214.66

2 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov Saint Petersburg 201.44

3 Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov Perm 195.77

4 Katarina Gerboldt / Alexander Enbert Saint Petersburg 182.77

5 Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze Moscow 179.4

Ice Dance

1 Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev Moscow 164.93

2 Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilia Tkachenko Moscow Oblast 160.45

3 Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov Moscow 149.72

4 Jana Khokhlova / Fedor Andreev Moscow 145.74

5 Kristina Gorshkova / Vitali Butikov Moscow 142.8

2011 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships

2011-01-31T18:07:00.000-08:00

Men

1 Patrick Chan CO 285.85

2 Shawn Sawyer QC 229.09

3 Joey Russell NL 204.02

4 Kevin Reynolds BC/YT 191.85

5 Elladj Baldé QC 190.16

6 Liam Firus BC/YT 185.40

7 Ronald Lam BC/YT 174.69

8 Ian Martinez QC 169.38

Ladies

1 Cynthia Phaneuf QC 172.32

2 Myriane Samson QC 157.82

3 Amelie Lacoste QC 151.72

4 Alexandra Najarro CO 147.38

5 Adriana DeSanctis CO 144.23

6 Jessica Dube QC 130.90

7 Vanessa Grenier QC 129.93

8 Dallas Daniel AB/NT/NU 129.67

Pairs

1 Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch WO 187.63

2 Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford QC 171.34

3 Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers SK 168.11

4 Mylène Brodeur / John Mattatall NS 163.12

5 Kaleigh Hole / Adam Johnson WO 140.86

6 Brittany Jones / Kurtis Gaskell WO 134.90

7 Noemie Arseneault / Simon-Pierre Côté QC 131.65

8 Jade-Savannah Godin / Andrew Evans QC 115.55

Ice Dance

1 Vanessa Crone / Paul Poirier CO 164.21

2 Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje NO 163.18

3 Alexandra Paul / Mitchell Islam CO 153.90

4 Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill CO 143.57

5 Tarrah Harvey / Keith Gagnon BC/YT 135.95

6 Sarah Arnold / Justin Trojek WO 125.72

7 Alexa-Marie Arrotta / Martin Nickel MB 108.93

8 Audrey Dupont / Marcus Connolly QC 108.66

Canadian Team - ISU World Figure Skating Championships, March 21-27, 2011 - Tokyo, Japan

Pair

Kirsten Moore-Towers, 18, St. Catharines, Ont. / Dylan Moscovitch, 26, Toronto, Ont.

Meagan Duhamel, 25, Lively, Ont. / Eric Radford, 25, Balmerton, Ont.

Ladies

Cynthia Phaneuf, 23, Contrecoeur, Que.

Myriane Samson, 22, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.

Men

Patrick Chan, 20, Toronto, Ont.

Shawn Sawyer, 26, Edmundston, N.B.

Joey Russell, 22, Labrador City, Nfld.

Ice Dance

Tessa Virtue, 21, London, Ont. / Scott Moir, 23, Ilderton, Ont.

Vanessa Crone, 20, North York, Ont. / Paul Poirier, 19, Unionville, Ont.

Kaitlyn Weaver, 21, Waterloo, Ont. – Houston, TX / Andrew Poje, 23, Waterloo, Ont.

Canadian Team - ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Taipei City, Chinese Taipei - February 15 – 20, 2011

Pair

Kirsten Moore-Towers, 18, St. Catharines, Ont. / Dylan Moscovitch, 26, Toronto, Ont.

Meagan Duhamel, 25, Lively, Ont. / Eric Radford, 25, Balmerton, Ont.

Paige Lawrence, 20, Kennedy, Sask. / Rudi Swiegers, 23, Kipling, Sask.

Ladies

Cynthia Phaneuf, 23, Contrecoeur, Que.

Myriane Samson, 22, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.

Amélie Lacoste, 22, Delson, Que.

Men

Shawn Sawyer, 26, Edmundston, N.B.

Joey Russell, 22, Labrador City, Nfld.

Kevin Reynolds, 20, Coquitlam, B.C.

Ice Dance

Tessa Virtue, 21, London, Ont. / Scott Moir, 23, Ilderton, Ont.

Vanessa Crone, 20, North York, Ont. / Paul Poirier, 19, Unionville, Ont.

Kaitlyn Weaver, 21, Waterloo, Ont. – Houston, TX / Andrew Poje, 23, Waterloo, Ont.

2011 U.S. National Championships

2011-01-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

Men

1 Ryan Bradley, Broadmoor SC 231.90

2 Richard Dornbush, All Year FSC 225.56

3 Ross Miner, SC of Boston 224.35

4 Jeremy Abbott, Detroit SC 224.16

5 Adam Rippon, SC of New York 220.04

6 Armin Mahbanoozadeh, Washington FSC 215.05

7 Brandon Mroz, Broadmoor SC 213.49

8 Keegan Messing, Alaska Assoc of Figure Skaters 213.29

9 Jason Brown, Skokie Valley SC 208.76

10 Douglas Razzano, Coyotes SC of Arizona 206.76

2011 World Team: Ryan Bradley, Richard Dornbush, Ross Minner
2011 Four Continents Championships Team: Jeremy Abbott, Adam Rippon, Armin Mahbanoozadeh

Ladies

1 Alissa Czisny, Detroit SC 191.24

2 Rachael Flatt, Broadmoor SC 183.38

3 Mirai Nagasu, Pasadena FSC 177.26

4 Agnes Zawadzki, Broadmoor SC 173.84

5 Christina Gao, Northern Kentucky SC 167.20

6 Ashley Wagner, SC of Wilmington 165.36

7 Vanessa Lam, All Year FSC 162.91

8 Yasmin Siraj, SC of Boston 152.47

9 Joelle Forte, SC of New York 149.28

10 Melissa Bulanhagui, University of Delaware FSC 144.53

2011 World Team: Alissa Czisny, Rachael Flatt
2011 Four Continents Championships Team: Alissa Czisny, Rachael Flatt, Mirai Nagasu

Pairs

1 Caitlin Yankowskas, Broadmoor SC
John Coughlin, Kansas City FSC 188.45

2 Amanda Evora, Southwest Florida FSC
Mark Ladwig, Red River Valley FSC 185.22

3 Caydee Denney, Panthers FSC
Jeremy Barrett, Panthers FSC 175.49

4 Mary Beth Marley, DuPage FSC
Rockne Brubaker, All Year FSC 163.55

5 Marissa Castelli, SC of Boston
Simon Shnapir, Colonial FSC 151.92

6 Tiffany Vise, Broadmoor SC
Don Baldwin, Los Angeles FSC 151.26

7 Lindsay Davis, All Year FSC
Themistocles Leftheris, Los Angeles FSC 148.25

8 Gretchen Donlan, SC of Boston
Andrew Speroff, Broadmoor SC 145.25

9 Chloe Katz, SC of New York
Joseph Lynch, SC of New York 140.00

10 Becky Bereswill, Detroit SC
Trevor Young, Detroit SC 137.71

2011 World Team: Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin, Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig
2011 Four Continents Championships Team: Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin, Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig, Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett

Ice Dance

1 Meryl Davis, Arctic FSC
Charlie White, Detroit SC 185.48

2 Maia Shibutani, SC of New York
Alex Shibutani, Arctic FSC 173.18

3 Madison Chock, All Year FSC
Greg Zuerlein, Arctic FSC 154.62

4 Madison Hubbell, Detroit SC
Keiffer Hubbell, Detroit SC 141.70

5 Lynn Kriengkrairut, All Year FSC
Logan Giulietti-Schmitt, Ann Arbor FSC 138.42

6 Isabella Cannuscio, University of Delaware FSC
Ian Lorello, University of Delaware FSC 136.55

7 Shannon Wingle, Arctic FSC
Timothy McKernan, Broadmoor SC 130.20

8 Rachel Tibbetts, Broadmoor SC
Collin Brubaker, All Year FSC 118.25

9 Meredith Zuber, University of Delaware FSC
Kyle Herring, University of Delaware FSC 118.06

10 Ginna Hoptman, IceWorks SC
Pavel Filchenkov, IceWorks SC 117.53

2011 World Team: Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani, Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein
2011 Four Continents Championships Team: Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani , Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein

2011 European Championships

2011-01-29T17:31:00.001-08:00

Men

1 Florent AMODIO FRA 226.86
2 Brian JOUBERT FRA 223.01
3 Tomas VERNER CZE 222.60
4 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 216.59
5 Artur GACHINSKI RUS 216.07
6 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 204.88
7 Konstantin MENSHOV RUS 202.62
8 Michal BREZINA CZE 201.39
9 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 199.65
10 Alban PREAUBERT FRA 196.15

Ladies

1 Sarah MEIER SUI 170.60
2 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 168.54
3 Kiira KORPI FIN 166.40
4 Ksenia MAKAROVA RUS 162.04
5 Alena LEONOVA RUS 154.31
6 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 151.66
7 Ira VANNUT BEL 150.66
8 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 147.96
9 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 138.74
10 Valentina MARCHEI ITA 137.44

Pairs

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 206.20
2 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 203.61
3 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 188.24
4 Katarina GERBOLDT / Alexander ENBERT RUS 169.95
5 Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK ITA 164.83
6 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 149.97
7 Klara KADLECOVA / Petr BIDAR CZE 139.94
8 Stacey KEMP / David KING GBR 128.04
9 Adeline CANAC / Yannick BONHEUR FRA 125.34
10 Lubov BAKIROVA / Mikalai KAMIANCHUK BLR 120.72

Ice Dance

1 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 167.40
2 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 161.14
3 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR 157.49
4 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 153.48
5 Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI ITA 145.92
6 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO RUS 145.05
7 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER 140.69
8 Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN HUN 140.30
9 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 135.41
10 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 135.35

2010/2011 ISU Junior and Senior GP Finals

2011-01-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

JGP Final 2010/2011

Junior Men

1 Richard DORNBUSH USA 219.56
2 Han YAN CHN 186.05
3 Andrei ROGOZINE CAN 181.78
4 Max AARON USA 181.28
5 Keegan MESSING USA 175.42
6 Joshua FARRIS USA 173.97
7 Zhan BUSH RUS 173.75
8 Gordei GORSHKOV RUS 171.81

Junior Ladies

1 Adelina SOTNIKOVA RUS 169.81
2 Elizaveta TUKTAMISHEVA RUS 160.87
3 Zijun LI CHN 149.82
4 Risa SHOJI JPN 149.82
5 Polina SHELEPEN RUS 147.37
6 Christina GAO USA 145.01
7 Yasmin SIRAJ USA 130.95
8 Kristiene GONG USA 129.90

Junior Pairs

1 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 159.52
2 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV RUS 150.54
3 Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN CHN 140.58
4 Taylor STEELE / Robert SCHULTZ CAN 133.08
5 Ashley CAIN / Joshua REAGAN USA 131.96
6 Brittany JONES / Kurtis GASKELL CAN 131.04
7 Natasha PURICH / Raymond SCHULTZ CAN 127.02
8 Anna SILAEVA / Artur MINCHUK RUS 113.99

Junior Ice Dance

1 Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN RUS 136.22
2 Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN RUS 134.62
3 Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN RUS 129.94
4 Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO RUS 123.75
5 Charlotte LICHTMAN / Dean COPELY USA 121.58
6 Evgenia KOSIGINA / Nikolai MOROSHKIN RUS 118.60
7 Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI UKR 113.54
8 Marina ANTIPOVA / Artem KUDASHEV RUS 110.16

Senior GP Final 2010/2011

Men

1 Patrick CHAN CAN 259.75
2 Nobunari ODA JPN 242.81
3 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 237.79
4 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 219.77
5 Tomas VERNER CZE 213.64
6 Florent AMODIO FRA 201.90

Ladies

1 Alissa CZISNY USA 180.75
2 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 178.60
3 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 178.59
4 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 173.72
5 Miki ANDO JPN 173.15
6 Rachael FLATT USA 127.57

Pairs

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 210.72
2 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 189.93
3 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 179.04
4 Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA / Nodari MAISURADZE RUS 177.44
5 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 176.80
6 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 169.57

Ice Dance

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 171.58
2 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 162.10
3 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 139.74
4 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 136.75
5 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 136.34
6 Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN HUN 132.07

2010/2011 ISU Senior Grand Prix Series - Part II

2011-01-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

Skate America 2010

Men

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 227.07
2 Nobunari ODA JPN 226.09
3 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH USA 211.17
4 Adam RIPPON USA 203.12
5 Daisuke MURAKAMI JPN 203.00

Ladies

1 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 164.93
2 Rachael FLATT USA 162.86
3 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 154.87
4 Joshi HELGESSON SWE 146.90
5 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 146.68

Pairs

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 197.70
2 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 175.48
3 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 170.07
4 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 166.42
5 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV RUS 159.49

Ice Dance

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 156.68
2 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 149.08
3 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 144.81
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 142.34
5 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO RUS 137.14

Rostelecom Cup 2010

Men

1 Tomas VERNER CZE 230.31
2 Patrick CHAN CAN 227.21
3 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 217.21
4 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 207.30
5 Alban PREAUBERT FRA 204.68

Ladies

1 Miki ANDO JPN 174.47
2 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 172.74
3 Ashley WAGNER USA 167.02
4 Agnes ZAWADZKI USA 153.78
5 Valentina MARCHEI ITA 153.71

Pairs

1 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 182.70
2 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 165.47
3 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 162.85
4 Katarina GERBOLDT / Alexander ENBERT RUS 160.42
5 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS CAN 154.67

Ice Dance

1 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 154.33
2 Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN HUN 142.09
3 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 134.79
4 Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitali BUTIKOV RUS 127.47
5 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 123.70

Trophée Eric Bompard 2010

Men

1 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 248.07
2 Florent AMODIO FRA 229.38
3 Brandon MROZ USA 214.31
4 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 200.13
5 Chafik BESSEGHIER FRA 185.69

Ladies

1 Kiira KORPI FIN 169.74
2 Mirai NAGASU USA 167.79
3 Alissa CZISNY USA 159.80
4 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 155.11
5 Mao ASADA JPN 148.02

Pairs

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 197.88
2 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 183.00
3 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 157.42
4 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL CAN 145.31
5 Felicia ZHANG / Taylor TOTH USA 127.48

Ice Dance

1 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 161.82
2 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO RUS 146.79
3 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 138.48
4 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 126.94
5 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 123.10

2010/2011 ISU Senior Grand Prix Series - Part I

2011-01-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

NHK Trophy 2010

Men

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 234.79
2 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 218.19
3 Florent AMODIO FRA 213.77
4 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 207.72
5 Shawn SAWYER CAN 193.80

Ladies

1 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 164.61
2 Rachael FLATT USA 161.04
3 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 150.16
4 Kiira KORPI FIN 148.44
5 Ashley WAGNER USA 143.73

Pairs

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 189.37
2 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 173.83
3 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 155.66
4 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 154.88
5 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 152.38

Ice Dance

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 165.21
2 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 141.57
3 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 136.93
4 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 135.05
5 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 127.43

Skate Canada International 2010

Men

1 Patrick CHAN CAN 239.52
2 Nobunari ODA JPN 236.52
3 Adam RIPPON USA 233.04
4 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 218.65
5 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 210.85

Ladies

1 Alissa CZISNY USA 172.37
2 Ksenia MAKAROVA RUS 165.00
3 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 157.26
4 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 156.24
5 Haruka IMAI JPN 154.54

Pairs

1 Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA / Nodari MAISURADZE RUS 171.40
2 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 170.92
3 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS CAN 161.15
4 Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR USA 159.85
5 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD CAN 158.53

Ice Dance

1 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 154.42
2 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR 149.80
3 Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN USA 139.05
4 Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM CAN 138.16
5 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 136.03

SAMSUNG Anycall Cup of China 2010

Men

1 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 233.51
2 Brandon MROZ USA 216.80
3 Tomas VERNER CZE 214.81
4 Brian JOUBERT FRA 210.29
5 Tatsuki MACHIDA JPN 200.95

Ladies

1 Miki ANDO JPN 172.21
2 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 162.86
3 Alena LEONOVA RUS 148.61
4 Mirai NAGASU USA 146.23
5 Bingwa GENG CHN 142.48

Pairs

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 177.50
2 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 171.47
3 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 166.72
4 Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA / Nodari MAISURADZE RUS 162.09
5 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 151.66

Ice Dance

1 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 159.59
2 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 145.39
3 Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI ITA 139.52
4 Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN HUN 130.82
5 Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG CHN 124.60

2010/2011 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Part II

2011-01-29T16:39:00.000-08:00

SBC Cup 2010

Junior Men

1 Andrei ROGOZINE CAN 188.60
2 Max AARON USA 179.82
3 Abzal RAKIMGALIEV KAZ 172.28
4 Gordei GORSHKOV RUS 170.95
5 Alexander MAJOROV SWE 168.98

Junior Ladies

1 Risa SHOJI JPN 149.39
2 Kiri BAGA USA 138.70
3 Kexin ZHANG CHN 134.08
4 Angela WANG USA 132.70
5 Shion KOKUBUN JPN 128.20

Junior Ice Dance

1 Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN RUS 130.08
2 Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO RUS 129.71
3 Geraldine BOTT / Neil BROWN FRA 123.65
4 Anastasia CANNUSCIO / Colin MCMANUS USA 119.21
5 Kelly OLIVEIRA / Jordan HOCKLEY CAN 111.99

J. Curry Memorial 2010

Junior Men

1 Joshua FARRIS USA 187.74
2 Zhan BUSH RUS 172.80
3 Liam FIRUS CAN 166.38
4 Timothy DOLENSKY USA 157.07
5 Denis WIECZOREK GER 156.09

Junior Ladies

1 Adelina SOTNIKOVA RUS 166.70
2 Yasmin SIRAJ USA 161.75
3 Yuki NISHINO JPN 135.58
4 Kristiene GONG USA 134.32
5 Roanna Sari OSHIKAWA JPN 122.95

Junior Pairs

1 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV RUS 151.64
2 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 144.69
3 Natascha PURICH / Raymond SCHULTZ CAN 126.98
4 Taylor STEELE / Robert SCHULTZ CAN 124.74
5 Kylie DUARTE / Colin GRAFTON USA 123.45

Junior Ice Dance

1 Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN RUS 155.04
2 Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN RUS 133.86
3 Nicole ORFORD / Thomas WILLIAMS CAN 115.66
4 Alexandra ALDRIDGE / Daniel EATON USA 110.00
5 Lauri BONACORSI / Travis MAGER USA 109.83

Pokal der Blauen Schwerter 2010

Junior Men

1 Richard DORNBUSH USA 195.23
2 Gordei GORSHKOV RUS 185.84
3 Ryuichi KIHARA JPN 177.92
4 Artur DMITRIEV RUS 170.75
5 Romain PONSART FRA 164.74

Junior Ladies

1 Elizaveta TUKTAMISHEVA RUS 172.78
2 Christina GAO USA 155.67
3 Ira VANNUT BEL 141.87
4 Polina AGAFONOVA RUS 135.79
5 Yukiko FUJISAWA JPN 134.82

Junior Pairs

1 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 167.13
2 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 159.38
3 Anna SILAEVA / Artur MINCHUK RUS 131.03
4 Brittany JONES / Kurtis GASKELL CAN 130.52
5 Kristen TIKEL / Ian BEHARRY CAN 117.69

Junior Ice Dance

1 Evgenia KOSIGINA / Nikolai MOROSHKIN RUS 126.92
2 Marina ANTIPOVA / Artem KUDASHEV RUS 118.80
3 Charlotte LICHTMAN / Dean COPELY USA 118.21
4 Andreanne POULIN / Marc-Andre SERVANT CAN 118.00
5 Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ ESP 105.99

Czech Skate 2010

Junior Men

1 Han YAN CHN 193.62
2 Artur DMITRIEV RUS 185.73
3 Alexander MAJOROV SWE 180.73
4 Keegan MESSING USA 177.90
5 Jiaxing LIU CHN 168.65

Junior Ladies

1 Vanessa LAM USA 156.41
2 Risa SHOJI JPN 155.23
3 Polina SHELEPEN RUS 152.92
4 Zijun LI CHN 148.26
5 Kiri BAGA USA 137.28

Junior Pairs

1 Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN CHN 138.66
2 Ashley CAIN / Joshua REAGAN USA 134.14
3 Natasha PURICH / Raymond SCHULTZ CAN 131.77
4 Anna SILAEVA / Artur MINCHUK RUS 126.77
5 Ekaterina PETAIKINA / Maxim KURDUYKOV RUS 125.39

Junior Ice Dance

1 Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO RUS 136.80
2 Tiffany ZAHORSKI / Alexis MIART FRA 127.82
3 Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI UKR 124.14
4 Marina ANTIPOVA / Artem KUDASHEV RUS 123.83
5 Nicole ORFORD / Thomas WILLIAMS CAN 120.12

2010/2011 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Part I

2011-01-29T16:12:00.000-08:00

Courchevel 2010

Junior Men

1 Andrei ROGOZINE CAN 184.39
2 Jason BROWN USA 180.57
3 Max AARON USA 178.00
4 Thomas SOSNIAK FRA 157.15
5 Romain PONSART FRA 149.33

Junior Ladies

1 Polina SHELEPEN RUS 151.42
2 Yasmin SIRAJ USA 140.64
3 Rosa SHEVELEVA RUS 139.54
4 Yretha SILETE FRA 134.03
5 Nina JIANG USA 131.08

Junior Ice Dance

1 Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN RUS 117.60
2 Anastasia CANNUSCIO / Colin MCMANUS USA 108.61
3 Evgenia KOSIGINA / Nikolai MOROSHKIN RUS 107.93
4 Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON FRA 107.29
5 Geraldine BOTT / Neil BROWN FRA 102.46

Brasov Cup 2010

Junior Men

1 Keegan MESSING USA 187.38
2 Joshua FARRIS USA 179.22
3 Keiji TANAKA JPN 166.48
4 Dong-Won LEE KOR 165.12
5 Liam FIRUS CAN 160.52

Junior Ladies

1 Elizaveta TUKTAMISHEVA RUS 132.32
2 Kristiene GONG USA 130.10
3 Shion KOKUBUN JPN 128.78
4 Samantha CESARIO USA 122.39
5 Isabelle M. OLSSON SWE 121.07

Junior Ice Dance

1 Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN RUS 138.27
2 Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI UKR 124.65
3 Lauri BONACORSI / Travis MAGER USA 110.58
4 Tiffany ZAHORSKI / Alexis MIART FRA 107.78
5 Abby CARSWELL / Andrew DOLEMAN CAN 107.25

Cup of Austria 2010

Junior Men

1 Han YAN CHN 170.48
2 Artem GRIGORIEV RUS 166.04
3 Zhan BUSH RUS 164.56
4 Richard DORNBUSH USA 161.90
5 Fumiya ITAI JPN 158.71

Junior Ladies

1 Adelina SOTNIKOVA RUS 178.97
2 Christina GAO USA 167.14
3 Zijun LI CHN 144.76
4 Ira VANNUT BEL 130.16
5 Monika SIMANCIKOVA SVK 125.64

Junior Pairs

1 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV RUS 159.79
2 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 145.67
3 Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN CHN 135.04
4 Tatiana DANILOVA / Andrei NOVOSELOV RUS 121.13
5 Brynn CARMAN / AJ REISS USA 117.36

Junior Ice Dance

1 Charlotte LICHTMAN / Dean COPELY USA 129.96
2 Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN RUS 126.62
3 Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON FRA 115.14
4 Valeria ZENKOVA / Valerie SINITSIN RUS 111.80
5 Maria NOSULIA / Evgen KHOLONIUK UKR 109.17

Abbott taking new steps for new season

2010-07-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Abbott is on the move these days.

The two-time and reigning U.S. champion drove to Toronto last week to choreograph his new free skate with David Wilson. He left for the weekend to skate in two shows in Sun Valley, flew back to Toronto to finish the choreography, and then drove back to his training base in Detroit. On Monday, he'll fly to Korea to skate in Yu-Na Kim's 2010 All That Skate Summer show on July 23, 24 and 25; he will debut his new short program in the show.

On the phone, from the road, Abbott discussed his new programs and choreography. He said that although he usually competes once during the summer, this year he will debut his free skate during Champs Camp in August. He is looking forward to competing at the NHK Trophy in Japan and the Rostelecom Cup in Russia this fall.

"Skating has been going well," he said. "My jumps are feeling great. I think the [Stars on Ice] tour did a lot for me and I'm excited to see how competition goes this year. Halfway through the tour, I stopped feeling nervous and I was able to have fun but still focus, which has always been a problem for me."

Abbott said that the music for his short program is "Viejos Aires," by Ensamble Nuevo Tango. The choreographer, Antonio Najarro, is a well-known Spanish flamenco dancer who has his own dance company. Najarro has been working with skaters since 2002, and he notably choreographed Stephane Lambiel's flamenco and tango programs in recent years. This season, he also choreographed Brian Joubert's short program. "

Antonio came to Detroit last year to work with Kaitlyn [Weaver] and Andrew [Poje] and I loved watching him work," Abbott said. "I wanted to do something very authentic this season, something strong and extroverted, to break out of my shell a little bit."

Najarro choreographed the program off-ice first. Abbott learned it on the floor, and then the two, working with Abbott's coach Yuka Sato, transferred it to the ice during a week-long choreography session.

"It was very difficult," Abbott said. "The music is a tango, but the movement is a mixture of tango, flamenco and contemporary. The posture and the movement are so foreign to me. That's been the biggest challenge, to get the movement comfortable for my body."

For his free skate, Abbott also wanted to move in a new direction. Sato wanted the program to have a storyline and revolve around a character, something Abbott says he hasn't done before.

"I'm doing two styles that are new to me and very uncomfortable! But I'm very excited to push myself to do something better," he said. "I always try to pick pieces that are really different from each other and from previous years."

Abbott has wanted to work with Wilson for some time, but said he hadn't previously had the chance to.

"We chose the music from the movie Life is Beautiful, he said. "It's one of my favorite movies ever. The character is goofy, and a little silly, and kind of cute, but he's put in this horrible situation and has to create an imaginary world for his son. David thought I could play this character really well, and he thought it reminded him of my personality a little bit."

full article.

Rippon to get romantic in upcoming season

2010-07-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

Before Adam Rippon left for the world championships last March, he had a chat on the phone with Ashley Wagner. She told him that the one thing she regretted about her first world championship experience was that she didn't enjoy herself.

"I knew no one would be expecting anything from me because I was the second alternate, so I just focused on doing a good job," Rippon said in a telephone interview this past weekend. "It wasn't perfect, but I felt really comfortable skating, and it was great to have that experience, especially heading into the season after the Olympics, when it's a whole new four years."

"I'm happy with the season I had last year, but I know where I need to grow as a skater. I feel like the more experience you have the more it helps, although you don't want to believe that when you're inexperienced. [Choreographer] David [Wilson] always calls me 'Angel Boy,' but I want to come across on the ice like a more mature skater, and I want my programs to reflect that. Whatever music I chose, I wanted to be more mature."

Rippon, the 2010 Four Continents champion, has chosen two familiar and beloved pieces of music for his competitive programs next season. He, Wilson and Sébastien Britten's choreographed his new short program last week to Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet; he says the program is about ninety percent finished.

"It's kind of funny that we chose it," said Rippon. "Brian [Orser, Rippon's coach] had brought up the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet, and I was like, 'This is cool; I'll put it in the maybe pile!' Like, maybe never."

After considering several music possibilities, one morning Wilson suggested Tchaikovsky's music for the doomed lovers, and it clicked. Wilson also suggested a collaboration with choreographer Sebastian Britten.

"Sebastian was my first client, when I was very young and started choreographing," Wilson said. "I've been looking for opportunities to collaborate, and Sebastian has been particularly inspired by Adam's skating. After worlds, Sebastian emailed me his impressions of Adam's performances, and it was extremely in-depth and profound, and it really touched me. I felt like, you know what, I want to bring my worlds together."

"I've never done a full-on character piece," Rippon said. "I'm going to do my best to be Romeo, so I'm going to die at the end. A short program goes by so quickly, but this piece has all the emotions of a long program. I hope everybody likes it. I think it will be a really special program."

full article.

Ice Dance - Short Dance

2010-07-11T13:26:00.001-07:00

From the ISU Communication 1621:

II. SHORT DANCE GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS - Season 2010/2011

1. Requirements and Restrictions

a) General

The Short Dance consists of choreography created by the skaters expressing designated dance rhythms and contains required elements including sequences or sections of the specified Pattern dance which are considered as required elements as well. (The number of sequences or sections of the Pattern dance is determined by the time relationship between the Pattern Dance part and the Creative part. The intention is to have approximately up to 1 minute of the program to be a Pattern dance part with the rest of the dance being creative).
The entire dance must reflect the character of the selected dance rhythm(s) and be translated to the ice by demonstrating technical skill with steps and movements along with flow and the use of edges.
The concept and choreography must produce the feeling of a unified dance.
The sequence(s) or sections of the specified Pattern Dance may be skated anywhere in the Short Dance and should be integrated into the composition of the dance so that there should not be the feeling that there are just rhythms put together without thought of how they fit together.
If more than one sequence of the Pattern dance is required, the sequences must be skated one after the other.

b) Duration of Short Dance

The duration of the Short Dance is two (2) minutes and 50 seconds (plus or minus 10 seconds). The time must be reckoned from the moment when one of the Couple begins to move or to skate until arriving at a complete stop at the end of the Short Dance.

c) Music

The music for the entire Short Dance (including music for specified Pattern Dance) is provided by the couple. Vocal music is permitted and can be used for any part of the dance. The music for the specified Pattern dance must be within the announced tempo range.
If the rhythm or range of tempo is incorrect it will be penalized.
For the Creative part, the music can be either the same rhythm as for specified Pattern Dance but the tune may be different. Or a couple may chose to skate in this part a different rhythm or rhythms than the specified Pattern dance, but in this case the additional rhythm(s) must be chosen from the group of rhythms announced for the season (see below). Only music with a rhythmic beat may be used and the couples must skate primarily to the rhythmic beat. The musical introduction to the Short Dance may be without beat or melody for a maximum of 10
seconds.

d) Pattern

The pattern of the specified Pattern dance must be in accordance with Rule 608 paragraph 1 b) and with the description, chart and diagram of this dance.
The pattern of the Creative part must proceed in a generally constant direction (either clockwise or anti-clockwise) and must not cross the long axis of the ice surface except once at each end of the rink not more than 20 meters from the barrier (unless specified in Communication). Loops in either direction are permitted provided that they do not cross the center axis.

e) All steps, turns, rotations and changes of hold are permitted provided that they are appropriate to the rhythm. Difficult, original, varied and intricate footwork is required for both skaters. Hops and jumps of not more than one full (1) rotation are permitted. Jumps of 1 rotation may not be performed simultaneously and are not permitted at all in any step sequence. Kneeling or sliding on two knees or sitting on the ice is not permitted (if this happens it will be considered as a fall and the appropriate deduction will be applied). Touching the ice with hand(s) is/are not permitted.

f) Partners must not separate except to change dance hold, to perform the not-touching step sequence or the permitted full stop. Separations at the beginning and/or end of the program may be up to 10 seconds in duration without restrictions on distance of the separations.

g) There are no restrictions on dance holds. Skating in Hand-in-Hand hold with full extended arms is permitted only if in the character of the rhythm chosen but must not be used excessively.

h) After the clock is started with the first movement, the couple must not remain in one place (even if doing brief extra stops which are permitted) for longer than 10 seconds. During the program two (2) full stops (maximum duration up to 5 seconds each) are permitted. Any choreography appropriate to the music selection (including a separation of not more than 2 arms length apart) may be included.

i) Required Elements:
The composition of the Short Dance in the season 2010/2011 will contain 5 Required Elements in total:
– 2 Required Elements in the Pattern Dance part:
Junior - 2 sequence of the Viennese Waltz performed one after the other will be considered as two Required Elements (see paragraph 2 below);
Senior -1 sequence of the Golden Waltz is divided into 2 sections and each of these sections is considered as one of the two Required Elements (see paragraph 2 below); and
– 3 Required Elements in the Creative part (Short Lift, Midline Not-touching Step Sequence and Set of Sequential Twizzles) – see paragraph 3 below.
Each Sequence of the Viennese Waltz and each Section of the Golden Waltz will have a Base Value and will
be given a Level by the Technical Panel.

2. Pattern Dance part:

a) JUNIOR
The Pattern Dance to be skated is Viennese Waltz (51-53 measures of 3 beats per minute) – 2 full sequences of the dance must be performed.
The Viennese Waltz may be skated anywhere in the Short Dance but it must be started with step #1 and skated toward the Judges (the step #1 of the dance must be skated on the left side from the Judges position). Two full sequences of the dance must be performed one after the other.
Four (4) “Key points” in each sequence of the Viennese Waltz will be assessed by the Technical Panel to evaluate the Level of the whole sequence as ONE unit and Judges will give one GOE for the whole sequence.
The following “Key Points” will be taken into consideration by the Technical Panel to establish the Level of each sequence of the Viennese Waltz (see Calling Specification for details):
1st Sequence:
I. Man’s steps 9-10 - Man’s Closed Choctaw (ClCho)
II. Lady’s steps 10-11 - Lady’s Open Mohawk (OpMo)
III. Man’s &Lady’s steps 19-20
IV. Man’s &Lady’s steps 23-24
2nd Sequence:
I. Man’s &Lady’s steps 4-5
II. Man’s steps 9-10 - Man’s Closed Choctaw (Cl Cho):
III. Lady’s steps 10-11 - Lady’s Open Mohawk (OpMo):
IV. Man’s &Lady’s steps 23-24

b) SENIOR
The specified Pattern Dance to be skated is Golden Waltz (61-63 measures of 3 beats per minute) – 1 full sequence of the dance must be performed.
The sequence of the Golden Waltz is divided into two (2) sections (Section 1 - steps 1-22 and Section 2 - steps 23- 47) which will be considered as two (2) Required Elements. Each Section of the dance will have a Base Value.
The Golden Waltz may be skated anywhere in the Short Dance and it may be started either with Section 1 (starting with step # 1) followed by Section 2 or with Section 2 (starting with step #23) followed by Section 1 but in any case one full sequence of the dance must be performed.
No matter which Section (1 or 2) of the Golden Waltz will be started first, the dance must be skated with step number 1 on the right side opposite the Judges.
Four (4) “Key points” are determined for each Section of the Golden Waltz. These “Key points” will be assessed by the Technical Panel to evaluate the Level of each of these Sections as ONE unit and Judges will give a GOE also for each of these Sections.
The following “Key points” will be taken into consideration by the Technical Panel to establish the Level of each section of the Golden Waltz (see Calling Specification for details):
Section 1:
I. Man’s &Lady’s steps 1-4 (“Walk-around” 3-turns):
II. Man’s step 15 (xb-LFI-opMo)
III. Lady’s step 15 (xb-LFI-Br)
IV. Lady’s step 21 (“Shoot the Duck” and side by side LFI Three Turn)
Section 2:
I. Man’s steps 26a-26c (RBO 3-Turn, Pivot, RFI-LBI SprE, RFIRk)
II. Lady’s step 30 b (Twizzles + layback position)
III. Man’s &Lady’s steps 34-35 (RFI SwOpCho - LBO)
IV. Man’s & Lady’s steps 39-40 (XB-LFI OpCho – RBO)

3. Creative Part - Junior and Senior
The choreography of the Creative part may be to the same rhythm as the specified Pattern Dance (Waltz) or to one or two of the rhythms chosen from the following rhythms:
Foxtrot, Quickstep, Tango.
The following three (3) required elements must be included:
One (1) Short Lift but no more than two (2)
A couple may choose to skate either one or two lifts but the first performed lift only will be identified and considered in determining the level of difficulty. Any type of lift may be used for the second lift and it may be performed without any requirements for the Level of difficulty provided that its duration is within permitted 6 seconds and it is not illegal. The second Lift will be considered by the Judges in marking the Choreography.
However, if a third Lift is performed, it will be considered by the Technical Panel as an Extra Element.
One (1) Midline Not Touching Step Sequence (NOT incorporating the Sequential Twizzles)
The Not Touching Step Sequence must incorporate mirror and/or matching footwork. Both partners may cross each other’s tracing(s) and may switch from matching footwork to mirror and vice versa. The partners should remain as close together as possible, but they must not touch. The distance between the skaters should generally not be more than 2 arms length apart.
One (1) Set of Sequential Twizzles
The Set of Twizzles (two twizzles skated simultaneously with up to one step in between twizzles). The Set of Twizzles may be skated anywhere in the program except in the required “Non-touching Step Sequence ”.

NOTE: The DANCE SPIN is not included in the list of Required Elements for the Short Dance season 2010/2011.

Nevertheless, a Spinning movement skated by the couple together in any hold around common axis on one foot (or two feet) with any number of rotations is permitted. A couple may choose to use this movement as part of their choreography. The Technical Panel will ignore these movements and the judges will not consider these movements as the permitted stops.

Note: These Required Elements may be skated anywhere in the Creative part and may be used as the “linking movements” between Creative and Pattern parts of the dance. But only the first performed Required Element will be taken into consideration by the Technical Panel.

Note: Any other dance elements suitable for the rhythm are permitted but the composition should be predominant with dance steps and turns.

Note: Because the dance should be choreographed as an integrated program, and not 2 separate parts, the Pattern Dance part can be placed anywhere in the program: the beginning, the middle, or the end. A dance that begins with the Pattern Dance part, and then simply changes to the Creative part, will be considered choreographically inferior to a program which
integrates the 2 parts together in a seamless way.

Johnny Weir Takes a Year Off...Official Statement

2010-07-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

Three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir released the following statement regarding sitting out the 2010-11 competitive skating season:

My dearest fans,

I would like to officially announce that I am withdrawing my name from the 2010-2011 competitive season. My decision comes after months of weighing the pros and cons of competing this season, and I have decided that I need a year to explore and reinvent myself as an athlete and artist.

There are many projects that I'm currently working on and that I want to devote my time to, including my single, "Dirty Love," my fashion line, "Be Unique," and my quarter-century memoirs to be published with Gallery Books. I'm also working on the second season of my hit reality TV series, and of course skating in shows around the world and producing my own skating spectacular.

I want to thank so many people: My mom, Patti; my coaches, Galina Yakovlevna Zmievskaya, Viktor Vassilievich Petrenko, and Nina Leonidovna Petrenko; my choreographer, David Wilson; my agent, Tara Modlin, and Fireworks Sports Marketing; and my friends, family, and most of all my fans. I skated for my fans this season, and I was able to skate because of them. They gave me inspiration every day in practice and helped in so many ways to get me back to the Olympics for the second time. I am forever in your debt.

The main reason for my decision is to have more time to reinvent my skating. I want to create a new skating image for myself so that when I return to competitive skating, I can perform in a way that is both unique and inspiring. I say all of this in hopes that I will return as a competitor for the 2011-2012 season.

At twenty-six years old, I have been competing at the highest level of the sport since 2000. Training and competing have been my only way of life for the past thirteen years. While it has been a magical journey, I feel that a brief hiatus will be truly beneficial to my skating and my future.

Although I'm taking a break from competitive skating, I still hope to be on the ice as often as possible, training and performing for my many fans around the world. I have even selected music for my next competitive programs and am already dreaming up costumes.

While my eyes are currently focused on many different projects, my brain will never forget about the Sochi Olympics in 2014. It would be a dream for me to compete in an Olympic Games in Russia, and I think one thing my fans know about me is that I don't give up on a dream easily.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me. I hope to be performing for you very soon. I believe this is the right step for me to make in my career at this time, and I am very proud of everything I have accomplished so far in my life as a figure skater.

Thank you.
-Johnny Weir

icenetwork.com

McLaughlin, Brubaker announce end of partnership

2010-06-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Pairs skaters Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, two-time (2008-09) U.S. champions and the 2007 world junior champions, announced today that they have decided to end their partnership after four years together.

McLaughlin plans to take a year off from competitive skating to focus on her schoolwork, while Brubaker will continue skating and begin the search for a new partner.

"My goal has always been to win world and Olympic medals; I still plan on working toward that goal and look forward to new challenges," Brubaker said.

"Rockne and I have had an amazing career together, and I can't thank him enough for that," McLaughlin said. "Right now I feel like I need to devote time to school as well as other interests -- photography, art, dance -- and spend some time away from skating competitively."

Partnering in 2006, McLaughlin and Brubaker won every event they entered in their first season together, including the 2006 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and the 2007 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

In the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, the team claimed two U.S. titles and medaled at all four of its assignments in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, winning three silvers and a bronze.

McLaughlin and Brubaker left Colorado Springs and their coach of three years, Dalilah Sappenfield, in early 2009 to train with John Nicks in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Last season saw the team take home a bronze from the 2009 Rostelecom Cup, place fourth at 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America and come in fifth at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash. They capped their career together with a silver-medal win at the 2010 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Jeonju, Republic of Korea.

"Keauna and I have had a wonderful career together, and it has been a great experience," Brubaker said. "I wish her all the best and feel truly honored to have worked with her."

"We'd like to thank our families, fans and sponsors," McLaughlin and Brubaker said. "Last season was tough to get through, and we couldn't have done it without their support."

icenetwork.com

Hann-McCurdy, Coreno retire from competitive skating

2010-06-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

After seven years of skating together, ice dancers Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno have decided to take a new direction in their skating careers. Hann-McCurdy and Coreno have hung up their competitive skates and will now use their experiences to coach skaters in Ottawa at the Gloucester Skating Club.

Hann-McCurdy and Coreno are looking forward to enjoying life after years of competitive skating. "We would like to share all the knowledge and experiences we have gained in the seven years we have skated together with younger skaters and have decided to do this through coaching and volunteering. We feel this way we can help give back and thank those who made our journey possible"

The 2006 Canadian junior champions, 2008 senior bronze medalists and national team members closed off the 2009-2010 season with a silver medal at the 2010 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Korea. They also finished fifth at the 2010 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

"Allie and Mike have been great representatives for Canada at the many events they competed in. It was exciting to see them earn a spot on the Canadian team and compete at the 2008 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden," said Mike Slipchuk, Director High Performance. "We are glad to see that they will continue to stay involved with skating and we wish them the best of luck."

Their trainer Dylan Harries of Body Rock Fitness also commented on their transition from competitive skating.

"It is a sad day, because I believe Mike and Allie were at the stage of their skating career where they were both letting the creative side of their skating shine through. But on the other side, it is a day of celebrating new beginnings. It has been a pleasure and honor to work with them over the past eight years as their physical and mental trainer. Mike and Allie's hard work ethic on and off the ice and also their true love for the sport makes them role models for young skaters across the country. I wish them both all the best in their future endeavors,"

Hann-McCurdy has been accepted to Carleton University and will start school in the fall, and Coreno will continue his studies at Athabasca University online. Combined with their NCCP Level 1 and their Can-Fit Pro Personal Trainer Certification they will both begin coaching careers at the Gloucester Skating Club.

full article.

Belbin, Agosto retire from competitive skating

2010-06-23T16:12:00.001-07:00

Ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, the 2006 Olympic silver medalists and five-time U.S. champions, announced today their retirement from competitive skating after more than a decade of international competition.

"We have accomplished and surpassed so many of our goals, from participating in two Olympic Games to pushing ourselves and developing our skills in this sport we love so much," Belbin said. "We feel we can move on from our competitive careers without regret."

Belbin and Agosto are four-time world medalists, winning silver in 2005 and 2009 and taking the bronze in 2006 and 2007. From 2004-08, they won a record-tying five consecutive U.S. titles.

"The world of skating has given us so much, the most valuable of which being the friendships and 'family' we have developed over the years," Agosto said. "As we move forward with new career paths and ambitions, we will forever take with us these cherished relationships and the life lessons skating have taught us."

Belbin and Agosto trained with Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva in Canton, Mich., from 1998-2008. In 2008, the team moved its training base to the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pa., to train under 1980 Olympic champions Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov.

Their final competitive season saw the team win gold at 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America and at the Cup of China. Their silver-medal finish at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships helped earn them a trip to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, where they finished fourth.

"We would like to thank our coaches, family, friends, fans and U.S. Figure Skating for their endless support throughout our journey," Belbin said.

The team recently completed the 2010 Smucker's Stars on Ice tour and plans on continuing to skate together professionally.

"Giving back to this sport and everyone who has supported us will remain a top priority for us far beyond our time on the ice," Belbin said.

icenetwork.com

2010/2011 ISU Grand Prix Series - Entries Skate America, Cup of Russia and TEB

2010-06-13T14:14:00.001-07:00

Skate America
Portland, Oregon, USA
12-14 November

Men

Viktor PFEIFER (AUT)
Kevin VAN DER PERREN (BEL)
Shawn SAWYER (CAN)
Nan SONG (CHN)
Daisuke MURAKAMI (JPN)
Nobunari ODA (JPN)
Daisuke TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Denis TEN (KAZ)
Adrian SCHULTHEISS (SWE)
Stephen CARRIERE (USA)
Adam RIPPON (USA)
TBA (USA)

Ladies

Amelie LACOSTE (CAN)
Laura LEPISTO (FIN)
Mae Berenice MEITE (FRA)
Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO)
Jenna McCORKELL (GBR)
Carolina KOSTNER (ITA)
Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN)
Min-Jung KWAK (KOR)
Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE)
Rachael FLATT (USA)
Caroline ZHANG (USA)
TBA (USA)

Pairs

Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH (CAN)
Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN (CHN)
Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY (GER)
Stacey KEMP / Davis KING (GBR)
Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV (RUS)
Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT (USA)
Keauna McLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER (USA)
TBA (USA)

Ice Dance

Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER (CAN)
Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE (CAN)
Stefanie FROBERG / Tim GIESEN (GER)
Alexandra ZARETSKY / Roman ZARETSKY (ISR)
Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE (ITA)
Cathy REED / Chris REED (JPN)
Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO (RUS)
Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE (USA)
Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI (USA)
TBA (USA)

Cup of Russia
Moscow, Russia
19-21 November

Men

Patrick CHAN (CAN)
Tomas VERNER (CZE)
Alban PREAUBERT (FRA)
Samuel CONTESTI (ITA)
Yuzuru HANYU (JPN)
Tatsuki MACHIDA (JPN)
Artur GACHINSKY (RUS)
Evgeni PLUSHENKO (RUS)
TBA (RUS)
Javier FERNANDEZ (ESP)
Anton KOVALEVSKI (UKR)
Jeremy ABBOTT (USA)

Ladies

Myriane SAMSON (CAN)
Elena GLEBOVA (EST)
Valentina MARCHEI (ITA)
Miki ANDO (JPN)
Akiko SUZUKI (JPN)
Yu-Na KIM (KOR)
Alena LEONOVA (RUS)
Ksenia MAKAROVA (RUS)
TBA (RUS)
Sarah MEIER (SUI)
Ashley WAGNER (USA)
Agnes ZAWADZKI (USA)

Pairs

Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON (CAN)
Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK (ITA)
Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN (JPN)
Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV (RUS)
Tatiana NOVIK / Mikhail KUZNETSOV (RUS)
TBA (RUS)
Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG (USA)
Britney SIMPSON / Nathan MILLER (USA)

Ice Dance

Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM (CAN)
Zoe BLANC / Pierre-Loup BOUQUET (FRA)
Sinead KERR / John KERR (GBR)
Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN (HUN)
Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI (ITA)
Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV (RUS)
Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV (RUS)
TBA (RUS)
Anna ZADOROZHNIUK / Sergei VERBILLO (UKR)
Madisson HUBBELL / Keiffer HUBBELL (USA)

Trophée Eric Bompard Cachemire
Paris, France
26-28 November

Men

Alexandr KAZAKOV (BLR)
Kevin REYNOLDS (CAN)
Nan SONG (CHN)
Michal BREZINA (CZE)
Chafik BESSEGHIER (FRA)
Brian JOUBERT (FRA)
TBA (FRA)
Peter LIEBERS (GER)
Takahiko KOZUKA (JPN)
Sergei VORONOV (RUS)
Brandon MROZ (USA)
Johnny WEIR (USA)

Ladies

Cynthia PHANEUF (CAN)
Kiira KORPI (FIN)
Candice DIDIER (FRA)
TBA (FRA)
TBA (FRA)
Sarah HECKEN (GER)
Mao ASADA (JPN)
Haruka IMAI (JPN)
Fumie SUGURI (JPN)
Sonia LAFUENTE (ESP)
Alissa CZISNY (USA)
Mirai NAGASU (USA)

Pairs

Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL (CAN)
Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG (CHN)
Vanessa JAMES / Maximin COIA (FRA)
TBA (FRA)
Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY (GER)
Nicole DELLA MONICA / Yannick KOCON (ITA)
Joanna SULEJ / Mateusz CHRUSCINSKI (POL)
Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV (RUS)

Ice Dance

Kharis RALPH / Asher HILL (CAN)
Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR (CAN)
Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG (CHN)
Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES (FRA)
Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT (FRA)
TBA (FRA)
Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR (HUN)
Ekaterina RUBLEVA / Ivan SHEFER (RUS)
Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN (USA)
Emily SAMUELSON / Evan BATES (USA)

2010/2011 ISU Grand Prix Series - Entries NHK, Skate Canada and Cup of China

2010-06-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

NHK Trophy
Nagoya, Japan
22-24 October

Men

Kevin VAN DER PERREN (BEL)
Jeremy TEN (CAN)
Jialiang WU (CHN)
Florent AMODIO (FRA)
Yuzuru HANYU (JPN)
Takahito MURA (JPN)
Daisuke TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Denis TEN (KAZ)
Arten BORODULIN (RUS)
Adrian SCHULTHEISS (SWE)
Jeremy ABBOTT (USA)
Ross MINER (USA)

Ladies

Diane SZMIETT (CAN)
Kiira KORPI (FIN)
Lena MARROCCO (FRA)
Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO)
Carolina KOSTNER (ITA)
Mao ASADA (JPN)
Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN)
TBA (JPN)
Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE)
Rachael FLATT (USA)
Ashley WAGNER (USA)
Caroline ZHANG (USA)

Pairs

Qing PANG / Jian TONG (CHN)
Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG (CHN)
Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE (GER)
Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK (ITA)
TBA (JPN)
Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV (RUS)
Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT (USA)
Rena INOUE / John BALDWIN (USA)

Ice Dance

Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE (CAN)
Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG (CHN)
Alexandra ZARETSKY / Roman ZARETSKY (ISR)
Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE (ITA)
TBA (JPN)
Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV (RUS)
Alla BEKNAZAROVA / Vladimir ZUEV (UKR)
Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE (USA)
Emily SAMUELSON / Evan BATES (USA)
Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI (USA)

Skate Canada
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
29-31 October

Men

Patrick CHAN (CAN)
Kevin REYNOLDS (CAN)
TBA (CAN)
Alban PREAUBERT (FRA)
Paolo BACCHINI (ITA)
Yasuharu NANRI (JPN)
Nobunari ODA (JPN)
Artur GACHINSKY (RUS)
Javier FERNANDEZ (ESP)
Kristoffer BERNTSSON (SWE)
Adam RIPPON (USA)
Johnny WEIR (USA)

Ladies

Cynthia Phaneuf (CAN)
TBA (CAN)
TBA (CAN)
Laura LEPISTO (CAN)
Sarah HECKEN (GER)
Haruka IMAI (JPN)
Fumie SUGURI (JPN)
Ksenia MAKAROVA (RUS)
Sarah MEIER (SUI)
Alissa CZISNY (USA)
Alexe GILLES (USA)
Agnes ZAWADZKI (USA)

Pairs

Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON (CAN)
Paige LAWRANCE / Rudi SWIEGERS (CAN)
TBA (CAN)
Huibo DONG /Yiming WU (CHN)
Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV (RUS)
Anastasia MARTIUSHEVA / Alexei ROGONOV (RUS)
Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR (USA)
Keauna McLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER (USA)

Ice Dance

Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER (CAN)
Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM (CAN)
Tessa VIRTUE / SCOTT Moir (CAN)
Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES (FRA)
Christina BEIER / William BEIER (GER)
Sinead KERR / John KERR (GBR)
Lorenza ALESSANDRINI / Simone VATURI (ITA)
Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitali BUTIKOV (RUS)
Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN (USA)
Rachel TIBBETTS / Collin BRUBAKER (USA)

Cup of China
Beijing, China
5-7 November

Men

Jinlin GUAN (CHN)
TBA (CHN)
TBA (CHN)
Michal BREZINA (CZE)
Tomas VERNER (CZE)
Brian JOUBERT (FRA)
Samuel CONTESTI (ITA)
Takahiko KOZUKA (JPN)
Tatsuki MACHIDA (JPN)
Sergei VORONOV (RUS)
Ross MINER (USA)
Branzon MROZ (USA)

Ladies

Yan LIU (CHN)
TBA (CHN)
TBA (CHN)
Miki ANDO (JPN)
Akiko SUZUKI (JPN)
Yu-Na KIM (KOR)
Alena LEONOVA (RUS)
Joshi HELGESSON (SWE)
Amanda DOBBS (USA)
Kristine MUSADEMBA (USA)
Mirai NAGASU (USA)
Anastasia GIMAZETDINOVA (UZB)

Pairs

Qing PANG / Jian TONG (CHN)
Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG (CHN)
TBA (CHN)
Kaleigh HOLE / Adam JOHNSON (CAN)
Nicole DELLA MONICA / Yannick KOCON (ITA)
Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA / Nodari MAISURADZE (RUS)
Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG (USA)
Caitlin YAKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN (USA)

Ice Dance

Kharis RALPH / Asher HILL (CAN)
Xueting GUAN / Meng WANG (CHN)
Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG (CHN)
TBA (CHN)
Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT (FRA)
Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN (HUN)
Federia FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI (ITA)
Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV (RUS)
Isabella CANNUSCIO / Ian LORELLO (USA)
Madison HUBBELL / Keiffer HUBBELL (USA)

Germans are ready for another four years

2010-05-30T15:02:00.001-07:00

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy entered the Olympic season as two-time and reigning World Pairs Champions and were considered top contenders for the Olympic Gold. In the end, the season didn't go as well as the Germans had hoped, but they medaled in each event they competed in. At the World Championships, the creative team announced that they plan on competing until 2014 to realize their dream of an Olympic gold medal in Sotchi.

"This season we went up and down, from zero to 100 and from 100 to zero," Savchenko summed up. "The body doesn't know that there are Olympic Games. [This time] it gave a signal that it wasn't meant to be. It was too much. [When] the body says "stop", there is nothing you can do about it," she analyzed, referring to illnesses that hit her several times in the past months.

It was a hard season for the German pair, and only in the very beginning was everything business as usual.

"The year started as it always does, with new programs, with the Nebelhorn Trophy... it was a usual summer and we had no injuries," recalled Szolkowy.

But then bad luck struck. Savchenko fell sick after the Nebelhorn Trophy, but resumed training in time for their first Grand Prix in Paris. Or so they thought. After a good short program, the Germans completely fell apart in the free skate and made error after error. They barely hung on to the bronze medal.

"I couldn't believe it," said Savchenko, shaking her head months after the event from last October. "There is no explanation. It was like a black out. It just happened and we couldn't find ourselves. It was a nightmare. Everything went wrong that could go wrong."

After this shocking experience, coach Ingo Steuer and the team decided to switch to a new free program - something they had not yet done. The new program to Out of Africa went over very well with the judges and the audience at Skate Canada. Savchenko and Szolkowy performed brilliantly. However, at the Grand Prix Final, they didn't skate their best. Savchenko apparently was already affected by a bad flu that hit her even harder right after the Final. For more than a week, she was confined to bed, and the team missed Nationals.

The team was not able to get back in to top form before the European Championships, and were beaten by Russia's Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov in a somewhat controversial decision. Then, at the Olympic Games, two errors in the free skate prevented the Germans from finishing higher than third. They were disappointed, but they were relieved at the same time to have earned a medal.

full article.

Two-time Olympian Anabelle Langlois retires

2010-05-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

Anabelle Langlois, the veteran of Canada's 2010 Olympic figure skating team, has decided to hang up her competitive skates after a long career. The Gatineau, Québec native, who began skating at the age of 11, will turn 29 in July, and has decided to move on from the competitive world. She has plans to coach young skaters, and to pursue post-secondary studies in psychology this fall.

Langlois, after competing at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games with her previous partner, teamed up with Cody Hay in 2005. The two had a successful five-year partnership, winning the Canadian pair title in 2008 and finishing eighth in the world that same year. They had a strong comeback this season, after missing all of 2008-2009 after Langlois fractured her foot.

"I was honored to have been able to represent Canada for several years, and especially in 2010 at the Olympics in our own country. We did all that we could to make everyone proud of us, and so appreciated the support of our fans for all these years," said Langlois.

"I have been so blessed to have been able to skate with Cody," she continued. "We had to fight hard through so many obstacles. He was such a wonderful partner for me, and so supportive through all the ups and downs of our career. Now I hope I can pass along some of the lessons I've learned to other skaters as I work with them."

Hay, 26, from Edmonton, Alta., plans to continue skating, and hopes to compete at the 2014 Olympic Games in Russia. "I support Anabelle's decision to move on to new challenges, but I have a desire to continue skating, and look forward to what the next few years have in store." Hay will continue to skate and train in Barrie, Ontario, and hopes to find the right partner to represent Canada again on the world stage. His biggest fan will be Langlois. "Cody has a lot more to give to this sport. He has my full support in his decision, and I can't wait to cheer him on!"

Longtime coach Lee Barkell also wished them both well. "It has been a pleasure being involved and watching Anabelle and Cody grow and develop, not only as a pair team, but also as people. And it was terrific to see them achieve their personal goal of representing Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. They are true role models showing that with teamwork, a strong work ethic and a dream that you can achieve your goals." He added "Anabelle's passion, determination, experience and knowledge will be a tremendous asset as she pursues a new chapter in her life. I am very proud and excited for both Anabelle and Cody."

"As an Olympian, world competitor and a Canadian champion, Anabelle was a big part of our national team for over eight years," said Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director. "A testament to her competitiveness and no-quit attitude was her ability to recover from a serious injury in 2009 to earn a spot on the 2010 Olympic and world team. We look forward to Anabelle staying involved with Skate Canada and wish her the best in her future endeavors."

icenetwork.com

Denney, Barrett hope to be a "Rhapsody in Blue"

2010-05-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett's lives still haven't slowed much since their whirlwind competitive season came to a close.

The couple won its first U.S. title, earned a trip to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, placed seventh at the 2010 World Championships, was feted with a hometown parade, made appearances with the Smucker's Stars on Ice tour and visited the White House. And Denney, who turns 17 on June 22, is even learning how to drive, with hopes of getting her driver's license next month.

The U.S. pairs skating champions took a little bit of a breather for a couple of weeks -- Barrett kicked back a bit at the beach; Denney took spins in the car with her dad -- but now they are back at work, crafting their short and long programs in Toronto with choreographer David Wilson. The short program music will be revealed at a later date, and the free skate is to the George Gershwin classic, "Rhapsody in Blue.''

"I feel like this has all happened really, really fast and now we're back at the beginning again, back to square one,'' Denney said.

But being back on the ice is where they feel the most comfortable and both Denney and Barrett are excited to be working with Wilson. This season, the couple's third together, is the first in which the team is working with a choreographer other than their coach, Jim Peterson.

It was actually Peterson's idea to seek out a top choreographer for the team, and he went to Toronto with his skaters for the first few days of choreography sessions. Peterson returned to Florida because of other coaching commitments but Denney and Barrett will be in Toronto for a total of 10 days.

Denney and Barrett have been a very consistent team technically, but Peterson hopes they can reach a new level internationally by ramping up their choreography.

"They had a great season; that goes without saying,'' Peterson said. "And they did great in Vancouver and Torino as well, but I want to do everything I can to help this team and to help the country get three pairs teams at worlds. We're looking at the podium.

"I'm so happy the kids have this opportunity to really take them to another level.''

Wilson has designed programs for numerous elite skaters, including Yu-Na Kim's James Bond girl short program that helped vault her to the Olympic gold medal in Vancouver. He said he aware of Denney and Barrett's skating before Peterson contacted him about working with the team. Wilson was at the 2009 U.S. Championships in Cleveland, to help support some of his skaters, Adam Rippon and Alissa Czisny, and took notice of Denney and Barrett then.

"I remember the reaction from the crowd and all of the backstage drama, people talking and saying they should have won,'' Wilson said. "I know they've had these two amazing years. I think with pairs and dance teams, there's either a magic or there's not, and I think these two definitely have magic.''

full article.

Castile, Okolski retire from competitive skating

2010-05-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, who won the 2007 U.S. pairs championship, announced today their retirement from competitive skating.

Both athletes plan to stay involved in figure skating and pursue careers in coaching.

"Although we are retiring from competitive skating, I don't intend to leave the sport," Castile said. "I feel like this is a transition rather than a retirement."

Castile and Okolski paired up in 2002. In addition to their U.S. title, their career highlights include earning bronze medals at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the 2008 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, capturing the U.S. junior silver medal in 2004 and making two appearances at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships (2007, '08).

In addition to coaching, Castile hopes to add the title of "choreographer" to her resume.

"I have always known this is what I would do when I finished competing," Castile said. "I love the choreography and the art of expression through skating. Hopefully, this way I can still share my talents in the sport."

Okolski will attend Washtenaw Community College and is considering a major in accounting.

"I'm looking forward to going back to school as well as continuing coaching," Okolski said. "I hope to pass on what we've learned throughout our competitive career."

Castile and Okolski trained at the Arctic Figure Skating Club in Canton, Mich., with coach Johnny Johns since the 2006-07 season.

"We would like to thank our coach Johnny Johns, who has been an essential part of our success," Castile and Okolski said. "Most important, we would like to thank our families for their unconditional love and support throughout our careers."

icenetwork.com

Navarro, Bommentre announce retirement

2010-05-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

Ice dancers Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre, who twice won the bronze medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, have announced their retirement from competitive skating.

The team will continue to skate together, appearing in the Sun Valley (Idaho) Ice Show this summer and then join a new Holiday on Ice tour.

"We are really excited about this next chapter," Navarro said. "We know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we feel ready for all the new challenges to come."

Navarro and Bommentre first paired in 2005 and placed fifth at the 2006 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Highlights of their career include a bronze medal at the 2008 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and two appearances at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships (2008 and 2010).

"There are not enough words to express our respect for our coaches Robbie Kaine and Cheryl Demkowski-Snyder," Bommentre said. "They allowed us to express ourselves through our skating, and we will always remember how good it felt to give that to the fans."

"We would also like to thank our home clubs, the Santa Rosa Figure Skating Club and the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society," said Navarro, a member of the former. "They, along with our rinks, were instrumental in generating support during our partnership and have always gone above and beyond to help us train."

icenetwork.com

U.S. Figure Skating announces off-season changes

2010-05-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Coaching changes by a pair of former U.S. champions and the retirement of a longtime national and international competitor highlight a busy off-season for several U.S. Figure Skating athletes.

RETIREMENTS

After more than 10 years of U.S. and international competition, Bebe Liang announced her retirement from competitive skating. Liang, who trained with Ken Congemi and Frank Carroll during her career, won bronze at the 2006 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Her best showing at a U.S. Figure Skating Championships was a fourth-place finish in 2007.

"My time as a competitive figure skater has been the most rewarding and exciting time in my life, but now I feel it is time to close that chapter and open a new one," Liang said. "I would like to thank my fans and everyone at U.S. Figure Skating who has been so supportive of me. I would especially like to thank my family and my coaches, who have put so much time and energy into molding me to become the athlete I am today."

Ice dancing team Jane Summersett and Todd Gilles have also made public their retirement from competitive skating. The duo, which teamed up three years ago, garnered bronze at the 2008 Nebelhorn Trophy and twice placed sixth at the U.S. Championships.

PARTNERSHIP ENDINGS
Four pairs teams have ended their professional partnerships, including 2009 U.S. junior champions and 2007 U.S. novice champions Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau.

"Tracy and I had a very successful career in our six competitive seasons together. We have learned so much from each other and have had such great memories that I will never forget," Chau said. "Tracy is like a little sister to me, and there will always be a place in my heart for her. I wish her the best in the future."

Also concluding their partnerships are 2010 U.S. novice pairs silver medalists Tori Vollmer and Zack Sidhu, 2009 U.S. novice pairs champions Cassie Andrews and Nicholas Anderson and 2009 U.S. novice pairs silver medalists Haven Denney and Daniel Raad.

Andrews has formed a partnership with Timothy DeLuc, and Denney has teamed up with 2008 U.S. novice men's champion Daniel O'Shea.

Ice dancing teams Piper Gilles and Zach Donohue, the reigning two-time U.S. junior bronze medalists, and Trina Pratt and Chris Obzansky, who finished ninth at this year's U.S. Championships, have also split up.

COACHING CHANGES

2009 U.S. champion Alissa Czisny has announced that she will continue to train at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., but now under the tutelage of Yuka Sato, who also coaches two-time reigning U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott.

"Having enjoyed taking lessons from Yuka Sato in the past, I am looking forward to working with her and Jason Dungjen as my full-time coaches," Czisny said. "I'm very excited for them to teach me everything they know."

Kimmie Meissner, the 2006 World champion and 2007 U.S. champion, has left her most recent training site in Coral Springs, Fla., for Fairfax, Va., where she will be coached by Chris Conte. Conte has worked as a technical consultant for U.S. Olympians Timothy Goebel, Sasha Cohen and Emily Hughes.

Other U.S. skaters making a coaching change include 2008 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final champion Becky Bereswill, who is leaving Houston, Texas, for Canton, Mich., to train with Fedor Andreev and Johnny Johns; 2007 U.S. novice silver medalist and 2009 U.S. junior bronze medalist Alexander Johnson, who will be mentored by Tom Zakrajsek and Becky Calvin at the Broadmoor SC in Colorado Springs, Colo.; 2009 U.S. novice bronze medalist Angela Wang, who will remain at Salt Lake Figure Skating and train with Scott Smith; and 2009 U.S. novice ice dancing champions Lauri Bonacorsi and Travis Mager, who will train with Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pa.

Three skaters announced they will be training with Frank Carroll, coach of Olympic champion Evan Lysacek and U.S. silver medalist Mirai Nagasu, in El Segundo, Calif. They are 2010 U.S. novice champion Leah Keiser, 2009 U.S. junior ladies silver medalist Ellie Kawamura and 2009 U.S. junior ladies pewter medalist Kristiene Gong.

icenetwork.com

Mr. Abbott goes to Washington

2010-05-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

The trip started like any other day. We (those of us on the Stars on Ice tour) hopped on the tour bus and drove six hours from Connecticut to Baltimore, arriving at 4:00 a.m. Unfortunately, we missed the opening reception the night before.

Meryl Davis and I met in the lobby of our hotel so that we could check in, get our apparel and walk to Starbucks for much-needed caffeine. After meeting with Amanda Evora, we ran into one of the members of the gold-medal-winning U.S. men's sledge hockey team. I felt very ashamed of myself for not even knowing that our sledge hockey team had won! (In my opinion, the Paralympics does not get enough attention. It is incredible what those men and women can do!)

After this little detour, all the Olympians piled into city buses to make the hour-and-a-half drive to the White House. I was so exhausted from the new schedule of the tour that I admit I was not very excited about this day trip.

We arrived at the White House and had to pass through two security screenings before being let onto the grounds. Once we were inside, I finally started to really appreciate what was going on. All the pictures and artifacts mesmerized me. I love history, especially when you get to see it first hand. I get very lost in my imagination of what it must have been like to live through each of the presidencies.

They sectioned off a portion of the building and basically gave us free run of it. After so long, we were all corralled into groups by sport. We were told that the Vice President and Dr. Biden would be coming to meet with us first, to take pictures, and they would be followed by the President and Mrs. Obama.

When we were told we were going to Washington, I never thought I would ACTUALLY get to meet the president. I figured we would all group together, he would wave to us, stand in front to take a picture, and that would be the extent of it. However, we actually got to meet him and the first lady, and shake their hands. I was so impressed. Michelle Obama is a hugger... who knew?! She went around and made sure to give each person a hug, and Barack (Yeah, we are on a first-name basis) shook every single hand.

It was at this point that I realized how invaluable this experience was. I have never been star struck before, but to get to meet the leader of our nation, and to be a part of the history he has made, was the most humbling experience.

After our visit to the White House, we all went on to the Senate building for another reception (one that we actually got to attend this time). To be in these places that so few people get to see was truly amazing.

This trip was definitely an experience that I will keep with me for life. I am so glad that I did not give into my cynicism and decide to sleep through the event!

icenetwork.com

No offseason for determined Wagner

2010-05-30T14:27:00.001-07:00

Don't tell Ashley Wagner there's plenty of time to worry about new programs. The skater, who turns 19 on May 16, is already growing impatient.

"There's not much of an offseason," she said. "We've started the search; there are a lot of ideas. Finding music takes a long time -- way too long, in my opinion."

Since placing third behind Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu at the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January, Wagner -- who lives with her coach, Priscilla Hill, in Wilmington, Del., -- has been hard at work.

"I've been doing as many shows as I can without having it interfere with my training," she said. "What Priscilla and I are trying to do is put together show programs, similar to [competitive] short programs. Shows are fun, but at the same time, they're great opportunities to practice before an audience."

At the Cityskate show to benefit Brooklyn Ice in Hackensack, N.J., last month, Wagner included triple flip and triple loop in programs set to music from Miley Cyrus and Christina Aguilera. She's also done a club show in Detroit and joined Smuckers Stars on Icefor its Bridgeport, Conn., stop.

"I absolutely loved S.O.I," Wagner said. "When I finished the program, I felt like going out and doing it again. I loved meeting some of these skaters I've been watching for years; it was really exciting meeting Todd Eldredge. I admire his career and the way he dealt with things. It's kind of similar to the way I'm doing things, hopefully."

Eldredge, the 1996 world champion, won U.S. titles in 1990 and 1991 as well as the 1991 world bronze medal. Later, he had lean years, missing a few U.S. world teams before rebounding with a third U.S. title and world silver medal in 1995. He ended his eligible career with six world medals and six U.S. titles, the last in 2002 when he was 30 years old.

While Wagner has miles to go before she approaches those achievements, the teen gains inspiration from Eldredge's fight to regain a spot on the U.S. world team. Wagner placed 16th at worlds in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2008 but narrowly missed out on trips in 2009 and 2010 despite success on the Grand Prix circuit, including a silver medal at 2009 Rostelecom Cup, silver at 2009 NHK Trophy and fourth place at the most recent Grand Prix Final.

"Worlds was obviously a huge opportunity for me, so my placement was disappointing," she said. "A lot of people don't realize I skated after [defending champion] Miki Ando had that meltdown and walked off the ice [and withdrew]. I had no time to calm myself down. I was 16, and I just got caught up in nerves and the excitement of the moment. As time goes on, I'm getting stronger as a competitor."

That's why Wagner was stunned when she blew her Olympic chances by missing a triple Lutz in her short program at the 2010 U.S. Championships.

"It was a huge Lutz, and I think I anticipating landing it way before I hit the ice," she recalled. "It was so unexpected for me. It was a surprise, for sure."

full article

Flatt headed to Stanford, will defer one year

2010-05-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

Rachael Flatt, the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating national champion, announced today that she will attend Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., beginning in the fall of 2011.

With offers from several universities, Flatt selected Stanford and will defer enrollment for one year in order to focus on her figure skating career.

"I am looking forward to taking advantage of the many opportunities Stanford has to offer," Flatt said. "I am very fortunate to have had some excellent choices of universities to attend but I feel that Stanford offers the best programs for me in an environment that will allow me to continue my development as a figure skater."

Flatt will continue to train at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. As of April 2010, she was ranked ninth in the world by the International Skating Union. Rachael represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, finishing in seventh place overall.

Stanford is recognized as one of the world's leading universities. Established more than a century ago, the university was designed to prepare students for personal success and direct usefulness in life. The university has a rich tradition of fostering creativity and the arts.

icenetwork.com

Samuelson, Bates split from longtime coaches

2010-05-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

Ice dancers Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates, the 2008 World Junior champions and 2010 U.S. bronze medalists, announced today they have ended their 10-year professional relationship with coaches Yuri Chesnichenko and Yaroslava Nechaeva at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, Mich., and will train with Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva at the Arctic Edge in Canton, Mich.

Shpilband and Zoueva also coach 2010 Olympic ice dancing champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada and 2010 Olympic ice dancing silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White. They previously mentored 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.

"We have spent a lot of time thinking about our skating and the direction we want to take our careers," Samuelson said. "With this coaching change, we're hoping to give our skating a new look and a fresh perspective."

In their two ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series assignments last fall, Samuelson and Bates finished fourth at Trophée Eric Bompard and fifth at Skate Canada. They captured the bronze medal at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash., and were subsequently chosen to represent the United States at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, where they finished 11th. The team finished the season with a ninth-place finish at the 2010 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Torino, Italy.

Under Chesnichenko and Nechaeva's tutelage, Samuelson and Bates also captured U.S. titles at the novice (2005) and junior (2007) levels, the bronze at the 2009 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and a pair of silvers at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

"Yasa and Yuri have taught us everything we know in ice dancing, from technique to presentation," Bates said. "We want to thank them for all the work they've put into us for the past 10 years -- we would not be where we are today without them. We wish nothing but the best for Yasa and Yuri and all their couples in the future."

"We'd also like to thank the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club and Diane Wilson [general manager of the Ann Arbor Ice Cube] for all the support they've given us this past decade," Samuelson added.

icenetwork.com

2010 World Championships - Results

2010-04-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Men

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 257.70 pts
2 Patrick CHAN CAN 247.22 pts
3 Brian JOUBERT FRA 241.74 pts
4 Michal BREZINA CZE 236.06 pts
5 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 232.10 pts
6 Adam RIPPON USA 231.47 pts
7 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 218.66 pts
8 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 218.43 pts
9 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 218.26 pts
10 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 216.73 pts
11 Kevin REYNOLDS CAN 216.58 pts
12 Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 215.66 pts
13 Denis TEN KAZ 202.46 pts
14 Sergei VORONOV RUS 200.60 pts
15 Florent AMODIO FRA 197.25 pts

Ladies

1 Mao ASADA JPN 197.58 pts
2 Yu-Na KIM KOR 190.79 pts
3 Laura LEPISTO FIN 178.62 pts
4 Miki ANDO JPN 177.82 pts
5 Cynthia PHANEUF CAN 177.54 pts
6 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 177.31 pts
7 Mirai NAGASU USA 175.48 pts
8 Ksenia MAKAROVA RUS 169.64 pts
9 Rachael FLATT USA 167.44 pts
10 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 161.79 pts
11 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 160.04 pts
12 Sarah HECKEN GER 153.94 pts
13 Alena LEONOVA RUS 152.86 pts
14 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 150.90 pts
15 Julia SEBESTYEN HUN 147.66 pts

Pairs

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 211.39 pts
2 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 204.74 pts
3 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 203.79 pts
4 Maria MUKHORTOVA / Maxim TRANKOV RUS 197.39 pts
5 Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG CHN 195.78 pts
6 Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON CAN 177.07 pts
7 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 172.47 pts
8 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 172.04 pts
9 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG USA 165.96 pts
10 Anabelle LANGLOIS / Cody HAY CAN 154.72 pts
11 Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK ITA 149.78 pts
12 Vanessa JAMES / Yannick BONHEUR FRA 146.58 pts
13 Anais MORAND / Antoine DORSAZ SUI 144.46 pts
14 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 142.98 pts
15 Joanna SULEJ / Mateusz CHRUSCINSKI POL 138.26 pts

Ice Dance

1 Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR CAN 224.43 pts
2 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 223.03 pts
3 Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI ITA 197.85 pts
4 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 194.39 pts
5 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR 189.11 pts
6 Alexandra ZARETSKY / Roman ZARETSKY ISR 181.26 pts
7 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 180.30 pts
8 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 177.23 pts
9 Emily SAMUELSON / Evan BATES USA 168.77 pts
10 Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN HUN 166.90 pts
11 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 164.52 pts
12 Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES FRA 161.86 pts
13 Ekaterina RUBLEVA / Ivan SHEFER RUS 161.20 pts
14 Kimberly NAVARRO / Brent BOMMENTRE USA 159.68 pts
15 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 154.93 pts

2010 Junior Worlds - Results

2010-04-07T13:39:00.001-07:00

Junior Men

1 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 216.10 pts
2 Nan SONG CHN 205.25 pts
3 Artur GACHINSKI RUS 199.19 pts
4 Keegan MESSING USA 197.03 pts
5 Grant HOCHSTEIN USA 194.30 pts
6 Andrei ROGOZINE CAN 179.81 pts
7 Artur DMITRIEV RUS 177.78 pts
8 Alexander MAJOROV SWE 177.01 pts
9 Denis TEN KAZ 171.86 pts
10 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH USA 168.69 pts

Junior Ladies

1 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 165.47 pts
2 Agnes ZAWADZKI USA 156.79 pts
3 Polina AGAFONOVA RUS 154.27 pts
4 Polina SHELEPEN RUS 151.65 pts
5 Anna OVCHAROVA RUS 147.52 pts
6 Kate CHARBONNEAU CAN 147.46 pts
7 Kiri BAGA USA 146.98 pts
8 Christina GAO USA 143.86 pts
9 Joshi HELGESSON SWE 138.13 pts
10 Julia PFRENGLE GER 133.05 pts

Junior Pairs

1 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 170.71 pts
2 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 157.23 pts
3 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV RUS 145.35 pts
4 Tatiana NOVIK / Mikhail KUZNETSOV RUS 139.63 pts
5 Britney SIMPSON / Nathan MILLER USA 138.00 pts
6 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 135.86 pts
7 Brittany JONES / Kurtis GASKELL CAN 133.41 pts
8 Margaret PURDY / Michael MARINARO CAN 129.29 pts
9 Felicia ZHANG / Taylor TOTH USA 128.01 pts
10 Kaleigh HOLE / Adam JOHNSON CAN 119.68 pts

Junior Ice Dance

1 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 188.28 pts
2 Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM CAN 172.37 pts
3 Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN RUS 168.81 pts
4 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 168.35 pts
5 Lorenza ALESSANDRINI / Simone VATURI ITA 167.84 pts
6 Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO RUS 162.16 pts
7 Rachel TIBBETTS / Collin BRUBAKER USA 153.50 pts
8 Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI UKR 146.96 pts
9 Piper GILLES / Zachary DONOHUE USA 141.30 pts
10 Geraldine BOTT / Neil BROWN FRA 140.65 pts

And I'm finally back!

2010-04-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not being able to post the results in time! My PC decided to die after the Olympics and I missed Junior and Senior Worlds :( I will try to update the blog as fast as I can :)

2010 Winter Olympics - Ladies LP / Final Result

2010-02-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ladies - Long Program

1 KIM Yu-NA (KOR) 150.06 pts
2 ASADA Mao (JPN) 131.72 pts
3 ROCHETTE Joannie (CAN) 131.28 pts
4 LEPISTO Laura (FIN) 126.61 pts
5 NAGASU Mirai (USA) 126.39 pts
6 ANDO Miki (JPN) 124.10 pts
7 SUZUKI Akiko (JPN) 120.42 pts
8 FLATT Rachael (USA) 117.85 pts
9 MAKAROVA Ksenia (RUS) 112.69 pts
10 LEONOVA Alena (RUS) 110.32 pts
11 KORPI Kiira (FIN) 108.61 pts
12 KWAK Min-Jung (KOR) 102.37 pts
13 PHANEUF Cynthia (CAN) 99.46 pts
14 MEIER Sarah (SUI) 96.11 pts
15 KECKEN Sarah (GER) 94.90 pts
16 SEBESTSYEN Julia (HUN) 93.80 pts
17 GEDEVANISHVILI Elene (GEO) 93.32 pts
18 LIU Yan (CHN) 91.73 pts
19 KOSTNER Carolina (ITA) 88.88 pts
20 LEE Cheltzie (AUS) 86.00 pts
21 LAFUENTE Sonia (SPA) 83.77 pts
22 GLEBOVA Elena (EST) 83.39 pts
23 GIMAZETDINOVA Anastasia (UZB) 82.63 pts
24 KARADEMIR Tugba (TUR) 78.80 pts

Ladies - Final Result

GOLD: KIM Yu-Na (KOR) 228.56 pts
SILVER: ASADA Mao (JPN) 205.50 pts
BRONZE: ROCHETTE Joannie (CAN) 202.64 pts
4 NAGASU Mirai (USA) 190.15 pts
5 ANDO Miki (JPN) 188.86 pts
6 LEPISTO Laura (FIN) 187.97 pts
7 FLATT Rachael (USA) 182.49 pts
8 SUZUKI Akiko (JPN) 181.44 pts
9 LEONOVA Alena (RUS) 172.46 pts
10 MAKAROVA Ksenia (RUS) 171.91 pts
11 KORPI Kiira (FIN) 161.57 pts
12 PHANEUF Cynthia (CAN) 156.62 pts
13 KWAK Min-Jung (KOR) 155.53 pts
14 GEDEVANISHVILI Elene (GEO) 155.24 pts
15 MEIER Sarah (SUI) 152.81 pts
16 KOSTNER Carolina (ITA) 151.90 pts
17 SEBESTYEN Julia (HUN) 151.26 pts
18 HECKEN Sarah (GER) 143.94 pts
19 LIU Yan (CHN) 143.47 pts
20 LEE Cheltzie (AUS) 138.16 pts
21 GLEBOVA Elena (EST) 134.19 pts
22 LAFUENTE Sonia (SPA) 133.51 pts
23 GIMAZETDINOVA Anastasia (UZB) 131.65 pts
24 KARADEMIR Tugba (TUR) 129.54 pts

2010 Winter Olympics - Ladies SP

2010-02-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

Ladies - Short Program

1 KIM Yu-Na (KOR) 78.50 pts
2 ASADA Mao (JPN) 73.78 pts
3 ROCHETTE Joannie (CAN) 71.36 pts
4 ANDO Miki (JPN) 64.76 pts
5 FLATT Rachael (USA) 64.64 pts
6 NAGASU Mirai (USA) 63.76 pts
7 KOSTNER Carolina (ITA) 63.02 pts
8 LEONOVA Alena (RUS) 62.14 pts
9 GEDEVANISHVILI Elene (GEO) 61.92 pts
10 LEPISTO Laura (FIN) 61.36 pts
11 SUZUKI Akiko (JPN) 61.02 pts
12 MAKAROVA Ksenia (RUS) 59.22 pts
13 SEBESTYEN Julia (HUN) 57.46 pts
14 PHANEUF Cynthia (CAN) 57.16 pts
15 MEIER Sarah (SUI) 56.70 pts
16 KWAK Min-Jung (KOR) 53.16 pts
17 KORPI Kiira (FIN) 52.96 pts
18 LEE Cheltzie (AUS) 52.16 pts
19 LIU Yan (CHN) 51.74 pts
20 GLEBOVA Elena (EST) 50.80 pts
21 KARADEMIR Tugba (TUR) 50.74 pts
22 LAFUENTE Sonia (SPA) 49.74 pts
23 HECKEN Sarah (GER) 49.04 pts
24 GIMAZETDINOVA Anastasia (UZB) 49.02 pts
25 PEIMAN Isabelle (BEL) 46.10 pts
26 ZIEGLER Miriam (AUT) 43.84 pts
27 POSTIC Teodora (SLV) 43.80 pts
28 REITMAYROVA Ivana (SLN) 41.94 pts
29 McCORKELL Jenna (GBR) 40.64 pts
30 JURKIEWICZ Anna (POL) 36.10 pts

2010 Winter Olympics - Free Dance / Final Results

2010-02-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Ice Dance - Free Dance

1 VIRTUE Tessa / MOIR Scott (CAN) 110.42 pts
2 DAVIS Meryl / WHITE Carlie (USA) 107.19 pts
3 DOMNINA Oksana / SHABALIN maxim (RUS) 106.60 pts
4 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin (USA) 99.74 pts
5 FAIELLA Federica / SCALI Massimo (ITA) 99.11 pts
6 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier (FRA) 97.06 pts
7 PECHALAT Nathalie / BOURZAT Fabian (FRA) 94.37 pts
8 KHOKHLOVA Jana / NOVITSKI Sergei (RUS) 93.11 pts
9 KERR Sinead / KERR John (GBR) 92.23 pts
10 ZARETSKY Alexandra / ZARETSKY Roman (ISR) 90.64 pts
11 SAMUELSON Emily / BATES Evan (USA) 88.94 pts
12 CRONE Vanessa / POIRIER Paul (CAN) 85.29 pts
13 HOFFMANN Nora / ZAVOZIN Maxim (HUN) 84.11 pts
14 CAPPELLINI Anna / LANOTTE Luca (ITA) 82.74 pts
15 BOBROVA Ekaterina / SOLOVIEV Dmitri (RUS) 82.88 pts
16 REED Cathy / REED Chris (JPN) 79.30 pts
17 ZADOROZHNIUK Anna / VERBILLO Sergei (UKR) 79.26 pts
18 BEIER Christina / BEIER William (GER) 72.91 pts
19 COOMES Penny / BUCKLAND Nicholas (GBR) 71.60 pts
20 HUANG Xintong / ZHENG Xun (CHN) 71.27 pts
21 HAJKOVA Kamila / VINCOUR David (CZE) 70.08 pts
22 REED Allison / JAPARIDZE Otar (GEO) 63.45 pts
23 SHTORK Irina / RAND Taavi (EST) 58.24 pts

Ice Dance - Final Result

GOLD: VIRTUE Tessa / MOIR Scott (CAN) 221.57 pts
SILVER: DAVIS Meryl / WHITE Charlie (USA) 215.74 pts
BRONZE: DOMNINA Oksana / SHABALIN Maxim (RUS) 207.64 pts
4 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin (USA) 203.07 pts
5 FAIELLA Federica / SCALI Massimo (ITA) 199.17 pts
6 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier (FRA) 193.73 pts
7 PECHALAT Nathalie / BOURZAT Fabian (FRA) 190.49 pts
8 KERR Sinead / KERR John (GBR) 186.01 pts
9 KHOKHLOVA Jana / NOVITSKI Sergei (RUS) 185.86 pts
10 ZARETSKY Alexandra / ZARETSKY Roman (ISR) 180.26 pts
11 SAMUELSON Emily / BATES Evan (USA) 174.30 pts
12 CAPPELLINI Anna / LANOTTE Luca (ITA) 167.32 pts
13 HOFFMANN Nora / ZAVOZIN Maxim (HUN) 167.23 pts
14 CRONE Vanessa / POIRIER Paul (CAN) 164.60 pts
15 BOBROVA Ekaterina / SOLOVIEV Dmitri (RUS) 163.35 pts
16 ZADOROZHNIUK Anna / VERBILLO Sergei (UKR) 163.15 pts
17 REED Cathy / REED Chris (JPN) 159.60 pts
18 BEIER Christina / BEIER William (GER) 149.64 pts
19 HUANG Xintong / ZHENG Xun (CHN) 145.52 pts
20 COOMES Penny / BUCKLAND Nicholas (GBR) 143.61 pts
21 HAJKOVA Kamila / VINCOUR Davis (CZE) 133.81 pts
22 REED Allison / JAPARIDZE Otar (GEO) 132.32 pts
23 SHTORK Irina / RAND Taavi (EST) 115.18 pts

Kim arrives inspired by Lysacek's gold

2010-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

Yu-Na Kim popped a triple flip into a single at this morning's practice.

"But only one," her coach, Brian Orser, was quick to say.

The world champion has struggled with her flip all season. During her free skate at Trophee Eric Bompard, she skated through the element, although that didn't prevent her from setting a new world record score at the event.

At Skate America, she tried and missed the jump, losing the free skate to U.S. champion Rachael Flatt. And at December's Grand Prix Final, a popped flip caused her to lose the short program to Japan's Miki Ando.

Orser has his own sad history with the triple flip. It may have cost him Olympic gold in 1988, when the Canadian lost the legendary "Battle of the Brians" to Brian Boitano, partly because he turned out of the landing of the jump.

Here, Orser doesn't think the flip will make the difference.

"She's looked good," he said. "That element hasn't been an issue at all, not for the last six weeks since the Grand Prix Final.

"Every once in a while, something happens with it. That's all right with me. I don't want to do too well, all the time. That's when something happens. With all the training we've done, we've made sure that element is strong."

Kim has already had some good news: at the draw today, she selected to skate 23rd, right after longtime rival Mao Asada of Japan. "I was hoping not to skate last, so I'm really happy about the draw," she told reporters in the mixed zone.

Instead, Ando has that honor.

The skater's team arrived on Feb. 19th, and she had two practices yesterday, one at the Pacific Coliseum and the other at the training rink.

"Yesterday the ice felt a bit weird to me, but today it was okay," Kim said. "I just tried to train hard like I do in Toronto. I still have a few days until the short program, so overall it was a good practice today."

With the exception of the one popped flip, Kim is right; her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination and other jumps looked strong.

Orser has made no changes to either of Kim's David Wilson-choreographed programs, a short to selections from James Bond movies and a free skate to Gershwin's "Concerto in F."

"All we've done is work to make them faster, better and stronger," he said.

Otherwise, most of his job has revolved around shielding his skater from dealing with too much press, too soon. That's why he trained Kim at their home base, the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, for as long as possible.

"It was somewhat surreal, being in Toronto the first week of the Games," Orser said. "We had the skating on [the television], and as she skated by she couldn't help but see the venue and the competition.

"We watched the men's short program and the men's long from far away, which was good. We made the right decision."

A heavy favorite for gold in Vancouver, Kim is thought of as near-royalty in her home country of South Korea, where the press refers to her reverentially as "Queen Yu-Na." Some think the expectations of her countrymen could upset her competitive equilibrium, but Orser doesn't agree.

"The 'Queen Yu-Na' phenomenon, that's been a gradual process," he said. "It's built over the last four years, ever since the last Olympics. It has been beneficial for her to be in Toronto training. It's comfortable, and there's still a huge Korean community there.

"You know, one thing I've learned, maybe through my own career: you don't guard against pressure, you have to face it head on. I didn't tell her, 'Pretend this is just another competition.' We all know it isn't. She's ready."

Like other coaches today, Orser broke the news to Kim of the sudden death of Therese Rochette, Canadian champion Joannie Rochette's 55-year-old mother.

"I told her right away, and she was shocked," he said. "She feels bad for Joannie, and she feels bad for the family.

"Yu-Na has such a tight bond with her own mother; her mom is at every practice, part of very decision. I am sure she will be affected by it. All the women in the competition will be affected by it."

Kim is expected to be most challenged Ando, the 2007 world champion who won bronze last season, and Asada, the 2008 world champion who plans to perform triple Axels in both her short program and free skate here.

Fans have flamed the flames of the rivalry on message boards and YouTube, and many think historic political and sports rivalries between Korea and Japan have fueled the often nasty fire.

"Oh, Yu-Na is aware of it, but she doesn't bother with the political issues, she bothers with competitive issues," Orser said.

"I don't think she thinks of it in terms of politics or history; I think she sees the Korea v. Japan rivalry as a skating rivalry, similar to what I had with Boitano. She's competing and skating because she loves it. She's a true competitor."

Shortly before they left for Vancouver, Kim watched Evan Lysacek win gold with a controlled, yet passionate performance that held nothing back. The coach thinks that's what his own skater will do here.

"I'm happy she saw Evan," he said. "I remember at the '84 [Lake Placid] Games, when I watched Kitty [Carruthers] and Peter [Carruthers] skate out and take control of the ice. I said, 'I want to be just like that when I start,' and I was.

"I believe Yu-Na will, too; that's what the Olympics are about. I want her to be inspired. There's not a lot of strategy to winning the Olympics. You need to skate flat out. Both Evan and Yu-Na came here as world champions, and he rose to the occasion. That gave her strength and comfort."

icenetwork.com

With heavy heart, Rochette takes the practice ice

2010-02-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hours after finding out that her mother had passed away, Joannie Rochette took the ice to practice her short program as planned.

According to Skate Canada officials, Rochette was informed at about 6 a.m. that her mother, Therese, died of a heart attack. Rochette, a six-time Canadian champion and the reigning world silver medalist, was in the Olympic Village when she heard the news from her father, Normand.

Therese died in Vancouver Hospital after suffering a heart attack, but Normand did not want to tell his daughter until later in the morning, in part to let her sleep and also so he would not disturb her roommate, ice dancer Tessa Virtue, who is competing in the original dance on Sunday.

"It really put things into perspective," said Virtue. "It was a tough day for everyone. She has had to go through a hard time, and I am here for whatever she needs."

Rochette surprised many when she set foot on the ice just moments after her scheduled 1:15 p.m. practice had begun. Wearing black tights, a peach tank top and a black sweatshirt, Rochette plowed through her triples.

Rochette, who placed fifth at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, still plans to compete in these Games in Vancouver. The women's event is the last of the skating competitions in these Games, and the women's short program is Tuesday, Rochette will skate first in the last group of ladies. The free skate is Thursday.

Neither she nor her longtime coach Manon Perron spoke with reporters after the practice, but her presence spoke volumes.

Rochette was the last skater to practice her run through, and when her music ended, Dick Button, who was in the stands watching, applauded.

"Good for her,'' said Button, the two-time Olympic gold medalist. "Good for her.''

It didn't matter much that she didn't attempt every element in the run-through of her short program. Just being on the ice was more than enough.

"Yes, I was surprised [to see her skate],'' said Cynthia Phaneuf, who also represents Canada and was on the same practice session as Rochette. "But I think she is doing the right thing. It shows how strong she is.''

Benoit Lavoie, the president of Skate Canada, said he was impressed by how much "control'' Rochette displayed considering the circumstances.

"You can see how strong she is'' Lavoie said.

Rochette, an only child, grew up in the tiny Quebec town of Ile Dupas. She has trained with Perron since she was a teenager. Brian Orser, the two-time Olympic silver medalist and coach, toured with Rochette and got to know her mother well.

"Her skating mom is her coach'' Orser said. "Her mother was the supportive mom.''

Rochette's parents had arrived in Vancouver on Saturday along with some close friends from Ile Dupas. Those friends joined Normand to watch practice.

Rochette seemed to be enjoying her time in Vancouver up until this tragedy struck. She marched in the Opening Ceremony and was staying in the Olympic Village. She was even giddy about getting her photo taken with U.S. Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White.

"In 2006, I felt like I was a kid working in a candy store,'' Rochette said earlier this week. "I feel like it's bringing back, like I'm a kid again.''

Now, in the face of tragedy, she's decided to perform on the biggest stage of her career with a heavy heart.

"I can't imagine what Joannie is going through,'' Orser said. "I know she'll find the strength from her friends on the team and from Manon and from her millions of fans.''

As shocking as the news was, Orser said he was glad to hear that Rochette still will skate.

"I'm proud of her continuing to compete,'' Orser said. "She'll be skating for the right reasons.''

When asked how a coach could help a skater in this situation, Orser said, "I don't think you prepare for anything like that, but Manon and Joannie have a very tight bond, and together, they will get through this.''

When the moment arrives for Rochette to take the ice on Tuesday, there is no doubt the Canadian fans will show their support.

"Oh my gosh'' Orser said. "I'll be a mess.''

For coach Robin Wagner and her skater, Elene Gedevanishvili, these Games have already been emotional. Gedevanishvilli represents the republic of Georgia, and although she did not know Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luger who was killed, the team is small enough that it has it has made quite an impact.

Wagner and Gedevanishvili were eating dinner in the Olympic Village last night, and they saw Rochette there. They learned the news of Rochette's mother's death this morning.

"My heart goes out to her,'' Wagner said.

Tom Zakrajsek, who coaches U.S. champion Rachael Flatt, said he was alerted of the news shortly before Flatt took the ice for practice. Flatt, however, was stunned when reporters informed her.

"Oh my gosh,'' said Flatt as she looked at Zakrajsek in shock. "I feel so bad for her. It's really unfortunate. That's really hard. I can't imagine losing your mother, let alone being at the Olympics.''

Unfortunately for Rochette, she will have to experience both the loss of her mother and competing in the Olympics in the same week.

"It's not about a medal anymore,'' said David Baden, Rochette's agent with IMG. "It's about fulfilling the goal that she shared with her mother.''

icenetwork.com

Asada's hopes hinge on triple Axel

2010-02-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Mao Asada is sticking with the plan.

"As far as the triple Axel, I have one in my short program and two in my long program," the Japanese champion told reporters at a press conference today.

"I have prepared these for certain, and I hope to challenge myself. . . Today in practice [at Vancouver's Burnaby 8 rink] my success rate with the triple Axel wasn't too bad, so I am really going to go all out and hope I succeed."

Triple Axels have been hit-and-miss all season long for the 2008 world champion, the only woman to consistently try the forward take-off, three-and-one-half revolution jump in competition.

Correctly done, it has a base value of 8.2 points. At Four Continents, Asada landed two in her free skate, earning a whopping 16.80 points and pulling up from third place after the short to take gold.

Other competitions this season have been less successful.

Asada failed on her second triple Axel at Trophee Eric Bompard and flubbed both attempts at Rostelecom Cup a week later. She has not successfully completed the maneuver in the short program at any of her international competitions this season.

Heading into Vancouver, she hopes all that will change.

"After Four Continents and prior to coming here, I practiced my jumps every day and did my best job to make sure they were clean," Asada, 19, said.

"At my nationals and Four Continents, I think my triple Axel looked good. I will be going to actual training rink [Pacific Coliseum] tomorrow and hope to get the feel of the ice there. The most important aspect would be to do well in the short program. I would like to make sure every step and every move is clean."

Asada needs a clean short to compete with longtime South Korean rival Yu-Na Kim, who posted a huge score in her short at Trophee Bompard, where she defeated the Japanese skater by a devastating 36.04 points.

Without the Axel, Asada's jump arsenal is limited to a triple flip, toe and loop; she rarely executes a triple Lutz or Salchow.

At today's press conference, speaking through an interpreter, Asada sidestepped a question on Kim, saying only that she wished to focus on her own performances here.

"I am really confident, because I have been able to practice a lot," she said. "After the free skate at Four Continents, I said that I did my best and that I probably had an 80 percent chance of an Olympic medal. Now I think I am in an even better condition. I don't think I can give a numeric probability; that would be too difficult.

"But especially in my short program, I want to do my best and complete all the elements and I think I can. . . If I am successful in all of the jumps, I think the other scores will go up, too."

Asada's coach of record remains Tatiana Tarasova, who choreographed both of her programs, a short to Khatchaturian's "Masquerade Waltz" and free to Rachmaninov's "Moscow Bells."

Much of the time, however, she trains with Tarasova's assistant, Shanetta Folle, in Nagoya, while Tarasova remains home in Moscow. She was there, hard at work training, up until a few days ago, delaying her departure as long as possible and checking into the Olympic Village only this morning.

"Generally speaking, I arrive at the venue or town just before the competition begins, so I can practice in Japan until just before the event," she said. "That's what I did this time. This is the only pattern I know.

"I've been practicing in Japan early in the morning so I don't think I will need so much time to adjust [to the time difference]. I think I will adjust very quickly."

Asada was inspired by Daisuke Takahashi, who won a bronze in the men's event, the first-ever figure skating Olympic medal from a Japanese man.

"I was at the Chukyo University practice rink, over in Toyota [a suburb of Nagoya], and I saw the video there," she said. "I was extremely motivated, and I also want to medal.

"If I do my triple Axels, and a clean short, I really think I will."

icenetwork.com

2010 Winter Olympics - Free Dance Starting Order

2010-02-22T07:57:00.001-08:00

Ice Dance - FD Starting Order

1 HAJKOVA Kamila / VINCOUR David (CZE) 22
2 SHTORK Irina / RAND Taavi (EST) 23
3 COOMES Penny / BUCKLAND Nicholas (GBR) 20
4 REED Allison / JAPARIDZE Otar (GEO) 21
5 REED Cathy / REED Chris (JPN) 16
6 BEIER Christina / BEIER William (GER) 18
7 CRONE Vanessa / POIRIER Paul (CAN) 17
8 HUANG Xintong / ZHENG Xun (CHN) 19
9 CAPPELLINI Anna / LANOTTE Luca (ITA) 12
10 ZADOROZHNIUK Anna / VERBILLO Sergei (UKR) 13
11 HOFFMANN Nora / ZAVOZIN Maxim (HUN) 14
12 BOBROVA Ekaterina / SOLOVIEV Dmitri (RUS) 15
13 SAMUELSON Emily / BATES Evan (USA) 11
14 ZARETSKY Alexandra / ZARETSKY Roman (ISR) 10
15 KERR Sinead / KERR John (GBR) 8
16 PECHALAT Nathalie / BOURZAT Fabian (FRA) 7
17 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier (FRA) 6
18 KHOKHLOVA Jana / NOVITSKI Sergei (RUS) 9
19 DAVIS Meryl / WHITE Charlie (USA) 2
20 FAIELLA Federica / SCALI Massimo (ITA) 5
21 VIRTUE Tessa / MOIR Scott (CAN) 1
22 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin (USA) 4
23 DOMNINA Oksana / SHABALIN Maxim (RUS) 3

2010 Winter Olympics - Original Dance

2010-02-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

Ice Dance - Original Dance

1 VIRTUE Tessa / MOIR Scott (CAN) 68.41 pts
2 DAVIS Meryl / WHITE Charlie (USA) 67.08 pts
3 DOMNINA Oksana / SHABALIN Maxim (RUS) 62.84 pts
4 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin (USA) 62.50 pts
5 FAIELLA Federica / SCALI Massimo (ITA) 60.18 pts
6 PECHALAT Nathalie / BOURZAT Fabian (FRA) 59.99 pts
7 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier (FRA) 58.68 pts
8 KERR Sinead / KERR John (GBR) 56.76 pts
9 KHOKHLOVA Jana / NOVITSKI Sergei (RUS) 55.57 pts
10 ZARETSKY Alexandra / ZARETSKY Roman (ISR) 55.24 pts
11 SAMUELSON Emily / BATES Evan (USA) 53.99 pts
12 CAPPELLINI Anna / LANOTTE Luca (ITA) 51.45 pts
13 HOFFMANN Nora / ZAVOZIN Maxim (HUN) 51.22 pts
14 REED Cathy / REED Chris (JPN) 50.81 pts
15 BOBROVA Ekaterina / SOLOVIEV Dmitri (RUS) 50.61 pts
16 ZADOROZHNIUK Anna / VERBILLO Sergei (UKR) 50.02 pts
17 CRONE Vanessa / POIRIER Paul (CAN) 48.17 pts
18 BEIER Christina / BEIER William (GER) 46.42 pts
19 COOMES Penny / BUCKLAND Nicholas (GBR) 46.33 pts
20 HUANG Xintong / ZHENG Xun (CHN) 45.03 pts
21 REED Allison / JAPARIDZE Otar (GEO) 42.22 pts
22 HAJKOVA Kamila / VINCOUR David (CZE) 40.54 pts
23 SHTORK Irina / RAND Taavi (EST) 35.21 pts

Ice Dance - Current Standings

1 VIRTUE Tessa / MOIR Scott (CAN) 111.15 pts
2 DAVIS Meryl / WHITE Charlie (USA) 108.55 pts
3 DOMNINA Oksana / SHABALIN Maxim (RUS) 106.60 pts
4 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin (USA) 103.33 pts
5 FAIELLA Federica / SCALI Massimo (ITA) 100.06 pts
6 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier (FRA) 96.67 pts
7 PECHALAT Nathalie / BOURZAT Fabian (FRA) 96.12 pts
8 KERR Sinead / KERR John (GBR) 93.78 pts
9 KHOKHLOVA Jana / NOVITSKI Sergei (RUS) 92.75 pts
10 ZARETSKY Alexandra / ZARETSKY Roman (ISR) 89.62 pts
11 SAMUELSON Emily / BATES Evan (USA) 85.36 pts
12 CAPPELLINI Anna / LANOTTE Luca (ITA) 84.58 pts
13 ZADOROZHNIUK Anna / VERBILLO Sergei (UKR) 83.89 pts
14 HOFFMANN Nora / ZAVOZIN Maxim (HUN) 83.12 pts
15 BOBROVA Ekaterina / SOLOVIEV Dmitri (RUS) 80.47 pts
16 REED Cathy / REED Chris (JPN) 80.30 pts
17 CRONE Vanessa / POIRIER Paul (CAN) 79.31 pts
18 BEIER Christina / BEIER William (GER) 76.73 pts
19 HUANG Xintong / ZHENG Xun (CHN) 74.25 pts
20 COOMES Penny / BUCKLAND Nicholas (GBR) 72.01 pts
21 REED Allison / JAPARIDZE Otar (GEO) 68.87 pts
22 HAJKOVA Kamila / VINCOUR David (CZE) 63.73 pts
23 SHTORK Irina / RAND Taavi (EST) 56.94 pts

2010 Winter Olympics - Ladies' SP Starting Order

2010-02-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

Ladies - SP Starting Order

1 LAFUENTE Sonia (SPA)
2 REITMAYEROVA Ivana (SLK)
3 ZIEGLER Miriam (AUT)
4 JURKIEWICZ Anna (POL)
5 LEE Cheltzie (AUS)
6 LIU Yan (CHN)
7 KARADEMIR Tugba (TUR)
8 MAKAROVA Ksenia (RUS)
9 KWAK Min-Jung (KOR)
10 McCORKELL Jenna (GBR)
11 NAGASU Mirai (USA)
12 PIEMAN Isabelle (BEL)
13 POSTIC Teodora (SLN)
14 GIMAZETDINOVA Anastasia (UZB)
15 PHANEUF Cynthia (CAN)
16 GEDEVANISHVILI Elene (GEO)
17 MEIER Sarah (SUI)
18 GLEBOVA Elenea (EST)
19 KORPI Kiira (FIN)
20 HECKEN Sarah (GER)
21 LESPITO Laura (FIN)
22 ASADA Mao (JPN)
23 KIM Yu-NA (KOR)
24 SUZUKI Akiko (JPN)
25 LEONOVA Alena (RUS)
26 ROCHETTE Joannie (CAN)
27 SEBESTYEN Julia (HUN)
28 FLATT Rachael (USA)
29 KOSTNER Carolina (ITA)
30 ANDO Miki (JPN)

Tragedy strikes Rochette

2010-02-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

The mother of Canadian figure skating champion and Olympic medal hopeful Joannie Rochette died suddenly in Vancouver Sunday morning, shortly after arriving to watch her daughter compete.

Canadian team officials said Thérèse Rochette passed away after being rushed to Vancouver General Hospital.

Cause of the death has not been determined. She was 55.

Joannie Rochette was given the news by her father Normand at the Olympic Village this morning.

Officials said Ms. Rochette intends to compete at the Olympics, despite the shock of her mother's death.

Ms. Rochette's parents had arrived Saturday from Montreal.

The skater is currently closeted with friends and family, sharing in the grief.
Officials described her mood as focused and determined to compete.
The Rochette family is from the tiny town of Ile-Dupas, Que.

In her journal on Oct. 26, 2008, Rochette described her mother as an important critic of her skating.

"My mom, who was always close to me, took more distance from my skating for the last couple of years,'' Rochette wrote in 2008. "I was missing her input and support as well as her approach to getting more and more solid with my elements.

"She has always been the most critical person about my skating, pushing me harder to improve.

"Even if it requires quite a big deal of humility at 22 to admit you need more of your mother, I expressed it and she drives from home to St-Leonard once a week to come to supervise with her unique eyes my training."

Canadian chef de mission Nathalie Lambert choked with emotion as she expressed condolences to the Rochette family Sunday.

"It has actually just happened this morning," Ms. Lambert told reporters. "It's very emotional for me, and all of us, today."

ctvolympics.ca

Chances good compulsories out after 2010 Games

2010-02-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

If you like the Tango, you got to watch it quite a bit in the Pacific Coliseum today.

Twenty-three times to be exact.

In the ice dancing event, there are three portions of the competition, and the compulsory dance is the one in which all of the skating teams do the same dance to the same music. At these Olympics, the dance was the Tango Romantica.

And if this was it for the compulsories, Olympic silver medalist Tanith Belbin will have no problem with the decision.

"If this is the last time we perform the compulsory dance, awesome,'' Belbin said. "Good riddance, I say.''

And if we think we've heard this music a lot, imagine how many times have some of the skaters heard this music.

"So many times I can't even count,'' American ice dancer Emily Samuelson said.

But Samuelson might not have to listen to the same music over and over anymore. At the International Skating Union's Congress, which meets in June in Barcelona, a decision is expected to be made about the future of compulsories. The general prediction is that the ice dancing competition will be trimmed from three segments to two and the compulsory dance might be merged with the original dance.

Chances are good that these Games will be the last with compulsories, which features the basics of ice dancing skating skills. Just as school figures were eliminated from singles skating in international competition at the 1990 World Championships in Halifax, many see the demise of the compulsory dance as part of the evolution of the sport.

In the minds of some, it is a move for the better. But there are many others who believe it will lead to the demise of overall skating in ice dancing.

"Maybe I'll tell the youngsters that back in my day we did the compulsory dance at the Olympics,'' said Evan Bates, who performed the Tango Romantica with Samuelson tonight.

Compulsory dance generally is not the most exciting portion of the competition. Often, it is not even televised. But it is usually where skaters with classic technique shine.

According to Skate Canada High Performance Director Michael Slipchuk, there has been some consideration toward keeping the compulsory dance in the lower levels but eliminating at the junior and senior levels. The idea would be to help teach younger skaters good technique. When school figures were eliminated, they were swept out of the competition in one fell swoop and many established coaches and judges have lamented the impact it has had on the generation of skaters competing today.

As tedious as the compulsory dances can be, many of the skaters at these Games expressed some sadness about the possible elimination of the dance.

"Not too many people get so excited about seeing so many Tango Romanticas in a row, but it's also sad,'' said Cathy Reed, an ice dancer who represents Japan. "I think compulsories are the essence of ice dancing.''

Then again, the sport might not be too bad off without them.

"It's too early to say how this would impact the sport,'' said Igor Shpilband, a longtime ice dancing coach who currently works with U.S. champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. "I think the skill level has really improved and everybody is doing more rockers, counters and compulsory moves because of the new system.''

The Tango Romantica would be a special way for the compulsories to close at the Games. Created by Elena Tchiakovskaya in 1974, the dance was used by the first Olympic ice dancing champions: Ludmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov.

Tchiakovskaya later coached a skater named Marina Zoueva, now a coach and choreographer herself. Zoueva teaches skating with Shpilband and shortly before these Games in Vancouver they had Tchiakovskaya visit the rink. Davis and White and Virtue and Moir got lessons on the dance from the master.

"It was so wonderful,'' Zoueva said. "What a great experience.''

Sasha Zhulin, an Olympic silver medalist in ice dancing who now is a coach, said the elimination of the compulsory dance would not be a good thing for skaters from his homeland in Russia. Classically trained, Russian skaters tend to focus a great deal on the compulsory and the basics of ice dancing.

"For the Russians, this would not be great,'' Zhulin said.

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Lysacek waves off criticism from Russian Federation

2010-02-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

Evan Lysacek hadn't slept a wink.

He had officials escorting him from one interview session to another, and he still had no idea what that Olympic gold medal was doing around his neck.

But, he was well aware he was in the midst of a controversy.

Lysacek, who became the first American since 1988 to capture the men's figure skating gold medal in the Olympics, had dethroned defending Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko.

And since Plushenko had landed a quad and Lysacek hadn't, Russian skating officials in Vancouver were none too pleased.

Plushenko said that he thought he had won and even motioned that his spot was on the top of the medal podium. Over in Moscow, even Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chimed in with his displeasure.

Lysacek, meanwhile, seemed to take it all in stride.

After all, he is the Olympic champion.

"I guess I was a little disappointed that someone who was my role model would take a hit at me in probably one of the most special moments of my life that I'll never forget, regardless of what anyone said there,'' Lysacek said. "For him to discredit the field is not right, it's probably the strongest field there has ever been.''

Lysacek added that he could sympathize with Plushenko's emotions, noting that losing is always "a tough pill to swallow.''

The victory marked the first time since 1988 that a member of the Russian Federation or Unified Team had not won skating's top prize. Plushenko, who had earned a silver behind compatriot Alexei Yagudin in 2002 and claimed the gold medal in 2006, entered these Olympics as the heavy favorite for gold. Even though he had taken three-and-a-half years off from competitive skating, he returned this season showing he was more than ready to return.

Plushenko won the short program but his free skate, even with a quad, wasn't sharp. He struggled with his spins and did more hip grinding and blowing kisses than actual transitions and footwork.

Lysacek, who skated conservatively but landed eight triples, wound up defeating Plushenko by 1.31 points. Lysacek said that Plushenko congratulated him and gave him a "good, strong handshake,'' and praised Plushenko for his three Olympic medals. He also noted that they have competed against each other for years and toured together and that he has always respected him.

Although Plushenko might not have shown any animosity toward Lysacek personally, he and his longtime coach, Alexei Mishin, made it abundantly clear to the media that they were not pleased with the outcome. "

Any judge who thinks this is the right champion is a Cyclops," Mishin told reporters. "Without the quad, there is no difference between the men's competition and the women's. Why not let them skate together? Why not have it as a unisex competition in the Olympics?"

Although reaction from the Russians has been fierce, reaction from America's top skaters has been supportive.

Brian Boitano, who had been the last U.S. man to win the Olympic gold medal until Lysacek came along Thursday night, was in the stands in the Pacific Coliseum to witness Olympic history. Both Boitano and Lysacek won their gold medals on Canadian soil, with Boitano winning in Calgary and Lysacek in Vancouver.

"Evan really deserved it,'' Boitano said. "He was mentally strong, and he was flawless.''

Another American champion in the crowd was Michelle Kwan, who has been in Vancouver working with ABC-TV. A longtime friend of Lysacek's, Kwan said his performance moved her to tears.

"He was the first person I ever saw skating that made me tear up,'' Kwan said.

Kwan also trained with Lysacek's coach, Frank Carroll, and was happy that Lysacek could help Carroll achieve his longtime dream of coaching an Olympic gold medalist. Carroll, who is coaching at his 10th Olympics, had come close to gold before. In 1980, Linda Fratianne settled for silver. Eighteen years later, in Nagano, Kwan also garnered a silver.

"I'm thrilled beyond words,'' Kwan said. "I texted him. It's great to see a friend so happy.''

Tim Goebel, who is finishing up his studies at Columbia, also trained with Carroll. Under Carroll's guidance, Goebel earned a bronze medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

"Frank is a master at preparing his students to skate their best performances when it counts the most,'' Goebel said. "His contributions to the sport are remarkable, and I am very happy for him to have realized his dream of coaching an Olympic gold medalist. It is well deserved.

"Evan was fantastic. It was great to see one of our guys on top of the podium.''

Carol Heiss Jenkins, the 1960 Olympic champion, watched the men's free skate with her husband, 1956 Olympic gold medalist, Hayes, on TV in their home in Cleveland. As soon as the scores were announced, Heiss Jenkins said she turned to Hayes and said, "We've got to contact Evan and welcome him to the gold-medal club.

"Then I said, 'I am so happy for Frank. I've probably known him since I was 11 or 12 years old, since we both competed in the East. He's been through so much and has had so many wonderful skaters. I'm just so happy because it couldn't have happened to a more wonderful person.''

When Lysacek was at the U.S. Championships last month in Spokane, Wash., he took particular attention to the celebration of America's Olympic gold medalists. All 12 of them, from Dick Button to Sarah Hughes, were in attendance.

Now he's part of that group.

He's just now soaking that in.

When asked if he realized he was indeed the Olympic champion when he awoke this morning, Lysacek replied, "Uhhh ... I haven't gone to sleep yet.''

Lysacek is in such an Olympic daze that he couldn't say for certain whether he will compete next month at the World Championships in Torino.

Nor could he even think about competing in the next Olympic Winter Games. Conveniently, those Games will be held in Sochi.

He does know, however, what his reception would be like in Russia.

"I don't think they'd like to see me,'' Lysacek said.

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2010 Winter Olympics - Original Dance Starting Order

2010-02-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

Ice Dance - OD Starting Order

1 REED Allison / JAPARIDZE Otar (GEO) 20
2 CAPPELLINI Anna / LANOTTE Luca (ITA) 12
3 CRONE Vanessa / POIRIER Paul (CAN) 15
4 HAJKOVA Kamila / VINCOUR David (CZE) 22
5 SHTORK Irina / RAND Taavi (EST) 23
6 HOFFMANN Nora / ZAVOZIN Maxim (HUN) 13
7 SAMUELSON Emily / BATES Evan (USA) 14
8 BOBROVA Ekaterina / SOLOVIEV Dmitri (RUS) 17
9 BEIER Christina / BEIER William (GER) 16
10 REED Cathy / REED Chris (JPN) 18
11 HUANG Xintong / ZHENG Xun (CHN) 19
12 ZADOROZHNIUK Anna / VERBILLO Sergei (UKR) 11
13 COOMES Penny / BUCKLAND Nicholas (GBR) 21
14 KHOKHLOVA Jana / NOVITSKI Sergei (RUS) 7
15 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier (FRA) 6
16 KERR Sinead / KERR John (GBR) 8
17 FAIELLA Federica / SCALI Massimo (ITA) 5
18 DOMNINA Oksana / SHABALIN Maxim (RUS) 1
19 DAVIS Meryl / WHITE Charlie (USA) 3
20 PECHLAT Nathalie / BOURZAT Fabian (FRA) 9
21 ZARETSKY Alexandra / ZARETSKY Roman (ISR) 10
22 VIRTUE Tessa / MOIR Scott (CAN) 2
23 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin (USA) 4

2010 Winter Olympics - Compulsory Dance

2010-02-19T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ice Dance - Compulsory Dance

1 DOMNINA Oksana / SHABALIN Maxim (RUS) 43.76 pts
2 VIRTUE Tessa / MOIR Scott (CAN) 42.74 pts
3 DAVIS Meryl / WHITE Charlie (USA) 41.47 pts
4 BELBIN Tanith / AGOSTO Benjamin (USA) 40.83 pts
5 FAIELLA Federica / SCALI Massimo (ITA) 39.88 pts
6 DELOBEL Isabelle / SCHOENFELDER Olivier (FRA) 37.99 pts
7 KHOKHLOVA Jana / NOVITSKI Sergei (RUS) 37.18 pts
8 KERR Sinead / KERR John (GBR) 37.02 pts
9 PECHALAT Nathalie / BOURZAT Fabian (FRA) 36.13 pts
10 ZARETSKY Alexandra / ZARETSKY Roman (ISR) 34.38 pts
11 ZADOROZHNIUK Anna / VERBILLO Sergei (UKR) 33.87 pts
12 CAPPELLINI Anna / LANOTTE Luca (ITA) 33.13 pts
13 HOFFMANN Nora / ZAVOZIN Maxim (HUN) 31.90 pts
14 SAMUELSON Emily / BATES Evan (USA) 31.37 pts
15 CRONE Vanessa / POIRIER Paul (CAN) 31.14 pts
16 BEIER Christina / BEIER William (GER) 30.31 pts
17 BOBROVA Ekaterina / SOLOVIEV Dmitri (RUS) 29.86 pts
18 REED Cathy / REED Chris (JPN) 29.49 pts
19 HUANG Xintong / ZHENG Xun (CHN) 29.22 pts
20 REED Allison / JAPARIDZE Otar (GEO) 26.65 pts
21 COOMES Penny / BUCKLAND Nicholas (GBR) 25.68 pts
22 HAJKOVA Kamila / VINCOUR David (CZE) 23.19 pts
23 SHTORK Irina / RAND Taavi (EST) 21.73 pts

Davis, White say if it ain't broke, don't fix it

2010-02-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

The Tango Romantica compulsory isn't until Friday, but as far as Meryl Davis and Charlie White are concerned, the competition has already started.

At practices on Thursday, most teams worked on just a section or two of their programs, milling around and chatting during other parts of their music.

Not the U.S. champions. They did a perfect run-through of their "Bollywood" original dance, with every head tilt and facial expression intact, even though the Pacific Coliseum had already been emptied of spectators -- save for media and any judges that might be watching.

"We're confident enough that we really want to show every bit and every piece of our programs," Davis said. "So yes, the strategy is to show the judges everything we can do in practice, and hopefully, they'll take note."

"We're rested, we feel good, we're ready to go," White added. "We've done everything so many times; our bodies just know where to go on the ice."

So far this season, everything is going Davis and White's way. They've won five events, including the Grand Prix Final and the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, defeating top rivals Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto along the way.

With so much success, no one can blame them for sticking to the script.

"There's nothing special to be said here; we're very motivated, we've done all the right things," White said. "We're ready to go. Definitely no last-minute changes."

Costumes, elements, every note of their music -- none of it has changed since September.

"Everything is the same as it was at our first competition, Nebelhorn [Trophy]," Davis said. "We've had a whirlwind of a season, and we've just kept really busy."

"We haven't needed to change anything," White added. "We've gotten positive feedback on everything. When you need to change something, you take care of it, but for us, all the judges have been saying, 'Just leave it the way it is and keep doing the same things you've been doing, and you'll be successful.'"

With their confidence high, the skaters are embracing every moment of their Olympic experience.

"We're having an amazing time in the [athlete's] village," Davis said. "We've been saying, you can just sit in the cafeteria and watch all these incredible athletes walk in and out, and meet people, and that's enough for the day. You don't have to do anything to be entertained."

While they haven't visited any other sports venues yet, they're watching events on TV at Vancouver's USA House, helping to explain the intricacies of figure skating to other athletes.

"We were sitting there with some hockey players, watching the men's short program, and they were asking us, 'What's that jumpy, spin-y thing they do?'" Davis said. "It's been cool to kind of get to know people you wouldn't normally get to meet."

After they're through competing, they hope to see other events in person. First stop: Cypress Mountain, where the snowboarding is being held.

"My brother does snowboarding, and I never got the opportunity to explore it," Davis said. "It's just a cool sport. I think we're both looking forward to some of that."

First things first: tomorrow, they will be the 17th team to take the ice for the Tango Romantica.

Compulsories have been a relative weakness of Davis and White in the past, but coaches Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva have been drilling their Tango Romantica all season.

"We competed the Tango a couple of times earlier this year, and the creator of the dance [Elena Tchaikovskaya] visited us in Canton [Mich.] just a couple of weeks ago, so we feel really confident that we know exactly what we should be doing," Davis said.

"We know that gold is within our reach, so when we step out on to the ice, it's not gold that's in our mind. It's skating the best we possibly can. If we do that, we know we have a really good shot."

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Can French dance team realize "Impossible Dream"

2010-02-19T09:34:00.000-08:00

If they awarded the ice dance gold medal to the most relaxed and happy team, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder would win it by a country mile.

Chatting in the mixed zone Wednesday, the French skaters, both parents, said they are sharing their final Olympic experience with their families, but in different ways.

Schoenfelder's wife, Isabelle Pecheur, and three-year-old son, Gabriel, arrive in Vancouver today.

"He loves to watch me skate," Schoenfelder, 32, said. "He is already interested. His eyes grow as big as saucers."

Delobel stays in touch with her husband, former Nordic combined skier Ludovic Roux, a bronze medalist at the 1988 Nagano Olympics, and five-month-old baby boy Loïc (born October 1) via Skype.

"He is just too young to be here," Delobel, 31, said. "His father is taking care of him in Lyon. He sees me, and he knows it is me, and he smiles."

Four years ago in Torino, Delobel shed a few tears in the mixed zone after the free dance when the team lost the bronze medal to Ukrainians Elena Grushina an Russian Guacharo despite placing second in the free dance. (They were seventh in the Ravens burger Waltz and fourth in the original dance).

"This is very different," Schoenfelder said. "In Torino, we were outsiders [dark horses], but we had skated all season; we were normal competitors. This year, it is very special with the injury, Isabelle's baby."

"I had an injury when we were on top in ice dancing," Delobel added. "Getting my strength back was a big challenge."

At the 2008 worlds in Gothenburg, after nearly 20 years of competing together, the French won gold, their first world medal. They won three events, including the Grand Prix Final, in the fall of 2008, but Delobel injured her shoulder and had to undergo surgery.

In the spring of 2009, Delobel announced her pregnancy.

"I had to work a lot [to come back]," she said. "There was not much time. As a mother now, I feel something different. Your view of sports is different . . . I don't know. You know what life is, and you know what sports life is, and you know the difference."

"With Isabelle and Olivier, we planned the return [to competition] very carefully and took it step-by-step," the team's primary coach, Muriel Boucher-Zaloumi, said.

"Isabelle was skating until she was seven months pregnant. We [created] the OD and free dance last April." After Loïc's birth, the team resumed training together on October 26.

In a black practice dress yesterday, Delobel looks fit and trim as ever, but she says she still is a few pounds over her former competitive weight.

"Not all the extra [weight] is gone; almost," she said. "I was so small before the injury, it is hard. I had to work to find a balance between losing weight, and not working too hard, that I would get another injury."

Last fall, the team announced they would perform their free dance to music by Jacques Bret, "La Quite de Bret" ["The Impossible Dream"]. Back then, Schoenfelder said, "It is very personal, a conclusion to our career. We put all our souls into it. We try to be very earnest and try to show what we are and skate the best we can."

Watching the team in practices here, the dance looks far more delicate and lyrical than some of their past avant-garde efforts.

"We want the program to be soft, not so sophisticated," Schoenfelder said. "We just want to show emotions. We are telling our story. We have skated together for 20 years; at the beginning [of the program], we are children, and we want to grow into this day."

"In the beginning of the program, it is kids speaking," Delobel added. "I say, "I want to be a ballerina" and he says, "I want to be a stunt man." Then I say, "I went to dress up." We are talking about what we want to be when we were young."

The program tells the story of their competitive career.

Full article.

Youngest Reed makes mark for Georgia

2010-02-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

Back in the spring of 2009, Allison Reed was just another teenager, attending Watchung Hills Regional High School and skating one or two sessions a week at the Ice House in Hackensack, New Jersey, where her older siblings, Cathy Reed and Chris Reed, train under Nikolai Morozov.

Now, the 15-year-old ice dancer is the youngest skater at the Vancouver Olympics, participating in only her fourth competition with her first-ever partner, Otar Japaridze.

Allison is competing here for Georgia; Cathy and Chris, former U.S. novice ice dance champions, are representing Japan. The siblings' mother, Norika -- who is here watching from the stands -- is Japanese, and their father is due to arrive later this week.

Amidst the celebration, there has been tragedy: before the Games even opened, 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died after crashing during his final practice run.

Reed and Japaridze have been wearing black armbands in practice.

"It casts a shadow," Allison said. "It's been a very emotional time."

How the youngest Reed got to Vancouver is a story of being in the right place, at the right time, with the right connections ready to give a helping hand.

Before Japaridze, Allison could never find the right partner.

"I passed my gold dances and my senior moves when I was 10," she said. "All the boys in my age group were too small and too young. My ability was too much for men my height and age."

Meanwhile, Japaridze -- who placed 14th at the 2008 World juniors with Isabella Tobias -- was searching for a new partner. His coach, Evgeni Platov, got together with Morozov. Both men thought Allison and Japaridze might be a good fit.

The tall, talented Japaridze had had no trouble lining up tryouts, but nothing quite clicked until Reed came along.

"It was hard to match the technical skating, plus the mentality," he said. "With Allison, everything felt so comfortable right away."

The two, who train under Platov at the Igloo in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, qualified an ice dance spot for Georgia at the Nebelhorn Trophy last September. They placed 19th at the European Championships last month.

To compete in Vancouver, though, there was still the issue of Allison's citizenship. Japaridze's father, Irakli, the head of the Georgian Skating Federation, enlisted Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president -- a huge sports fan -- for help speeding up her passport.

"We really appreciate all his help," Otar said. "When we qualified a spot for the country in Nebelhorn, we applied for Allison's citizenship and passport at the Georgian Consulate in New York City in October. By the end of November, we had the citizenship."

Otar and Allison had a chance to say thank you in person at the European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

"[President Saakashvili] was in Estonia on other business during Europeans, and he watched [Georgian lady] Elene Gedeshvanishvili's short. After the original dance, we had a little meeting with him; we even got to skate with him for about 15 minutes at a rink outside of Tallinn. He's a pretty good skater."

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Linichuk shrugs off Domnina, Shabalin controversies

2010-02-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

Judging from her grey cashmere sweaters and crocodile Kelly bag, Natalia Linichuk is quite the shopper.

Even so, the veteran coach -- who has had a hand in training more Olympic and World ice dance medalists than anyone else -- isn't buying any of the controversies swirling around her top team, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia.

"What can you do?" she shrugged. "Is normal, in professional life; somebody likes something, somebody doesn't like something."

Linichuk, who won the 1980 Olympic gold with her husband and coaching partner Gennadi Karponossov, has played defense ever since the European Championships in Estonia last month, when leaders of Australia's Aboriginal community expressed displeasure with Domnina and Shabalin's Aboriginal-inspired original dance.

Some object to non-Aboriginal people co-opting the community's cultural objects; others say aspects of the OD -- particularly the skaters' costumes -- are poorly researched.

Many more, including some non-Aborigines, complain the entire routine is just plain poor taste.

The rather bizarre story, replete with colorful photos of the Domnina and Shabalin in brown flesh-toned bodysuits adorned with white paint markings and green leaves, made the media rounds, appearing everywhere from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal to AOL and Yahoo.

At the compulsory dance draw this morning -- where world champions Domnina and Shabalin drew to compete the Tango Romantica 18th, and training mates Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, the world silver medalists, drew to skate 20th -- the glamorous Russian coach said she didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"You know, I did [the Aboriginal dance] because I thought it was a very interesting idea," she said. "All the teams [skating] here doing folk dances transfer the rules from the floor, to the ice.

"For example, in the Flamenco, [on the floor] you do not dance in a together position [a hold]. But on the ice, you have to dance together with each other."

Linichuk said her team is untroubled by the controversy.

"It is the opposite; how can I say in English -- they say, 'Thank you very much, for paying so much attention,'" she said. "It is a huge attention."

Then, she dug into her bag to pull out some color photos of Aboriginal dancers, wearing markings and leaves similar to those sported by Domnina and Shabalin.

"Here, see? Is the same," she said. "We adapt, everyone adapts. Some dances, the girls need long skirts, but that could be dangerous for skating, with all the steps and elements you must do. So they wear short skirts."

There have also been whispers -- the ice dance world whispers a lot -- that Linichuk breathed a huge sigh of relief when the Tango Romantica was selected in a blind draw as the compulsory dance here. (Domnina and Shabalin built a large lead in the Tango Romantica to win Europeans despite losing both the original and free dance to Italians Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali).

The other CD possibility, the Golden Waltz, requires deeper knee bends and more difficult steps from the male partner, and might have posed a greater challenge to Shabalin's oft-injured and surgically repaired knees.

This, too, Linichuk tossed aside with a wave of a manicured hand.

"For all high level teams, it doesn't matter what kind of [compulsory] dance," she said. "It doesn't matter which they do." Finally, the Russians' free dance, to "Requiem for a Dream," has several moves with Shabalin grabbing on to his partner's belt as an aide in lifting.

Since ISU ice dance rules include limits on both props and assisted lifts, this, too, was a mini-controversy in Estonia, though overshadowed by the Aboriginal uproar.

"The rules don't say nothing about this," Linichuk protested. "Maybe in the future, the rules will. It is not a prop, it is a belt. We do not break rules."

Despite Linichuk's seeming nonchalance, it is thought the Russians have changed their OD costumes, and may have made adjustments to their free dance as well. Are there any surprises in store?

"No surprises, just watch the competition," the coach said with yet another shrug.

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