XXX Olympic Games 2012 » Figure Skating Championships

Joannie Rochette trails Phaneuf after short program

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:50:38 +0000

Defending champion Joannie Rochette fell during her short routine at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships on Friday and trails Cynthia Phaneuf heading into the long program.
Phaneuf scored 66.30 points to win the short program ahead of Rochette, who received 64.15 points after her spill.
“Stuff like that happens and you have to deal with it,” said Rochette, who fell on her opening triple Lutz. “But I was still able to get a good score to be in a good position for the free skate and that’s what a short program is for – at least in my case.”
Amelie Lacoste was third with 53.99 points.
Rochette also trailed Phaneuf at last year’s Canadian championships before bouncing back in the long program to win her fifth straight title. Rochette, the world silver medalist, has already clinched one of the two women’s singles spots on Canada’s Olympic team.
Phaneuf, the 2004 champion, knows maintaining a lead through Saturday’s long program won’t be easy.
But then, the veteran said earning a ticket to Vancouver is her main goal.
“I’m not going to say I was not thinking about (winning the title), but I’m coming here to get to the Olympics, and this is my goal,” Phaneuf said. “For sure I’m not going to think about it when I’m doing my program, but I’m coming here for nothing else but that.”
Later on Friday, Annabelle Langlois and Cody Hay won the pairs short program with a score of 65.47 points. Defending champions Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison were second with 62.87 points, while Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin were third with 62.38.
Canada’s two entries in pairs for the Olympics will be up for grabs in Saturday’s free program.

Joannie Rochette Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images Sport

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
via www.seattlepi.com

Sasha Cohen to skip Skate America; hopes to be ready for Nationals

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:35:14 +0000

Sasha Cohen, trying to qualify for her third Olympics this winter, will miss the upcoming Skate America event because of a calf injury and will try to be ready for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January.
Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medal winner, has tendinitis in her right calf. She also missed an event in October because of the injury.
“I have been battling this injury for a while,” Cohen said in a release through U.S. Figure Skating. “After meeting with my orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that in order for me to fully recover, I should not compete this week.”
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are scheduled for January 14-20 in Spokane, Washington. Only two women will represent the U.S. at the upcoming VancouverOlympics.
Cohen is trying to make a comeback to competitive skating after a three-year absence. She burst onto the scene at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake with a fourth-place finish at age 17.
The California native won the 2006 U.S. title after four previous runner-up finishes.

Sasha Cohen

U.S. Women Must Deal With 2 Olympic Spots – Long Program VIDEO

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:08:25 +0000

Rachael Flatt, a 16-year-old with round, ruddy cheeks and uncontainable perkiness, did not win a medal for the United States at the world figure skating championships.
But when she finished her long program Saturday night, she beamed and giggled. She placed fifth over all and was the top American woman.

With the 2010 Vancouver Games less than a year away — and only two spots, instead of three, available for the United States women — her ranking among Americans meant everything.
“It’s exciting to even think about the fact that I actually could go to the Olympics,” Flatt said as she stopped for a moment to stare into the distance. “I think it will definitely be a hard year training-wise, but I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
Right now, no Olympic spots are guaranteed for any skater, but the world championships gave them a gauge of how close they were to a possible trip to the 2010 Games — or how far.
For the skaters at or near the top, the worlds were a test to see what their chances might be at winning an Olympic medal. Kim Yu-na of South Korea won that test, hands down.
Kim, 18, dominated, winning with a record-setting performance that brought the crowd to its feet and tears to her eyes. She won by more than 16 points, an overwhelming margin.
Kim was equal parts technically sound and artistically lovely, landing jump after jump so gracefully and softly, it was as if the law of gravity did not apply to her. Afterward, South Korea’s president and its prime minister called to congratulate her.
“I can’t say there isn’t going to be any pressure, because there are a lot of fans expecting me to win,” she said of the coming Olympics. “But if the preparation goes well, just like it did for this championship, I believe that I can win again, with confidence.”
Joannie Rochette of Canada finished second, and Miki Ando of Japan was third.
Mao Asada of Japan, the 2008 world champion and Kim’s rival, cried after finishing fourth, nearly 20 points behind Kim. But not all was lost: her team fared the best among the women. Japan was the only country to secure three entries for its skaters in the Olympic women’s event, increasing their odds of standing atop the podium in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The United States men also earned three Olympic berths, with the help of the newly crowned world champion Evan Lysacek. Teams from the United States and Japan are the only two that will have three skaters each at the Games.
Heading into Vancouver, two American ice-dancing teams will be favorites to win medals. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto won silver at the worlds, and Meryl Davis and Charlie White were fourth.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYBmMYGH38Y

Rachael Flatt -- Long Program -- 2009 World Figure Skating Championships

But the American women still remain the biggest question mark. Based on the performance of the two United States women at the worlds, Flatt and Alissa Czisny, only two Americans will compete in the women’s event at the Olympics for only the second time since 1924.
Czisny finished 11th Saturday, the worst showing for a women’s United States champion in decades. The United States failed to win a medal in the women’s event at worlds for the third year in a row, a streak last held in 1964.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a disaster,” Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, said. “I think the U.S. is in between generations right now, with a lot of older people and a lot of younger people. But I still think we have a deep pool of talent we could pull from. It will be a year of growing.”
At 24, Sasha Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, is talking about a comeback. Kimmie Meissner, the 2006 world champion, is struggling with injuries. She is 19.
Two talented American 15-year-olds — Caroline Zhang and the 2008 national champion Mirai Nagasu — did not qualify for the worlds. Nagasu has been trying to adapt to a recent growth spurt that has thrown off her jumping abilities.
Now all of them must vie for two Olympic berths, when a third one could have turned out to golden.
If the United States women had had only two spots at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, Sarah Hughes would not have competed because she had finished third at the nationals, where the team was selected. Instead, she took that third berth and went to become an Olympic champion.
“Having two spots is definitely going to make the next year very interesting,” said Yamaguchi, who said she still had faith in the young skaters on the United States team. “A lot can happen when you are that young. Look at Rachael Flatt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a skater who has been more consistent, and now she has a whole year to improve and grow. Her experience here at worlds will be priceless.”
She added, “The U.S. skating fans shouldn’t give up hope.”

source: nytimes.com

South Korea’s Kim Wins Short Program at Figure Skating Championships

admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:57:00 +0000

When her score popped up on the monitor at the world figure skating championships on Friday, Kim Yu-na could hardly believe it.
She buried her face in her hands. Her jaw dropped. Her coach, the two-time Olympic medalist Brian Orser, grabbed and shook her.
In front of a crowd filled with South Korean fans waving South Korean flags, South Korea’s Kim dominated the short program here Friday, winning by more than 8 points. Her score was 76.12, the best ever for a woman. It easily eclipsed her previous best score of 72.24.
Joannie Rochette of Canada finished second, with 67.90. Mao Asada of Japan, the defending world champion and Kim’s longtime rival, was third, with 66.06.
“I was very comfortable when I was skating,” Kim said of her reaction to the audience, many of the fans from the sizable Korean community here. “I felt that I was able to do well because of all the people cheering me on in the stadium.”
Kim, 18, had come into worlds expecting her biggest competition to be Asada, but she had no competition at all. Her performance put her in perfect position to win her first world title on Saturday, less than a year from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Skating in a black outfit that sparkled in the lights, she landed each of her jumps, but her moves in between were what mesmerized the crowd. She effortlessly floated from one element to another, often with a smile, always with grace.
“It’s one of those moments in skating people will always remember,” Orser said.
The United States team had a night to forget, with its hopes of earning three spots at the Olympics likely slipping away.
The Americans must finish at least a combined 13th for the team to be awarded three Olympic entries. After the short program, the Americans are in 21st, combined. The last time the team brought only two women skaters to the Olympics was in 1994.
Alissa Czisny, the national champion, fell twice and is 14th going into the long program. She had 53.28 points.
“Today was disappointing because that’s not the way I’ve been practicing,” she said, devoid of emotion. “I have higher expectations of myself, and it just didn’t happen.”
Rachael Flatt, who finished seventh, stepped out of a triple flip and flubbed her first combination jump. But it did not ruin her night. Flatt, 16, said she was excited, not nervous, for her first senior-level world championships. She scored 59.30 points.
“I was hopping around out back, saying, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so cool,’ ” said Flatt, who has been studying for her A.P. chemistry test and writing an English paper on “The Great Gatsby” during her down time.
The United States men could rest easy. They secured their three spots for Vancouver on Thursday. Evan Lysacek’s gold medal certainly helped the cause. At 23, he will go into the Olympic year as the gold-medal favorite.
Lysacek skated brilliantly to George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” landing eight triple jumps as the crowd roared. He became the first American man in 13 years to hold the world title.
“To perform it just how I imagined it hundreds of times and visualized it,” he said, “I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

source: nytimes.com