Various newspaper articles about skating

http://articles.latimes.com/p/2009/mar/22/...e/ig-menskate22
"Los Angeles Times", 22.3.2009.
By Andrew Harmon
March 22, 2009

GLITTERATI ON ICE
The urge to shine

Even figure skaters who have great real-life style (think Evan Lysacek) are drawn to sparkle when competitions come around. The urge to shine is hard to resist

There are certain inevitabilities to any figure skating competition. Plastic-wrapped flowers and stuffed animals will be thrown onto the ice. The audience will gasp at a botched triple Lutz, then break into mild applause for encouragement’s sake. A gangly teenager will perform to music from an opera in which the soprano is either stabbed or leaps to her death.

And, of course, there will be sequins, feathers, nude Lycra, draped velvet. And rhinestones. Thousands of them.

Never mind the prowess and guts it takes to land an axel. Many sports fans simply can’t see past skating’s aesthetic, which combines the flash of competitive ballroom dancing with the final scene of “Xanadu.”

In recent years, the more-is-more mantra has been particularly acute in the men’s competition. While top female skaters such as Yu-Na Kim and Rachael Flatt have struck a pretty and traditional tone with their costumes, theatrical garb that “tells a story” is en vogue among the guys, with designs that have no antecedent in modern fashion. Tailored masculinity, once the hallmark of the sport, is rare, if not downright pass.

Skaters used to be threatened with point deductions for outlandish costumes. Not so under the sport’s current scoring system, implemented after a judging scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. “I think a lot of male skaters see [embellished costumes] as part of the whole package, that it will enhance their marks,” says Evan Lysacek, a two-time U.S. champion. “Maybe it’s helping. If you don’t skate very fast, and you have a shiny outfit, it looks like you’re going faster. With a simple costume, you can’t hide behind much.”

But simple is what Lysacek prefers – which makes him something of an outsider. On a recent afternoon at an El Segundo rink, he wore a Y-3 cashmere sweater as he skated through a group of young girls, who practiced layback spins and made no attempt to get out of his way. A veteran of the sport, Lysacek often wears Y-3 during practice. He has the tall, lanky proportions of a runway model, a Cartier watch collection and an affinity for the minimalist restraint of Raf Simons. At the World Figure Skating Championships, which begin today at Staples Center, you’ll see him attempt a quadruple toe loop wearing a shawl collar tuxedo with a rose tucked in the breast pocket.

“In my own clothing, I like simple, but something that has texture. Something that’s architectural and design-oriented,” the 23-year-old says. “That’s what I’ve looked for in my costumes as well.”

Three years ago, at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Lysacek skated to “Carmen,” one of the sport’s well-worn soundtracks. Instead of wearing a matador’s “suit of lights,” he opted for a black Gianfranco Ferrer shirt with intricate pleating that approximated origami. He wore Alexander McQueen last season and fashioned a Christian Dior scarf into a belt the year before that.

“You have to dress up and have respect for the judges,” he says. “You can’t just skate in sweats and a cap. But who said anything about spandex and sequins?”

Actually, it was Johnny Weir, one of skating’s most reliably competitors.

The case for excess

Lysacek’s chief American rival for the last half-decade, Weir failed to qualify for this year’s world championships. But his imprint on the sport’s style is inescapable – even if he’s not the first skater to wear a velvet onesie.

Weir’s influences, he says, are Russian skating greats such as Evgeni Plushenko, who never shied from a sparkly cravat. “To be accepted worldwide, American skaters need to understand that excess is necessary,” Weir says. “And yes, I take credit for that.”

His designer tastes are legendary – Weir has modeled for Heatherette runway shows and dares you to try prying the Balenciaga work bag from his hands. But on the ice, the costumes he co-designs have a certain sartorial madness, much to his delight. At the Turin Games, he wore a shimmery swan costume, replete with a single red glove that he referred to lovingly in press conferences as “Camille.” Since then, he’s sported enough mesh, lace and rhinestones to exhaust the inventory of a crafts store.

“I’m a firm believer that if you’re a figure skater, you should wear a figure skating costume,” he says. “You can’t just wear all black and skate to Beethoven. There needs to be a story, and you’re the storyteller.”

Given their rivalry, you’d expect a clucked tongue from Lysacek when talking about Weir, but he’s surprisingly laudatory. “Johnny is his own person, and you have to admire that,” Lysacek says. “He’s like, ‘This is my style. This is the way I skate. This is my Louis Vuitton, and this is my fur. Deal with it.’ ”

Jeremy Abbott, the reigning U.S. men’s champion and a rising star on the international scene, also has given in to glamour this season. He had asked Denver-based costume designer Joey Santos for a “fairly simple” long-program look. But what he got was something Weir might appreciate. Standing atop the podium in January, Abbott wore a violet Lycra top with black stretch lace that snaked across his torso, entangling his right arm. “I tend to like toned-down looks,” says Abbott, who trains in Colorado Springs, Colo. “So this is definitely the most puff and sparkle I’ve ever had.”

Black-tie skating

Men’s figure skating style hasn’t always been creative fodder for snarky screenwriters (think “Blades of Glory”). A century ago, competitors skated as if on their way to a black-tie gala. Forget rhinestones: If you wanted to express yourself, you did so with a superb flying sit spin, not a garish get-up.

Dick Button, the dapper, two-time Olympic gold medalist, performed Russian split jumps and flying camel spins in a waist-length white mess jacket for the 1947 World Championships in Stockholm. The color choice created a furor, he recalls. “Everyone said I looked like a waiter. Of course, all the skaters were wearing white jackets the following year.”

In the 1970s, stiff wool gave way to synthetic fabrics such as spandex, which made increasingly difficult jumps and intricate footwork possible. Perhaps spurred by growing television audiences and the popularity of exhibition tours such as the Ice Capades, many amateur skaters adopted a Vegas show mentality. By the 1980s, both the men’s and women’s competitions had become spectacles of jeweled colletage and bedazzled unitards.

Not everyone approved of the excess. Scott Hamilton preferred athletic racing suits reminiscent of the ones worn by speed skaters. But judging by the fancy costumes in 1988’s “Battle of the Brians” between American Brian Boitano and Canada’s Brian Orser, Hamilton’s sporty uniforms failed to inspire other competitors.

By 1992, the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. had had enough. Judges threatened mandatory deductions for costumes that were “theatrical in nature” or featured exposed chests and “excessive decoration, such as beads, sequins and the like,” in the words of the organization’s rule book. Some male skaters summarily toned down their looks, and champions with subdued style, such as Paul Wylie and Todd Eldredge, ruled the American ranks.

The women held onto much of their sparkle, though some athletes tapped fashion designers for costumes that were runway statements, not rink extravaganzas. Nancy Kerrigan wore a gold, hand-beaded dress by Vera Wang, herself a former skater and a recent inductee into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame for costume design. Michelle Kwan, also a Wang muse, wore peach or royal purple sleeveless numbers with knotted backs for her performances to Puccini or Peter Gabriel.

‘Inner glitter bomb’

And then, little more than a decade after excess was labeled verboten, Weir let loose what he terms his “inner glitter bomb.” He’d long heeded the judges’ advice: Don’t go over the top, avoid theatrics. But after a disastrous national championships in 2003, he wrote off the American establishment, donned a Soviet warmup jacket and studied Russian. “At that point, I decided to do exactly what I wanted to do. So, next season, I came in like a firecracker,” he says.

And the formula has worked, he’s convinced, especially with international judges. Weir won a bronze medal at the world championships last year, though a poor performance this year at the U.S. nationals left him in fifth place. “A lot of these judges come from more culturally rich countries and understand the use of costumes to portray a mood, as in any opera, ballet or play.”

Today’s prevailing tastes often reflect the Russian coaches who now work stateside, says Tania Bass, a New York costume designer who has worked with Sarah Hughes, Irina Slutskaya and Abbott. “These are coaches who come from the real old world of costume making, and they don’t lose their flamboyancy in the U.S.,” Bass says. “For a while, it was turning into a fashion show. Now it’s strictly costume. I don’t know which is best – I just love to see an elegant skater.”

Button is also ambivalent. “I love the freedom in the sport. You can do almost anything today,” he says. “But yes, I’ve got to tell you that some costumes are just overboard. And I’m not sure why there are crosses on everything these days.”

He may be referring to Lysacek’s costume for the short program Wednesday. Though the skater is tux-clad for his free program, Lysacek trained in St. Petersburg over the summer with a Russian choreographer, who chose a costume with a glittery cross adorning the front. Lycasek knows to pick his battles. “It’s part of her vision, and it’s definitely pushed my comfort zone,” he says with a hint of amusement. “But the long[-program] costume she sent was originally head-to-toe sequins, giant billowy sleeves with pure black crystal. That I had to change.”

On the occasion of the World Championship ... in the first two text "debate" about whether they are "needed", and risks that brings quadruple jump... in third text - perspective Russian skating ... in all text mentioned little and Plushy

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http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/2009/03...in-los-angeles/

International war of words between skaters in Los Angeles
by denverpost.com on March 25, 2009

Certain inside stories in figure skating belong in the paper but often get squeezed out by piddling news stories like the NCAA Basketball tournament and wars between the Broncos coach and his quarterback.

Actually, I had no problem holding this scintillating story about the controversy surrounding the quad, the most difficult jump in men’s figure skating, until next year’s Vancouver Olympics. However, this little inside story has surfaced into a full-fledged international war of words between arguably the two best skaters in the world.

Here’s the scenario:

At last year’s World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Jeffrey Buttle of Canada beat France’s defending champion, Brian Joubert, for the gold medal. Joubert wasn’t happy, saying Buttle did a more conservative routine while Joubert took chances.

In other words, why didn’t Buttle try a quad?

Buttle has since retired and probably didn’t care. However, his countryman and up-and-coming threat to the Olympic gold medal, Patrick Chan, took up for him. On Monday here at the World Figure Skating Championships, Chan called Joubert “a sore loser.”

Joubert, a flamboyant, tough Frenchman who oft skated to Matrix soundtracks, wasn’t happy.

“So I am a bad guy,” he said. “Sorry.”

He went on, saying, “I was disappointed to see a world champion without the quad. I am like the other skaters. I don’t like to lose. I respect the other skaters, but I prefer when they beat me with the quad jump.”

Joubert and Chan are the frosty tip of a growing iceberg that’s standing in the way of men’s figure skating returning to its glory days from the 1980s. The quad is a highly difficult maneuver that is rewarded accordingly but also greatly penalized if you miss it.

A quad is worth 9.8 points, a lot in the five-year-old international points scoring system. However, a year ago the scoring system required a botched quad to receive a deduction of up to three points. A triple axel, which nearly all elite men can perform, is worth 8.2. If done perfectly, an extra three points can be scored.

Thus, failing a real difficult quad can possibly score barely half a well-executed triple axel.

U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott of Colorado Springs hates the rule. He hates it even though it helped him at Four Continents in Vancouver last month.

“I had one fall on my program in a triple lutz,” he told me. “They considered it a double with a fall. I got 1.09 points. Then Nobunari Oda (of Japan) fell on a quad but they downgraded it to a triple toe because it was under-rotated and he got one point.

“I got more points for falling on a cheated triple lutz than he got falling on a cheated quad.”

When the International Skating Union changed the scoring from the old 6.0 system in 2004, the purpose was to put more emphasis on footwork and artistry and less on jumps. Some critics felt figure skating had digressed to a crude repetition of jumping fools.

However, many feel it has taken away the risk and athleticism that made figure skating the most popular Winter Olympics sport.

“As far as the short program, when I was competing most of the guys were doing quads and or attempting them,” said Todd Eldredge, the 1996 world champion. “Now you may see one or two.”

Who’s doing them now? Joubert and Evan Lysacek, the two-time American champion. The men’s competition started today. I’m interested to see how many will try a quad in the short program today or the long Thursday.

“A lot of those guys are backing off from it because why take the risk and potentially take yourself out of an event because you tried something they all of a sudden decided to downgrade?” Eldredge said. “Because if you try the quad in the short and come up short landing wise on it, they’re going to call it a triple and a bad triple. So all of a sudden your marks are going potentially from here to — whew! — here.”

Purists, those who want figure skating to return to its artistic roots, like the new system. Tom Zakrajsek, who is coaching Colorado Springs skaters Rachael Flatt, Brandon Mroz and Abbott here at Worlds, said the quad should only be rewarded if it’s done right.

Too many aren’t.

“People are focusing on the wrong things,” Zakrajsek said. “When Evgeni Plushenko went to Salt Lake City and fell on the quad in the short program - And, by the way, he cheated. He didn’t go all the way around - he lost his chance at Olympic gold there. And that was a risk back then and there was no new judging system.

“The quad has always been a risk. My philosophy is if you’re going to do the quad, you train the quad and then it’s just like everything else and it’s not so much of a risk.”

So why would anyone do it? Abbott considered putting it in for Worlds. If he doesn’t do it this afternoon in the short he might in tomorrow’s long.

“I can do it and I feel very confident in it and I feel if I do it it’s kind of like the nail in the coffin,” Abbott said. “If I do the quad and do everything else, I’d be in very good position to win a world medal.”

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...tory/WBGoFigure

Comments don't detract from the action
Beverley Smith, today at 1:06 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES -- People almost filled the stands this morning at the world figure-skating championships for the last men's practice before the short program, but most notably for the final two groups.

The 2007 world champion Brian Joubert came out and looked ready to do his business. He looked strong. Look out.

He stuck around afterwards to watch the next practice, which included Patrick Chan, the 18-year-old Canadian kid who had some strong words to say about Joubert early in the week.

Admittedly, Joubert was watching not only Chan, but U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott, up-and-coming Japanese skater Takahiko Kozuka, flashy Czech champion Tomas Verner, and Belgian power-jumper Kevin van der Perren, who, alas, won't be trying a quad in the short program later today.

Chan was quoted in the Toronto Sun saying that Joubert's remarks at the world championships last year were “a bit of a turnoff because now I know he's a bit of a sore loser, I guess.''

“If he doesn't win, he always has an excuse for not winning and not skating well. Unfortunately, that's his personality and I don't really like it.''

His comments took Joubert by surprise, and they seemed so out of character for the young skater who is generally liked by his peers.

Chan also took a run at Alexei Yagudin's footwork, saying that he didn't do anything in his day that compares to what is required in the new judging system. He's right. Although Yagudin's footwork was wonderful to watch and full of flash, there are those who say it wasn't always that difficult.

Kurt Browning describes that line of footwork that Yagudin made famous in his short program as “minus level three” footwork (the system of difficult ranges from one to four). “I teach that footwork to adult skaters who have only been on the ice for two years,'' he said.

But Browning makes the point that Yagudin's flying footwork came at a time before the new judging system came in, and the energy with which he did it and the style and the effect that it had, got the people standing on their feet at the end. “We in the skating world know that it was one of the most memorable pieces of footwork that we had,'' he said.

Joubert's point last year was that although Jeffrey Buttle won the world title, he did it without a quad, and that just didn't seem right to him. Joubert is a lover of the quad, and had planned three in his free skate last year, although he accomplished only one.

There are some who back Joubert's point, saying that if you strip the quad from the event, the men's competition will be less interesting, and will lose spectators.

The last four Olympic men's champions landed quads in their routines: Alexei Urmanov, Ilia Kulik, Yagudin and Evgeny Plushenko, all from Russia.

Buttle won the world title last year without a quad. Chan doesn't have the quad in his repertoire yet.

There are only five men who plan the quad for today's short program and that includes (incredibly enough) unknown Philippine skater Michael Dimalanta, Russian Sergei Voronov, Joubert, Yannick Ponsero, of France and Verner.

It's just too risky, especially in a short program. Although the quad is worth more points this year than last, it also costs a skater more if he doesn't land it. And if a skater falls too far behind in the short program, it's not impossible, but becomes more difficult, at least psychologically, to climb back up, especially in a talent-packed field.

In his run-through in his morning practice, Chan fell hard on a triple Axel, and moments later, Kozuka, with a humble air, seemingly unaware of his slick ability, landed a triple Axel with ease.

After the run-through, Chan came back and landed a clean triple Axel. It's that triple Axel that could be his undoing this week. Forget the quad. Chan needs to go for those jumps without fear, without reservation.

That being said, his triple Lutz out of footwork is exceedingly difficult and rather extraordinary.

Verner did a quadruple toe loop – triple toe loop during the practice, although he bobbled on the landing of the second jump, and then grinned for the crowd. He's a showman and fun to watch. After his practice, he took his bows, and then moved closer to the boards, right in front of the stands, bowed again with a friendly grin and milked the applause for all it was worth.

Joubert moved into the seats to watch, but was hampered from seeing anything important because all sorts of skating fans rushed over to get his autograph and blocked his view of the ice surface. Joubert, as always, obliged.

Chan and Abbott stayed out on the ice the longest, taking advantage of every minute available to them.

Browning, who used to work on Joubert's choreography, hasn't talked to him in a year, but said his practices here have been strong.

He said he would advise him, however, to pull good feeling from his 2007 season, when he was strong, on top of his game.

He's had a bad year, Browning said, with skate problems, injuries and other things. He needs to put all that behind him.

If Browning were to work with him again, however, he said he'd exercise some tough love. “I like Brian,'' he said. “I would do what I think is best for him.''

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http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_11988760

Russian skating at an all-time low
But there are signs of a comeback
By John Henderson, "The Denver Post"
Posted: 03/25/2009 12:30:00 AM MDT

LOS ANGELES — The Yubileyny Sports Palace is a round pile of concrete that's as symbolic of the old Soviet Union as a hammer and sickle waving in the snow. It was built in 1967 as a present from the Federation of Trade Unions to the city of St. Petersburg on the 50th anniversary of Soviet power.

In Soviet times, sport was the welcome mat to communism and figure skating was its beautiful hostess. If all the great champions who had skated and trained at Yubileyny gathered there at one time, there wouldn't be enough ice left for a vodka tonic.

But on a cold morning two months ago, the ice in Yubileyny was a symbol only of Russia's skating past and future, not its present. There was Evgeni Plushenko, the 26-year-old defending Olympic champion and three-time world champion, doing triple jumps. Surrounding him were a gaggle of Russian tots from 5 to 15 all doing spins of various proficiency and cuteness.

Skaters in their late teens and early 20s, the ones who should be competing for more titles this week at the World Championships in Los Angeles, were nowhere to be seen.

Since the 2006 Turin Olympics, Russian skaters have seemingly gone into exile. A country that has dominated the sport for decades is now playing catchup. To wit:

• Russian or Soviet men have won the last five Olympic gold medals but did not place higher than 15th in the past two world championships. Its highest-rated performer in L.A. is Sergie Voronov at 19th.

• In the past four Olympics, Russian or Ukraine women have won gold, silver and a bronze, yet the highest-placed Russian at the last two worlds was 13th. Alena Leonova, at 17th, is the highest-rated Russian today and the only one in the top 40.

• Russian pairs have won gold in the last 12 Olympics. At the last two worlds, they have only one medal. They have no team ranked higher than fourth.

• Russian ice dancers have won five of the past six Olympic golds but just one medal at the last two worlds. Second-ranked Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, who were first after Tuesday's compulsory dance, are the lone Russians favored to medal this week.

"It's really sad," said Oleg Vasiliev, who coached Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin to Olympic pairs gold in Turin. "The last 40-50 years, Russian figure skating was dominating. I feel uncomfortable when our figure skaters are fighting for a place in the top 10."

The downfall is a direct result of a troubled economy. When perestroika completed the bridge from communism to capitalism in 1991, the Russian economy nose-dived. By 1994, inflation had risen 224 percent and the ruble had gone down 27 percent.

Russian coaches, such as Vasiliev, fled abroad to make a living.

"It is not possible to divide sport from other social life," said Alexei Mishin, who has coached three Russian Olympic men champions.

No Russian athlete's life changed more than a figure skater's. Next to equestrian, it's the most expensive sport in the Olympics. Said Elena Garanina, an ice dancer for USSR in the '70s and '80s: "When I was skating I had everything for free. Ice for free. Skates for free. Costumes for free. Now it's different. They have to pay for everything. When they get medal, then they get money."

"We lost six or seven years of young skaters," Vasiliev said. "We lost a generation. . . . Now we have to invite from abroad to cover this hole."

However, Russians say signs point to a turnaround. After Russians nearly swept the Turin Olympics, ice shows filled Russian television. Russian mothers began taking their children to the rinks again. Rus Telecom has signed on as a major sponsor. Prime minister Vladimir Putin has pledged more money. And young talent is on the horizon.

"The future is good," said Tamara Moskvina, who has coached four Olympic champions. "There are so many skaters going to the rink. The government is building rinks. Quantity will be transferred into quality."


Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia were first after compulsories. (Jae C. Hong, The Associated Press)

... on the occasion of World Championships ....

http://www.vremya.ru/2009/51/11/225895.html
27.3.2009.

... "I watched a short program almost all the leaders, and the situation in Pair skating today is that the primary role is not skill, but unmistakable skating. This championship, I would describe this way: this is not a fight of skill, it is a struggle for the absence of errors" - told Alexey Mishin.

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http://www.gazeta.ru/sport/2009/03/a_2964999.shtml
27.03.2009
Boris Hodorovsky from Los Angeles

To Lutay helped a friend

Champion of the world has become an American Evan Lysacek, silver at Canadian Patrick Chan, bronze at the Frenchman Brian Jouber. Russian figure skaters Andrey Lutay and Sergei Voronov took 10th and 13th place, wich our team get two representatives at the Games-2010.

St. Petersburg's figure skaters evaluated their performances in different ways. Get the best scores for the execution of free programs, Lutay after the completion looked quite happy.

«It was a very difficult start to the season - Andrey confessed immediately.
- Each element, I literally rip out with teeth. You had to catch up in the short program, and to this task, in principle, to the right ».

For quadruple and Axel jumps, figure skater even won praise from Alexey Mishin, although conceived a cascade of two triple with Axel, Andrey was not able to perform. But gathered at the right time. In fact, on the morning train, he not could cope with the quadruple.

Andrey confessed that he skated inspiration, helped his girlfriend, a Bulgarian figure skater Ina Demireva. By the way, she is native sister of double world champion and star of Russian TV, Albena Denkova....

The entire season for Voronov's proved unsuccessful. Except for the championship of Russia, where he was worthy skate a short program and brilliantly LP, all other competition Sergei actually failed. This also applies to stage Grand Prix in Moscow, where he was the last, 12th after the short program, and on World and European championships, where the champion of Russia was behind Lutay's, formally second-team numbers.

Pupil of Alexey Urmanov's, the tragedy of what happened does not make, and asserts that negative experiences are also helpful. The findings will be done. Capacity is a guy there.

Minimum task on Worlds 2009 our guys achieved.

Russia has to be two places at the Olympics in Vancouver, but the gap between to the champion in nearly 40 points, per season will be very difficult to eliminate. Certainly, after the Los Angeles re-start talks of the need to material encourage the return of Evgeni Plushenko. Only, in its current condition, it is unlikely would be skating better in Los Angeles than Lutay and Voronov's, and about rivalry with Lysacek do not even need to speak.

The American won applause from Tatiana Tarasova, monitors its performance in the press center. Only now the second year in a row, the world champion men's figure skater becomes, does not have in the arsenal of quadruple jump. Gold him actually gave Joubert, began his act in an free program with a perfect quad, but then both Axel rubble.

Lysacek himself, in his "throne speech" said that the least thought about winning, and just wanted to please the fans with a good performance native's Los Angeles. That he succeeded to the full.

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"Little" Chan is quite become arrogant after "donated" him high marks to the competition "Four Continents" ... I do not say that is not very talented, but has yet to be proved
... 2 text - about quadruple jumps and judges scores....

http://www.tsn.ca/figure_skating/story/?id=272432

CHAN RESPONDS TO FRENCH SKATER'S CRITICISM OVER LACK OF QUAD
THE CANADIAN PRESS
23.3.2009

LOS ANGELES - Patrick Chan would prefer that Brian Joubert does his talking on the ice.

The Toronto skater fired back Monday over criticism from Joubert, the former world champion from France, at the lack of quad jumps in male figure skating.

"I think Joubert is constantly, always complaining," Chan told reporters after practice Monday at the Staples Center. "Because he never has anything else to say."

Joubert and the 18-year-old Chan are expected to battle for the men's title at the world figure skating championships that begin Tuesday.
Joubert told the Chicago Tribune recently that he considers American Evan Lysacek his biggest challenge because the U.S. skater has a quad in his program. Chan doesn't have a quad, yet the score he earned in winning the ISU Four Continents last month in Vancouver was the highest in the world this season.

"I am very disappointed other men do not try them," Joubert said. "With the new system, you have to be clean, so people make it clean but simple. For the future of the sport, we must continue to try quads. In 2002, some skaters did three quads and now (most) think it is difficult to do one, especially in the short program."

Joubert plans a quad in the short program and could attempt up to three in the long.
Chan has two triple Axels in his long program, and traditionally earns high marks for his footwork, spins and overall presentation.

"Yes, okay, fine, men are doing worse according to (Joubert)," Chan said. "But if you're going to say, let's all do quads, then he better have three quads in his program and do them good. Or else he has nothing else to say.
He just says that because he just wants to have an excuse."

Chan wasn't concerned he may have threw fuel on the fire when the two skaters take to the ice.

"I kind of dug myself a grave, huh? We'll see," Chan said. "If he's mad at me he's mad at me. What am I going to do?"

Chan probably doesn't have to worry, as Joubert didn't seem bothered by the comments in the least.

"No, I don't care," the Frenchman said after his final practice late Monday night. "... I can understand that figure skating means not only quads and jumps. It's everything - choreography, skating, spins, footwork. But I think for the sport, for the audience, for the judges, it's great to see a quad jump."

Joubert won the 2007 world championships, but finished runner-up to Canada's Jeffrey Buttle last year in Sweden. Buttle also didn't have a quad in his program.

"It's the total package, the spins and the footwork," Chan said. "Obviously (Joubert) needs to be focused on things other than just the jumps. I think he can do better in his performance. He can do better in the footwork. He can do better in the spins, for sure."

Joubert complained after losing to Buttle last year.

"Right after the results, I was very disappointed," Joubert said at the time "And I am still disappointed because Jeffrey did the perfect competition, he made no mistakes, but he didn't try the quad jump."

Chan called it poor sportsmanship.

"I mean, Tiger (Woods) is not going to say (Mike) Weir sucks because he can't shoot as good as I do, right? Just play a fair game. You don't talk behind people's backs like he did at worlds," Chan said. "He's a nice guy to me. But I think when he's on the ice and he's got all the cameras around him, he changes personality, which is kind of bad. I think you should be yourself basically, in front the cameras."

Chan has said he'll work on his quad over the summer and hopes to have one in his program for the 2010 Olympics.

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http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090327/...sktg_world_chan
27.3.2009.

Patrick Chan left shaking his head at the judging despite silver medal
By Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press

LOS ANGELES - Patrick Chan captured silver, but the judges still found him lacking.
And while he could half-heartedly laugh at his predicament Friday, if this was to happen next year at the Vancouver OIympics, the young Canadian skating star wouldn't be nearly so forgiving.
The 18-year-old from Toronto was runner-up in men's singles at the world figure skating championships Thursday, yet the evening didn't unfold without a bit of controversy. He still scored lower on components - what used to be known as presentation - than bronze medallist Brian Joubert of France.
Chan was stunned when that fact was pointed out to him Friday.

"No kidding?" he said. "That's bad, that's really disappointing. I was watching Brian last night, I looked over at Mike Slipchuk (Skate Canada's high performance director) and said, 'Are you serious? Are you kidding me? This is his program?' That's really unfortunate, I'm really disappointed and hopefully they discuss it."

It's like comparing Shaq and Kobe, and deciding Shaq is the better ball-handler.
Chan has grown up with the new judging system, implemented in 2004 after the skating scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, and prides himself on his wide array of refined skills, from his spins to his footwork to the execution of his jumps.
The 24-year-old Joubert, the 2007 world champion, on the other hand, is a huge jumper who's not exactly known for his artistic flare.

"I don't know who the boss is, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be upset about what happened," Chan said. "I think it's good that it's happening now and this didn't happen at the Olympics, I think that would be really bad. They'll be discussing it and hopefully spread the word to more judges."

American Evan Lysacek, who shares a choreographer with Chan - Canada's Lori Nichol - won the gold Thursday night with a flawless performance. Chan, skating to Rachmaninov, had one discernable error when he turned a triple loop into a double. Joubert's program was unremarkable, ending with a spectacular face plant on a triple Axel that nearly sent him into the boards.

"Like seriously, come on! It's so obvious," said Chan, who also scored lower than Joubert on components in the short program, prompting boos from the Staples Centre crowd. "If you put me or Evan's program against Brian, it's white and black. It's pretty obvious."

Chan's silver medal capped a meteoric rise this season for the skater who was ninth last year in his world championship debut where Canada's Jeffrey Buttle won gold. Chan, who pockets US$27,000 for his performance, became the second youngest Canadian male ever to win a world championship medal. The youngest was Don McPherson in 1963, who was less than two months younger than Chan.
Chan was too young, perhaps, to be handed the world title, some suggested. If that's the case, he's not sweating it.

"It might be again earning the stripes, for sure that plays a factor," Chan said on the puzzling judging. "Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Maybe it's holding back for now, keeping the horse in the gate before the big race, which is the Olympic Games, which is great.
I like to be the guy under being ready to go at any moment and when the moment comes, I can really take advantage of that moment."

Thursday night, Skate Canada officials, coaches, skaters who were done for the week and Chan's parents gathered at an L.A. restaurant to toast the young medallist, celebrating into the wee hours of the morning.

"Oh gosh yeah, everyone is so happy about it," Chan said. "I don't think I realize how great it is because it hasn't sunk in, and everyone is just so ecstatic and it's great. I feel like I'm in Jeff's spot last year even though I didn't win the gold, but it's a gold in my mind."

Less than a year out from the Vancouver Olympics, when the heat from the spotlight will be intense, Chan doesn't mind winning silver so much.

"If he wins worlds, that could be kind of weird," former Canadian star Kurt Browning said last week. "When I won for the first time, even tying up my skates felt different, I felt like I couldn't fall in a practice session with people watching me because world champions didn't do that.
Then there's this bad luck omen which seems to follow Canadian men who are world champions before the Olympics."

Browning, Brian Orser and Elvis Stojko all won the world championships only to miss out on Olympic gold the following year. In fact, no male has won the world championships and Olympics in back-to-back years since American Scott Hamilton won Olympic gold in 1984 in Sarajevo.

"(Former Canadian dance star) David Pelletier called it the kiss of death, he said you don't want to win worlds before the Olympics," Chan said. "I think it's a good thing for me, this is great, I like the spot I'm in. Evan deserved (the gold) and he's the person I think worked the hardest for it."

The Vancouver Olympics could see the return of Russia's Evgeni Plushenko, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist who is considering coming out of retirement.

When asked his thoughts of his pending return, Chan said, "Good luck. It's hard. A lot of people have tried.
It would be exciting. I'd love to compete against him It would be really interesting," added Chan.

Slipchuk said it would be very interesting indeed, considering the changes in the rules.

"A lot has changed between 2006 and 2009. A lot of rules are so different," said Slipchuk.

Chan flies home to Toronto on Monday and his studies at Etienne Brule, where it's back to reality.

"That's the greatest thing about my school, when I go back it's like, 'Patrick don't feel like you're a superstar, because you're not.' At school everyone treats me like crap," he said laughing. "Not crap, but like a normal person which is great."

He'll take a couple of weeks off and then get back on the ice to begin building his programs for the Olympic season. And yes, he plans to add a quad to his program. Earlier this week, Chan called out Joubert for his criticism of skaters who don't attempt the four-revolution jumps. Neither Chan nor Lysacek did a quad Thursday.

"If you don't have a quad in, it will guarantee a close match. If you put a quad in, you can blow away the competition only if you deliver the rest of the program, which unfortunately Brian didn't," Chan said. "I bet if Brian had a better program, and better spins and worked on his spins better, and had that quad he would have definitely taken it home with a big lead. You don't need the quad."

But. . .

"If I don't have the quad next year and I don't put it out, people will be like 'All right Patrick, it's time to get going, you have to put the quad in because you need something new."

Stay tuned.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-skate-...0,4381756.story
27.3.2009.

Nearly flawless Evan Lysacek wins men's title

Evan Lysacek performs his free skate during the men's competition Thursday night at the World Figure Skating Championships at Staples Center.
He is the first American to win a world championship in 13 years.

The ovation for Evan Lysacek began 10 seconds before the music ended Thursday night at Staples Center.
The crowd was on its feet as Lysacek finished his final element, a combination spin, and put his hands on his head in a gesture of delighted disbelief.

Lysacek, 23, knew he had skated as well as he possibly could and was guaranteed no worse than a silver medal.
A few minutes later, after France's Brian Joubert lost his chance at the title with a botched landing of one jump and a belly flop after another, Lysacek had gone one better.

He is the first U.S. man to win the world title since Todd Eldredge in 1996.

"I was trying not to get too excited with each element, but I kept wanting to throw my hands in the air," said Lysacek, of Naperville, Ill., who has lived and trained in Los Angeles the last six years.

Skating to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," he cleanly landed eight triple jumps, spun effortlessly, received positive grades of execution on 12 of 13 elements and a neutral grade on the other and was rewarded with the highest level for all his spins.

Lysacek, second to Joubert after the short program, won the free skate and finished with 242.23 points.

Canada's Patrick Chan was second at 237.58 and Joubert third at 235.97.

After struggling to a third-place finish at nationals following his titles in 2007 and 2008, Lysacek saw everything come together in the last six weeks, despite problems with a stress fracture in his left foot.

"It has been a slow build for me this season," Lysacek said. "But when I got here I felt a new aura of confidence and was like a calm, new person."

No sooner was the gold medal around Lysacek's neck Thursday night than it started turning into a heavy weight.

Call it the burden of an unnerving history.
Not since Scott Hamilton in 1983-84 has the man who won the world title a year before the Olympics gone on to become Olympic champion.
Hamilton and Ondrej Nepala of Czechoslovakia are the only men to achieve that double in the last dozen Olympics.
That covers the eras with and without compulsory figures, with and without the short program, with the 6.0 scoring system and the Code of Points scoring system.
"If you didn't win worlds, you get into the role of the attacker," said 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano, second to Canada's Brian Orser in 1987. "I changed everything to become more aggressive."

Lysacek became the second straight world champion to win without a quadruple jump. Joubert was among the six men who landed them cleanly.

Lysacek became the third skater coached by Frank Carroll to win a world title, following Michelle Kwan and Linda Fratianne.
This was his third world medal. He won bronzes in 2005 and 2006 but was forced to withdraw from last year's world meet after injuring his arm and shoulder from repeated falls due to skate blade problems in practice.
The foot injury prevented Lysacek from trying a quadruple jump at the worlds....


********************************


http://www.examiner.com/x-625-Olympics-Exa...p-short-program
28.3.2009.

Kim Yu-Na soars in world championship short program



Korea's Kim Yu-Na distanced herself from the rest of the world's best in a remarkable display of speed and big jumps, setting a new scoring record in a dazzling short program Friday at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles.

Kim scored 76.12, the women's world record, in establishing a stunning 8.2-point lead over Canada's Joannie Rochette and Japanese star Mao Asada as the competition concludes with Saturday's free skate.

Kim and Asada, both 18, were expected to stage a battle for the crown. But Kim left Asada, the defending world champion, and everyone else in the dust with a program that showcased everything -- artistry, grace, sizzling spins, soaring jumps, speed and confidence.

"It's one of those moments in skating people will always remember," said Brian Orser, Kim's coach.

Kim, who owned the previous record of 72.24, is coached in Canada by Orser, who knows something about rivalries. With American Brian Boitano, he was part of the "Battle of the Brians," twice winning Olympic silver. Now he's coaching the favorite for Olympic gold when the 2010 Olympics are held in Vancouver 11 months from now. Kim won last month's Four Continents on Olympic ice, in a field that included Asada and hometown favorite Rochette.

Orser may be one of Kim's best assets.

"He really knows what I feel in the competitions because there was Brian-Brian and I am doing that now," Kim told the Associated Press.

The rest of the field, including fourth-place Japanese veteran Miki Ando -- the 2007 world champion -- will find it nearly impossible to catch Kim in the free skate. Kim, the two-time Grand Prix champion, rarely gives up a big lead.

Asada's score suffered when she turned a planned triple lutz into a double. Rochette made no major mistakes, but said she lacked verve in her program....

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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-skate-...0,5168190.story

In short, Kim Yu-Na wows
South Korean teen leads with a record effort

She is considered the biggest star in South Korea, a young woman who sings surprisingly well and skates remarkably well.

"Of course, skating is harder," Kim Yu-Na said with a laugh.

It didn't appear that way Friday afternoon, when Kim's seemingly effortless brilliance in the World Championships short program left two of the greatest athletes in the sport's history awe-struck after their first in-person view of her.

"I'm completely impressed," said 1992 Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi. "Her whole package is captivating to watch. She definitely has a special quality."

"Her first jump, I said, 'Wow, she has the power of a man and the grace of a woman,' " said 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano.

Kim, 18, was superwoman as she scored a record 76.12 points -- nearly four more than the old mark, which she set a month ago. It gave her a commanding lead over Joannie Rochette of Canada (67.90) and reigning champion Mao Asada of Japan (66.06).

"It's kind of scary to have a cushion like that," said Kim's coach, two-time Olympic silver medalist Brian Orser of Canada.

It would have been less than half that big had Asada not turned a planned triple lutz into a double and then landed it badly.

"I didn't attack the lutz enough," Asada said. "That is disappointing."

The lutz has given her frequent problems, and she will shun it in Saturday's free skate. Asada plans instead to do two triple axels, a jump no other woman here will attempt....

... Kim is a Korean icon who gets to sing on national TV, has several six-figure endorsements and deals with constant media attention. Yet she skated with a carefree passion that perfectly matched the fiery mood of Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre."

"Every element of my performance was great," Kim said, and few could dispute that. .

Kim's performance Friday was reminiscent of two years ago in Tokyo, when she made a dazzling senior world debut with a record score. Her stamina then was limited by back and hip injuries that curtailed her training, and Kim slipped to third after the free skate.
The same injury also affected Kim's skating at the end of last season, when she won a second world bronze.
The only tiny flaw Friday was an edge issue on the flip jump that opened her triple-triple combination, which drew a warning notation. Kim was the only skater to average 8.0 or more on any of the five component scores -- and she did it on four.

"This was one of those moments in skating that people will always remember," Orser said.

It led Orser to do a triple jump -- OK, three little hops in a row -- as he stood at the boards.

"I can't help myself," he said.

No wonder. Kim made everyone who saw her want to jump for joy.

-----------------------------------------

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/figureskatin...tory?id=4022371
28.3.2009.

Kim tops field; Russians take ice dance

LOS ANGELES -- As Kim Yu-na was sprinting away from the competition in historic fashion, she wasn't really alone. Coach Brian Orser was mimicking her every move by the sideboards, almost as good a show as the two-time world bronze medalist was staging on the ice.
Kim's talent has really blossomed under Orser, the 1984 and '88 Olympic silver medalist -- he barely lost the Battle of the Brians to American Brian Boitano in 1988. He practically climbed on the ice with her during the short program Friday at the World Figure Skating Championships, twisting and bending and leaping while almost exactly shadowing Kim's every movement.

"At a world championships, this stage brings out the best in the best," Orser said. "Yu-na was competitive, she was on the attack, she was very fierce and she knew what her job was. At the same time, she shared it with the audience."

What she shared was unforgettable.
The two-time Grand Prix champion from South Korea built a stunning 8.2-point lead over Canada's Joannie Rochette with a 76.12 score, the best ever for a woman. It had Orser doing his own sort of triple jump -- three leaps in the air, arms held high -- when she finished.

"I probably got a plus-3 on that," Orser said. "I can't help myself, I am so excited and so proud for her."

The 18-year-old Kim, whose previous best was a 72.24, covered her mouth and screamed when her monstrous number was posted. She credited Orser for much of that success.

"He really knows what I feel in the competitions because there was Brian-Brian and I am doing that now," said Kim, who has an intense rivalry with Japan's Mao Asada.

"I've been doing clean programs in practice, so I felt like I was practicing on the ice. Every element in my performance was great."

Those elements included huge jumps, precise spins, flowing spirals, superior presence and surpassing artistry.
And she did it all at breakneck speed. Fast and elegant at the same time is a tough combination to beat.

"It's one of those moments in skating people will always remember," Orser said.

Defending champion Asada was third heading into Saturday's free skate, and her countrywoman, 2007 world champion Miki Ando, was fourth. They have a long way to go to even challenge Kim.

And the Americans almost certainly have too far to go to secure three spots in the Vancouver Olympics field. They need a combination finish equaling 13 or lower, but Rachael Flatt came in seventh Friday, and U.S. champion Alissa Czisny was 14th....


In ice dancing, Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin didn't mess around. Their first medal at the world championships, and the Russians made it a gold.

Domnina and Shabalin's powerful yet composed free dance was just enough to hold off training mates Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, giving the Russians the ice dance title. Domnina and Shabalin finished with 206.30 points, 1.22 ahead of the Americans.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada won the bronze medal. They edged Meryl Davis and Charlie White by a mere 0.04 -- a margin usually seen in swimming, not figure skating.

Domnina and Shabalin had never won a medal at worlds; their best finish was fifth in 2007. They were heavily favored last year, but had to withdraw after he aggravated a knee injury.
Now the title is theirs.
The power was undeniable, evident in every lift, spin and step they did in their "Spartacus" dance. But this wasn't simple brute strength, it was combined with a grace and balance that made their lifts like a piece performance art. Many were done with him on one skate; that alone is incredibly difficult, but she was also unassisted, meaning she was working just as hard as he was.

Parts of Belbin and Agosto's "Tosca" program were incredibly powerful. Their lifts were intricate and difficult, breathing life into the century-old tale of angst and tortured love. On one, she stood in his hand in a complete split, her other leg straight up to the ceiling. In one fluid move, he turned her was upside down and twisted her around as if twirling a rifle.

They have focused on their skating skills since switching coaches, and the work showed in their superior speed and edge quality.
But there were little details that needed just a touch more polishing. Twizzles that were ever so slightly off, a patch of footwork that seemed a touch to frantic. Hardly major flaws, and no surprise, really. He was off the ice for several weeks after herniating a disk in his back in December, a signifiant injury at the most inopportune time of the season.

When you're chasing gold, however, even the slightest details count.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/ronj..._olyjudd29.html
28.3.2009.
Ron Judd, "Seattle Times"

Overhaul scoring system before it kills figure skating

Figure skating is on life support, but don't blame the networks. Blame a scoring system that needs to be tweaked.


Skaters like France's Brian Joubert face grueling free-skate requirements
DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP

Just for the record: Figure skating as a spectator sport is not dead. But someone might want to check to see if it has one of those living wills.

Life support, in fact, might be too kind a term for the spectacle that once dominated TV ratings in this country like no other sport — all those major round-ball pursuits included.

The thought struck home this week while watching the World Figure Skating Championships on TV. Those who looked hard enough eventually found the world's biggest skating competition hidden on the Oxygen Network. You know: That place where the lead piece on its Web site all week was: "BAD ATTITUDE: Show everyone you're a bad girl in these so-hot yoga pants!"

This is the hole into which competitive figure skating has slumped.

But you can't blame the setting of America's snooze alarm for figure skating on NBC, or even the boutique teeny-bopper network to which it has consigned figure skating. The peacock people are realists, and probably sense interest waning in the sport, at least in North America.

Some will argue this demonstrable downturn is all just bad timing — a gap between stars, particularly those of female persuasion, after the (apparent) retirements of Sasha Cohen and the incomparable Michelle Kwan. But savvier observers point to a more fundamental flaw — namely, the current construct of the Code of Points.

We hate to keep harping about the complex, replay-assisted scoring system that came into being to replace the old 6.0-based scoring system after the pairs judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

But evidence is mounting that the COP has turned skating, particularly for women, into gymnastics on ice — and not in a good way. Because of its emphasis on athleticism at the expense of artistry, it has placed younger, pre-adolescent girls with Gumby-like flexibility and low-mileage hip and knee joints in the top pantheon of the sport. (Just wait until the Chinese figure out a way to sneak 11-year-olds into Grand Prix skating events.)

It has also created a men's skating universe where a free-skate performance is more like a grueling, quad- and triple-jump-studded obstacle-course run than a work of art. It is, in simpler terms, the difference between Dick Button and Brian Joubert.

Button himself has been critical of the scoring system and the new direction for the sport. He sees figure skating as a bastion of athletes and leapers, but not artists who know how to skate as beautifully between jumps as during them.

Other observers have begun publicly chiming in with their own beefs. Gold medalist Scott Hamilton tells us the chief flaw with the Code is that fans, who don't have access to the same slo-mo replay as officials who ding skaters for things like under-rotated jumps, don't get it. You should be able to watch a skating competition, he points out, and at least have an idea about who should have won.

And this week, NBC's Sandra Bezic pointed out, after a relatively miserable on-ice performance of the world's best pairs, that even the best in the world had become such point hogs that they were attempting routines at least one level over their heads.

But that's precisely what the Code of Points rewards. Under it, it's better to fail spectacularly than shine modestly. Look at what that has wrought, and decide for yourself if it's better.

It's not that the scoring system itself is inherently flawed. It's just a matter of the relative point values assigned. One of the system's advantages is its finite detail — slices of scoring can be tweaked to influence how skaters approach their routines. But that isn't happening.

So there you go, International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta. Clearly you've got a lot of ego invested in the way things are. But your sport is clearly over-rotating its jumps and under-rotating its potential.

The verdict is becoming fairly clear: The audience, at least in America, is tuning out. And while occasional stars like Korea's Yu-Na Kim still find a way to meld grace with fire under the point system, they are the exception, not the rule.

Nobody's asking you to dust off the old scoring system. Please, just make this one work.

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http://www.sportsdaily.ru/articles/neschastnyiy-zhuber-26962



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http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/olym...ooks_skati.html
March 28, 2009
Posted by Ron Judd

With Worlds in the books, skating focus turns to 2010

Some of you out there have already agreed -- and some vehemently disagreed -- with my lament in Sunday's paper that competitive figure skating has lost some of its allure in the U.S. -- and with the reasons for that.

That's OK. That's what opinion pieces are for.

But if it's true even in a small way that fewer people are paying attention, that's too bad. Because a couple performances at the World Championships in Los Angeles really deserved all those missing eyeballs.

Evan Lysacek's sterling free skate that earned him his first world title over Brian Joubert of France -- breaking a 12-year no-show streak on the top rung of the Worlds podium for American men -- was spectacular. Truly a highlight-reel performance. Now we'll see if Lysacek can avoid the Worlds jinx: More often than not, the gold medalist at the Worlds immediately preceding the WInter Games does not go on to repeat the feat in the Games themselves. But Lysacek's performance, combined with his gritty free skate at the Turin 2006 Games, proves beyond a doubt he has the guts to match the grace -- the kind of combination that wins Olympic medals.

And what can you say about Yu-Na Kim , pictured above, that some NBC analyst hasn't already gushed about? The woman is a phenomenon, a clear exception to the rule of soulless pre-teen jumping jacks who have dominated this sport for the past several years. (In fact, she was one of them: Here's to timely blossomings.) Kim won the women's title tonight in a blowout -- by 16 points over second-place finisher Joannie Rochette of Canada. Kim became the first woman to ever score more than 200 points in a competition -- a barrier that now seems laughable given her score of 207-plus.

She's the most ruthless, dominating skater we've seen in elite competition since Evgeni Plushenko of Russia blew away all comers at the 2006 Turin Games. (BTW: He's threatening to end his retirement and come back in time for Vancouver. Is Plushenko good enough to lace up the skates less than a year from the Games and still come out on top? Uh, absolutely.)

Kim becomes the first South Korean woman to win a world title in figure skating. If she can keep a couple chronic physical problems, most notably a painful back injury, at bay, it's likely to be the first of many. Here's hoping. Watching her skate in Pacific Coliseum, where she won the Four Continents just last month, is bound to be a highlight of the Vancouver Games. At this moment in time, no one else can touch her.

It's also worth taking a moment to note the courageous performance of America's Rachael Flatt at her first Worlds. Flatt, 16, came out tonight and threw everything she had into a free skate studded with difficult triple combinations, skating cleanly through the entire program and vaulting all the way to fifth place. Incredibly impressive, given her age and experience. The kid has nerves of titanium.

Before this competition, if anyone had said Flatt could pull a fifth-place, it would have seemed unthinkable that the U.S. would fail to get the required combined finish of 13th or better, between Flatt and national champ Alissa Czisny, to gain a third American slot for the 2010 Games. But fail, they did. All that is on the shoulders of Czisny, who skated well in her free skate last night, but not well enough to overcome a disastrous short program. Czisny finished 11th, ensuring that the U.S. will enter the 2010 Games with only two female skaters. She only needed an eighth -- clearly within the expected realm of a U.S. Champion -- and failed to get it.

That's a flub of truly historic proportions. The U.S. has been the nation to beat in the women's worlds for years. Three Americans -- Kristi Yamaguchi, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan -- swept the event at the worlds preceding the 1992 Albertville Games. And the last time the U.S. went into a Games with only two female skaters was 1964, when the program still was reeling from the 1961 plane crash that wiped out the entire team.

Look where we are now: With men's skating, of all things, a likely bigger story line in Vancouver than women's.

Unless: Could one of those two Olympic slots be occupied by Michelle Kwan? The nine-time U.S. and five-time world champion showed up as a guest commentator on NBC tonight, and didn't directly answer that question, put to her by Bob Costas. She did say she's in training, and would like to get in great, "long program shape," and then make a decision.

But we have to ask: Is she really serious? As a huge fan of Kwan and an admirer of her incomparable career, I hope she's reading the papers when people with no less wisdom than coach Frank Carroll state bluntly that Kwan's style simply isn't suited to the current code-of-points scoring system. And to expect her to return at 28 and retool her body to match the competitive acumen of teenaged skaters like Kim and Japan's Mao Asada seems beyond reason. (Sasha Cohen, in fact, has a better chance of pulling it off, although one wonders now whether the lack of a third Olympic slot might make her rethink her own comeback.)

Maybe Kwan will prove everybody wrong, which would be amazing. But here's hoping she sees clear to let her current remarkable legacy stand as her exit point from the sport.

Oh the other hand: She's got some work to do if she plans to stay in that NBC broadcast booth. Yes, it was her first time, but Kwan didn't offer much beyond the obvious in the way of analysis. And given one serious chance to do that -- answer a question from Costas about what separates young Flatt from a world champion like Kim -- she whifffed.

Kwan insisted Flatt only needs more experience to compete at the same level as Kim. That's a polite answer, but anyone who even casually watches the sport can see that Kim is on another plain, physically, than Flatt and most other competitors. That's no knock on Flatt, a gutsy, talented performer who puts every ounce of her ability into every performance. But we'd like to think Kwan, of all people, is clearly aware that some skaters simply possess physical skills that others do not -- skills that no amount of experience or effort will replicate.

Maybe once she finally admits to herself that she's no longer one of the competitors, she can drop that collegiality and tell it like it is. Then again: If she hangs around Dick Button long enough, some of that candor is bound to wear off on her.

The good news: All this drama will play out close to home next winter. The 2010 U.S. Nationals, which double as the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team trials for skating, will take place in Spokane Jan. 14-24. It's only 292 days away.
Tickets still available: http://www.spokane2010.com/

Patrick Chan vs. Brian Joubert ... "OFF Ice"
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http://www.vancouversun.com/Sports/Canadia...0342/story.html
24.3.2009.

Canadian’s comment puts some fire on ice at worlds
by Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun columnist

LOS ANGELES — With several Skate Canada officials in easy earshot, Patrick Chan calmly lit the fuse Monday on what is certain to be a cracking good feud between two of the world’s finest figure skaters.

What brought it on was a simple question about 2007 French world champion Brian Joubert, and his oft-expressed opinion that if the sport is willing to crown a champion who doesn’t even try a quadruple jump, figure skating is actually regressing.

Chan, the 18-year-old, Ottawa-born phenom who is rated a solid chance of winning at this week’s ISU world figure skating championships at the Staples Center, doesn’t have a quad. Neither did Canada’s Jeff Buttle, who won it all a year ago in Sweden, prompting a sour-grapes, post-competition news conference by Joubert, the runner-up.

“Right after the result, I was very disappointed, and I am still disappointed, because Jeffrey did the perfect competition — he did no mistakes. But he didn’t try a quad jump,” said Joubert, 24, who’s won three world silver medals and is the reigning European champ. “But the new judging system is like that. It is better to do simple and clean than to try something difficult, and that’s why I was disappointed. It’s just for the figure skating. We need to give more points for the quad jump in the future.”

Buttle’s rebuttal was outstanding, but Chan took it a step further Monday, speaking between practices to a half-dozen reporters.

“I think Joubert is constantly complaining about that, because he’s never got anything else to say,” said Chan. “Honestly. Yes, okay, the men are doing worse — in his opinion. Well, fine then, he better have three good quads in his program, and nail them good, or he has nothing to say.”

Chan is still steamed at Joubert’s denigration of Buttle’s achievement last March — especially considering that it wasn’t even close. The judges had Buttle winning by a mile.

“Totally. I was really disappointed. It’s no sportsmanship, none at all,” Chan said. “Tiger [Woods] is never going to say, oh, Mike Weir sucks because he can’t hit it as far as I can. You have to play a fair game, you don’t talk behind a guy’s back the way he did at world championships.

“It was a bit of a turnoff. Because now I know his personality. He’s kind of a sore loser, I guess, and if he doesn’t win, he always has an excuse for not winning and not skating well. So, unfortunately that’s his personality and I don’t really like it. But I’m still not going to trash-talk him or say anything bad ... other than this time, I guess.”

He grinned then, but there was no taking it back.

“I kind of dug myself a grave huh? I don’t know, we’ll see. If he’s mad at me, he’s mad at me, what are you going to do? I guess you guys are looking for a rivalry, but we’re not having a rivalry.”

Not yet, anyway.

The truth is, these Worlds, which get under way today with the original dance and the pairs short program, could use a little spicing up. So could the sport in general. It was never more popular than in the era of the two Brians, Orser and Boitano, and then the no-love-lost days of Kurt Browning versus Elvis Stojko, let alone the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding fiasco, which put figure skating on a plane it had never reached before, and hasn’t since.

That doesn’t mean we’re advocating fist fights in the warmup groups — or obstruction, which is what Four Continents women’s champion Yu-Na Kim claims her Japanese rivals have been doing to her — but a little healthy rancour can’t hurt.

“No, no. He’s a nice guy to me,” Chan said of the Frenchman, “but I think when he’s on the ice and he has all the cameras around him, he changes personality, which is kind of bad. I think you should be yourself, and Jeff was really good at that, as well, as a role model. He just tends to puff up a bit when he’s on the screen.

“Obviously [Joubert] needs to be focused on other things than just jumps. He could do better in his performance, he could do better in his spins — for sure, footwork. It just really frustrates me.”

Every bit as titillating as Chan’s remarks about Joubert were his assessments of two of the last three Olympic champions — Alexei Yagudin and Ilia Kulik — both of whom had quads, and far more to their programs than just jumps.

“Well, if you look at Yagudin at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, his program wasn’t as difficult as any of ours,” said Chan, expanding the discussion to include his fellow Canadians, Vaughn Chipeur of Calgary and Vancouver’s Jeremy Ten, who stood at his side looking like a couple of uncomfortable bodyguards. Both are older than Chan.

“Our footwork today is pretty much a program; you’re pooped after footwork. You can’t really compare it to back then, if you look at their footwork and even their spins, it’s nothing compared to what we do.”

Oh, my. Bless his frankness, but some things you probably shouldn’t say, even if you think they’re true.

First the French, now the Russians.

And Chan hasn’t even won a world championship medal, yet. He might want to look after that small detail this week, all things considered.

“We’ll be here to back him up,” said Chipeur, with a smile.

The kid may need it.

------------------------------------------------------

http://www.tsn.ca/figure_skating/story/?id=272517
24.3.2009.

JOUBERT SURPRISED BY CANADA'S CHAN'S COMMENTS AT WORLDS
THE CANADIAN PRESS

LOS ANGELES - Brian Joubert says he has nothing against Canada's Patrick Chan, he's just unhappy with the state of men's figure skating and the absence of the quad jump.

The former world champion from France refused to get caught up in a war of words with Chan on Tuesday, a day after the young Toronto skater called Joubert a sore loser and chronic complainer, hinting at a potential rivalry between the two not seen since the Battle of the Brians.

''I didn't understand what (Chan) said,'' Joubert said after his practice at the Staples Center. ''(Monday), I was focused on my job, on the competition, so I don't know what he said.

''So I am a bad guy? Sorry.''

Joubert and Chan are both favourites to capture gold in men's singles at the world figure skating championships that began Tuesday. Joubert finished runner-up to Canada's Jeffrey Buttle last year in Sweden, and was vocal in his disappointment in losing to a skater who didn't do a quad jump. He's voiced similar complaints leading up these world championships and Monday, the 18-year-old Chan, who recorded the highest overall score in the world this year despite having no quads in his programs, fired back.

''Tiger (Woods) is not going to say (Mike) Weir sucks because he can't shoot as good as I do, right? Just play a fair game. You don't talk behind people's backs like he did at worlds,'' Chan said, blasting Joubert for his criticism of Buttle.

''Yes, OK, fine, men are doing worse according to (Joubert). But if you're going to say, `Let's all do quads,' then he better have three quads in his program and do them good. Or else he has nothing else to say.

''He just says that because he just wants to have an excuse.''

Joubert, 24, plans to do a four-revolution jump in his short program and as many as three quads in the long program if he needs them to win.

The French skater, who won the 2007 world championships and has twice won silver, said he disagreed with Chan's portraying him as a sore loser.

''I said about Jeffrey Buttle that he did a very good competition last year, did no mistake,'' Joubert told a dozen or so reporters in a media scrum dominated by questions about Chan. ''I did a big mistake in the short program, so I was sixth after the short program, it's normal.

''I was disappointed to see a world champion without a quad. But Jeffery Buttle's a very good skater.

''I don't like to lose. Nobody likes to lose. But I am not a sore loser. I respect the other skaters. But I prefer when they beat me with a quad jump.''

Joubert said Chan's verbal blow Monday caught him by surprise.

''I don't understand why he would say that,'' Joubert said. ''I am very surprised because he's a nice guy. Maybe he's disappointed about what I said last season. But I still respect him. He beat me at the beginning of the season. He can beat me in this competition. But I will do my best to beat him, that's all.''

Joubert was asked if he received much grief for his negative comments following last year's world championships.

''Not in France. The French people agreed with me. I think the Canadians, no. I am sorry for them, but ...,'' he said with a shrug.

Figure skaters and fans alike seem split on the importance of the quad jump, a jump that was a staple of skaters such as Canada's Elvis Stojko, Alexei Yagudin and Evgeny Plushenko. The new scoring system, implemented in 2003, rewards the total package, and Chan has beaten his competition this season with superior footwork, spins, and his execution of jumps such as the triple Axel.

He has landed quad jumps - including one in practice at Skate Canada this past fall in Ottawa - but has focused this season at perfecting his triple Axel, a jump that carries a potential 8.2 points (compared to 9.8 for a perfect quad toe-loop.)

----------------------------------------------

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../417492/1/.html

Figure skating: France's Joubert brushes aside criticism from Chan
Posted: 25 March 2009

LOS ANGELES: Former World Champion Brian Joubert brushed aside criticism from Canadian No. 1 Patrick Chan on Tuesday, saying he would rather be known as a risk-taker than be rewarded for mediocrity....

..... Joubert said too many young skaters are playing it safe by avoiding quad jumps in competition. Chan has yet to do a quad but says he hopes to add it to his routine for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics in February.

"For the young skaters who are coming they don't want to do it (quad)," Joubert said. "They don't want to do the quad jump. They say 'We don't need it.'"

He said there has been a dramatic reduction in skaters attempting quads since the International Skating Union's new scoring system was implemented five years ago.

"When I did my first World Championship in 2002, maybe 15 skaters were doing the quads in the short programme," Joubert said.

"Now we can see the difference. Maybe the skaters today are better on footwork, spins on skating.

"For me, figure skating is not just the jumps, but I think it is more fun for the audience to see a quad jump, that is all."

Joubert says a quad jump should be worth more than its current base score of 9.8 points.

"I think the quad jump should be 12 points," he said. "We have to see. We will talk with the others skaters. I think they will change it after the Olympic Games."

Joubert said the men's field is wide open this year with a half dozen skaters who could win the overall crown.

"Patrick is not the only one," he said. "The Japanese skaters, the Americans and Canadians are strong. There are maybe six or seven who can be world champion." - AFP/de

******************************************

... some blog....

http://bloodredrosez.xanga.com/695827643/item/
Posted 3/26/2009

Figure skating is dead.

Well, it's dead as a spectator sport, it's dead in terms of network coverage, and all that means that it's practically dead even for the athletes within the sport. No, really. When the World Championships are only being broadcast on a cable channel that doesn't even usually cover sports - Oxygen??! - and at 12pm-2am, you know a sport has well and truly died. When even the judges and hardcore athletes have problems figuring out the scoring system, which basically has reverted back to a checklist of technicalities, point deductions, and god knows what, you know the end of the sport is coming. How can anyone be anything but discouraged from watching something that gives you the end result of 150.05. Wow, it even goes out to the second decimal place. People have said soccer has problems because of their unexciting scorelines, but honestly, how can you get any American to watch something that's already been considered a quasi-sport when it comes with DECIMALS?!

Onto the issue of figure skating being practically dead for even the athletes... Well, the U.S. and Russia, once powerhouses of figure skating, have basically disappeared. Russia still has some pairs hanging around, of course, but the last figure skater's name you'll probably remember for a long time to come from the U.S. is a) Michelle Kwan, or possibly some faint recollection of b/c) "Tara" or "Sarah" aka those-girls-who-denied-Michelle-Kwan-gold. I used to be a die-hard fan of figure skating, and I can't even name any of the top U.S. skaters except for a girl who lives 5 miles from my house, and that's only because the Asianness of the name caught my eye: Caroline Zhang.

Figure skating has become very popular in Japan, China, and Korea, and understandably so. The "Asian Trinity" of two Japanese skaters and one Korean skater dominates the women's competition. China has focused on pairs competitions for decades and are finally getting results, starting with the bronze Olympic medal from 2002 - the last high point of figure skating, actually.

The men's sport has regressed. Yeah, I come down on the side that believes that if you don't have a quad, or at least don't even TRY one, then you shouldn't be winning the World Championships. Aside from the anti-spectator nature of the scoring, this is probably the other reason why the championships are being shown on Oxygen tomorrow night from - you guessed it - 12-2am. As much as I idolized Alexei Yagudin for years (and therefore had to respect his archrival, Evgeni Plushenko), I was willing to find new stars to follow...only to find that there were none. Alexei and Evgeni, along with American Tim Goebel, challenged the sport by pushing the technical envelope - they did two quads in a program (or in Goebel's case, three, since he was the "Quad King") and often in combinations of 4-3-3 or 4-3-2. And these days, the men can't even manage one quad. No freakin' way!

If that's not regression, I'm not sure what can possibly count as regression. Okay, this is connected with the scoring problem, because when you have a checklist of things to do and points to be deducted, it becomes a matter of arranging a program that will get you the maximum points with the least risk. Which makes for exceedingly boring spectatorship, because I, as a spectator, could really care less if you get deducted points for doing 7 1/2 turns in your spin instead of a full 8. What I do know is that I will be reaching for the remote while you do all your required spins and non-interesting footwork, no matter how technically challenging they are.

There's no real emotion in it anymore, no real excitement or passion. Watching figure skating these days reminds me of the problems I had back when I first performed piano for competitions/recitals/etc. My Russian teacher told me after a recital that I got a 6.0 in technical elements and a 5.3 for presentation. Naturally, she was right - I was playing everything perfectly and the music was even coming out emotionally, but I was sitting pretty much like a robot. I got a lot of grief for years after that for body language. Like it or not, pianists are expected to entertain the audience with more than just music. (I still drew the line before making faces, though. j/k)

The funny thing is, the new scoring system was designed to replace the old 6.0 system after the 2002 controversy in Olympic pairs skating. But instead of making things easier to understand and therefore less susceptible to tampering, it just made everything even harder to figure out, even for the skaters. And if you're a spectator, well, good luck. Even the commentary puts me to sleep - "oh, he's going to get a 3 point deduction for that" - I mean, not to abuse the English language too badly or anything, but "cold," "unemotional," "boring," and "placid," are not good terms to go along with "ice," not if you're trying to revive a sport.

The Winter Olympics are next year in Vancouver, Canada. Figure skating has usually been the highlight of the Winter Olympics, though not without some good-natured ridicule - I'm thinking of the L.A. times coverage of Alexei Yagudin's short program and the criticism he got for what he was wearing - so I'm very curious what kind of coverage (if any at all) figure skaters will get for the 2010 Olympics. If doing two quads in a short program can't compare to more traditional sports in the eyes of regular sports columnists, then I can only surmise that guys who won't even attempt a quad will be labeled as...utter wimps. Figure skating has always had an image problem when it comes to its classification as a sport, partially stemming from the tight pants and sequins on men, but this should be interesting.

In any case, one of the leading men right now, Patrick Chan, just lost all interest he might have dredged up from me by insulting Alexei Yagudin, along with the likes of Plushenko, Kulik, etc. all of whom are Olympic gold medalists and multiple gold medalists at Worlds. And who is Patrick Chan? He hasn't even won a Worlds yet. The sheer arrogance of this guy makes me hope he falls tomorrow night just on principle. I might tune in tomorrow night (or more accurately, morning), to cheer for Brian Joubert just to shut Mr. Chan up. At least Joubert has the balls to try a quad, and "sore loser" or not, I totally agree with his complaints. I don't even like Joubert... but the commentators make me grit my teeth with their obvious biases. In any case, that's probably the last time I'll watch figure skating unless something changes, and I doubt anything will...

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/olym...he_figures.html
March 31, 2009 12:31 PM
Posted by Ron Judd

Is it time to put the figures back in figure skating?

Lots of response to last Sunday's column ( #entry313466517 ) about the demise of figure skating as a major spectator sport, particulary in these United States. And some of it was quite interesting. A couple common themes emerged:

-- Nobody really disputed the central point, that figure skating is not held in the same regard as it once was (whether that regard was deserved or not is another question, for another time.)

-- Many readers from around the country said they don't get the Oxygen Network, to which most of NBC's coverage of the Figure Skating Worlds was relegated last week. And even some people who went out and looked for progamming information couldn't find it. For the record: I had the same experience. No word from NBC's usually alert PR department about where to find the figs. Are they embarrassed to be the current contract holder? Why spend the money to televise something no one can find?

-- Contrary to what I wrote ("nobody is asking for a return to the old scoring system"), it turns out many people are, in fact, asking for a return to the old scoring system. A movement has begun on (where else?) Facebook to lobby the International Skating Union to go back to where things were. Reader Monica says it's called "Bring Back the 6.0 Judging System." And, she notes:

"It currently has more than 1,200 members, including reigning Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, world champions Debi Thomas, Tai Babilonia, Elaine Zayak, and dozens of other prominent skaters, famous coaches, officials, and fans." (Add to that: Brian Boitano.)

It's a nice effort, but let's be real: Getting the ISU to admit it screwed up that badly by reverting to the old system flies in the face of political realities. I'd argue: Stick with the art of the possible, which is why I suggested altering the Code of Points.

-- Lots of people believe the lack of interest in the winning-is-everything U.S. is more related to the lack of any tangible female American skating pixies than anything else. Clearly, that's part of it, as I indicated. But I don't believe it's the whole story. A lot of fans in other countries don't get, and don't like, the new scoring system, as well.

-- The most interesting responses came independently from people who really know skating -- former skaters, coaches, and parents, who struck a common theme:

It's all about the figures.

You remember the figures. Or maybe you don't. All young skaters had to learn to skate compulsory figures on the ice, because they were a formal part of every competition. The figures were ditched in major competitions in 1990, after it was determined that they were an anachronism, carrying undue weight on the outcome of competitions.

Further, it was decided that general public didn't want to be concerned with something so wholly unsuitable for TV coverage. Watching top skaters slowly circle around on one foot and trace neat designs in the ice, the logic went, was like watching paint dry, especially to the MTV Generation. And so it was, but...

Even at the time, some skating purists shouted the alarm: "The end of figures will be the end of the sport as we know and love it!" A lot of people laughed that off. But now, some skating experts are pointing to the current state of the sport -- more akin to gymnastics on ice than a refined Dick Button or Janet Lynn performance -- and saying out loud: It's happened.

I think the argument, which I've heard in the past from many skating luminaries, is interesting, and suddenly, perhaps, worthy of revisiting. No one has summed it up as nicely as one respondent, Tim Wood, who happens to be a three-time U.S. and two-time World Champion, as well as a silver medalist at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics. Here's Tim's note on the subject, of course printed here with his permission:

Dear Mr. Judd,

I greatly appreciate your article "Olympics at a Glance" (which was sent to me by my old friend Janet Lynn Soloman, a great champion) and the discussion on the roots of figure skating's demise. Having been a past 5 time US National, North American, Olympic Silver Medalist, and 2 time world champion, I know of what I speak. You should know that I'm not involved in skating today, I no longer coach but I do enjoy skating a couple times a week... I turned 60 last year and can still do a very respectable double axel.

Every time I go skating, the coaches have me work with their kids on the technical aspects of jumping, etc. I am astounded at the lack of knowledge on the most basic of skills as to how the mechanics work. In my opinion, it all started going wrong when the ISU banned "figures" from world competition some 15-18 years ago. That decision alone, was the beginning of the end of the beauty of skating.

Taking figures out of the sport is like taking scales out of music or bar work out of ballet; figures teach the body how to move to "create" an edge, a spin, a jump, or footwork. If I was to ask a young person today to perform a "three turn" ( 2nd test ie. The most basic of skills), they would have great difficulty doing and zero understanding as to the mechanism or body position to perform. Advance skill or understanding is non existent, either at the coaching or student level.

This deficiency reaches to the highest levels of the sport with skaters, coaches and absolutely without question, judges. They have little or no understanding of this concept; the general approach today is that if you can jump up, go around 4 times and land on one foot, you get points. They wouldn't know perfection of movement if it hit them right between the eyes. It's unbelievable that the sport has degenerated to this level of ignorance all the while speaking as if they are God's gift to figure skating.

Certainly, adding to the problem is the scoring system but the core reality is that the artistry, beauty, and grace of the sport can only be "created" through effortless body positional control which has been schooled and disciplined in knowledge. With the old masters of the sport either passed on or retired, the knowledge base has sadly degenerated to it's current level. I for one, didn't even attend the world championships in LA which is about 45 minutes from my home.

Naturally, the attending public doesn't know what I know but they certainly know that something is missing.

Yours truly,

Tim Wood

So, what say you, skating world? Is it true that, as another reader commented, with the demise of figures, "the basics of skating artistry simply went away?" Is it time to drag the figures out of the closet before the sport collapses into a triple-triple-triple combination lump?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Edited by cekoni - 4/4/2009, 01:44

http://www.nevskoevremya.spb.ru/sport/5223...odyatnavrachei/
28.3.2009.

All money spent on doctors

The new rules do not promote progress in figure skating, but also exacerbate injuries in athletess

Today, as in St. Petersburg was early morning, in Los Angeles honored the champions and winners of World Championships among the Ice Dancers. And even after the completion of competitions in the Original Dance, on the sidelines of the tournament joke went, that they will be on rewarding to go with crutches or a wheelchair.

For World champions, Oksana Domnina changed costumes for the Original dance. Previous is caused mixed reactions from the judges, but when it comes to the decimal points that share the prize, even pay attention to such trifles. When a her partner Maksim Shabalin's asked why he hold his old outfit, figure skater sadly joked:
- All money spent on doctors.

Because of the injuries, forced to miss most important starts of season, not only Russian duo, but also and Americans Tanith Belbin - Benjamin Agosto, and the very young Canadians Tessa Virtue - Scott Moir. And last year's French champions Isabelle Delobel - Olivier Shonfelder do not come to defend his title in Los Angeles. If 19-year-old Virtue few months heal trauma, what has yet to say about the 30-year-old Delobel. New rules forcing the Dancers to perform lifts, which requires training at the level of circus acrobats, steps and turns today is such, that the legs do not stand up to pressures. But you need to have and make the "images" on the ice.

All this is leading dancers manage cost of their health. Whereas previously, many dancing couples quietly skating three Olympic cycle, but today only remained for Azerbaijan, Igor Lukanin.
Ironically, dancers it is after the adoption of new rules faced with increased workloads, with all its consequences.

In fact, none of the men did not even think to include in their programs a cascade of "4+3+3", who performed seven years ago, Evgeni Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin.

Yes, there cascade! The second year in a row, becoming the world champion figure skater who does not have in its arsenal of conventional quadruple jump. Initiative of Canadian Jeffrey Butlle, picked up in Los Angeles American Evan Laysachek. He wanted to please his fans is the native city, but it is not going to risk one's health. At the current rules, enough to correctly put in its composition jump's elements and perform them purely.

In addition, in the current season, technical controllers are very strict. Slightest error punished to the maximum.

Here, the entire Los Angeles is on the ears, waiting for that tournament will go down in history, as the first world championship, in which women perform quadruple. Japan coach Nikolai Morozov, immediately cool the fervor of journalists:

- Yes, my student Miki Ando has already mastered a quadruple. Only here does not make sense to jump. I having it to detail. And determined by the video, which may show different angles that you want. But the risk of injury is great. If we take risks, so, to drink champagne. After the victory at the Olympics.

Nicholas-san knows what spoke. He has, since the triumph of his pupil Shizuka Arakawa at the Games in Turin, in Japan an unlimited trust.

http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure-Ska...-sight-Part-One
August 22, Figure Skating Examiner, Jackie Wong

Any dark horses in sight? (Part One)

Dark horses are rare during Olympic seasons. The favorites often use the three years prior to hone and polish their skills in order to peak for the ultimate prize in the sport, making them even more difficult to beat when the time comes.

In the recent Olympics, almost all of the skaters who stood on the podium had been in the top five at one or more of the previous World Championships. The notable exceptions were the bronze medalists in Sarajevo in 1984 – Jozef Sabovcik was 6th at the 1983 Worlds, Kira Ivanova was 12th at the 1981 Worlds, and pairs team Selezneva and Makarov and dance team Klimova and Ponomarenko had not competed in any Worlds prior to 1984.

Perhaps the most surprise medalist for American audiences was Paul Wylie in 1992, who had not finished higher than 9th at any World Championships. Wylie put together two of the best skates of his life to finish second to Viktor Petrenko. Also, one could argue that Philippe Candeloro was somewhat unknown before he won bronze in Lillehammer, but even he had finished fifth at the 1993 World Championships.

While it is hard to imagine that a dark horse medalist will emerge in Vancouver six months from now, here is a look at the most-likely-to’s who have the potential to make it happen.

Ladies

The ladies’ event is filled with talent and depth, and it will be quite a task for someone to spoil the Kim-Asada-Rochette-Ando party.

Russia’s Alena Leonova competed on the senior level last year. After winning the Junior World Championships ahead of 2007 champion Caroline Zhang [Corrected from "defending champion Rachael Flatt" thanks to skatefan], she hit the senior Worlds with full force. She had a bubbly and carefree demeanor that was reminiscent of a young Irina Slutskaya, and with two strong performances, finished 7th overall.

Another dark horse could be one of the young American ladies who dominated the junior level in recent years. Zhang, Mirai Nagasu, and Ashley Wagner all have the technical potential to compete with the top ladies in the world, and Rachael Flatt finished 5th in her debut at Worlds earlier this year. They have all had a few years since their junior success to add maturity to their skating. But with Sasha Cohen making a comeback, it is possible that only one of them will make it on the Olympic team.


http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure-Ska...-sight-Part-Two

Any dark horses in sight? (Part Two)

Men

U.S. Champion Jeremy Abbott peaked too soon last year when he defeated the best in the world in the Grand Prix Final, only to turn in two inconsistent performances at Worlds to finish 11th. He has already proven to be a favorite of international judges and it would not be a surprise if he finds himself in the medal hunt.

Two-time Italian Champion Samuel Contesti jumped and charmed his way to a 5th place finish at the 2009 Worlds. He was a virtual unknown prior to 2009. With his charisma and crowd-pleasing programs, he could very well be the Philippe Candeloro of the 2010 Olympics.

Last season, Japan’s Takahiko Kozuka emerged from the shadows of his more accomplished teammates, Daisuke Takahashi and Nobunari Oda, finishing 6th at the 2009 Worlds. He is technically sound and consistent. And if he can add the wow factor to his programs, he could contend for a medal as well.

Others to watch: Kazakhstan’s Denis Ten and Belgium’s perennial underachiever Kevin Van Der Perren.


http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure-Ska...ight-Part-Three

Any dark horses in sight? (Part Three)

Pairs

2007 World Junior Champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker have all the skills and charm to challenge for a medal with the best in the world, but they have had trouble consistently putting together clean programs in their first two seasons on the senior level.

Seeking a fresh voice, McLaughlin and Brubaker turned to John Nicks as their new coach. If Nicks is able to inject some consistency in the pair, they could become the first American pair to win an Olympic medal since Watson and Oppegard in 1988.

Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin teamed up two years ago and hit the ground running. Their results have been solid, but not spectacular, finishing 6th and 8th at the last two World Championships. Buntin had finished as high as 5th at Worlds with his previous partner, Valerie Marcoux.

However, in order for either team to ascend to the medal stand, their Program Component Scores (PCS) will have to improve to rival those of the top pairs. Both teams have a solid foundation in their skating and it could be argued that their PCS are relatively lower because they are still new in the eyes of the judges.


http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure-Ska...sight-Part-Four

Any dark horses in sight? (Part Four)

Ice Dance

Traditionally, ice dancing had been the event in which it took years of competition for an ice dance team to ascend to the top. Although the ISU Judging System has resulted in more movement in the ice dancing ranks than before, immediate upward mobility is still difficult to achieve.

Of the four disciplines, ice dancing is the one that will least likely see a medalist that has seemingly emerged out of nowhere. Instead, a “dark horse” in ice dancing may end up being a team that has steadily moved up in the past two years and was just off the podium at the most recent World Championships.

U.S. Champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White are the most likely of these teams to make that leap to the podium. They are coming off of a breakthrough season, in which they beat 2008 World Silver Medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to win the Four Continents Championships. They narrowly missed the podium and finished 4th at the 2009 Worlds, after placing 7th and 6th the previous two years. The free dance has always been their strongest dance, and if they can make improvements on their compulsory dance, a medal would not be out of their reach.

French Champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat have also been on the rise in recent years. They were 18th in Torino in 2006 and they ascended to 5th at Worlds earlier this year. With their countrymen and 2008 World Champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder intention to come back from surgery (and Delobel's pregnancy), the motivation to defeat them could be the impetus for another jump in the standings for Pechalat and Bourzat.

http://trueslant.com/jenniferkirk/2009/08/...the-grand-prix/
Jennifer Kirk - Skating the Issue, Aug. 31 2009

Crystal ball of the Grand Prix

During the past few months skaters have undergone the rigorous process of preparing for this crucial competitive season. They chose music, choreographed programs, designed and beaded new outfits, and polished every detail of their skating in order to put the pressure on their closest competitors.

For the most competitive skaters in the world, their off-season work will be put to the test in just six weeks when the 2010 Grand Prix series kicks off. This series consists of nearly two months of consecutive international competitions and features the top contenders for a medal at this year’s Games.

With the start of the series just around the corner, here are a few predictions and skaters to keep an eye on this fall.

LADIES

Sasha Cohen’s return to competitive skating will be the most exciting factor to the ladies’ event. She’s been out of the spotlight for a few years and hasn’t faced the pressure of international competition since her disastrous long program at the 2006 World Championships. In order to come away with a win on the series, she’ll have to land a triple-triple combination in her long program–something that she hasn’t been successful at completing in the past–and she‘ll have to display a newfound focus and consistency. If Cohen doesn’t medal her events and fails to earn herself a spot in December’s Grand Prix Final, I don’t see her sticking the rest of the season out.

That being said, if she proves to be back in competitive form this fall and makes the U.S. Olympic team, her toughest competition at the Games will come from Yu Na Kim and Mao Asada, whom Cohen will face in October at Trophee Bompard. Kim, who is the reigning world champion, skated beautifully on the Grand Prix circuit last year. She’ll be the frontrunner heading into Vancouver and will probably end up on the top of the podium in both of her events this fall.

Asada, who placed fourth at Worlds last year, is reportedly adding a triple axel-triple toe loop combination to her long program. In the past she has struggled with her consistency and ability to fully rotate the axel and triple-triple combinations under pressure. Asada will have to keep her nerves together during the big events this year and skate consistently with fully rotated jumps in order to be a threat to both Cohen and Kim.

Joannie Rochette and Miki Ando, reigning world silver and bronze medalists, are also expected to medal at their events and will probably join Kim and Asada at the Grand Prix Final in December. Along with those four ladies and possibly Cohen, we’ll see either Americans Rachael Flatt or Caroline Zhang at the Final as well. Look for how the American ladies skate and place during the series, because U.S. Nationals is going to be a tough event, and the Grand Prix will be a good indicator as to who will make the U.S. Olympic team.

PAIRS

An American pairs team hasn’t been a threat on the international stage in quite some time. This year, however, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker are expected to come out with a new look and polish to their skating and should medal at both their Grand Prixs. They recently switches coaches and moved to California to train under John Nicks, and when they debut their new programs at the Rostelecom Cup, they’ll have a more mature look to their skating and could contend for the gold. The one variable, however, will be their consistency. Brubaker underwent surgery last spring, which hopefully won’t affect his jumps or ability to successfully throw McLaughlin, and McLaughlin has struggled with her triple jumps in the past. If they’re healthy and keep their nerves together, though, they will be a strong force on the series.

Like Cohen, the surprise announcement of Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao’s return to the competitive arena has piqued interest throughout the skating world. Despite an injury in 2006, the three-time world champions captured the bronze in Torino. Their season debut will take place at the Cup of China, where they’ll face the 2006 Olympic silver medalists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang.

Zhang and Zhang are a powerful team with great throws and speed across the ice. Their main weakness is a lack of artistry and connection to one another–which is where Shen and Zhao excel. For the past few seasons, the Zhang’s toughest competition has come from reigning world champs Savchenko and Szolkowy and teammates Qing Pang and Jian Tong; however, this season they won’t compete against either team until the Final. Both Savchenko and Szolkowy and Pang and Tong will walk away with easy victories at their fall events.

MEN

Last spring, 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko announced his comeback to competitive skating. A few months ago, a video of him practicing was posted on youtube, and he looks surprisingly well-trained and in pretty good shape. His season opener will be the Rostelecom cup, and American Johnny Weir and Canadian Patrick Chan will probably be joining him on the podium in Moscow.

Chan, who surprised some by winning the silver medal at last year’s World Championships, plans to add a quad to his long program this season. It‘s smart for him to try the quad out during his fall events, and based on his success, assess whether or not the element should stay in for Vancouver. In the past, he has struggled with successfully landing two triple axels under pressure, and if he isn’t able to consistently perform clean programs without the quad, adding it only improves the likelihood of an assured mistake.

As for Weir, he had a tough end to his 2009 season. He finished 5th at the U.S. Championships and wasn’t named to the world team. He’ll probably place second behind Plushenko in Moscow, but he has a shot of winning the NHK Trophy, where his strongest competition will come from world bronze medalist Brian Joubert and American teammate Jeremy Abbott.

After winning the Grand Prix Final last year, Abbott struggled with his consistency last March at the World Championships. He should medal at both of his Grand Prixs and could come away the victor in either Japan or Canada–if he is able to skate consistently. A win on the series could boost his confidence heading into Nationals, where he’ll face some stiff competition–primarily in the form of Evan Lysacek–when he attempts to defend his national title.

Lysacek’s season will begin at the Cup of China, and he’ll probably walk away with wins at both of his events.

Keep an eye out for U.S. silver medalist Brandon Mroz. This is only Mroz’s second season on the senior Grand Prix, and he’ll probably take home a medal from Skate America. The biggest test for him, though, will be U.S. Nationals, where he’ll have a tough time beating either Lysacek, Abbott, or Weir.

DANCE

Most of the top contenders in dance have separate Grand Prix events, so the results at December’s Grand Prix Final will be the litmus test as to how things will stack up in Vancouver. Reigning national champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White will probably win silver medals at their two assignments this fall, solidifying them a spot at the Final. Success on the series will give them some much needed confidence heading into the U.S. Championships, where they’ll try to defend their title against world silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto.

Belbin and Agosto will be one of the biggest threats on the series for 2008 world champs Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder. Delobel and Schoenfelder were unbeatable on the Grand Prix last year before they withdrew from the World Championships due to a shoulder injury Delobel suffered last December. They shocked the skating world when they announced that although Delobel is pregnant and is due this fall, they still plan to compete on the series, which begins just a few weeks after her baby’s due date. What kind of shape she will be in when she and Schoenfelder face Belbin and Agosto at Skate America is unknown, and it won’t come as a surprise if Delobel and Schoenfelder end up withdrawing from their fall events.

Besides Davis and White, and a healthy and competition-ready Delobel and Schoenfelder, Belbin and Agosto’s biggest competition this season will come from Canadian’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and reigning world champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. Both teams will most likely take home gold medals from their respective events.

There you have my predictions for the top contenders on the Grand Prix series. One of the most import roles of the fall events is to serve as a final dress rehearsal for the rest of the season. If the quad doesn’t go well for Patrick Chan, or Mao Asada doesn’t receive full credit for her triple axel combination at her events, it would be smart for them to take these elements out of their programs before Vancouver. Look for a lot of changes as a result of skaters’ performances during the series, and keep an eye on how the comeback kids–Cohen, Plushenko, and Shen and Zhao–handle being thrust back into the pressure cooker they left years ago.

http://www.sport-express.ru/newspaper/2009-08-25/8_1/
25.08.2009.

... translation from: http://ptichkafs.livejournal.com/45277.html#_ftnref1

Igor MOSKVIN: "I NEVER THOUGHT OF MY WIFE AND ME AS COMPETITORS."

Born August 30, 1929 with the town of Bezhentsy in the Bryansk region. Renown USSR figure skating coach. First Soviet skater to take part in European championships (in 1956, with partner Maya Belenkaya). Three-time USSR pair champion (1952-1954). Carried the Olympic team flag at the closing ceremonies in Innsbruck in 1964.

Personal trainer of the first Soviet Olympic champions Lyudmila Belousova and Olet Protopopov (1964). Other students include Uri Ovchinnikov, Igor Bobrin, Igor Lisovsky, and Vladimir Kotin in single skating. Among pairs, he has coached Tamara Moskvina/ Alexander Gavrilov, Tamara Moskvina/ Alexei Mishin, Irina Vorobieva/ Alexander Vlasov, Irina Vorobieva/ Igor Lisovski, Lyudmila Smirnova/ Andrei Suraikin, Marina Eltsova/ Andrei Bushkov, Larisa Selezneva/ Oleg Makarov, and many others.

Lives and works in Saint Petersburg. Married to the famous coach Tamara Moskvina (Bratus). Has two daughters.

Coaching is hard work. Being a wife of an extraordinary coach is an almost impossible feat. What’s even more difficult, though, is having a wife who is also a coach, and who’s spent her whole life proving what a good student she’s been.

Tamara and Igor Moskvins have been married for 45 years. In fact, though, they’ve been together for much longer, ever since a 16-year old skater walked into the class of an already famous Saint Petersburg coach back in 1957. This August 30, Igor Borisovich will be turning 80.

A week prior to this anniversary, I came to Peter to visit the star team. Looking from behind the glass of the Yubileiny sports club at how Igor Borisovich unhurriedly walks toward the exit, I recalled Moskvina’s words:

“Igor was always an elegant man. I always knew women liked him; they marveled at him, and so did I. I always trusted him, and valued having someone like that next to me. I recently heard a show where a famous director said he didn’t consider family to be valuable. I was never of that opinion, and neither was Igor. Our family is the one area where we beat any other family coaching team.”

ABSOLUTIST

About 15 years ago, as Igor Borisovich and I chatted about figure skating, he said, “I spent several years sailing. There are times there where you can provoke your opponent into breaking the rules go get him disqualified. However, your opponent also knows that you can do this and tries to do the same to you. In a way, it’s a game. There is no intrigue, in-fighting, and dirt. Figure skating, on the other hand, even breaks strong men, not to mention the women…”

In that same conversation, Moskvin was also rather critical of judging, talking about his own understanding of pair skating, which is often at odds with the established rules. Now, also, once I got out a recorder, he said with doubt in his voice.

You think it’s necessary? I won’t say anything positive about figure skating, you know.

Why?
- I don’t see any creating progress. Everyone is too confined by the new rules. Everything that the new rules don’t appreciate loses all value.
I look at certain things in pair skating, such as the distance between partners throughout the performance. The smaller it is, the more difficult and risky the skate is. That’s the most difficult thing of all. Now, though, it’s hardly even mentioned.

Which of the famous teams would you point to as perfect in this regard?
- Larisa Selezneva/ Oleg Makarov[1] and Ekaterina Gordeeva/ Sergei Grinkov. The former skated with me, the latter – with Stanislav Zhuk. We both concentrated on pair skating in those years, and our views were quite similar. Now, though, difficulty is deduced rather oddly in my opinion. Take the twist throw, for example. If the lady hugs her arms to her chest during the flight, it’s worth one thing. If she keeps her hands above her head, it’s slightly higher. At one seminar, I asked, what if the lady only has one hand above her head? What if she, say, picks her nose with the other one? That would be super difficult – to make it into one’s nose during a triple jump!

You’re laughing…
- Not at all. Let me site another example. When I worked with Ksenia Ozerova and Alexander Enbert, I came up with an interesting move: athletes do a parallel spin, and as they exit it in different directions, they jump toward each other. For those who look at it from the judge’s table or from the audience, it’s breathtaking because it creates the illusion of the skaters about to fly into each other. When Alexei Mishin saw it at our practice, he was truly inspired.

It does sound interesting indeed.
- It can have no affect on the marks, though! It doesn’t raise difficulty or anything else. Why then should the coach even try?

Yet you do try.
- Yes. That’s how I’ve worked all my life. Take spinning – their core is about speed and being centered. Now, though, they came up with this thing about changing edges during the spin. Why? Is that the core of the element? Why don’t we ask the ballerinas then to do their fouettes on their heels? We don’t need that awkwardness, you see?
Besides, in my opinion rules are the law. It shouldn’t change at least during the four year Olympic cycle. You can’t fine-tune it every season. We, though, keep re-evaluating and increasing the difficulty. When Tamara brought me the new version of the rules and I read them, I got too many questions.

Is that why you stopped coaching?
- Yes.

Yet you continue to help your spouse with her pairs?
- Not officially. I am now retired. I used to mainly offer my critique. Tamara herself knows there are things I know better than she does, and that I can teach it better.

FAMILY DYNAMICS

When your spouse skated with Alexei Mishin under your tutelage, was it easy or hard to work with her?
- Mishin was always my ally. Tamara always needs to lead. When she’d get carried away with her ideas, we’d need to explain that she only sees things from her position, as opposed to seeing the program as a cohesive whole. In those days, every element had to look right from all sides. You can’t always tell those things from the ice. So, when Tamara would get too wound up about something, Mishin would pat her shoulder and say, “Tamara, honey, even if Igor Borisovich will be talking complete nonsense, but we’ll do what he says in unison, it will be a hundred times more productive than waving your arms around, raising your voice, and trying to prove something. Let’s go work.”

Could you image back then that with time your spouse will become your competitor on the coaching field?
- I never thought of us as competitors. Tamara always did pairs, whereas I mainly trained singles.

Yet there was that famous conflict between Oleg Makarov and your spouse’s student Oleg Vasiliev, leading to some serious fighting between you two, as I recall.
- Perhaps no fighting exactly… When Tamara and I started discussing it at home, she rightly pointed out that she had no choice but to support her athlete. Moreover, Vasiliev declared that he’d go to court if Makarov wasn’t disqualified. The court wouldn’t look at who was at fault from the point of view of figure skating.

Who was at fault?
- Vasiliev. According to our sport’s unwritten rules, those skating to their music have priority on the ice. My athletes were skating to their music when Makarov knocked over Lena Valova. Vasiliev swore at Oleg and hit his face. Oleg hit him as well, so hard that Vasiliev’s jaw got broken in two places.

Did you get the feeling that the incident destroyed much of your pair’s career?
- No, they just had to skip the 1983 season.

You’ve got to agree, though, that without it your whole life might have turned out different.
- May be, may be not. That’s life. One shouldn’t throw his fists around; one must keep a hold on himself, and then those things won’t happen, that’s all.

Where you ever jealous of Tamara’s coaching success?
- No. She was always more well-versed than I. She knew languages, talked to our foreign colleagues, took part in various seminars, etc.

So, Tamara is more ambitious?
- Of course. She uses all levers to get to the desired result. She appears on TV and on the pages of the glossy magazines more than any athlete does!

Did you ever wonder if it’s necessary?
- If Tamara likes it and believes it helps – why not? Moreover, I also think it helps. Tamara does a great job. When she doesn’t know something, she either hides it really well, or invites professionals over to help her. Therefore, no one can even suspect there is something she might not know.

I’ve long ago noticed that Tamara Nikolayevna is very attentive to the opinions of others.
- As long as it’s not mine. When we lived in America and went shopping, we’d always argue – I liked something, she’d like something else. One time, I played a psychological trick on her. I took her to a shoe store where I saw a pair that seemed to have been made for Tamara. I took the shoe in my hand, and started criticizing it however I could – I claimed the leather wasn’t good, and the heel, and the cut. In the end, that was the pair she bought.
Perhaps she may inwardly agree with my opinion when it comes to figure skating, but she’d never show it. She likes telling me, “You have too narrow a view”. At one point, for example, I was talking about having the skaters closer together on the parallel jumps. Tamara, though, countered that judges don’t lower the marks for having the partners far apart. Therefore, one shouldn’t waste time on it.

What, in your opinion, is your spouse’s biggest strength as a coach?
- Organization. Tamara is a born manager. That’s how she’s always been.

LIVING UNDER A SAIL

Do you remember how Tamara first appeared in your group?
- She came from Ivan Ivanovich Bogoyavlensky. There, she skated at a tiny rink where they had to pour the ice manually. We, on the other hand, had a large rink, and my group already included Yura Ovchinnikov, Igor Bobrin, and other singles. Later, we also got Alexei Mishin. Tamara, too, started as a single – she became the national champion four times, and even competed at the 1965 Europeans in Moscow. The problem, though, was that the leading ladies coach in those days was Tatiana Granatkina-Tolmacheva who worked that the Young Pioneer stadium in Moscow and led a group of girls all around the same age. Her husband Alexander Tolmachev, meanwhile, headed the figure skating federation. Not being from the Moscow school and being three or four years older than Tolmacheva’s girls, Tamara had no chance of remaining on the team. This led her to conclude there was no point in continuing a singles career. In 1965, she came in second with Mishin at Europeans, and a year later got the World silver as well.

How did you combine your own sailing interests with coaching?
- It never got in the way. At the time, we didn’t have ice in the summer, so my athletes did rowing off season while I did sailing. I only skipped the 1949 and 1950 summers because that was when an artificial rink opened in Maria’s Grove, and I got a chance to go there with my kids. In 1951, I was back sailing. In my bathroom, I have a silver trophy we use for keeping toothbrushes; it says “To the winner of the Baltic sailing regatta of 1951”. I don’t even remember the competition.
I peaked in 1962. I made it to the Golden Cup – in essence, it’s a world championship for single yachts of my class. 150 yachts took part. They couldn’t all fit on the starting line; they were positioned in three rows, and if you were in second or third one, it was almost impossible to get ahead.
Originally, Valentin Mankin[2] was supposed to take part. However, it didn’t pan out for him, even though his boat was delivered. I used that very boat, because mine didn’t get time to arrive from Germany, where I’d recently won the Baltic regatta. I had to ask some friends for a sail and a mast to make it fit me. The main issue was that Mankin’s yacht was designed for a heavier athlete. It makes a big difference in sailing.
After three races, I was third or fourth, but then I got to zeros. The first one was for breaking the mast, and the second race just didn’t work – I finished it in 30th place. In the end, I was 15th, but sailing considers the top 15 places to be “prize” placements. So I can consider myself a World prize-winner. I did sailing for years after that as well. There was no need to leave it.

So, you didn’t do it for results?
- I was interested in other things. I was the first to make my mast not round but somewhat flattened. The round one bends easily, whereas the flattened one creates a structure for the sail. That’s how I modified it. It wasn’t until 10 years later that the famous yachtsman Jorg Bruder, having become a businessman, filled the world with his masts, created with that very principle.
I was also the first to come up with a new cut for sails. Everyone laughed then – Igor Borisovich is sailing under a bra! Sails were triangular, but I created darts on them along the bisectors. Now, all large yachts, such as those in American Cup, have sails made that very way.

You don’t have your own yacht?
- I was never into owning things. Back when I competed, it was common to seek out yachtsmen and provide them with vessels. So, I got used to knowing that if the government needs my skills, it’ll provide the conditions. Therefore, there is still a disconnect in my mind between then and now. Back then, you drive along the Primorski highway along the Lachta, and everything was while with sails. Now, there’s nothing. Those who have their yachts just use it to store beer and pick up girls.

AMERICAN SOLITUDE

Ten years ago, when Tamara Nikolayevna went to the US with Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, you followed her and started training Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Markuntsov. Who Yuko already showing herself as an outstanding skater?
- She was always a very serious girl. She was also very attentive. She never debated if the coach was right. It took her just two years with Markuntsov to win Junior Worlds. They also represented Japan at the senior level. Yuko came to Tamara and me with certain technical errors. For example, she long did the salchow incorrectly, pulling it out with sheer willpower.
It’s hard to fine-tune the technique for a skater who’s convinced that the element must be performed at any cost. It took a pretty longtime to correct those things. Moreover, the partners Yuko had after Markuntsov weren’t really worth much time investment. Though she did master the quad throw pretty well when she skated with the American Devin Patrick.

Do you help Kavaguti and Smirnov?
- Yuko doesn’t forget me. I just got an SMS from her from the latest camp – “One more week. We will give a try to make you happy”.

I know you were very helpful in getting Kavaguti acclimated to Russia.
- Everyone tried to help. Tamara found the apartment that Yuko eventually bought, and helped her with schooling. I, too, understood she constantly needed someone nearby. For example, what was difficult for me in America? The strangeness of it all. There were accounts, credits, credit cards… My language was quite limited, as I never learned before, and needed to do it as I was going along. Tamara wrote down some major words for me – forward, back, left, right, some technical terms, prepositions – and I memorized them. Plus, I did get to practice. At first, we lived with a family in the US. Tamara was away a lot on competitions with Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze, so I just sat in my loft all alone. I just had the owners’ cat for company. He was red, mean, and had green eyes. Previously, he was the one controlling the loft, so he obviously wanted to show me who the boss really was. He made a show of ignoring me, he jumped and scratched, but eventually we did become friends.

That constant stress and the lack of the usual comforts suddenly turned into a big eye problem. One day, I went to a practice and suddenly noticed the cars behaving oddly – one was going towards me, while the other was coming at an angle. I closed one eye with my hand, and it returned to normal. I take the hand away, and all hell breaks loose again. It got back to normal eventually, but I had to give up driving – I just didn’t feel it as before.

Was that also why you stopped going onto the ice in skates?
- No, that happened much earlier. When Tamara was carrying our older daughter, her legs swelled and she used my skates. Then someone stole them from her. I don’t know why, they were so old. Then the short skates came in, and my foot didn’t adjust. So I stopped. May be it’s for the best. When you don’t skate yourself, your view is more exact. Moreover, the coach in skates creates additional obstacles for those on the ice. The skaters always need to skate around him.

I thought that the coach on the ice is akin to a circus trainer with a whip.
- That’s not necessary. The coach must be able to tell his athletes what’s required. That’s far more useful. I used to think a lot about why the great champions never make strong coaches – at least not in my sport.

Did you find an answer?
- Sure. The greats feel that they are great. Instead of analysis or the laws of physics and biomechanics, they use their own feelings. They try to pass them on to their students, and honestly believe it will bring success. Instead, everything just needs to be done right.

A VIEW FROM THE SIDELINES

As Moskvina and I were driving from “Yubileiny” to the figure skating Academy after the interview, Tamara suddenly said:

Igor is a far better coach than I. I’m not just saying it, it’s true. He was the first to bring real choreography to pair skating. Back when I was skating singles, he invited Kirov theater’s choreographer Dmitry Kuznetsov to the rink. He also used the famous ballet dancer Baryshnikov for Yura Ovchinnikov – Misha would come to our Yubileiny rink to help with the programs. Most importantly, though, Igor did something that no one else has managed – he first prepared a whole pleiade of coaches at the Institute, and then made all of his former athletes into coaches. It wasn’t because we had nowhere else to go, but because Igor knew how to infuse his students with his enthusiasm and love for the job.
Thanks to him I realized that it wasn’t all about making others do what you think is best. You don’t make your husband close that last button on his shirt or put on a tie or make him wear a jacket instead of a sweater if you know it’ll get him into a bad mood. It only takes a second for relationship-breaking fights, whether it’s in one’s family or in one’s work. Sometimes, the damage can be permanent.

Do you value your husband’s opinion of your work?
- Yes.

When he worked with you, was he interested in the opinions of others?
- I don’t think so. Igor was always very confident. For a long time, he was my guidepost. Once, though, just as I was starting to coach on my own, he saw some idea of mine and said, “Don’t do it”. I didn’t listen, thinking I knew better. Ten years later, I came to him and said, “Igor, do you remember you warned me against doing such-and-such? I was such as fool to have spent a decade to come to the conclusion that you were right!”
_________________

[1] Two-time European champions and bronze medalists at the Sarajevo Olympics – E.V.
[2] Olympic champion of 1968, 1972, and 1980

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp...2&vkey=ice_news
By Tatiana Flade, special to icenetwork.com

Three-time Olympic champ Rodnina turns 60


Irina Rodnina struck gold again with partner Alexander Zaitsev in 1980 at Lake Placid. (Getty Images)

(09/09/2009) - Some people never seem to age. Figure skating legend Irina Rodnina is one of them, and it is hard to believe that the three-time Olympic pairs champion turns 60 on Saturday, Sept. 12. The Russian not only won three Olympic gold medals, but 10 world and 11 European titles from 1969 to 1980 as well, making her the most successful figure skater in history. Together with partners Alexei Ulanov, followed by Alexander Zaitsev, Rodnina re-invented pairs skating with a modern, fast-paced style and more athletic programs.

Today, Rodnina has found a new career in a different world. The figure skater has become a politician. Since 2007, she serves as a deputy of the Siberian city and region of Omsk of prime minister's Vladimir Putin's party "United Russia" in the Russian parliament.

"My focus lies on schooling and education," Rodnina told icenetwork.com in a recent telephone interview from Moscow.

She is traveling through the region, visiting schools and universities and working towards improving educational opportunities for young people. She spends a week each month in her electoral district.

"Sports and politics have in common that you need to get involved 100 percent. The biggest difference is that you are responsible for yourself in sports but as a politician, your decisions have an impact on people's life," Rodnina said.

What about figure skating these days?

"I'm not following figure skating so much now," the three-time Olympic champion admitted. "There is just not enough time."

Rodnina's life focused on figure skating for more than four decades. She was six years old when her parents took her to the skating rink. Doctors had recommended that the ailing child should practice sports to become stronger. She went into pairs skating and competed with Ulanov, winning her first Olympic gold in 1972 in Sapporo, as well as four world and European titles.

The pairs division had its share of personal drama in those days. Ulanov fell in love with rival pair skater Liudmila Smirnova and ultimately married her and skated with her, leaving Rodnina to look for a new partner. She found a very capable one (and a husband) in Alexander Zaitsev and continued her incredible career with him.

Rodnina sat out only one season when she gave birth to son Alexander in 1979. This was the year when Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner from the U.S. took gold at the World Championships. However, the young mother returned once more to the ice and crowned her career with a third Olympic title in Lake Placid in 1980.

Skating in international shows or on the pro circuit wasn't possible for skaters from the Soviet Union at that time, so Rodnina turned to coaching. She didn't have much of a choice. She taught in Moscow, and in the early '90s, she went to the United States to coach with her second husband, her son and her daughter Alena, who was born in 1986.

"I lived in the USA for ten years. Originally, I had a contract for two years, but then my husband and I divorced, and he insisted that our daughter must not travel to Russia before she is 18 years old," Rodnina explained. "So I was forced to stay. I never planned to stay so long. It was a very long business trip," she added with a laugh. Among her students were Czech pairs skaters Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny, who she coached to a world title in 1995.

Rodnina finally returned to Russia for good in 2003, but she didn't want to continue coaching. Instead, she started to work in the sports council and the "Public Chamber," a political organ in Russia, and became deputy.

"Meanwhile, I developed other interests, and I wanted to realize myself in other aspects of life," said Rodnina.

Rodnina will celebrate her birthday on Saturday with a festive evening in Moscow. On Sept. 26, international figure skaters will honor her with a special show in the Russian capital -- a reminder that Irina Rodnina remains an icon of her sport.

http://www.examiner.com/x-20118-Figure-Ska...about-Nebelhorn
September 1, 7:52 PMFigure Skating ExaminerJackie Wong

What's the big deal about Nebelhorn?

In non-Olympic seasons, the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, is generally an early season international competition that gets little attention because the skaters who compete in it are not always the top-tier in the world. The top skating federations often send their mid-ranked and inexperienced skaters to Nebelhorn to gain valuable competition experience.

A number of skaters who medaled at Nebelhorn in years past have gone on to win World and Olympic medals, with names like Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Ilia Kulik, Irina Slutskaya, Shizuka Arakawa, Maria Butyrskaya, and more recently, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy.

This year's Nebelhorn Trophy will offer a different type of pressure to some of its competitors. The competition was chosen as this Olympic season's qualifying competition for countries who were unable to qualify any skaters during the World Championships earlier this year. Amongst the skaters representing countries who did not qualify skaters to the Olympics, the top six singles skaters, top four pairs, and top five dance teams will earn a berth for their countries in Vancouver.

Nebelhorn has also been something of a competition for ISU experiments. In 2002 and 2003, the ISU utilized the Nebelhorn Trophy to test out a new scoring system that has since become the ISU Judging System (IJS).

In addition to Savchenko and Szolkowy, the 2009 Nebelhorn field will feature a number of big names, including Stephane Lambiel, who will be competing for the first time since he announced his comeback in order to qualify a spot for the Swiss men, three-time World Medalist Fumie Suguri, U.S. Champion Alissa Czisny, French Champion Yannick Ponsero, 2004 World Bronze Medalist Stefan Lindemann, seven-time Swiss Champion Sarah Meier, 2008 Canadian Champions Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay, French Champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, and U.S. Champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

The 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy will take place from September 23 through September 26.

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September 17, Figure Skating Examiner, Jackie Wong

What if Serena Williams were a figure skater?

Toss all reality aside and imagine this scenario:

Reigning World Champion Serena Williams placed second after the short program in Vancouver. She steps on the ice for her free skate and skates cleanly, or so she thought. It turned out that the technical specialist called an extremely iffy underrotation and downgraded her second triple lutz. The result is a silver medal, losing to the gold medalist by less than one point.
She tries to calm down, but in a rash decision, she gets back on the ice, skates toward the technical specialist and berates him. An expletive or ten later, she threatens to jam the ice from her blades down his throat. And all of it is televised live and uncensored. Nobody who turned on the television could escape the replay for weeks. Figure skating is interesting to the public once again.

For a sport that is often called a soap opera, figure skating certainly seems much tamer than most mainstream sports. This skating rendition of Williams’ incident at the U.S. Open is a next to impossible scenario. Like tennis, figure skating is a sport of overbearing decorum – and controversies happen once in a blue moon. But these kinds of close calls have happened, it’s just that no one really ever had that kind of reaction. Think Oksana Baiul and Nancy Kerrigan in Lillehammer, Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan in Nagano, and Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze and Sale/Pelletier in Salt Lake City. Had either Kerrigan or Kwan thrown a fit about the results, newspapers left and right would have pounced right on it.

In Salt Lake City, the fit did get thrown. But it wasn’t Sale and Pelletier yelling at the judges about it, rather it was a national skating federation making a dispute behind closed doors. Not exactly made-for-TV drama.

That’s not to say that figure skating hasn’t had its share of headline-grabbing incidents. Everyone remembers Tonya Harding, who was responsible for the 1990s figure skating overload stateside. There was Surya Bonaly taking off her silver medal on the podium at 1994 Worlds because she did not believe Yuka Sato should have beaten her. There were accusations of warmup intimidation tactics by Sasha Cohen toward Michelle Kwan, and more recently, by Japanese skaters toward Yu-Na Kim. There was the “trash-talking” match between Brian Joubert and Patrick Chan, which was really not much more than one saying that the other should have a quad in his program.

But none of that is really going to reignite figure skating in the U.S, and I wouldn’t hold my breath for any kinds of rebellious behavior to happen beyond the typical. The sport, after all, is still solely based on human judging, as much as the ISU has tried to make the process more objective. Any skater outspoken enough to be speaking out against judges, much less berating them, is sure to feel immediate backlash.

Publicity is the exact thing that figure skating needs at this point, especially in the U.S. Interest in figure skating peaked in 1994 during the Tonya-Nancy incident, and the ladies’ short program in Lillehammer still ranks as the sixth most watched American primetime broadcast of all time. But thereafter, figure skating became outrageously overexposed. The result has been a complete reversal of television coverage recently. Who would’ve thought when you couldn’t go a week without seeing yet another mindless professional competition a decade ago that Worlds may not even get TV airtime this season?

Certainly, a Serena-esque incident would spice things up in the figure skating world, but maybe it will be good publicity that will bring the public interest back to skating. I don’t know what that could be, but whatever it is, figure skating certainly needs it.

Figure Skating Examiner, Jackie Wong

Skating commentators – Love ‘em or hate ‘em, but you can’t leave ‘em (Parts 1-5)


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Part 1: Figure skating commentary

Like many sports, figure skating is rarely broadcasted on American television without the aid of commentators. The team of commentators often includes one or more former skaters who know what skating is all about and a play-by-play-type announcer who does not have a skating background. They provide commentary and banter during competitions to give the viewers on-the-spot analysis and to keep the competition moving when things get slow.

Skating commentating teams are generally different commentating teams in other sports. In sports like football and basketball, there are play-by-play announcers and color commentators, both of whom take turns to talk about the action. But in figure skating, perhaps due to the more specialized nature of the sports knowledge, the dynamic between the commentators are a bit different.

The commentator in the play-by-play role (the Tom Hammond and Terry Gannon types) tends to take a greater backseat role when the skating actually happens. The play-by-play commentators are often the ones who give you statistics on what skaters have accomplished, what music they are skating to, and sometimes mimic the casual viewer and ask questions about the technical aspects of skating. The color commentators are the skating experts, usually with big-time credentials (think Olympic Gold Medalists Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, and Scott Hamilton). They are the ones who tell you that you’re about to see connecting steps into a triple flip or that a change of edge in a spin makes it more difficult.


Olympic Gold Medalist and ABC Commentator Peggy Fleming

With skating commentators, viewers tend to love them or hate them. The casual skating viewer generally welcomes commentators because it helps with the understanding of what is what and who is who. On the other hand, more seasoned fans enjoy some insight here and there, but would rather watch programs in peace. And then, of course, there are those who would rather not be bothered with the chatter at all.

In recent years, there has been a marked decrease in the storytelling aspect of skating commentary. It may be a change in the choreography of sporting event broadcasting, but it could also be the result of the great general decrease in airtime that skating has gotten. There has been proportionally more action and less time spent cutting away to the skaters’ life stories. And while the lack of human interest stories makes for less intriguing television, it also elevates the sport over the drama.

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Part 2: Challenges for skating commentators

One of the big complaints about commentators is the constant repetition of the same information and stories. How many times did we have to hear about Tim Goebel being the “Quad King” or that Yao Bin went from embarrassment to becoming the coaching guru for the dominant Chinese pairs or that Oksana Baiul was an orphan before she was taken in by Galina Zmievskaya (which turned out to be untrue because her father is actually still alive)?

For skating fans, these stories play like a broken record because they tune in for multiple competitions per season. But for the once-a-year or once-an-Olympics viewer, every piece of information is new information.

Another issue is the accuracy of information that is given by the skating experts. Now, commentators are allowed a slip-up here and there – their commentary, after all, is generally immediate and unrehearsed, and everyone makes errors. But since the last Olympics, the inaccuracies have been amplified by the introduction of the new ISU Judging System (IJS).

There was either not enough time or enough effort (or both) by the commentators to learn the ins and outs of the new system in order to give viewers a proper explanation. At the beginning, it was obvious that even the commentators were confused by the new rules – even the simplest of the rules were sometimes fumbled. But more recently, as commentators have gotten more familiar with the rules, the explanations of the IJS have gotten better and clearer. Still, if the commentators can’t find a way to properly explain this complicated system, how will the viewers ever come to embrace or even understand it?


Olympic Gold Medalist and CBS/NBC Commentator Scott Hamilton

A third complaint from fans is a more subjective one. Commentators have their own styles, their own idiosyncrasies, their own methods of communication. Scott Hamilton, for example, is known for groaning and grunting in excitement or displeasure to what he is watching, which is an asset for some viewers and a complete turn-off for others. Dick Button and Peggy Fleming had a tendency to go off on their own tangents in the middle of programs, which inherently has its own polarizing effects with viewers.

Ultimately, there won’t be one commentator who will satisfy all viewers. One commentator can be just perfect for one person and too boring for another. But as we have seen, commentators come in all different flavors.

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Part 3: Who’s who in skating commentary – The Big Threes

American TV has seen its share of commentators. In the past few decades, skating viewers have gotten to know and love/hate two main commentating teams, one on NBC broadcasts and the other on ABC/ESPN broadcasts. These two teams have been the voices and knowledge for the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Tom Hammond/Scott Hamilton/Sandra Bezic (NBC)
Hammond-Hamilton-Bezic will be the team that American viewers will see and hear during Vancouver next year. Tom Hammond serves as the play-by-play commentator, and Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic are the color commentators. Hamilton was the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist and Bezic competed for Canada in pairs in the 1970s, but is best known for being one of the great choreographers of the past three decades.

Scott Hamilton started off commentating for CBS in the 80s and 90s after he retired from competitive skating. More recently, he joined the NBC team starting with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. All told, there has not been a Winter Olympics without Hamilton screaming the words, “triple lutz,” since ABC broadcasted the Games in 1988. Hamilton, of course, is known for his melodious and sometimes over-the-top commentary. Skating viewers have either found it endearing or terribly annoying.

Sandra Bezic was sole NBC color commentator in the early 1990s for the World Championships. Her relative calm demeanor serves to balance out Hamilton’s histrionics. There was some uproar during the 2002 Olympics when both she and Hamilton openly spoke out against the initial second place finish of Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier behind Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. Some fans saw it as North American favoritism rather than objective analysis. Even though it was later revealed that there was collusion between some of the judges on the panel, for some skating fans, their relationship with Bezic was never the same since.

Terry Gannon/Dick Button/Peggy Fleming (ABC/ESPN)
The Gannon-Button-Fleming team provided the American television coverage for figure skating during most of the past 15 years, when ABC and ESPN had the rights to broadcast all of the non-Olympic ISU competitions. Terry Gannon served as the play-by-play commentator, and Dick Button and Peggy Fleming were the color commentators. Button was the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Gold Medalist and Fleming was the 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist. The three had a great rapport, with commentary and analysis often turning into casual banter.

Dick Button had been with ABC since the 1960s, covering World Championships and Olympic Games through almost five decades. During the latter years of his tenure with ABC, there were often flashback looks at his earlier days of broadcasting. Button was generally keen in his commentary, often injecting his own witticisms and anecdotes from his years in the skating world. He was a big opponent of the ISU Judging System (IJS) after it was instituted, often openly criticizing it on the air.

Peggy Fleming paired with Button to provide skating commentary for ABC beginning in the 80s. In 1998, Fleming was diagnosed with breast cancer, which took her off the air for a few competitions. But after successful treatment, she was back in the booth with Button until ABC and ESPN’s contracts expired a few years ago.

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Part 4: Who’s who in skating commentary – Others of note

In addition to the two Big Three teams, there have been a number of other commentators who have taken up the sometimes unenviable task of figure skating commentary. They were either subbing for one of the commentators on those teams or they were providing commentary for a different network.

Peter Carruthers
Carruthers, the Olympic Silver Medalist in pairs with his sister, Kitty Carruthers, was a regular supplement to the ABC/ESPN team, often providing rinkside and backstage commentary and conducting interviews. But he also played a larger role behind the booth for ESPN during several of the Grand Prix seasons and for FOX when they broadcasted skating during the late 90s. Carruthers had a generally pleasant demeanor but never seemed to be able to stand out as a color commentator.

Susie Wynne
Wynne competed for the U.S. in ice dance and served as a color commentator primarily for ice dancing. Commentary teams are generally dominated by former singles and pairs skaters, so Wynne was always able to provide a fresh perspective and solid knowledge about ice dancing. This extra bit of knowledge was particularly apparent when play-by-play commentator, Terry Gannon, would engage her in questions about the more subtle technical aspects of ice dancing.

Tracy Wilson/Paul Wylie
Like Wynne, Wilson was also the rare ice dancer commentator. She and Wylie often provided similar types of skating analysis – at times doing color commentary and at times giving post-program technical analysis, a type of commentary seen more during the past few years with the institution of the new IJS. With the confusion brought on by the IJS and the inability for color commentators to give IJS analysis on the spot, their expertise with the new rules has helped to answer some of the questions about base values, grades of execution, and levels.


Dorothy Hamill

Dorothy Hamill/Rosalynn Sumners
Two Olympic ladies medalists, two commentating careers that did not last too long. Hamill provided commentary for FOX back when the Grand Prix Series was known as the Champions Series. Sumners was the color commentator for FOX and TNT, covering both Olympic-eligible and professional competitions. Neither of the two ever really got the exposure that her fellow commentators received.

Brian Boitano/Kurt Browning
The two titans of men’s figure skating in the 80s and early 90s had briefs stints in the American commentating booth – with Boitano commentating for ABC and Browning commentating for NBC during the 1994 Worlds. These days, of course, Boitano has found himself a different gig on TV. Browning has more recently started commentating for Canada's CBC.

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Part 5: Who’s next in line to talk about salchows and lutzes?

The Buttons, Flemings, and Hamiltons of the commentary world have been around for decades (in Dick Button’s case, almost five decades), so it would only be logical that networks are beginning to groom the next batch of skating commentators. Who is or could be next in line to take his/her place behind the booth?

Peter Carruthers/Paul Wylie
As mentioned in the previous part of this series, these two have been getting commentary experience for the past few years. Their experience behind the booth has upped their ability to provide direct commentary. They both have microphone-friendly voices, and it is likely that at least one of them will be doing more commentary at the big in the future.



Nancy Kerrigan
After almost single-handedly causing the figure skating explosion in 1994 (with some help from Tonya Harding, of course), Kerrigan retired, skated professionally for a number of years, and started a family. Since then, Kerrigan has served as a skating commentator for both the regional network CN8 and for icenetwork.com. She tends to be calm and a bit monotonous in her commentary, but she shows a lot of attention to the skaters’ details (from music to technique) that sometimes gets overlooked by more mainstream commentators.

Tonia Kwiatkowski
Kwiatkowski was a fixture on the national skating scene during the 90s, with the highlight of her career being her sixth place finish at the 1998 World Championships. With her experience as a coach after her Olympic-eligible career was over, she brings a more up-to-date technical expertise to her commentary. She recently provide commentary for icenetwork.com for last year’s National Championships.

Michelle Kwan
After Kwan’s announcement that she would not be competing this season (or likely any other season in the future, for that matter), there has been speculation that NBC may be offering her some kind of guest commentary spot for the upcoming skating season.

She made her debut with the microphone earlier this year alongside Dick Button to provide guest analysis for the World Championships, and fans and viewers got a taste of what Michelle Kwan commentary would sound like. But as smooth as her edges are, her commentary style is not at all. Perhaps it was nerves, but as we have heard from her interviews in the past, she is not necessarily the most natural continuous talker. Maybe with some practice, she would warm up to it, but in the meantime, expect her to keep being a diplomacy envoy and away from the mic.