Interview with Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen
Interview with Nikolaj Memola, 2022 Junior Grand Prix Men's Champion
Interview with Madison Chock and Evan Bates
2022 Grand Prix Espoo
by Klaus-Reinhold Kany
(4 December 2022) Originally, the sixth and last Grand Prix of this season was
supposed to take place in Moscow. But as Russia is still
excluded from international competitions, the Finnish federation
jumped in. Therefore it was organized in the Metro Arena in
Espoo, which is a suburb of the Finnish capital of Helsinki. It
was not possible to hold it in the huge Hartwall arena in
Helsinki where several ISU championships had taken place. The
owner of that beautiful rink is a Russian oligarch whose
property was confiscated after the beginning of Russia’s war
against the Ukraine due to European law. The Finlandia Trophy
has taken place several times in Espoo, and Europeans in January
2023 will take place there as well.
Women
The women’s competition at the Grand Prix
in the “Metro Areena” in Espoo, Finland had a mixed level.
Nobody tried a triple Axel nor a quad. Mai Mihara from Japan won
her second Grand Prix in two weeks after being first in
Britain’s Sheffield. In Finland it was a close fight between her
and the Belgian skater Loena Hendrickx. Mihara,
Four-Continents-Championships winner in 2021, opened her short
program to the sad music “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” by the
well-known Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto with an excellent
double Axel. A very good triple flip came next and a combination
of triple Lutz and triple toe loop in which the toe loop got a q
for a small under-rotation. The three spins were very
impressive, the step sequence with five GOEs of +4 stellar and
her components had an average of 8.5.
After her serious health problems of 2020
with several stays in hospital, she commented, “The music was
chosen by (choreographer) David Wilson, and he told me to put
all my feelings into it and to reflect my whole life in this
short program. When the choreography begins it shows how I
struggled in my life, but then as the music goes on, when the
step sequence comes and the music goes toward the peak of the
program, that part shows how happy I feel to skate, to be here,
to be back in the scene. As I feel all this, I couldn’t help
crying in the step sequence, but in the end I was really happy
that I was able to concentrate and to put in all the feelings
into the program.”
In her passionate free program to the
Spanish music “El Amor Brujo” by Manuel de Falla, three triple
jumps were very good, but two others got a q and she almost fell
on a flip which was planned triple. But she performed only one
and a half rotation. Her spins were excellent , her two step
sequences had many GOEs of +4 and her components were around
8.3. She commented, “Today with my free skating I have a lot of
regrets, but I am happy to go to the Grand Prix Final. I hope by
then I overcome the obstacles and will get my level up and will
become a stronger person, I was not in my best condition, but
from now on I would really want to show my best, especially at
the Grand Prix Final. Some of my fans flew here all the way to
support me from Japan. I met some of them on the plane and met
others here”.
The 2022 World silver medalist Loena
Hendrickx from Belgium had won the Grand Prix de France and was
coached again by her older brother Jorik Hendrickx and
choreographer Adam Solya. She won the short program in Espoo
with a distance of 1.30 points to Mihara and the same elements,
the same q, but higher components of around 8.8 and three GOEs
of +5 for her layback spin. Her music was “Si Mama” by Romanian
singer Inna and to “Mi Gente” by U.S. singer Beyonce. She
explained, “I was satisfied with my performance today,
especially since I had a hard time working towards this
competition. I felt a little ill last week and my blood results
were not very good, so I had to take a little bit of rest.”
After the competition in France,
Hendrickx exchanged once more a piece of her free program music
and has not two pieces by Karl Hugo, “Heaven” and “Fallen
Angel”, which was specially composed for her. After a very good
combination of triple Lutz and triple toe loop, she had two more
good triples, but under-rotated a flip, fell on the
under-rotated second Lutz and the second Axel was only single.
Her spins were as excellent as always, her step sequences as
well. Because of her mistakes, she had only the third best free
program and dropped to second place, winning 203.91 points
overall. She admitted, “Today was not my day, I know I can do
better. The aim was so far away before I started the season. I
never thought I’d get the chance to be in the Grand Prix Final
and I am proud I achieved this. We wanted to expand the artistry
of the program, the accents and the nuance. The first part is in
heaven, An angel struggles with her saints. The second part is
‘Fallen Angel’, it has more accents and more power and emotions.
It is really unique that this music has been especially made for
me.” Both top skaters certainly reach the Final.
Mana Kawabe from Japan won the bronze
medal with 197.41 points. Skating to three songs by U.S. singer
Billie Eilish, she performed a very good double Axel, a
combination of triple Lutz (with a small edge warning) and a
slightly under-rotated triple flip. Spins and step sequence were
very good. She said, “The flip was not ideal, but overall I feel
quite satisfied. I’ve been practicing the free skating much more
than the short program. I’ve been focusing on not repeating the
same mistakes as in France.” In her free program to “Drowning”
by Anne Sila, she had three very good triples, her two Lutzes
got a small edge warning and three of her jumps were
under-rotated. But to give GOEs of -4 and -5 for these jumps was
too hard a punishment. She commented, “I was able to be myself
and show my program today, In my free skating I found a lot of
things to improve. I want to practice my triple Axel.”
The third Japanese skater Rika Kihira
finished on fourth position, earning 192.43 points. The student
of Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson had been fourth at Worlds 2019,
but since suffered from several health problems. Now she is
coming back slowly. In her short program to “The Fire Within” by
Jennifer Thomas, her double Axel and her combination of triple
Salchow and triple toe loop were impressive, but she stepped out
of the triple loop. Everything else was excellent. In her free
program to the soundtrack of “Titanic”, all six triple jumps
were at least good, the layback spin was even very good.
Therefore she moved up from sixth to fourth position.
The Canadian Champion Madeline Schizas
came fifth with 187.84 points. In the short program to “Black
Swan” by Clint Mansell, which is mainly really Tchaikovsky’s
“Swan Lake”, she performed a good double Axel and triple loop,
but in her combination the triple toe loop after the triple Lutz
was under-rotated. In her free program to Leonard Bernstein’s
“Westside Story” she skated more stable than at Skate Canada.
All six triple jumps were good, her combination even excellent.
Her only mistake was a single Axel near the end.
U.S. skater Lindsay Thorngren of
Montclair, New Jersey, student of Julia Lautowa and third at
Junior Worlds 2022, placed sixth with 183.23 points. She was
fourth in the short program to the “Concierto de Aranjuez” de
Joaquin Rodrigo in a version by French composer Cedric Tour.
There, six elements were at least good, the camel combination
spin even excellent. But in her combination, the triple toe loop
after the triple Lutz was under-rotated. The components were
around 7.6. In her free program to three compositions by Cedric
Tour, only two triples were good, three more under-rotated, two
double jumps as well and she fell on the third part of a
combination, a double loop. Her spins were excellent.
Anastasiia Gubanova is seventh with
166.57 points. She competes for Georgia and stayed in
Russia even after this year’s drafting because Russia has no
female soldiers. All male Georgian skaters fled from this
country having mostly dual citizenship. They did not want to be
drafted to the army and die in the war. The elegant Gubanova who
had competed for Russia until two years ago had been sixth at
Worlds 2022 in France. In her short program, her triple flip was
soso and the student of Evgeni Rukavitsin in St. Petersburg went
down on the triple Lutz. In her free program, only three triple
jumps were good, but two others under-rotated and she fell again
on the triple Lutz.
Former U.S. champion Bradie Tennell lives
now in Nice in France and trains there with Benoit Richaud. She
finished eighth, earning163.98 points, ten more than at her
first Grand Prix two weeks before. This time, she did not fall
in the short program, had five good elements, but her triple
Lutz before the triple toe loop of her combination was
under-rotated and the triple loop got a q. She said, “Today was
a really big step forward. Now I am a bit more back in the
rhythm and more used to the competition atmosphere.” But in her
free program to a “Four Seasons”- Medley, only one triple was
good, but three under-rotated and she fell on both triple Lutzes.
Later she said that she liked especially the middle part of her
free program in which the young Swedish climate activist Greta
Thunberg says, “How dare are you!” and she looks to the judges.
None
of the three Finnish women was really good. 23-year-old Jenni
Saarinen finished on ninth place with 155.64 points. In the
short program her combination of two triple toe loops was o.k.
But in the free program, only one triple (Salchow) was
successful. After the competition she officially announced the
end of her career because it was no more fun. 15-year-old Janna
Jirkinen is tenth with 154.45 points. She came as an alternate
for Finnish Emmi Peltonen who withdrew in the last minute
because she was not yet fit after a Covid-19 infection. Jirkinen
is a big talent, but was very nervous on her first senior Grand
Prix and popped the Lutz as well as the flip in the short
program. Her free program was better with five good triples.
Linnea
Ceder came 11th with 151.91 points. In her short program a
step-out on the double toe loop in her combination with a triple
Lutz was her only mistake, but she not get many pluspoints for
her clean elements. In her free program only two triples were
good. Eva-Lotta Kiibus from Estonia ended up 12th and last with
low 138.89 points. She had to stay longer in Japan after the NHK
Trophy because of the strike of Finnair. She now trains in the
Netherlands under Dutch coach Thomas Kennes. In her short
program she fell on the downgraded triple Lutz, the third spin
was wobbly and her double Axel was under-rotated. In the free
program only one triple was o.k., but she popped the Lutz and
the loop.
Men
The men’s competition at the Grand Prix
Espoo in Finland had a good level. 17-year-old Ilia Malinin of
Reston, Virginia, the new “Quadgod”, won with 278.39 points
although he said in the press conference he had some small
injury problems in his left foot and therefore he did not try
any Lutz in the competition. Off the ice, he walked around with
special shoes, but on the ice you did not notice any problems.
He started his short program to “I Put a Spell On You” by
Canadian singer Garou with a combination of quad toe loop and
triple toe loop, but both jumps got a q for a slight
under-rotation. His quad Salchow was excellent, but he stumbled
on the triple Axel. Two spins were very good, but one was shaky,
his components were around 8.2 and he was second there. He
commented, “Even though it wasn't the best skate that I had, I
still enjoyed performing for the audience. The Final is really
important to me, but I just focus on my competition and try to
be confident, trust in my training.”
After the free program which he easily won,
he knew that he would get to the Final after winning Skate
America in October. He skated to the soundtrack “Euphoria” and
his first element was a quad Axel with a hand on the ice and a
bit stepped out. His quad flip and his two quad toe loops were
excellent, the second one in a combination with Euler and triple
Salchow. The first quad Salchow also got a q and he added four
more triples, including a difficult combination of triple flip
and triple Axel. The spins got mainly GOEs of +3 and the step
sequence +2. His choreo step sequence was outstanding with
mainly GOEs of +4 and his components were around 8.4. He
explained, “I’m still in shock at how was I was able to perform.
I was a little mad after yesterday’s performance. I was really
hoping that today I would forget about it and gain my confidence
again, just to make sure that I am able to be in control of
everything. The Grand Prix Final has always been a dream of
mine, but I couldn’t go to the Junior Final with the
cancellations last year. I put a lot of effort into trying to
make the Grand Prix Final.”
Shun Sato from Japan trains in the practice
rink of the Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo, where the World
Championships in 2023 is planned. In Espoo he won the silver
medal with 262.21 points although he has not much charisma. In
the short program to “Carol Of the Bells” by Lindsey Stirling,
he performed a clean quad toe loop, but fell on the quad Lutz.
His triple Axel was good, his spins and step sequence were very
good and his components around 7.7.
His free program to “Red Violin” originally
by Joaquin Rodrigo was clean. He began with an excellent quad
Lutz, followed by a very good combination of quad toe loop and
triple toe loop, a good triple Axel and another quad toe loop.
Four other triples came later, good spins and step sequences. He
qualified for the Final as well after being third at the British
Grand Prix. He explained, “Yesterday I was not happy with my
short program, but I was able to recover and make up for it. My
coach told me tomorrow is another day and I was able to skate
clean. Of course I’m really happy I am in the Grand Prix Final.
It is an event full of top skaters.”
Kevin Aymoz from France surprisingly won
the short program and is third overall with 255.69 points in a
successful comeback. He had suffered from an ankle injury since
a bad fall in early October and had to cancel his participation
at the French Grand Prix. But the week before coming to Espoo,
he took part as a test in the Warsaw Cup, which he won without
any quad, but otherwise excellently. In Espoo, too, he did not
try any quad. Skating his short program to two music pieces by
British musician Labrinth, he had six excellent elements, a
triple Axel, the triple Lutz, the spins and outstanding step
sequence. He only made a step between his triple flip (which got
a small edge warning) and the triple toe loop in his shaky
combination. He commented, “This is my first big competition
this season. I got injured six weeks ago, I tore my ankle, I am
glad to be here, even if I don't have the technical level to do
big quads. This injury makes me realize that I am here to enjoy
the moment.”
In the free program mainly to the
soundtrack of “Gladiator”, the student of U.S. coach Silvia
Fontana had six very good triples and an edge call on the triple
flip. His step sequences were outstanding, though a bit wild.
Without quads, he dropped to third place even with the highest
components of the field of around 9.0. He was totally excited
about his bronze medal, “I am really proud. Tonight I was
confident, happy, there are many words. I was just in the moment
and it was the best for me. Skating last was difficult. It’s a
45-minute wait, and you have to go out on the ice and be ready.
I worked with my psychologist to try to eliminate what stressed
me, and I just used the tools she gave me and voilà.”
The
second Japanese man Tatsuya Tsuboi had boot problems before the
competition and had won a bronze medal at Junior Worlds 2022. He
finished on fourth position, earning 244.90 points. In his short
program, he overturned the quad Salchow which also got a q. His
triple Axel was good and in his combination the triple Lutz
before the triple toe loop got a small edge warning. His free
program was by far the best he has ever performed. He began with
a very good quad Salchow, followed by two good triple Axels, the
second one with Euler and triple Salchow. Five other triple
jumps came later, four of which got mainly GOEs of +2 and the
Lutz again with a small warning.
U.S. skater Camden Pulkinen, fifth at
Worlds 2022, came fifth with 229.92 points. He moved to New York
City to study business fulltime at Columbia University. He said
he does not want to compete for Finland although some ancestors
are Finnish, he feels as an American. In his short program to
“Fly Me to the Moon”, he touched down on the quad toe loop,
popped the Axel and almost fell on the first spin. Then he
pulled himself together and his four remaining elements were
good, including a combination of triple Lutz and triple toe
loop. In his Tango free program, he performed a good quad toe
loop and six triple jumps, but he singled a Salchow, doubled a
Lutz and had problems with a spin.
Nikolaj Majorov from Sweden is sixth with
209.55 points. He skated with back pain, fell on the downgraded
Axel and had no quads. In the free he performed four good
triples, but stepped out of three others. He has to face a new
rival in his home country for the spots at Europeans and Worlds
because junior Andreas Nordeback had 20 more points at the
Finlandia Trophy. 16-year-old Arlet Levandi was the better of
the two Estonian skater and placed seventh with 209.50 points.
His coach is his mother Anna Levandi, the former Soviet skater
Anna Kondrashova who had won silver at Worlds 1984. Arlet is a
big choreography talent and has worked with Benoit Richaud for
years, but no big jumper. In Espoo he tried triple Axels for the
first time, but missed them and promised, however, he will
always try them in the future. The other triple jumps were good,
however, and his step sequence in the short outstanding, but he
fell on one in the free program.
Keegan
Messing (30) from Canada finished eighth, earning 205.02 points
in probably his last Grand Prix. He was very nervous because he
wanted to show his best a last time, but missed a lot. In his
entertaining short program the quad toe loop had no flow after
the landing, he stepped out of the triple Axel and landed the
triple Lutz of his combination with the triple toe loop very
deep. His components were around 8.6, the second highest behind
Aymoz and he was fourth. He began his free program with a hard
fall on the quad toe loop, but added a good second one 15 second
later, though without combination. Four mistakes came later,
including a fall on the second triple Axel. Therefore he was
last in the free skate and dropped from fourth to eighth
position overall.
Valtter Virtanen from Finland is already 35 years old, is a
Ph.D. in medicine and works in the emergency room of a hospital.
He competes in his 17th year as an international senior,
performed in his first Grand Prix ever and is still the only
Finnish man with a good international level. His German wife
Alina Mayer is his main coach and they have a two-year-old
daughter. He has no triple Axel nor any quad, but everything
else has a good standard. Therefore he came ninth with 204.02
points which was a new personal best for him, the first time
over 200 points. In the short program, his combination of two
triple toe loops and his triple Lutz were good, the spins even
excellent, but he stumbled on the double Axel. In the free, he
landed seven clean triple jumps.
Aleksandr Selevko from Estonia is tenth, earning 199.47 points.
He came as an alternate for Kazakh skater Michail Shaidorov.
Selevko went down on the quad toe loop and on the triple Axel in
the short program, the other five elements were very good. In
the free program, five triple jumps were at least good, but he
made three other mistakes. The third Japanese skater Lucas
Tsuyoshi Honda came 11th with 197.90 points. He missed all three
triple Axels in both programs, but had four clean other triples
in the free program. Morisi Kvitelashvili from Georgia ended up
12th and last with 196.80 points. He had even been 4th at the
World Championships 2002 and has mental problems since he
quickly left Russia in the summer and now trains in Italy with
Lorenzo Magri. In the short he missed all three jumping
elements. He began his free with a very good combination of quad
Salchow and triple toe loop, but later made four big mistakes.
Pairs
The pairs competition at the Grand Prix in
Finland had a low level. No pair was excellent and everybody
made several small or big mistakes. Rebecca Ghilardi & Filippo
Ambrosini from Bergamo in Italy won the event with 189.74 points
after taking the lead in the short program. They qualified for
the Grand Prix Final in spite of a fourth place in France. In
Espoo, they opened their entertaining short program to two songs
of Freddy Mercury with a clean triple twist, followed by a side
by side double Axel, which was landed correctly but far apart
from each other. The triple throw Lutz was a bit shaky, but the
step sequence excellent. Their components were around 7.7 (in
both programs). Wearing a moustache, Ambrosini said, “We enjoyed
skating our program. I represent Freddie Mercury and we feel
this program, this music.” Ghilardi added, “It is a big
opportunity for us to make the Grand Prix Final and we’d like to
reach this goal. We just want to skate and be happy about our
performance. Today we reached this goal. We’ve worked very hard
for it and work is paying off.”
The first element in the free program to
Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville”, was a triple twist
again, this time not totally clean, followed by a combination of
two double Axels with her stumbling on the second jump. After a
small double Salchow of both partners, the three lifts were
excellent, the triple throw loop a bit shaky, the throw Lutz
good and the other elements very good. Ghilardi explained, “We
were in our performance from the beginning to the end, but it is
not easy to include into the competition.” Ambrosini added, “We
worked in the last months to feel like one person, one movement,
and today we had that feeling,”
Germany’s Alisa Efimova & Ruben
Blommaert came as alternates for the Chinese pair of Cheng Peng
& Yang Jin. They won the silver medal, earning 170.75 points
after being fourth in the short program. Skating to two versions
of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, they performed a very good
triple twist, an excellent triple throw loop and beautiful
linking steps, but Efimova almost fell on the triple toe loop.
In the free program to “Private Investigations” by Dire Straits
and to “Sold my Souls” by the German band of “Two Wooden
Stones”, they began with a very good triple twist, followed by a
clean triple throw flip, but then he fell on the triple Salchow
(she stepped out) and she missed the triple toe loop. The three
lifts and the triple throw loop were good. Right after
performing they had no points for the forward outward death
spiral because Efimova was not deep enough near the ice. But
after the end of the program the technical panel changed their
mind and they got level 1.
Efimova explained, “During the warm up
we decided to go for both triple jumps. We are of course a bit
sad about the mistakes but overall we are feeling good about
this competition. This is our second Grand Prix event and the
first one we can skate to the end. For us, this competition
showed that it is important to communicate during the
competition and to always fight until the end,” After having won
silver at the Finlandia Trophy in the same rink in October,
Blommaert said, “This arena seems to be a lucky place for us. We
were second both times, and we are looking forward to coming
back here for Europeans,” The couple had to withdraw from Skate
Canada after the Short Program due to a hip bruise after she
badly fell. Therefore they had no chance to reach the Final.
Anastasiia Metelkina & Daniil Parkman
from Georgia won the bronze medal with 166.56 points. Since they
left Russia, they train in Berlin, Germany under the German
coaches Alexander Koenig and Knut Schubert. They were very
strong in the warm-up. In the short program to Beth Hart’s “I’ll
Take Care of You”, their twist was very good, but her triple
Salchow was near an under-rotation and she stepped out of the
triple throw flip using her second foot very quickly to avoid a
fall. Their expression was confident. Parkman said, “Today not
everything worked out 100 per cent, but it is a step up from our
last Grand Prix. We hope to continue the same way, to go up step
by step.”
At the beginning of their free program
to “Lamentations” by Quebec musician Marimuz, she doubled the
Salchow and seemed to have forgotten the other two jumps,
whereas he tripled the Salchow and added two double toe loops.
She touched down on the triple toe loop. Their triple twist was
very good, the triple throw loop as well. The three lifts were
soso, the other elements more or less clean, including the
triple throw flip. Parkman admitted, “Unfortunately, we didn’t
show our best. We always have the one goal to show the best and
to progress. Today we made one big mistake and it cost a lot of
points, so we cannot say we are happy.”
The U.S. team of Anastasiia Smirnova &
Danylo Siianytsia are of Bloomington, Minnesota, but both were
born in the Ukraine. They had been fourth at Junior Worlds 2022
and finished on fourth position in Espoo, earning 165.12 points.
In the short program to “Sound of Silence” by Paul Simon and
performed by the U.S. metal band Disturbed, they made no serious
mistake and were even second. The triple twist was good, but
Smirnova touched down on the triple Salchow and her triple throw
Salchow was deeply landed. He said, “This is our first Grand
Prix on the senior circuit and we are pretty excited, especially
about getting our season’s best.” They had to withdraw from
Skate America earlier this season because he had heavy groin
problems. In the free program to “Je suis malade”, performed by
Lara Fabian, her triple Salchow was under-rotated, her triple
throw Salchow landed on two feet and she went down on the toe
loop, on which he stepped out. Two lifts were good, but the
third one was aborted and they had only a double throw loop.
Daria Danilova & Michel Tsiba came
fifth with 146.15 points. They are the better of two pairs from
the Netherlands. They were ninth at Worlds 2022, which will
allow two Dutch pairs to go to Worlds in Japan in 2023. Both
pairs have reached the ISU technical minimum score for Worlds.
At Europeans, the Netherlands have only one spot and after the
Golden Spin in December it will be decided which pair goes
there. Danilova & Tsiba mainly train with Dmitri Savin and Fedor
Klimov. Five elements in the short program were good, the loop
lift even very good, but Tsiba fell on the triple Salchow. In
the free program, their triple Salchow and two lifts were good,
the triple twist was tight, but Danilova fell on both triple
throws, on the loop half a second after she seemed to have
landed it. Her second double Axel in the combination was not
clean and one lift got no points. Tsiba said, “The technical
panel didn’t count one of our lifts, and we still need to figure
out why.”
The other Dutch pair of Nika Osipova &
Dmitri Epstein were alternates for the Georgians Karina Safina &
Luka Berulava who had withdrawn after having big problems at the
Grand Prix in France. The Dutch finished sixth with 138.10
points. They train mainly with Dmitri Kaplun and lately also
with Olympic Champion Aliona Savchenko who works in the
Netherlands. In the short program, their triple twist was o.k.,
Osipova landed the triple throw flip on two feet and fell on the
triple toe loop. The other elements were mainly clean. In their
free program, the twist was very good, the three lifts o.k., but
Osipova stepped out of the triple throw Lutz and almost fell.
She went down on the triple Salchow, had big problems with the
toe loop which she doubled, but the triple throw Salchow was
good.
Anna Valesi & Manuel Piazza from Italy
placed seventh with 129.02 points. They had been invited instead
of Lori Ann Matte & Thierry Ferland from Canada. The Italians
were fifth at Skate America and have the same coaches as the
winners. In their short program, Valesi fell after landing the
triple twist, went down again on the triple throw flip and
under-rotated the triple Salchow. The spin was a bit shaky, the
other three elements relatively clean. In their free program,
the triple twist was clean, but Valesi stepped out of the triple
throw flip and fell hard on the (under-rotated) double Axel
which followed the toe loop which he tripled and she doubled.
Her double Salchow also was shaky, but their double throw loop
good. The Axel lift near the end was not correctly landed.
Greta Crafoord & her brother John
Crafoord from Sweden were invited as alternates for the
Australian pair of Anastasia Golubeva & Hektor Giotopoulos Moore
who had preferred to skate two Junior Grand Prix and reached the
Junior Final. The Crafoords ended up eighth and last with 127.37
points. They are coached by Olympic Champion Aliona Savchenko
and are back on the ice only since this September after a break
of almost one year, when she broke her kneecap in half. Their
technical content was still quite easy. Their twist in both
programs was double, but good. Her double Axel in the short
program was downgraded, their triple throw loop o.k., the other
elements relatively clean. In the free program, she stepped out
of the double Axel again and could not perform a correct jump
combination after almost falling on the double flip. The double
throws were soso, and the lifts relatively correct.
Ice Dance
The ice dance competition in Espoo had a
very good level. After Skate Canada, Piper Gilles & Paul
Poirier, the 2021 World bronze medalists and fifth at Worlds
2022, also won their second Grand Prix with a big distance to
the rest of the field. This time the students of Carol Lane and
Yuris Razgulajevs had 219.49 points. All five elements in the
Rhythm Dance to the Cha Cha “What Do I Do?” by Lady Bri and to
the Rhumba “Rhythm Only, Rumba 25”) by the Dancelife Studio
Orchestra were outstanding, GOEs of +4 dominated. Their Choreo
Rhythm Sequence, a non-level element, even had three GOEs of +5.
Three other elements had a level 4 for both partners, the
midline step sequence a level 3. The components were around 9.3,
with some 9.75. Poirier commented, “This being the second event
of our season we were a little bit excited. And so today's
performance took a lot of mental fortitude.” Gilles added, “We
know that there's still more of us to give, as the season goes
on, but we're really happy with the development of the program.
We're proud of the moment we have right now.”
In their fluid and very expressive free
dance to the soundtrack of “Evita”, in which they play the
Argentinian politician Evita Peron and the revolutionist Che
Guevara, all ten elements were stellar and had mainly GOEs of
+4, six of them had even some of +5, the choreo step sequence
even had a +5 from six different judges. Five of the seven level
elements had a level 4 and the two step sequences a level 3. The
components had an average of 9.5, and for the first time in this
season in all four categories, one of them was a 10.0. It was
the French judge Sandrine Peizerat, the sister of the 2002
Olympic Champion Gwendal Peizerat, who gave this highest number
of possible points for composition. Well done! Poirier
indirectly regretted that they did not skate to this music in
the Olympic season, which was not so successful, because they
had had planned this music for many years, but never realized
it. Gilles explained, “Going into our program today, we were a
little bit tired. We're learning that it's O.K. to perform under
any circumstances. Something we've learned over the past couple
of years is trusting our training, and don't skate any more than
we have that day. But we're really proud of our performance. We
definitely felt that it was a step up from Skate Canada.”
U.S. dancers Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc
Baker, who train in the Ice Academy of Montreal, won the silver
medal with 202.46 points and also reached the final after
winning silver at Skate America five weeks before. Their Pattern
Dance Type Step Sequence had only a level 2 and the Midline Step
Sequence a level 2 for her and 3 for him, the other two level
elements a level 4. Dancing to the Sambas “Cuban Pete” and “El
Cumbanchero” and the Rhumba “Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps”, all by
Desi Arnaz and his orchestra, their entertaining Rhythm Dance
was impressive as a whole and for the first time they had more
than 80 points. Their components were around 8.8. Hawayek said,
“As we've continued to develop in the sport, something that has
come with our years of experience is an understanding of how to
ground ourselves in the present moment. Today we really tried to
not only lay down a solid performance, but also to find special
moments within the performance for one another.”
In their free dance they used more
serious or even sad music pieces of “Requiem” and to “Sofia” by
the Norwegian composer Askjell Solstrand. All elements were
excellent again. The levels were mixed, but GOEs of +3 dominated
and each element had some +4, the Choreo steps even one +5.
Their components were around 9.0. Hawayek said, “For us, it was
a very good performance. There's moments when you skate where
things feel effortless and things feel almost like you're in a
trance, in a magical moment, and then there's other days where
it feels like constant micro refocuses and work. It was one of
those programs where we felt really proud of just being able to
stand out there, execute and continue to show the improvement
that we've made this season.” They did not take part at the
exhibition gala because Hawayek had a small bursitis in her knee
and did not want risk a bigger injury.
To the delight of the spectators, the
Finnish couple of Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis, 15th at
the Olympic Games of 2022, won their first Grand Prix medal and
the first ice dance Grand Prix medal for Finland because at the
time when Susanna Rahkamo & Petri Kokko competed, a Grand Prix
did not exist. Turkkia & Versluis won bronze with 191.79 points
after being only seventh at the Grand Prix de France after a
Rhythm Dance with a fall. In Espoo, the students of Maurizio
Margaglio had been fourth in a strong Rhythm Dance, being 1.14
points behind the third position with mixed levels. Dancing to
three Sambas and one Rhumba, they skated seemingly effortless
and had program components of 8.2. In their speedy free dance to
three romantic piano music pieces of Franz Schubert, everything
looked easy again and they had four more points than the couple
on third position, especially thanks to a higher speed, and they
moved up to third place. Their components had an average of 8.5.
Versluis commented, “It felt like a long day today and we felt a
bit tired, but the home crowd gave us a lot of energy to skate
through the free program, and we felt very ‘in the moment’ and
tried to enjoy every second of the skate.” Turkkila added, “It
gives us a lot of confidence. We know what we are capable of and
we want to achieve more. This I just the beginning.”
U.S. dancers Christina Carreira &
Anthony Ponomarenko finished on fourth position with 188.80
points. They mainly train with Canadian Olympic Champion Scott
Moir in London, Ontario, who is head of the Ontario branch of
the Ice Academy of Montreal, but also with Madison Hubbell and
Adrian Diaz who work in London as well. For their Rhythm Dance
they used two Sambas and one Rhumba. They had good levels,
mainly GOEs of +3 and some +2 and components of 8.2. Ponomarenko
explained, “We're really happy with the performances. We want to
come in and capitalize on the events. We skated in Sheffield
just a few weeks ago, and made the little improvements that we
wanted to make in between.” In their free dance, however, to the
soundtrack of “Backbone” and to Gershwin’s “Summertime”, they
dropped to fourth place although they dd not make a big mistake.
But their GOEs were a bit lower and one lift was too long.
Natalie Taschlerova & Filip Taschler
from the Czech Republic came fifth with 186.39 points. Their
special strength is the high speed in which they always skate
their programs. In Espoo the students of Matteo Zanni in Italy
made no mistakes. In the Rhythm Dance to a Samba by Columbian
singer Shakira and to a Rhumba by Spanish pop singer Enrique
Iglesias, their levels were good and the GOEs mainly +2. In
their free dance, they tried to skate to music which shows in
favor of the protection of Nature, earning mainly GOEs of +2 and
components of around 8.2.
Carolane Soucisse & Shane Firus from
Canada came sixth with 175.63 points. Since this summer they do
not train any more in Montreal, but have switched to the school
of Carol Lane in Scarborough near Toronto. In their faultless
Rhythm Dance to Samba and Rhumba, GOEs of +2 dominated and their
components had an average of 7.8. In the free dance to “Aloha Ke”
by the international music group “Nahko Bear and Medicine for
the People”, their levels were mixed and the components around
7.8.
The second Finnish couple of Yuka
Orihara & Juho Pirinen gave a very good impression, skated with
a lot of charisma, and is seventh, earning 173.17 points. They
were a bit under-marked because they are Finland’s number two.
After competing at the NHK Trophy the week before, they could
not fly from Japan right to Finland, but had to stay in Sapporo
because of a strike of the airline company Finnair. They were
happy to get an extra training in Japan. Their lift and twizzles
in the Rhythm Dance had a level 4, the other two level elements
a level 2. Their GOEs were mainly +2 and +3. In the entertaining
free program to “My Jolly Sailor” and to “We’re Sinking” from
the soundtrack of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, their levels were
a bit lower, but the students of Italian Maurizio Margaglio
could convince the spectators and skated the sixth best free
dance after being eighth in the Rhythm Dance.
The U.S. team of Oona Brown and Gage
Brown of Huntington, New York, Junior World Champions in April
2022, finished on eighth place with 166.70 points. In the Rhythm
Dance to the Cha Cha “Bones”, his twizzles were a bit shaky and
he only got a level 2 for them, his sister, however, a level 4.
Their other elements were good. In the free dance, their
circular step sequence got only a level 1. Everything else was
good, but in their first senior season, they still skated a bit
like juniors. Therefore their components were only around 7.4.
Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu from China, who
train in Montreal, also could not fly from Japan to Finland
right after the NHK Trophy because of the Finnair strike. They
came ninth, earning 165.20 points, which was a bit disappointing
for them. But it had not been possible for them to come back
from China to Montreal a long time before. While in China, the
Montreal coaches had worked online with them, but sometimes
there were technical problems. In the free dance, Liu fell one
second after the end of a lift and he had had heavy back pain.
Natasha Lagouge and Arnaud Caffa from France, who train in
Finland with Maurizio Margaglio and French coach Neil Brown,
ended up tenth with 151.63 points in their very first Grand
Prix. They did not skate badly at all, on the contrary, most of
their elements had mainly GOEs of +1.
Interview with Ilia Malinin
Interview with Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, 2022 World Pairs Champions
2022 NHK Trophy
by Klaus-Reinhold Kany
(21 November 2022) NHK Trophy
is named after the Japanese TV channel which has sponsored the
Japanese skating Grand Prix for many years. This year, like in
2011, 2016 and 2019 and several times before, it took place in
Sapporo, a city of almost two million people in Northern Japan.
The ice rink is named Makumanai Sekisui Heim
Ice Arena Sapporo and was the rink of the Olympic Winter Games
of 1972, and has around 10,000 seats.
Women
The women’s competition at the NHK Trophy 2022 in Sapporo had
a good level. 19-year-old Yelim Kim from South Korea, who had
been ninth at the Olympic Games nine months ago, won in her
fifth Grand Prix her first gold medal, this time with 204.49
points. At the Grand Prix de France she had been second,
therefore she qualified for the Grand Prix Final. In Sapporo,
she beat the reigning Japanese World Champion Kaori Sakamoto.
The skater from Seoul had already taken the lead in the short
program, performing a clean program to the music “Mercy” by Max
Richter with seven very good elements, among them a combination
of triple Lutz and triple toe loop, a triple flip and three
level 4 spins. GOEs of +3 dominated for all elements and her
components had an average of 8.3. She commented, “I am so happy
for a clean program today. In France I lost some points in the
spin and step sequences and I’ve trained not to lose levels.
Maybe I worked on my mental focus just to do what I train.”
Her first element in the free program to the soundtrack of
“Summer of 42” and to “Summer Arabesque” by Karl Hugo was her
short program combination, again in very good quality. Three
good other triples came later, plus a triple flip with a touch
down which got a q and she went down on the second triple flip.
Two good double Axels, very good spins and step combinations
completed her program. Her components were around 8.3. This was
only the second best free program, but it was enough to keep her
first place. She said, “I can’t believe I just won an ISU Grand
Prix event. I think I’m going to cry. I tried to imagine my last
training skating; not to think about anything special. The
second flip was planned in a sequence with the double Axel and
so I did the double Axel with the triple Salchow like I do in
practice.”
World Champion Kaori Sakamoto from Japan had won Skate
America and therefore is also qualified for the Grand Prix Final
although she won only silver in Sapporo with 201.87 points. In
her short program, she was four points behind Kim. Skating to
“Rock With You” and to “Feedback”, both by Janet Jackson,
she began with a lot of speed and performed an outstanding
double Axel, followed by a triple Lutz for which she had to
fight to land it cleanly and it got a small edge warning.
Therefore the GOEs for this jumps were mostly -1. Her spins were
excellent and her step sequence fast and outstanding. On her
jump combination the triple flip got a q and the triple toe loop
was under-rotated and not cleanly landed. This element had
mainly GOEs of -5 although she did not fall. She explained,
“Today’s performance was not something that I expected, All my
jumps were unsatisfactory. Of course, this is one of the major
events in Japan and this makes me nervous. In Japan there are
still restrictions in place – you cannot cheer loudly. Nationals
is the one I am really nervous at and the NHK Trophy is almost
the same.”
Sakamoto was first in the free program with a distance of
1.53 points to Kim, but this was not enough to win gold overall.
After a stellar double Axel with a lot of speed on the landing,
which had three GOEs of +5, her triple Lutz got a small edge
warning again. Three more triple jumps were excellent, one of
them in the combination of double Axel, triple toe loop and
double toe loop. But both jumps of her triple flip, triple toe
loop combination were shaky and got a q for a small
under-rotation. All this would have been enough to win, but at
the end she made a big mistake and singled the triple loop which
cost her seven or eight points and kept her on second place. She
said, “I feel that I'm still far away from last year’s
condition. I popped the very last jump but overall I did
everything I could at this moment this season. I had to overcome
a cold after Skate America. Inside myself there were an angel
and a devil fighting each other. I want to overcome the devil.
It tells me, ‘You gave your best last year, this season you can
relax.’”
The second Japanese skater Rion Sumiyoshi won the bronze
medal with 193.12 points after being third at the Grand Prix in
France. Therefore she has to wait and see the result of the last
Grand Prix in Finland before she knows if she has qualified for
the Final. She began her romantic short program to “White
Flowers Take Their Bath” with a good double Axel, followed by a
combination of triple flip and triple toe loop, the second of
which got a q. Her triple Lutz was good, her spins and step
sequence excellent and she skated with deep edges, soft knees
and beautiful transitions. She explained, “In the short program
in France I nailed the first two jumps, but then my focus was
lost and I made mistakes on the spins and the third jump. This
time I made sure to stay focused, I did my jumps and spins. This
was my major improvement.”
In her free program to “Enchantress” by the U.S. music
company “Two Steps from Hell”, she was the only woman to try a
quad (toe loop), but she landed it forward. Therefore it was
downgraded and she fell. Five very good triples followed, but
she made a three-turn on her sixth triple, which was a flip and
went down again on a downgraded triple Salchow. Spins and steps
were very good and her components around 7.9. She said,
“Considering that this is my first senior Grand Prix and I got
third place in both competitions, I am happy. However, regarding
my performance today, there were so many regrettable points.”
U.S. skater Audrey Shin of Colorado Springs had been fourth
at Junior Worlds in April. In Sapporo, she finished on fourth
place again, earning 189.00 points. She began her short program
to the tango “Maria de Buenos Aires” with a combination of two
triple toe loops, but the second one got a q and therefore had
mainly GOEs of -1. Her double Axel and her triple loop were very
good, her spins and steps excellent and her components around
7.8. The student of Tammy Gambill commented, “I am so excited to
have this opportunity to skate in front of the crowd. It was a
dream of mine since I was little. I knew my jumps weren’t very
best today, so I am okay with the scores.” In her free program
to three music pieces of U.S. singer Michael W. Smith, she
performed four clean triple jumps, but two others were
under-rotated and she popped the flip. She explained, “I am very
relieved because I felt some pressure yesterday to keep that top
4 position and I am very happy I did that. I am glad I could get
the mistake at the beginning out of my mind and went through it.
The combination with two triple toe loops in the second half was
a last minute decision. I thought I was going to try.”
Rinka Watanabe from Japan, who had won Skate Canada three
weeks ago, landed on fifth position with 188.07 points. She had
trained in Vancouver for years, but went back to Japan when the
pandemic began in 2020. In the short program she was only ninth
after falling on a shaky and under-rotated triple Axel and after
popping the triple loop. With the third best free program, she
could move up four spots. She landed the triple Axel with a
three-turn and four more good triple jumps, but landed a triple
flip on two feet and singled a Lutz. Seyeon Ji from South Korea
trains in Colorado Springs and came sixth with 184.14 points.
Her short program was almost flawless with a good combination of
triple Lutz and triple toe loop. She performed seven clean
triples in her free program, but her spins were not very
impressive and her components were lower in both programs.
Niina Petrokina from Estonia is ranked seventh with 180.29
points. In the short program, the triple flip was clean, but she
went down on the downgraded triple toe loop after the triple
Lutz. Four triple jumps in her free program were good, but she
touched down on a triple Salchow and the second triple Lutz was
a bit under-rotated. Later she explained, “I am so tired now,
but happy I made it through my program well. The public was
amazing and helped me a lot.” The third South Korean skater
Seoyeong Wi came eighth, earning 176.74 points. Her double Axel
and her triple loop in the short were very good, but both jumps
in her combination of triple Lutz and triple toe loop got a q.
In the free program, she fell on the triple loop and four other
jumps were not rotated correctly.
Californian skater Starr Andrews, who had
won the silver medal at Skate Canada, landed on ninth place
with 174.06 points. She was fifth in the clean short program
with a combination of two triple toe loops and very good spins
and steps. But she dropped four spots after being only 12th in
the free program. She performed only two clean triple jumps,
fell on the triple loop, popped a flip and under-rotated four
other jumps. Olga Mikutina from Austria finished on tenth
position with 173.36 points. In her short program, two jumps got
a q and she went down on the under-rotated triple Lutz half a
second after thinking she has landed it correctly. In her free
program, three triples were good, but the loop was shaky, the
Lutz under-rotated and she doubled two jumps which were planned
triple. She said, “The full stadium and all the clapping makes
me feel like I am at Worlds.”
Amber Glenn of Colorado Springs is 11th with 169.36 points
after being third at Skate America. In the short program, she
stepped out of the triple flip and fell on the triple loop. Her
double Axel was very good. In the free program, the eighth best
of the competition, her triple Axel was landed on two feet, four
other triples were good, but three more jumps not correctly
landed. Eva-Lotta Kiibus from Estonia ended up on 12th place
with 162.37 points. She popped the Lutz in the short program and
performed only a shaky combination of triple toe loop and double
toe loop. In the free program, three triples were good, but
three others under-rotated.
Ice Dance
The ice dance competition of the NHK Trophy
had a very good level and ended with a surprise at the top. The
favorites Madison Chock & Evan Bates, fourth at the Olympic
Games and third at Worlds 2022, did not win, but were second.
Instead, the Canadian team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry &
Nikolaj Soerensen, who had been ninth at these two events and
had competed for his native Denmark until 2018, won the gold
medal in a tight decision with 210.41 points. This is their
first gold medal in their eleventh Grand Prix after winning
silver in France two weeks before.
Dancing to three songs by Gloria Estefan, the students of the
Ice Academy of Montreal took the lead in the Rhythm Dance with
.66 points because they had the higher levels. The stationary
lift, the twizzles and the pattern dance type step sequence had
a level 4, the Midline Step Sequence a level 3. All five
elements were excellent, GOEs of +3 and +4 dominated and their
components were around 9.1. Soerensen commented, “I was
surprised. I walked out and saw our name on top and I couldn’t
really believe it. But we've set really high goals for this year
and worked really hard to realize those goals. We came out after
the Olympics to recalibrate the way we train, the way we think,
really do everything for the purpose. So we're just really happy
that we were able to go out there and then it bears fruit with
the first place here today.”
In their emotional and passionate free
dance with eight different music pieces, which may be called
“Mexican Flamenco”, the Canadians kept the lead with a
difference of only .62 points and also won the free dance
although their combination lift was longer than 12 seconds and
one point was deducted. Once again all elements were
outstanding, the choreographic steps near the end even had three GOEs
of +5 and the components had an average of 9.3. Fournier Beaudry
said, “It is a dream come true and something we have worked for
for a very long time.” Soerensen added, “There are a lot of
emotions and a lot of thoughts. We were just extremely proud of
being able to deliver these two performances that brought us to
the top of the podium today. Thinking back, it’s been a long
journey and I wish that I just could tell everybody that starts
somewhere that you can make it anywhere you want to go if you
commit properly.”
Madison Chock & Evan Bates, training mates
of the gold medalists in Montreal, won silver with 209.13
points. Dancing and entertaining to two Sambas and a Rhumba of
“Let’s Dance” by David Bowie, they had two elements with level 4
and the pattern dance type step sequence with a level 3, like
the Canadians, but she had only level 1 on the midline step
sequence and he had level 3. GOEs of +3 and +4 dominated on all
five elements and the components were around 9.2. Chock
admitted, “A level one on my midline step, two small errors, but
obvious nonetheless and that's costly in any competition. We’ll
just be looking to clean that up and continue pushing our
performance because we had a great time out there and the
audience was fantastic.” Bates added, “We are really happy with
this David Bowie Remix. We actually changed it a bit from Skate
America, so this current version that we just skate is really up
tempo, I felt like the audience was clapping almost immediately
through the whole program. It’s true we had a little late start
into the season, we had some great touring which was a good way
to round up the Olympic season. Jumping back into training was a
little quick, but we love competing.”
In their free dance to “Souffrance” by the
French band Orange Blossom and to “Les Tectoniques” by Quebec
singer Jorane, most elements were excellent, the twizzles good
and she had only a level 3 for this element. Their components
had an average of 9.2. Chock explained the concept, “We've made
some big renovations on both programs and we are very pleased
with how we were able to perform this week. We’ve done some
evolving of our concept and our character since Skate America.
It's about the relationship of the spirit of fire and spirit of
air and how one cannot survive without each other. They have the
ability to rebuild, devour and produce life to each other and
things around them. We wanted to express that relationship. It's
something we have connected with and are excited to keep
exploring.” Bates added, “Our goal remains the same, We want to
win Worlds this year. It’s never a linear line to the top.
This season is just a new territory for everyone. Competition will be
tough and we just have to be the best.” Both top dance teams are
qualified for the Final.
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons from the new dance school
in Canton, Michigan, won the bronze medal with 191.10 points
after being fourth at Skate Canada. In their Rhythm Dance in
Sapporo to two Sambas and one Rhumba, all elements were at least
good, the twizzles even excellent, the levels were mixed and
their components around 8.4. Parson said. “We're very proud of
how we skated, This season for us has been about our constant
improvement and the last two weeks we've been really happy with
how we’ve trained after Skate Canada and it's cumulated into
this Rhythm Dance today.” In their free dance to George
Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, GOEs of +3 dominated for all ten
elements. Five of them had a level 4, but the two step sequences
1 and 2. The components were around 8.5. They were fourth in the
free dance, but remained in third position overall. “Caroline
and I are very happy with how we skated here,” Parsons
explained. “Of course we know we can be a lot better in terms of
execution and our general score so we have a lot to work on, but
that's been the theme of our season.”
Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius from Lithuania, who
train in Montreal, finished on fourth position, earning 189.98
points. Japan is special for her because her mother is Japanese
and her sister coaches in Japan. In the Rhythm Dance to Mambo,
Rhumba and Samba by the Swiss music duo Yello, they had good
levels, GOEs of mainly +2 and +3 and components of around 8.3.
They had the third best free dance, but remained on fourth
position. In this free dance to a Techno medley, all elements
were very good, the GOEs had mainly +3 and the components were
around 8.4.
Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud from France placed
fifth with 184.63 points after being third in France. Four
elements in the Rhythm Dance to a Rhumba and a Samba were very
good, the twizzles good. In their free dance to two songs of
French singer Edith Piaf, the levels were relatively high, all
elements were very good and the components around 8.2. Brissaud
said, “We take from this competition how to skate under different
conditions, with the time difference, but it’s a good
experience. We also aren’t used to skate last in the group. It
was not perfect today, but we fought.”
Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi were the
better of the two Japanese couples, coming sixth with 178.78
points. Takahashi is 36 years old and the single skating World
Champion of 2010. He finished his career in 2014 and came back
as an ice dancer in 2018. He skates much more flexible now than
one or two years ago. Dancing to Salsa, Rhumba and Samba in the
Rhythm Dance, the students of Marina Zueva performed five good
elements and had components of 8.0. In their free dance to
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera”, his twizzles were
a bit shaky, all other elements good. Takahashi said,
“Competition is the best practice, as our coach told us. You
learn when to be aggressive and when to save energy, so the
previous competition helped.”
Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu from China, who had
been 12th at the Olympic Games in their home country, train in
Montreal when they are allowed to leave China, otherwise often
online with their Montreal coaches. They are seventh with 174.11
points. They danced to a Cha Cha and two Sambas in the Rhythm
Dance. Twizzles and lift were excellent, the other elements
good. In the free dance, their twizzles were not ideal, but all
other elements at least good. Their components had an average of
7.7. Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen from Finland finished on eighth
place with 168.45 points. In the Rhythm Dance, their twizzles
were a bit shaky, the other elements good. In their free dance
to “My Jolly Sailor Bold”, Yuka is a siren who tries to seduce
him, then kills him. All elements had positive GOEs. After their
free dance, they were overwhelmed because they received the very
first standing ovation in their life because Orihara is
Japanese.
Misato Komatsubara & her husband Tim Koleto
from Japan are ninth with 164.30 points. They mainly train in
Montreal. Their elements in both programs were good, but two
lifts in the free program were a bit too long and got a
deduction. They were a bit slower than last year. Their music in
the free dance is from the soundtrack of “The Fifth Element”. He
said, “It’s always special to skate in Japan. It’s great to have
our two Grand Prix in Canada and Japan as we feel at home in
both countries. In Japan everyone is wearing masks and not
screaming, but they were clapping very loud and that gave us
confidence.” The U.S. team Katarina Wolfkostin & Jeffrey Chen
from the new dance school in Canton, Michigan ended up tenth and
last with 148.10 points. In their free program they used music
from the British band “Florence and the Machine”. In the Rhythm
Dance, they had only level 1 in both step sequences, but
performed well. In the free dance, she used her second foot in
the second part of the twizzle sequence and he fell on the last
rotational lift when he skated on one foot – the only serious
mistakes in the whole ice dance competition.
Pairs
The pairs
competition had a higher level than the early Grand Prix because
not only one or top two teams were good or excellent. Most other
teams skated better than at their first Grand Prix or earlier in
the season. Therefore in Sapporo the general level was
relatively good. There were only six pairs competing because two
others withdrew and could not be replaced any more because of
the lack of pairs worldwide. Russian pairs are still excluded,
Chinese pairs are not allowed to come due to Covid 19 and six
good North American pairs had finished their career after the
end of last season.
To the delight
of the big majority of the spectators, all of whom had to wear
face masks, Riku Miura (20) & Ryuichi Kihara (30) from Japan
celebrated a run-away victory with 216.16 points and got
standing ovations after each of their two strong performances.
They had been seventh of the Olympic Games nine months ago,
second at Worlds 2022 and won Skate Canada 2022 in late October.
The pair trains in Oakville, Ontario, situated one hour
southwest of Toronto, mainly with renowned Canadian coach Bruno
Marcotte. He had already suggested them to compete together
while holding a pair skating seminar for the Japanese federation
in springtime 2019. In early summer 2022 Miura dislocated her
shoulder and they could not fully train for two and a half
months. But this injury did not affect her any more, on the
contrary, she looked more confident then ever.
Their short
program music pieces are “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by several
arrangers and to “Sweet Hope Walk” by Canadian music arranger
Karl Hugo. They opened their program with an elegant triple
twist, though only level 2. The side by side triple toe loop was
excellent, the triple throw Lutz as well and exactly to the beat
of the music. Like all other level elements it had level 4. The
difficult backwards Axel lift was outstanding. Their components
had an average of 8.7 and they had a new personal best of 78.25
points in the short. During their step sequence you could see
and feel joy on their faces. Kihara said,
“Since Skate Canada we worked with our
coach to make sure we get our levels, and we are happy we got to
do that. After Skate Canada we were able to do really good
training and had absolutely no worries coming here and this
naturally came out in our performance today.”
They opened their free program to “Atlas: Two” by the U.S.
project “Sleeping At Last” and to “Shared Tenderness” by Karl
Hugo with a good triple twist, followed by a combination of
triple toe loop and two double toe loops. It was correctly
executed, but a bit out of sync. The three lifts were
outstanding, her triple Salchow under-rotated, the triple throw
loop and all other elements excellent. She only touched down on
the triple throw Lutz, She laughed and shook her hands, knowing the
program was still good enough for gold.
Their components were around 8.7 because of the
unique connection between them, which was underlined
especially because of their extroverted character.
Miura explained, “More than skating perfectly we want to show
our personalities and smile. We were able to completely finish
the performance within the allocated time and felt good about
that. After the throws jumps, we made a mistake in the choreographic
lift for the first time and my reaction was like ‘oh, oh, I made
a mistake’. We actually made many small mistakes – despite that,
we got a personal best in the total score and we are very happy
about that.” Kihara added, ”We had won a spot at the Grand Prix
Final last year. But because of the Omicron variation of
Covid-19 it was cancelled, and we were very disappointed. We are
very happy to go now and we found a lot of things that we will
look to improve on. I think one thing I will mention is that we
are very similar as skaters. We don’t force ourselves too much.
We both like speed on the ice. On a personal level we are very
balanced and we compliment each other well.”
Emily Chan & Spencer Akiro Howe of Norwood near Boston won the
silver medal with a personal best of 187.49 points after being
also second at Skate Canada. With the results of the NHK Trophy
being fixed, they know they are also qualified for this year’s Final in Turin in early
December. Howe likes especially skating in Japan as his mother
is Japanese, “It’s cool to be able to come here and feel a
little bit more connected in that sense. I’m able to embrace
that culture when I’m here.” In their short program to “Nyah” by
CH2 and Hans Zimmer, their triple twist was nice. Chan landed
the triple throw loop on two feet and went down on the triple
toe loop. The four other elements, all with level 4, were very
good and their components around 7.5. Chan admitted, “We had
some technical errors in the jumping, but besides that, we got
out there and had great energy and enjoyed performing in front
of the Japanese crowd.”
They began their free program to two versions of “Unchained
Melody”, one from the musical “Ghost”, exceptionally not with
the triple twist, like all other pairs did, but with a good jump
combination of double Salchow and two double Axels, followed by
a toe loop which she doubled and he tripled. The triple twist
was a bit wobbly and she landed the triple throw loop on two
feet. Two lifts, the other triple throw and the other elements
were impressive, the third lift good and their three components
around 7.7. Chan explained,
“We were coming into the Free Skate with the goal of giving all
our love and going for everything. We are very happy to have a
new personal best. We are very grateful that we can go to the
Grand Prix Final in our first year on the Grand Prix circuit. We
hope to take the short time to improve our technical (elements)
and fix the small technical errors so that we can increase our
score.”
Brooke McIntosh & Benjamin Mimar of Toronto took bronze with
175.65 points. The Canadian students of Dmitri Savin had also
won a bronze medal at Junior Worlds six months ago and were
fourth at Skate Canada three weeks ago. In the short program to
“Release” by U.S. musician Jennifer Thomas, their twist and
their triple toe loop were good, the landing of the triple throw
loop a bit rough and the reverse lasso lift good. Thhe other
three elements were lean and the components around 6.7. McIntosh
commented,
“It was lot of fun skating in front of the Japanese crowd. Even
with the small mistake we were able to get a personal best and
we are excited for that.” In their free program to the musical
“Les Miserables” by Claude-Michel Schoenberg, most elements were
good, the three lifts even very good, she only fell hard on the
triple throw loop. Mimar explained, “We are very happy about our first Grand
Prix medal, and I am proud of my partner. Even with the fall she
fought to the end.” McIntosh confirmed that she was checked by
the doctor and was okay.
Irma Caldara & Riccardo Maglio from Torino in Italy finished on
fourth position earning 164.23 points. In the short program,
they skated to “Brotsjur” (breaker) by Icelandic composer Olafur
Arnalds and to “Iron” by French composer Woodkid. Their twist
was good, most other elements OK, but the triple throw loop
deeply landed. For the free program they used the music “Don’t
Be So Serious” by the Californian Band Low Roar and to “BB’s
Theme” by British singer Jenni Plant. They made no big mistakes,
but several small ones, like being far apart on the double Axel
and shaky landing on the two throws.
Camille & Pavel Kovalev from France came fifth with 162.01
points. They were still solid, but did not skate as clean as in
Angers where they had won a silver medal. In the short program
in Sapporo, she stepped out of the triple throw Salchow and the
other elements had less plus points than in France. In the free
program, most elements were good again, but her second toe loop
in the jump combination was only single and she touched down on
the triple throw flip. She said it was difficult for them
especially with the jetlag. They had never performed so early in
the morning. The Grand Prix Final was in their mind. They were
sad after the short program, but less after the free.
Daria Danilova & Michel Tsiba from the Netherlands had been
surprising ninth at Worlds 2022. They were invited to Skate
America, but Danilova, who is a Russian citizen, did not get a
visa for the USA. For Japan, a visa for her was no problem,
therefore they came to Sapporo as alternates for the Australian
pair of Maria Chernyshova & Harley Windsor who had finished
their career in springtime, but announced it much later. The
Dutch pair ended up on sixth position with 155.84 points in the
first Grand Prix of their career. In their short program to “The
Hunger Games”, their twist was a bit shaky, Tsiba fell on the
triple Salchow and Danilova touched down on the triple throw
flip. The other elements were o.k. In their free program, they
made four mistakes, including a fall on the triple throw flip.
Two pairs were missing and could not be replaced, The Czech team
of Jelizaveta Zukova & Martin Bidar withdrew because Zukova’s
mother had died one week before and she had to go home. The
German pair of Annika Hocke & Robert Kunkel cancelled their
participation because Hocke had been tested positive with Covid
19 some days before.
Men
The level of
the men’s competition at the NHK Trophy 2022 in Sapporo was
better than at the first two or three Grand Prix, but there were
still many mistakes. Reigning world champion Shoma Uno from
Japan won his home Grand Prix easily with 279.76 points. The
Olympic Bronze medalist opened his short program to the music
“Gravity” by U.S. singer John Mayer with an excellent quad flip,
but went down on the quad toe loop which was a bit over-rotated.
Therefore he had no combination and was second in the short
program, five points behind the winner. His triple Axel was very
good, his three level 4 spins and his step sequence outstanding
and his components had an average of 8.9. He explained, “There
was one mistake. Compared to my short program at Skate Canada I
did a good job. I am very aware that this competition has some
weight and I hope to make it to the Grand Prix Final. I believe
each time I skate I identify what the challenges are and I hope
to have a finished product at the end of the season.”
In the free program to Johann Sebastian
Bach’s “Air on a G string” and other Christian music pieces, the
student of Swiss coach Stéphane Lambiel fought back and began
with a very good quad loop which is still rare in the world. His
quad Salchow was impressive as well. Skating in an elegant but
not very fast style, the 24-year-old skater then popped the quad
flip and executed it only double. He recovered quickly and
performed an excellent sequence of triple Axel and double Axel,
a good quad toe loop and a second quad toe loop with double toe
loop which was a bit shaky. The second triple Axel was good, the
spins excellent and the two step sequences outstanding. His
components were around 9.0. He commented, “The Free Skating was
not that great. Of course, I had to get the points with my
jumps. When it comes to the transitions, there were a lot of
omissions. I have to apologize to the choreographer because
there were so many things I could have done, but I couldn't
today. I will keep training in Japan but will go to Switzerland
a few days before the Final to adjust my jetlag and my
condition. In Switzerland Stéphane is there to stop me from
training too much. In Champéry I do more off ice training than
in Japan, for example ballet and physical training. Yesterday
after the training we went out to eat something and he told me
that I shouldn't try too hard to make a perfect performance. I
knew that in my heart, but to hear that from a third person made
me happy.”
Uno’s teammate Sota Yamamoto had taken the
lead with the only clean short program to three music versions
of “Yesterday”. All his seven elements were excellent, including
the combination of quad toe loop and triple toe loop and the
quad Salchow. His components were around 8.2. He said, “This
season I have been quite consistent in my short program and
today I was able to land all my jumps, so I’m happy to do that.
I do not have a great record at the Grand Prix so far. Making
the Grand Prix Final is a goal, but don’t want to think too much
about it and just focus on what I need to do.”
But in the
free program, he was not that consistent, had only the sixth
best program and dropped to second place with 257.85 overall
points. The quad Salchow at the beginning was very good, the two
quad toe loops (the second one with a triple toe loop) good. But
then he fell on the first triple Axel and once more on the
second triple Axel. In his next combination, the triple toe loop
after the triple flip was shaky. This toe loop did not get any
points anyway because he had already repeated two other jumps
and it is not allowed to repeat more than two. Another
combination triple Lutz (with small edge warning), Euler and
triple Salchow did not get many plus points. His spins were
excellent, his step sequences good and his components around
8.2. He commented, “I was last to skate, and I had practiced
that.” He reached the Grand Prix Final as well and commented, “I
had the pleasure to go to the Junior Grand Prix Final together
with Shoma. After that I didn’t have too great results on the
senior Grand Prix. I am very happy to go to the Final this year
together with Shoma.”
Junhwan Cha from South Korea won the bronze
medal with 254.76 points. In the last two and a half years, he
had trained in South Korea and with Brian Orser in Toronto only
online. In his short program to a Michael Jackson medley, he
fell on an under-rotated quad Salchow and stepped out of the
triple loop which was part of his combination after the triple
Lutz. The five other elements were good. With the second best
free program to music of a James Bond medley, he moved up from
sixth to third place. Two very good quads (Salchow and toe loop)
were the first elements in his free program, four triple
followed, but an under-rotated first triple Axel and a second
one with a rough landing had negative GOEs. His components were
around 8.4. He said, “After the very disappointing Short Program
I was quite satisfied with my performance today,. It was hard, I
had to work a lot today and I fought through my program.”
Kazuki
Tomono from Japan, who had been third at the Grand Prix de
France and sixth at Worlds, finished on fourth position with
251.83 points. In his entertaining short program to “Happy Jazz”
in two versions, his combination of quad toe loop and triple toe
loop had a turn between the two jumps. He went down on the
under-rotated quad Salchow. His step sequence was excellent. He
admitted, “Since the six minutes warm up my body felt wobbly,
and I was worried whether it would work out. I need to calm down
next time. Concerning the salchow, already during the warm-up I
didn't feel physically stable.” He began his free program to
“Die Fledermaus” (the Bat) by Johann Strauss with a very good
combination of quad toe loop and triple toe loop, but popped the
Salchow which was also planned quadruple. Then he went down on
the second quad toe loop, but added five impressive triple jumps
including two Axels. His two step sequences were outstanding
because he moved exactly to the beat of the music, like an ice
dancer. His components were around 8.4.
Adam Siao Him Fa from France is fifth,
earning 250.45 points. In the short program to “Rain, In Your
Black Eyes” by Italian composer Ezio Bosso, his combination of
quad toe loop and triple toe loop was very good, but he touched
down on the triple Axel and stepped out of the quad Salchow. His
step sequence was very powerful, had showy moves. He explained,
“My choreographer Benoit Richaud asked me while creating the
program what tricks I can do in the step sequence. I tested some
new things and he liked them.” In the free program to music
pieces mainly by Woodkid, he dropped from third to fifth place
because he stepped out of the quad toe loop and later doubled
three jumps which were planned triple. Two more quads were good,
spins and steps excellent.
Matteo Rizzo
from Italy came sixth, earning 240.76 points. In his short
program, his quad toe loop was downgraded, he almost fell and
had not yet a combination. Therefore he left out the quad loop,
went safe and performed a clean combination of triple flip and
triple toe loop instead. The triple Axel was good, the other
elements very good. In the free, his quad toe loop was quite bad
again. Therefore he concentrated on his eight triples, seven of
which were good. He said, “Competing in Japan is always hard for
us and brings a big jetlag, I really take from this competition
that I need to adjust a bit better and earlier the next time.”
Nika Egadze
from Georgia placed seventh with 232.86 points. His combination
of quad Salchow and triple toe loop was good, his quad toe loop
as well, but he made a three-turn on the way out of the triple
Axel. In the free program, two quads were good, but he fell on
the second quad toe loop and made three smaller mistakes later.
He did not skate with much connection to the music and dropped
from fifth to seventh position. 17-year-old Stephen Gogolev from
Canada finished eighth with 221.02 points. In the short program,
the student of Rafael Arutunian touched down on the quad toe
loop before performing a double toe loop as second part of his
combination. He doubled the Salchow which was planned quadruple.
The other five elements were good. His first element in the free
program was a good quad toe loop, but then he popped the Salchow.
Later he repeated a good quad Salchow with a double toe loop.
Two good triple Axels were clean, two other triples good as
well, but he touched down on the triple loop. His rotation speed
is very high.
Gabriele
Frangipani from Italy finished ninth with 212.31 points. He went
down on the short program quad toe loop and simplified his
combination to double Lutz and triple toe loop. His other
elements were mainly o.k. In the free program, his opening toe
loop was only triple and he almost fell, then he stepped out of
the quad Salchow. Later six triples were good, including two
Axels. He said, “I fought until the end. That’s a big
improvement for me as I used to give up easily last season.”
Conrad Orzel
from Canada is tenth with 202.69 points. He was invited as an
alternate for the Chinese skater Boyang Jin who had trained in
Toronto, but was injured. In the short, Orzel’s combination of
quad toe loop and double toe loop was good. But he stepped out
and touched down on the quad Salchow. His triple Axel had a
shaky landing. He said, “I just felt the energy of the great
Japanese crowd, it was amazing and I tried to embrace that.” In
his free program, only four triples were more or less clean, but
he stepped out of the double toe loop after the quad toe loop.
Maurizio Zandron from Austria finished 11th
with 201.72 points at his very first Grand Prix at the age of 30
years. His technique in the triple jumps sometimes is not clean.
He lost balance in one spin in the short program and later said
there was something on the ice. His four triple jumps were soso.
In the free program, four triple jumps were relatively clean,
but four others more or less shaky. U.S. skater Tomoki Hiwatashi
ended up 12th and last with 185.05 points after being ninth in
Sheffield the week before. He missed three elements in the short
program. After performing two tight quads at the beginning of
his free program, he later popped four jumps.
MK John Wilson Trophy Sheffield 2022
by Klaus-Reinhold Kany
(21 November 2022) For the first
time in more than 25 years of Grand Prix history, a Senior Grand
Prix took place in the United Kingdom. China had given back its
Grand Prix for the third
time in four years, this time because of their zero Covid 19
policy. The country does not allow foreign skaters, coaches,
officials and spectators into their country because of the risk
of bringing the disease back to China (where its origins are).
The ISU asked other countries to take it and finally gave it to
the British federation. It took place in Sheffield where many
British National Championships, some ISU Junior Grand Prix and
the European Championships 2012 had been organized. Sheffield is
home city of the steel company John Wilson which produces many
of the blades of all skaters worldwide. Therefore it was logical
that this company became the title sponsor of this Grand Prix.
Women
The women’s
competition at the Grand Prix in Sheffield had a relatively good
level, but nobody tried a triple Axel nor a quad.
Mai Mihara
from Japan, who was fourth at Japanese Nationals one year ago
and had won the Four-Continents Championships 2022, took the
gold medal in her tenth Grand Prix with 217.43 points, seven of
which were fourth places. She had been in hospital for arthritis
several times in the 2019/2020 season. The 23-year-old skater
opened her short program to the music “Merry Christmas, Mr.
Lawrence” by Ryuichi Sakamoto with a very good double Axel, but
had a tight landing on her triple flip. The combination of
triple Lutz and triple toe loop was excellent, two spins and the
step sequence outstanding and her components around 8.6. She
admitted, “I was so nervous, but I was looking forward to skate
here. I am thinking about the next Olympics and I'd like to aim
for it. Today I skated in front of so many people, I am so
grateful for that.”
In her Spanish
free program to “El Amor Brujo” by Manuel de Falla, the student
of Sonoko Nakano included seven triple jumps, four of them
excellent, including a combination of triple Lutz and triple toe
loop, a good loop, and two slightly under-rotated ones. Spins
and step sequences were excellent, the components around 8.8
because of her charming style and her elegance. She explained,
“I am really happy now, because I finished fourth many times. I
thought I can’t make it to the podium, but my coach told me you
can get a medal - and you can even be on the top. I couldn’t
believe it.” Japan nominated her for the University Games which
will take place in mid-January in Lake Placid, NY.
Present Junior
World Champion, the 15-year-old Isabeau Levito of Mount Laurel
in New Jersey was relatively close to Mihara. After Skate
America she won her second silver medal with 215.74 points.
Therefore she has very probably qualified for the Grand Prix
Final. For her young age, the student of Yulia Kuznetsova and
choreographer Evgeni Platov, the ice dance Olympic Gold medal
winner of 1994 and 1998, she has a very elegant style and
reminds of a ballet dancer. She just has the complete package
which is needed for big successes in the future. She began her
short program to a kind of flamenco called “Una Noche Mas” by
Israeli singer Jasmin Levy with a triple flip which got a small
edge warning, followed by an impressive double Axel and a very
good combination of triple Lutz and triple toe loop. Her spins
and the step sequence were excellent and her components around
8.5. She remarked, “I have a mental vision of how I wanted so
skate and I feel like I've yet to see it, but I felt very happy
with how I did. I don't think there is any additional pressure.
I'm just very excited to come here and compete, and so far
everything has been so wonderful.”
The first element in her divine free program to the romantical
Russian folk music “My Sweet and Tender Beast” in a vocal
version was a clean combination of triple Lutz and triple loop,
which is rare. Five other triples followed, three of which were
excellent. The two triple flips had a small edge warning. Her
spins and step sequences were outstanding and even had a few
GOEs of +5. Her components had an average of 8.7. She remained
self-critical, “It was pretty good, but it was definitely short
of perfection. I was slightly disappointed in my triple
Lutz-triple loop combination. I know I can do it better and I
was a little upset when it wasn’t absolutely perfect. I am very
happy to go to the final. That was my goal. My idols are Evgenia Medvedeva and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.”
Anastasiia
Gubanova from Georgia, sixth at Worlds 2022, was born in Russia
and competed for this country until some years ago. After
switching to Georgia she had more chances to get international
competitions. In Sheffield she took bronze, earning 193.11
points. She stills trains in Russia with Evgeni Rukavitsin and
doesn’t have to be afraid of being drafted to the Russian army
because Russia does not have female soldiers. But Rukavitsin
could not travel to Sheffield, therefore only the Georgian team
leader was with her. Her combination of triple flip and triple
toe loop in the short program was excellent, like her step
sequence. Her double Axel, the triple Lutz and two spins were
good. The 19-year-old skater explained her program, “I really
like it when the program has a storyline, I'm skating a girl
who, at the beginning of the program, is just living a happy
life. In the second half there is an accident, the girl is in a
coma. She is between life and death, strives towards the light,
and in the end there is the sound of a deep breath and I am
alive.”
In her free
program, she interprets Indian music pieces called “Latika’s
Theme” and “Historiette”. She had five good triple jumps, and
two which got a q for a slight under-rotation. Spins and steps
were good, her components around 7.8. She was fifth in the free,
but remained third overall. She said, “This was my first
senior-level Grand Prix event and I am glad that I won this
medal for my country, Georgia.”
Young You from South Korea finished on fourth position, earning
191.36 points. She mainly trains in Colorado Springs now and
coach Viktor Pfeifer came with her. In her short program to the
Tango “Oteno Porteno”, her double Axel was good, but her triple
Lutz under-rotated. In her combination, the triple flip before
the triple toe loop got a small edge warning. Her spins were
good, the step sequence excellent. With the third best
free program, she moved up from sixth to fourth place. Six
triple jumps were at least good, only her triple flip got
another small edge warning and was nearly under-rotated (q).
Spins and steps were good, her components around 7.9. She said,
“Ahead of the competition I was sick. I had quite a high fever. I
thought about withdrawing but I had already travelled here. I am
better now, but not fully recovered. I
had a rough time during the Olympics because my father passed
away, which prevented me from participating in the Gala.
Especially the support of my fans helps me to overcome all that
and I am happy that I am on the right track again.”
Ekaterina Kurakova from Poland, who trains in Italy
under Lorenzo Magri, placed fifth with 190.44 points. Skating to
the two Elvis Presley songs “Can’t Help Falling in Love With
You” and “A Little Less Conversation”, she under-rotated the
triple Lutz of her combination a bit (q) and added a double toe
loop. The triple loop and the five other elements were very
good. She said, “The support is incredible. I feel like no
matter what I do, I am already a winner of the hearts.” In the
entertaining free program to the soundtrack of “Up” she got three q on her
three first triples, but added four clean ones and good steps
and spins.
Nicole Schott from Germany moved up
from seventh in the short to sixth place with 181.41 points. She
had been sick with Long Covid 19 for several months and in
Sheffield did her first good competition of the season. In the
short program to “Despedida” by Shakira, the longtime student of
Michael Huth tried a triple-triple combination, but after a
clean flip she under-rotated the triple toe loop. The triple
loop and the other elements were good. In her free program to
two versions of the “Bohemian Rhapsody”, her opening triple flip
and a second flip with a double toe loop and a double loop were
good. Her triple loop was under-rotated, but three more triples
good. She commented, “I
am very pleased. I actually thought for a long time I would quit
after the 22 Olympics. But I realized I just love it still so
much. I will keep doing this as long as I enjoy it.”
Gabriella Izzo of Norwood near Boston placed seventh, earning
174.10 points. She is a fulltime student of Harvard University.
Her short program to “Punga” arranged by Cedric Tour was
faultless with a combination of triple flip and double toe loop,
a triple Lutz and three level 4 spins. In her free program to
three music pieces of Max Richter, four triple jumps were good,
but she popped the flip and the second Lutz and therefore
dropped from fifth to seventh place. Gabrielle Daleman from
Canada is eighth with 163.77 points. She started her short
program with her excellent trademark combination of two triple
toe loops, but fell on the triple Lutz. In her free program,
this combination did not work, but she skated a bit better than
at Skate Canada. She fell on the triple toe loop, but had two
good other triples.
Alexia Paganini from Switzerland finished on ninth position
with 156.89 points. She changed coaches several times and now
now trains with Michael Huth in Germany. In her short program
combination of two triple toe loops, she stepped out of the
second one. The triple loop was good, but one of her three spins
had not enough revolutions. In her free, only two triple jumps
were correct, but three more under-rotated. Her step sequences
and her transitions were a bit easy. Julia Sauter (25) lives in
Germany but competes for Romania, home country of her parents.
She was 18th at Worlds 2022 and Sheffield was her
first Grand Prix. In the short program, she could not add a
second jump to her triple toe loop. Later she added a double toe
loop to the triple Salchow. With five clean triple jumps in the
free, she moved up from 12th to 10th place
with 156.46 points.
Natasha McKay from
Britain, longtime student of Simon Briggs in Dundee, is 11th
with 155.20 points. Her short program was clean with a
combination of triple loop and double toe loop and a triple
Salchow. In her free, she performed three clean triples, but
popped the Lutz and dropped from 9th to 11th
position. The 2018 and 2021 U.S. champion Bradie Tennell ended
up 12th and last with 153.19 points. She had to sit
out the whole Olympic season due to a longtime foot injury. In
this summer, she moved to Nice in France, where her
choreographer Benoit Richaud now works with her also as coach.
The John Wilson Trophy was her first competition since her
injury. In the short to “Restrictus” arranged by Cedric Tour,
she fell on the under-rotated triple toe loop in her combination
with the triple Lutz and went down again on the under-rotated triple loop. The five
other elements were very good. In her free to a Four Seasons
medley, she fell three times and had only two good triples. She
said,
“I think I never skated a program as
badly as I did today but I am happy because I was able to come
back, I didn’t give up.”
Men
The men’s
competition of the John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield had a mixed
level. The best five skaters had a really high level, but the
second half a low one. Daniel Grassl from Italy won the gold
medal with 264.35 points in his second Grand Prix of this season
after being fourth at Skate America. He has to wait and see if
this is enough for reaching the Grand Prix Final. It was the
first gold medal for an Italian man in the Grand Prix history.
After training for almost three months in Norwood, Massachusetts
with Alexei Letov, he had returned to his hometown of Merano in
Italy after Skate America. Skating to “Silhouette” by the
British music duo Aquilo, in Sheffield he was second in the
short program which he opened with a quad Lutz which he landed
on one foot, but a bit tight. His triple Axel was very good, but
in his combination he stepped out of the almost under-rotated
triple toe loop after the triple Lutz. His spins, especially his
body positions were excellent and innovative, had difficult edge
changes and his components around 8.2. He commented, “I needed
to go back to Italy to see my friends and family, because I
really missed them. It was nice that my mum cooked for me again.
I'm happy with how I've worked because I really wanted to come
here and be prepared.”
His first
element in his free program to four music pieces arranged by
Frenchman Cedric Tour was a good quad Lutz, but then came his
only mistake when he went down on his quad flip. Later he
performed seven good triple jumps, among them two Axels and
again had unusual body positions in his spins which require a
great body flexibility. He admitted, “After the six minutes
warm-up I felt very bad. It was a very important competition for
me, but I tried not to think about it. I planned to do three
quads in my program, but after the six minutes I said, ‘You go
with two because I don't feel good right now’. I tried to do my
job and to concentrate. I thought, focus, you have to fight
again.” In the kiss and cry corner he seemed astonished that he
had beaten all others who had competed before him.
Deniss
Vasiljevs from Latvia took the silver medal with 254,56 points
after being only tenth at Skate Canada. In the short program in
Sheffield, he fell on the quad Salchow which was under-rotated,
but the triple Axel and the combination of triple Lutz and
triple toe loop. Two spins, among them his trademark sit spin
and the step sequence were outstanding and his entertaining
interpretation of the music “Englishman in New York” as well.
His components were around 8.3. Later he commented, “I
think I have slightly reformed my approach to my work. My work
became a little more fun. I started to enjoy skating in itself
more.”
His only
mistake in his free program to Antonin Dvorak’s 9th
Symphony (“From the New World”) came in his first element, a
quad Salchow which he landed on two feet and got a q for nearly
being under-rotated. Then he delivered seven good triples, among
them two Axels, excellent level 4 spins and step sequences. His
components had an average of 8.7. He got a standing ovation for
this performance. He explained, “I am here for the thrill of
performance. Performing like today, connecting with the people
and getting such a warm reception is one of those things I
really cherish about our sport. That is something that warms my
heart and really motivates and inspires me to continue. I am
very happy that today I have the first Latvian Grand Prix medal,
but that's not focus. It's the feeling, the standing ovation,
people cheering, the clapping. This energy is something way
above, beyond what you get just by achieving something, it is
something to live for, to strive for.”
Shun Sato was
the best of the three Japanese skaters and won the bronze medal
with 249.03 points. In February he had to undergo shoulder
surgery and missed the Olympic Games, but now he is fit again.
He began his short program to “Carol of the Bells” by
Californian violinist Lindsey Stirling with a clean quad Lutz,
then he stepped out of a quad toe loop, almost fell and made a
step before the double toe loop, which is not allowed in a short
program combination. The other elements were good. In the free
program he moved up from fourth to third place. He fell on the
opining quad Lutz. But he added a good combination of quad toe
loop and double toe loop, another excellent quad toe loop, four
very good triples and stepped out of the triple loop. His
components were around 8.1. He mainly trains in the practice
rink in Saitama where numerous event had been held and the next
world championships in March will be again.
Koshiro
Shimada is also from Japan, but trains in Switzerland with
Stephane Lambiel. He finished on fourth position, earning 247.17
points. In the short program to “Sing, sing, sing” by Louis
Prima, none of his three jumping elements were clean. The quad
Salchow and the quad toe loop, combined with a triple toe loop,
both got a q for a small under-rotation and he stepped out of
the triple Axel. The other elements were good. In the free to a
Charles Chaplin medley, he performed an outstanding quad toe
loop and six very good triples, but stepped out of two more. His
teammate Tatsuya Tsuboi came fifth with 226.13 points in his
Grand Prix debut. His quad Salchow in the short program to
“Stairway to Heaven” had a q, his combination consisted of a
triple flip, a step in-between and only a double toe loop, but
his triple Axel was excellent. In the free to the soundtrack of
“High Strung” he went down on his opening quad Salchow, but made
no other mistakes and landed seven good triples.
Roman Sadovsky
from Canada had won the short program (like several times
before) with an excellent quad Salchow, a very good triple Axel
and a combination of triple Lutz and triple toe loop both of
which got a q. His spins and his step sequence were first class
and his expression and speed strong. During his performance,
some lights in the rink dimmed down, but he did not even notice
it. He said, “I'm pleased with my performance, and I'm improving
over Skate America. I improved my confidence and my ability to
put repetitive strong short programs.” But in the free program
he struggled again under pressure, having little consistency,
and dropped to sixth place with 219.35 points. He fell three
times on the first quad Salchow and both triple Axels, both of
which were downgraded. He made two more mistakes and only two
triple jumps were clean. Excellent spins and steps could not
help his placement much.
Jimmy Ma of
Norwood, Massachusetts, is on seventh position, earning 214.47
points. The first element in the short program was a tight quad
toe loop, followed by a combination of triple Lutz and only
double toe loop. His triple Axel was overturned and nearly
under-rotated. In the free, he stepped out of a quad toe loop
and touched down his hand, then he doubled his second toe loop.
Four triples were good, but he stepped out of the triple Lutz.
Spins and steps were good. Morisi Kvitelashvili from Georgia,
fourth at Worlds 2022 and doing many shows organized by Tatiana
Navka in springtime, has left Russia in the summer - like all
other Georgian skaters – because flying from Russia to other
countries has become complicated and those with double
nationality feared to be drafted to the Russian army. He now
trains with Lorenzo Magri in Italy, but sends his Russian
coaches videos of practice. He finished eighth after performing
a disastrous short program in which he was last, There he
performed a single Axel, a double toe loop and a combination of
double Salchow and triple toe loop. He even made small mistakes
on two spins. His free was better, therefore he could move up to
eighth place with 195.25 points. He had a clean combination of
quad Salchow and double toe loop and five triples, only fell on
the quad toe loop, but doubled a second attempt of quad toe loop
and generally skated not very inspired.
U.S. skater
Tomoki Hiwatashi of Colorado Springs came as an alternate for
the injured Azerbaijan skater Vladimir Litvintsev. He finished
on ninth place with 190.88 points, far from his best. He had
dislocated his shoulder in September at the Lombardia Trophy and
obvious has not yet recovered completely. His quad toe loop in
the short was nearly under-rotated, then he popped the Axel, his
combination of triple Lutz and triple toe loop was soso. His
three spins had small mistakes. In the free, he missed the two
planned quads and popped the second triple Axel and a triple
loop. Only two triples were good. Corey Circelli of Toronto
began his short program with a good combination of triple Lutz
and triple toe loop, but his triple Axel was downgraded and he
popped the flip. In the free, he was inspired by Toller
Cranston, used one of his free program music and tried to
imitate the legendary Canadian of the 1970ies who died in 2015.
But Circelli fell twice, popped an Axel and had only two clean
triples.
The two
British men participated were nominated as local skaters. Three
time British champion Graham Newberry finished 11th,
earning 180.42 points. He singled the Axel in the short. The
combination of triple loop and triple toe loop was soso, the
triple Lutz and the spins good. He began his free program with a
very good triple Axel, but then battled his way through the
program, made mistakes on the next five jump elements, fell
twice, doubled jumps and had finally no more clean triples.
17-year-old Edward Appleby, the youngest male competitor of the
whole event, had been 20th at Junior Worlds seven
months ago, but was given the chance to compete in front of a
big crowd. In the short, he stepped out of the triple Axel,
performed a clean combination of double Lutz and triple toe loop
and a good triple flip. In the free, four triple jumps were
o.k.. He made two mistakes, but did not fall. Being 11th
in both competition parts, he ended up 12th with
180.13 points, very close to his teammate.
Pairs
The pairs
competition of the Grand Prix in Sheffield had a better level
than those of the first three Grand Prix, but still not very
high due to the lack of available good pairs worldwide because
Russia is still excluded, Chinese pairs cannot travel abroad and
six good North American pairs have finished their career in the
summer. An exception were the reigning World Champions Alexa
Scimeca & Brandon Frazier who won their second event easily with
205.85 points, four more than at Skate America. They had taken
the lead in the short program to the music of “Separate Ways
(Worlds Apart)”, but they do not go separate ways at all. The
U.S. federation had encouraged the 31-year-old Scimeca and her
pairs partner Frazier (who is one year younger), perhaps also
financially to continue their career after winning the World
title, which they happily did. Their triple twist was good, but
had only Level 1. Her triple toe loop was a bit tight, but
landed on one foot. The triple throw flip and the four other
elements (all with level 4) were excellent and their components
around 8.7.
Frazier commented, “Alexa and I feel very proud that we were able to put
on another strong performance. We had a few technical things
that we didn’t execute as well as we normally can, so we’re
disappointed about that, but overall we’re happy with our
performance and the fight tonight.” Knierim added, “When we
finished Skate America we were very eager and motivated to work
even harder. We weren’t comfortable and ready at Skate America.
We felt we made a lot of progress when we arrived here. Not
specifically about the program itself, but being here with our
mental game and confidence is what I feel has grown and become
stronger since Skate America. With that, throughout the season,
the performances will become stronger and stronger. I am proud
of us for stepping up and coming here with a different mindset.”
They opened their free program with a good triple twist again (like
usual, all pairs start with the twist), this time with level 2.
Scimeca stumbled on the triple toe loop and stepped out and
touched down on her triple Salchow later, but all other elements
were at least good, the lifts and spin even excellent. Their
music pieces were “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles and
“Healed Broken Wings” by Karl Hugo and their components had an
average of 8.5. Frazier explained, “I am very proud of how Alexa
and I fought this weekend. It was a fight on some of our
elements today. But I feel like we are progressing each time we
go out from short to long, from Skate America till where we are
this week.”
The Italian
team of Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii, third at Skate Canada and
coached in Bergamo by Barbara Luoni, won the silver medal with
184.19 points. In their short program, using the Tango
“Oblivion”, the twist was a bit wobbly, the other six elements
at least good, including a triple Salchow and a triple throw
loop. 68.69 points in the short was the best they ever had.
Macii said, “We are improving with every competition and
we had two points more than in our last short program at Skate
Canada. Coming home from Canada we realized where we could
improve in our skating, giving more to the spectators. We tried
to skate faster, give more pathos to the audience and we enjoyed
it more. The audience saw it.”
In their free
program to the soundtrack of “Cinema Paradiso”, after the triple
twist they had a good combination of triple Salchow, Euler and
double Salchow and a triple toe loop on which he touched down
his hand a bit. The triple throw loop was very good, but she
stepped out and touched down on the triple throw Salchow. Two
lifts were good, but he aborted the third one (zero points) and
was very frustrated at the end because he feared they would lose
a place. But they did not because their components were high
enough (7.6). Macii said, “The last lift angers us because we
can do it so easily. It is a timing entrance - that is where the
problem came. We know where we missed and where to work. We have
a good chance to get to the Final. We tried our best. We never
thought about having one medal and we even got two. If we go to
the Final, it will be even more amazing.” But he admitted, “We
don’t like competing in Italy so much, with so many friends and
family around.”
Letizia
Roscher (18) and Luis Schuster (21) from Germany, fifth at
Junior Worlds in April 2022, won
a surprising bronze medal with 167.37 points in their first
Grand Prix season. At Skate America they had a good short and
were third, but a bad long program and finished only seventh.
This time both programs were relatively good. They are coached
by Ingo Steuer and Robin Szolkowy, both of them former pairs
World Champions and Olympic medalists. For the first time in
their life, they had more than 60 points in the short program
(60.24), competing to “In the Air Tonight” by Joseph William
Morgan. The twist and the lift were good, the double Axel a bit
shaky and she landed the triple throw Salchow on two feet.
Roscher, who still goes to high school fulltime, commented, “I
am happy we could reach a new personal best. I felt a little bit
shaky in the beginning of the program, but after the first two
elements I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun.” Schuster added, “We
enjoyed it more than our first Grand Prix. We looked at the
levels and thought about why some things were not like we wanted
them to be. At our second Grand Prix now, we had less pressure.”
In their
elegant free program to “Experience” by Ludovico Einaudi and to
“Every Ending Is a Chance” by Claire Marigold Wyndham, most
elements were relatively clean, including the jump combination
double Axel - single Axel - double toe loop as well as the
double Salchow and the difficult carry lift with a change of
direction, but Roscher landed both triple throws on two feet.
Schuster explained, “At Skate America, it was a shock for us
that we could reach a medal and we lacked the mental focus. Now
it was also a bit shaky, but we held our focus in the free
skating. It helped us a lot that we had the same situation.” Roscher agreed, “We learned a lot from Skate America. We had a
lot of motivation for training to get better - to make the
elements cleaner. It still feels
kind of unreal and we are super happy to win a medal here.
Before the competition our legs were really shaky but during the
skate we were o.k.”
Anastasiia
Metelkina & Daniil Parkman from Georgia, both born in Russia,
finished fourth with 165.60 points. Like many other Georgian
skaters they quickly left Russia and their coaches in the summer
where they had trained. The pair now stays in Berlin, Germany
and is trained by Alexander Koenig, the coach of the 2018
Olympic Gold medalists Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot who the
German federation had fired in 2021. Metelkina & Parkman had
missed Europeans and Worlds 2022 due to injury. They began their
short program in their first Grand Prix with an excellent twist,
but Metelkina fell on the triple toe loop. The other five
elements, including a triple throw flip, were clean. In the free
program, their combination of triple Salchow and double toe loop
and the three lifts were good, the twist very good again, but
she stepped out of both triple throws. Parkman said,
“We could have done a lot of things much better. Our goals are
just to skate clean and bring the emotions through to the
audience.”
he second
Italian pair of Irma Caldara & Riccardo Maglio placed fifth,
earning 160.23 points. Their opening twist was very good, but
Maglio stepped out of the double Axel. Their triple throw loop
was shaky, but they had the courage to try it although Caldara
had two bad falls in the six minute warm-up. The other elements
were o.k. In the free, they moved up from sixth to fifth place.
Most elements were clean, but Caldara landed the triple throw
Lutz on two feet and stepped out. The double Axel was a bit
shaky, and the triple throw loop was almost clean, one of the
best of the whole week.
U.S. skaters
Katie McBeath & her new partner Nathan Bartholomay are sixth
with 147.29 points in their Grand Prix Debut. They had withdrawn
from their first Grand Prix in Canada because they were not
ready yet. He had had elbow surgery in August and they had blade
problems the week before Skate Canada. They train with Jenni
Meno and Todd Sand in California. McBeath had been a single
skater until 2018 when she was 18th at women’s
Nationals. Bartholomay is an experienced pair skater with
several partners. Their double Axel in the short program was
very good, the other elements including a triple throw flip were
more or less clean. They had said they had made only four run-throughs
before Sheffield. In the free, they made mistakes on five
elements, among them an aborted lift and her fall on the death
spiral and they dropped from fifth to sixth place.
The British
champions Anastasia Vaipan-Law & Luke Digby were first the first
to compete overall and were overwhelmed by the many British
flags. They ended up seventh and last with 143.81 points. Digby
had been a little flower boy when the Europeans took place in
Sheffield in 2012, now he came in a different role. In the twist
she had her arm around his neck in the landing which is not
allowed. The double Axel was good, but the other elements had
some little slips and mainly GOEs of -1 to -3. In their free
program, the twist was shaky, she missed the triple toe loop and
he the triple Salchow and they made some more mistakes, only
their double throw loop was good. The Canadians Lori Ann Matte &
Thierry Ferland were injured and withdrew from the competition.
No other pair could be found as alternates.
Ice Dance
The ice dance event at the Grand Prix in Sheffield, Britain had
a very good level, there was no weak couple at all. Six of the
ten teams are training in the Ice Academy of Montreal with its
four main coaches Patrice Lauzon, Marie-France Dubreuil, Romain
Haguenauer and Scott Moir.
Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri from
Italy won the gold medal with 213.74 points and are qualified
for the Grand Prix Final in their home country after being first
in France the week before. They had travel problems on their way
to Sheffield.
Fabbri said, “Our flight from Milan to Manchester had two hours
delay, which was not so bad. We had to take a taxi, the driver
put in the address and there were two results. When we arrived,
we were close to Birmingham, which was about two hours away!” So
they arrived in Sheffield even much later, but they did not miss
anything important. Guignard
remembered the year 2012, when they competed in Sheffield and
finished 11th, “This was our first Europeans here 10
years ago, it was our first big competition. There were a lot of
nice memories.”
In the Latin Rhythm dance to the Samba “This Is”, the Rhumba
“I’m Crying”, both by Grace Jones, and the Samba “Panters en
Libertad” by Monica Naranjo, they excelled with an outstanding
performance. The twizzles, the Straight Line Lift and the
Pattern Dance Type Step Sequence had a level 4, the Midline Step
Sequence a level 3 and the Choreographic Rhythm Sequence is a
non-level element. These elements had mainly GOEs of +3 and +4
and the components were around 9.3. Fabbri commented, “Compared
to the Rhythm Dance last week, it was much better. Even last
week, we felt quite good on the ice, but there were some small
mistakes. Today we felt good, the crowd was warm, it was pretty
easy to skate. We didn’t have time to change anything from the
last Grand Prix. We just tried to have a different attitude when
we stepped on the ice. Last week it was our second competition,
but it was the first important competition of the season and Lombardia Trophy was in September, so it was a long time ago. So
we were a little bit more stressed last week, even though the
performance was not bad.”
In their emotional free dance they used “My Love Will Never Die”
by Australian-American singer Claire Wyndham, “Mephisto’s
Lullaby” by Israeli-born Yair Albeg Wein and “Eden” by
Spanish-Mexican singer Belinda. The levels were better than in
France. Five of the seven level elements (the lift combination
is counted as two elements here) had a level 4. For the One Foot
Turns Sequence, she had a level 3 and he a level 4 and for the
Circular Step Sequence both had a level 3. The three non-level
elements were a Choreo Character Step Sequence, a Choreo Sliding
Movement and a Choreo Spinning Movement. All elements had mainly
GOEs of +3 and +4 and even a few +5. Their step sequences were
very intricate. It did not disturb them to skate right after the
British home crowd favorites. Fabbri said, “Now we are an
experienced couple and we don’t really let everything around
disturb us. We try to create our own bubble and focus on our
performance. It’s not been that hard. The crowd was supportive
as well with the other skaters.”
Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson, perhaps the best British ice dance couple
since Torvill & Dean, won the silver medal with 205.56 points.
In their entertaining Rhythm Dance using three music pieces by
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, they were just .93 points
behind the Italians and got a huge applause. They had almost the
same levels, more GOEs of +3 than +4, but their choreographic Rhythm
Sequence had four GOEs of +5 out of the nine judges. Their
components had an average of 9.1. Fear explained, “The crowd was
amazing; I think all of the skaters had so much fun out there.
It was electric energy. I just feel like we are building with
each competition and it is really exciting.” Gibson added,
“After Skate Canada, we worked a lot on our step sequences and
turns, trying to clean all that up. Generally we just worked to
make everything sharper and stronger.”
In their free dance to the songs “Born This Way” and “Million Reasons,”
both by Lady Gaga, they once more entertained the public
brilliantly and also pleased the judges. The lifts were
spectacular, but their levels on the steps were a bit lower and
Gibson stumbled for a second on the choreographic twizzles, which
counted as a fall. Therefore the distance to the Italians became
much bigger although the British have the better presentation.
Their components were around 9.1. Gibson said, “We are very
proud of what we did here. We are just so excited to come here
and skate in front of our home crowd. The energy was electric.
It lived up to and surpassed our expectations. Of course, I
would have liked not to have that little mistake, but it is what
it is.” Fear added, “It was a memory and experience that we will
not forget. We are just so appreciative to have had the
opportunity to skate at the Grand Prix in Great Britain.
The mistake doesn’t affect us too much, because we will just
learn from it, it was a different kind of performance, so much
noise from the start.” With the two silver medals they
are almost certainly qualified for the Grand Prix Final as well,
it would be their first Final. Gibson said, “We’re both very
excited about the opportunity and it’s another goal achieved for
us.”
Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha from Canada won their second bronze medal
after the first at Skate Canada. They have to wait and see if
they also qualified for the Final, but it is not very likely.
They used for their Rhythm Dance “Let’s Cha Cha” and two Sambas
by the German pop group Bellini which was named after a
Brazilian football player. They danced in high speed, had mixed
levels, mainly GOEs of +3 and components of around 8.8. Lajoie
commented, “We were able to be present in the moment, even
though we were very stressed. I think the crowd helped.” Lagha
added, “When you have such a short period of time between every
competition, and you want to improve, you have to very strategic
which part of the program you want to improve. After Skate
Canada we had a problem with the twizzle, because it was level
three, so we needed to add another twizzle - the rest was just
about performing.”
In their free dance to “Nurejev” from the soundtrack of “The
White Crow” they paid tribute to the famous Russian ballet
dancer. They had very good levels, many GOE of +3, but also many
+2. Lajoie commented, “It was very good for us. There were very
little mistakes, but we are very happy with the performance we
did.
We are happy to have made it through the GP season with four
performances that we are pleased of. Now we are really looking
forward to take some time off.”
U.S. dancers Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko finished fourth
with 187.42 points. They have improved much since last season
although Ponomarenko had to undergo ankle surgery in February
and could not train. During this time Carreira trained and
danced with their coach Scott Moir and she learnt much of him.
Moir works in London, Ontario, and is head coach of the Ontario
branch of the Ice Academy of Montreal. Other coaches in London
are Madison Hubbell and Adrian Diaz. In the Rhythm Dance to two
Sambas and a new Rhumba version of the famous soundtrack of
“Love Story”, they had good levels and mainly GOEs of +2. In
their smooth free dance to two music pieces of the soundtrack of
“Backbone” and two versions of “Summertime”, all elements were
very good and their components around 8.4. Carreira explained,
“We are very happy about our first competition. It was a great
start. Madi (Hubbell) and Scott (Moir) both themselves wanted to
skate to “Summertime” during their careers but neither managed
in the end. So it’s a group project and we are so happy to be
the ones to perform to it in the end. We feel like this program
portrays ourselves very well which makes it easier to execute
it.”
Nathalie Taschlerova & Filip Taschler from the Czech Republic
train with Matteo Zanni in Italy and are fifth with 177.89
points. Taschler slipped a bit during the midline step sequence,
but everything else was very good. In their free dance, they
want to emphasize the necessity to keep nature healthy for the
next generations. Taschlerova stumbled a bit on the twizzles,
all other elments were good. They skated both programs with high
speed. Maria Kazakova & Georgy Reviya from Georgia came sixth,
earning 176.71 points. Reviya suffered from a back injury in the
summer. They quickly left Russia and now train in Italy with
Matteo Zanni, like the Czech couple. They had good elements with
high levels in the Rhythm Dance. In their free dance, there were
some small slips, but GOEs of +2 dominated. Reviya said, “We
aren’t as pleased today, but the performance level was good.”
Oona Brown and brother Gage Brown, the present Junior World
Champions, placed seventh with 173.74 points. In the Rhythm
Dance to the Cha Cha “Bones” by Imagine Dragons, they had mixed
levels, but GOEs of mainly +2. Their free dance with mainly GOEs
of +1 and +2 was faultless. Alicia Fabbri & Paul Ayer from
Canada train in Montreal and placed eighth, earning 165.78
points. Ayer had shoulder surgery in the summer. In the Rhythm
Dance she made one more rotation in the twizzles than he did.
Their free dance music was “Big Sky” by Annie Lennox and “No
Good Place For the Lonely” by Joe Bonamasse. Their free dance
music had to be started twice because of a technical problem,
but it was no problem for the skaters. Their choreographic steps in the
free dance did not receive any points.
Haley Sales & Nikolas Wamsteeker from Canada, also students of
Scott Moir, are ninth with 163.69 points. Their free dance music
was “Phantom of the Opera”. The Ukrainian couple of Mariia
Holubtsova & Kyryl Bielobrov, who were allowed to train in the
Montreal school as a gesture of solidarity, ended up 10th
with 156.04 points. The British ice dancer Olivia Smart had
offered them free accommodation.
Interview with Loena Hendrickx, Belgian Women's Champion,
2022 World Silver Medalist and 2022 Grand Prix de France Gold
Medalist
Interview with Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Canadian Ice Dance Champions, 2022 Skate Canada Gold Medalists
Interview with Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, Canadian Pairs Skaters, 2022 Skate America Silver Medalists
Interview with Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, British Ice Dance Champions
Interview with Caroline Green and Michael
Parsons, 2022 Four Continents Ice Dance Champions
Interview with Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, Italian Ice Dance Champions
12 October 2022 - The ISU announces
that the 2025
ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be held March 24-30, 2025,
in Boston, MA. As this will be the Championships that will in
large part determine how many entries countries will be allowed at the
2026 Winter Olympic Games, interest in this event will be enhanced.
Worlds was last held in the United States in Boston
in 2016, nine years earlier. Prior to this Worlds were allocated
to the U.S. every 6-7 year.
22 March 2022 - It was announced
today that the 2022 Internationaux de France will be held in Angers,
France. Separately, there are rumors that Cup of China and
Rostelcom Cup will not be a part of the 2022 Grand Prix, and
competitions will instead beheld in Italy and Finland in their places.
Future Competitions
Jan 09 - Jan 15, 2023 - Canadian Figure Skating Championships,
Oshawa, ON, CAN
Jan 23 - Jan 29, 2023 - U.S. Figure Skating Championships, San Jose, CA,
USA
Jan 23 - Jan 29, 2023 - ISU European Figure Skating Championships, Espoo, FIN
Feb 07 - Feb 12, 2023 - ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Colorado Springs, USA
Feb 27 - Mar 05, 2023 - ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Calgary, CAN
Mar 20 - Mar 26, 2023 - ISU World Figure Skating Championships, Saitama, JPN
2022-23 ISU Grand Prix
Event
Location
Date
Skate America
Norrwood, MA, USA
October 21–23
Skate Canada
Mississauga, ON, CAN
October 28–30
Internationaux de France
Angers, FRA
November 4-6
MK John Wilson Trophy
Sheffield, GBR
November 11-13
NHK Trophy
Sapporo, JPN
November 18-20
Grand Prix Espoo
Espoo, FIN
November 25-27
Grand Prix Final
Torino, ITA
December 8-11
2023-24 ISU Grand Prix
Event
Location
Date
Skate America
TBD
October 20–22
Skate Canada
Vancouver
October 27–29
Internationaux de France
TBD
November 3-5
Cup of China
TBD
November 10-12
Rostelcom Cup
TBD
November 17-19
NHK Trophy
TBD
November 24-26
Grand Prix Final
Orleans, FRA
December 7-10
2022-23 Junior Grand Prix
August 24-27, 2022,
Courchevel, FRA
August 31 - September 3, 2022,
rong>Ostrava, CZE (includes Pair Skating)
September 7-10, 2022,
Riga, LAT (includes Pair Skating)
September 21-24, 2022,
Yerevan, ARM
September 28 - October 2, 2022,
Zagreb, CRO (includes Pair Skating)
October 5-8, 2022,
Gdansk, POL (includes Pair Skating)