The Russian (Nats) Were Here; The U.S. (Nats) Are On the Doorstep

Is it too late for a Russian Nationals recap? Hope not! Here goes... 

LADIES... Adelina Sotnikova defeated Julia Gumbyskaia --you may know her as Lipnitskaia-- in the SP (the latter scuffed up the back end of her 3lz/3T) and while Lipnitskaia skated clean and won the FS, Sotnikova had enough of a lead to stay on top overall. Kudos to Alena Leonova, for while she finished 5^th, she appears the best bet for the Olympic alternate since both Elena Radionova (bronze medalist) and Alexandra Proklova (4^th place finisher) are too young for Sochi. I’d have figured her to finish 6^th or 7^th at best, given what we’d seen earlier this season from Anna Pogorilaya and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. But Pogorilaya appeared to 2-foot the back end of her 3lz/3T in both programs, and Tuktamysheva wiped out on the 3T part of that jump altogether in the SP (then fell on another jump and doubled many jumps in her FS). They finished 8^th and 10^th, respectively.

MEN... The showdown of showdowns! Indeed, it was Plushy for the SP victory... but Maxim Kovtun claimed the overall prize with a FS packed with multiple quads and triple axels (his only notable mistake was a doubled quad salchow attempt). Plushy, to his credit, got off A quad and A triple axel in the FS too. But that was about it, and in this case, it wasn’t enough. He lost steam as the program wore on; there were some triples, but there were a lot more doubles and other minor mistakes than I’m used to seeing in a Plushy program. The look on his face at the end said it all: Eh, that wasn’t it. That wasn’t what I came here for. Not a look I think any of us are used to!

PAIRS... An interesting year for this event, given that the World Champs Volosohzar/Trankov weren’t here, and two-time World Bronze Medalists Kavaguti/Smirnov remain out of contention due to Smirnov’s injury and subsequent surgery. Stolbova/Klimov – the team using Addams’ Family for their FS this season—came away with the win, edging Bazarova/Larionov (who had trouble with the SBS jumps, as per usual) by less than a point. The bronze medalists here (Maria Vigalova/Egor Zakroey) are most likely alternates rather than bona fide Olympians, since Volo/Trank will round out the team of course. But if you’re up for a reminder of the dangers of pairs skating, check out the FS of Evgenia Tarasova/Vladmir Morozov, who were in third up to that point. The very last lift of the program resulted in both skaters falling but an especially hard slam to the ice for Tarasova, who avoided hitting her head (thank goodness) but was in obvious, serious pain despite recovering enough to complete the pairs spin at the very end.

DANCE... Bobrova/Soloviev won the event, but their FD irritates me so I chose to skip it. Ilinykh/Katsalapov had that glorious, high-reaching, straight-line lift early in their Swan Lake FD, but in setting up for their second one (an ice-grazer, just the opposite), I/K took an unfortunate fall that cost them the entire maneuver—and may have affected their rhythm for the rest of the program, though I didn’t see any other major flaws. They still finished second, easily putting them on Russia’s three-spot Olympic team, but they (she) looked understandably rattled as they did the K’n’C wait. 2013 bronze medalists Riazanova/Tkachenko looked like they had a little twizzle trouble, as well as problems with their final lift... those and some other technique issues paved the way for 2012 World Junior champs Sinitsina/Zhiganshin to claim this year’s medal. And the third Olympic spot too? We’ll see... both S/Z and R/T have been assigned to the European Championships, which start in Budapest on January 13.

SPEAKING OF UPCOMING CHAMPIONSHIPS...

U.S. Nationals are already underway in Boston! The senior (or “championship”) events are scheduled to unfold like this on IceNetwork (All times Eastern):

THURSDAY 1/9: Pairs SP 4:15 PM; Ladies SP 7:45 PM

FRIDAY 1/10: Dance SD 1:45 PM; Men’s SP 8 PM

SATURDAY 1/11: Pairs FS Groups 1 & 2, 11:30 AM; Dance FD Groups 1 & 2, 12:45 PM; Ladies FS Group 1, 6:45 PM

SUNDAY 1/12: Men’s FS Groups 1 & 2, 12:50 PM

The remainder of the “live” coverage will be on NBC:

3-6 PM Saturday (later groups in the Pairs & Dance Finals, I presume)

8-11 PM Saturday (later groups in the Ladies Final, but prepare to see more SP recaps in that 8-9PM hour than anything else)

3-5 PM Sunday (later groups in the Men’s Final)

By the way, the NBC Sports TV page lists Tom Hammond, Sandra Bezic, Scott Hamilton, and Andrea Joyce as the commentators for all its coverage. Apparently they are saving Tanith Belbin and Johnny Weir for Sochi...

And predictions?! Yes, of course there will be predictions! I predict my predictions will be up for all to see... either late Wednesday or early Thursday. (By “early”, of course, I mean “sometime before the Pairs SP starts at 4:15 PM Eastern”)

What are YOUR predictions for the podium and/or U.S. Olympic Team? Post ‘em in the Comments!

Oda and Ando: Two Careers in Retrospective

Happy New Year to all my SOTS readers!!

It’s been so long since I posted that I neglected to mention the winners of my 3^rd annual Skating on Air holiday book giveaway... so before I do anything else, congratulations to Cecilia Quick of San Jose, CA and Jenny Moynihan of Essex U.K.! Each won a signed copy of my book.

For the rest of you—especially those on the fence about buying a copy of it—please check out this all-new review of SOA as well as this interview I just did with the My Friend Amy book blog to accompany the review!

In other (undoubtedly bigger) news...

The Japanese Olympic team is set! The Russian team, not so much.

The ladies weren’t much of a surprise, though the finishing order probably was to most: Suzuki/Murakami/Asada rather than Asada/Suzuki/Murakami... though anything putting Mao Asada in 3^rd would be a surprise, considering she’d finished no lower than 2^nd since 2005.

This was Akiko Suzuki’s first-ever national title in thirteen appearances! (No wonder she/everyone was so happy!) Asada’s subpar score was largely due to triple axel trouble, so the question seems to be back as to whether or not she should include the maneuver in her Olympic routines. But you know when this conversation last came up? About this time in 2010, when (as I recall) she was popping her triple axel more than she was landing it successfully. Then she went to Vancouver and nailed it when it counted. Twice! So... will she reconsider for Sochi? I’m thinking no...

The men’s finish was more complex... the top three were Hanyu/Machida/Kozuka, with Nobunari Oda in 4^th and Daisuke Takahasi in (gasp!?!) 5^th. But as you’ve probably heard by now, Dice-K was chosen for the Olympics anyway. Kozuka was bumped off to alternate status; this decision saddens me, as you probably know how fond I am of Taka’s sublime work. But I’m well aware that he may have “peaked” at 2011 Worlds, as he’s been somewhat inconsistent since then. The same might be said for Dice-K, but his bright moments (such as this year’s NHK Trophy) have been pretty spectacular. And knowing this is his final season, how could there have been much debate?

Speaking of final seasons... these respective men’s/ladies outcomes led to a pair of retirement announcements. Oda and Miki Ando, both 26, both missed the mark for their Olympic dreams and have decided to call it a career.

ODA’s fourth-place score, for what it’s worth, topped Max Aaron’s score at the most recent U.S. Nationals by about 4 points... so that might give some perspective to the incredibly deep pool of men’s talent in Japan! His career certainly had its share of high, low, and altogether strange moments:

n      His senior debut was in 2005... he’s earned 17 GP medals since then; five were gold, four were from GP Finals for which he qualified (2006, 2009, 2010, 2013).

n      He competed at Worlds from 2006-2011, with his highest finish coming in his first time there (4^th). He made the national Japan podium six times between 2005-11, winning the national title once, in ’09.

n      He was also the 2006 Four Continents champ, this despite a memorable-for-all-the-wrong-reasons FS where he crashed hard on a triple axel attempt, then spent a significant part of the program looking like he couldn’t recall his choreography.

n      He made the 2010 Olympic team, but a broken skate lace during his Chaplin FS contributed to him skating far below his best (finishing 7^th).

n      He became infamous for “miscalculating” his free skates, putting in too many jumps (usually triple toe-loops) and costing himself points—and placements—in the process. The biggest events in which this happened: 2010 Japanese Nats, where Daisuke Takahashi officially took the title after the jump miscalculation was discovered... also 2007 Worlds, and again at 2011 Worlds. And in yet another bizarre turn, he ended one of his strongest seasons (2009-10) by failing to make it out of qualifying round at 2010 Worlds. The problem? He singled all the jumps in his SP.

n      Finally, he remains the only elite skater in recent memory to be arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated—an action that essentially cost him the entire 2007-8 season—and is one of the few (if not only) men on the elite circuit who is married with two sons.

ANDO didn’t compete the past two seasons, but made headlines when she revealed she’d given birth to a baby girl in spring of ’13. She made a respectable comeback this season in an effort to make the Olympic team, finishing 2^nd in three different “B” events this past fall... but finishing 7^th at these Nationals prompted her retirement. (All things being equal, her total score of 171.12 would have placed her 8^th at the most recent U.S. Nats.) Her highs and lows were many as well:

n      She debuted on the senior level at 2004 Worlds and finished 4^th her first time out! This led to a total of six finishes at Worlds between ’04-11, winning gold twice (’07 & ’11).

n      She won 13 medals on the GP circuit between 2004-2010, including 5 golds.

n      She is considered the only lady to date to have completed a quad jump (salchow) in competition—waaay back on the junior GP circuit at the 2002 JGP Final.

n      She is a two-time Olympian: 2006 (where she finished 15^th after falling three times during her FS, including a quad sal attempt), and 2010 (where she finished 5^th). She is also a 3-time Japanese national champ (2004, 05, 11).

In any case, BIG KUDOS to both these immensely talented athletes as they move on to the next chapters in their lives.

As for Russian Nationals, I’m not going to comment yet because I haven’t had a chance to watch any of it yet! But the biggest news to report is that Evgeni Plushenko (aka “Plushy”) did not win the Men’s title... and, as this article indicates, will not be competing in Men’s Singles in Sochi. (That honor goes to Maxim Kovtun, who I suppose provided the upset but I think many of us thought it was likely to happen.) But what about that all-new Team Event? Plushy indicates “it would be enough” for him to represent Russia for that event... and considering such an action would probably make him the only man in figure skating to ever compete in FOUR Olympics, I see his point. But will he be chosen over Kovtun? Doesn’t sound like that’s been decided yet. 

The Grand Prix in Review: What Have We Learned?

First, to review who just medaled at the GP Final, here’s your cheat sheet...

 

MEN:

 

GOLD: Hanyu, JPN

SILVER: Chan, CAN

BRONZE: Oda, JPN

 

Hanyu’s siiiiick score in the SP (missed 100 by thatmuch!!) helped him defeat Chan, who skated right after that SP and “only” got 87 with a fall out on the triple axel and a hot mess of a double (not triple) lutz. Oda was a best-of-the-rest case in an event where the quads were off for damn near everyone.

 

LADIES:

 

GOLD: Asada, JPN

SILVER: Lipnitskaia, RUS

BRONZE: Wagner, USA

 

A lot of us were scratching our heads at Adelina Sotnikova’s 2^nd place SP finish—particularly when both Wagner and Gumbyskaia skated clean, and had more difficult 3/3 combos—but in the end, Gumby no-boned her way to silver and once again gave notice to those on Sochi watch (probably everyone reading this, right?). Wagner, for her part, “left some points on the table” as she herself said (with a fall on her lutz and a 2-footed triple loop), and it sounds like she’s planning on doing some FS re-tooling with the spins and footwork during this brief pause before U.S. Nationals.

 

PAIRS:

 

GOLD: Sav/Szol, GER

SILVER: Volo/Trank, RUS

BRONZE: Pang/Tong, CHN

 

Aha, the upset! It came just in time to make this race more interesting by Olympic time... even though I have a hard time seeing this scenario repeat itself this season. And just as I was casting doubt on Pang/Tong because of Tong’s SBS jump inconsistencies, he gets it together and Moore-Towers/Moscovitch (my bronze medal prediction) are the ones with the problems.

 

DANCE:

 

GOLD: Davis/White, USA

SILVER: Virtue/Moir, CAN

BRONZE: Pechalat/Bourzat, FRA

 

D/W got it in their first twizzle-to-twizzle with V/M of the season, but it wasn’t by as much as one might expect from a “dominating” team, so that’ll probably turn out to be a good thing for all involved. And it looked like Bob/Solo was going to make the podium a complete rerun of Worlds until... whoopsie... the ugly trip-up. You know who else is familiar with ugly trip-ups that cost them a medal? Pechalat/Bourzat. Except this time they were the ones standing by, catching the bronze in their bare hands as Bob/Solo hit the ice. (I’d say what goes around comes around except that doesn’t work in this case; the Shib Sibs were the ones that benefited from P/B’s mistake at 2011 Worlds.)

Anyhoo...

 

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THIS GP SEASON?

 

The battle for Olympic bronze is sooooo on—especially in ice dance. It appears to be advantage Bobrova/Soloviev, despite the GPF finish, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time when so many teams had a legitimate shot at it. (Question for Cappillini/Lanotte fans: 4^th at Worlds, but solidly in 6^th at this GPF... what do you suggest for them?)

 

There’s a great future for skating—at least when it comes to the athletes themselves. All things being equal, we have good reason this season to keep our eyes peeled for the progression of Jason Brown (USA), Samantha Cesario (USA), Elena Radionova (RUS), Han Yan (CHN), and Satoko Miyahara (JPN), to name a few. I’d put Peng/Zhang (CHN) on this list too, but at age 30-something will Zhang really continue beyond this Olympics? Maybe “the future” is Peng with a new, more age-appropriate partner...

 

Is the future NOW? Lipnitskaia, aka The Best in Boneless Skating, is the most consistently good singles skater Russia has right now (male or female). I really think she is well-poised to be a spoiler in the Yuna vs. Mao quest for Olympic gold... IF she is able to withstand what’s sure to be enormous home-country pressure, that is. And another Russian on the rise, GP Finalist Maxim Kovtun, looked very much to be a threat to Plushy’s latest Olympic journey until the wheels started coming off in his past few performances. If the aforementioned pressure hasn’t already gotten to him, and he can regroup in time for next week’s Russian Championships (to be held right there in Sochi, no less!), Kovtun could make the Olympic selection committee regret the jobs with which they’ve been entrusted.

 

Who to worry about (based on GP performances): Fernandez. Amodio. Brezina. Kostner. Reynolds (because boot issues kept him from competing at all). Denis Ten (because multiple illnesses/ailments allowed him to compete only once, and he didn’t make the podium). Maybe Duhamel/Radford too? Yes, they made the GPF, but for World Bronze Medalists I don’t think they look as solid as they should at this point in the season.

 

And don’t write off the following skaters just yet: Pang/Tong. Rippon. Takahashi. Abbott. Suzuki. Oda! Nagasu! The list could probably go longer... who would you add? To this or any of these lists?

 

As the holidays approach and then pass, so are the national championships for many countries of note. Some of those dates are listed below; keep your eyes and ears open for streaming links!!

 

Japanese Nats: Dec 20-23

Russian Nats: Dec 24-27

U.S. Nats: Jan 5-12

Canadian Nats: Jan 9-15

Want to Win a Copy of SKATING ON AIR Before 2013 Ends? Keep Reading!

(OK, this isn't a GPF wrapup/analysis either. It's coming. Promise. But first...)

I hope you're ready for another contest, because it's time for my annual book giveaway for the holidays! Whether you want a copy of Skating on Air: The Broadcast History of an Olympic Marquee Sport for a friend/family member, or still need one for yourself... this is the drawing you want to enter!

Here's how this works: 

1) I'm giving away some copies from my own paperback stash-- in other words, no Ebooks. Sorry.

2) How many I give away depends on how many entries come in.

3) If you've previously won a copy from my giveaway or someone else's, please refrain from entering this time.

4) If you win, I'll make every effort to ship it to you before Christmas (No promises on when it arrives though). And, of course, I'll sign it for you-- or for someone else if it's a gift!

5) To enter, please shoot me an email at KLawrence997-at-gmail-dot-com. Put Skating on Air 2013 Giveaway in the subject head. I'll send you back a confirmation email when I see it.

6) I plan to do the drawing NEXT WEDNESDAY EVENING (12/18).

Any questions? Please leave 'em in the Comments.

Good luck! 

Your Chance to Win a Personalized Skate Stocking Starts Here...

Before I get to a Grand Prix Final summary/commentary... I have a quiz for you. Well, some of you. Specifically, anyone who has read my book Skating on Air: The Broadcast History of an Olympic Marquee Sport and is interested in winning a personalized Christmas stocking courtesy of SkateStocking.com!

I received a plush white figure skate from SkateStocking.com a few years back... it's a lovely gift for any skating fan. To get your own (or a black hockey skate), please answer (in the comments) the following question I pulled from the pages of SOA:

What was the name of the TV program on which Carol Heiss was interviewed in 1957... one where she recalls the cameras started setting up in her house "in the morning", and she "got to wear a new silky blue dress for the program"?

Good luck! First correct answer in the comments of this post wins!!

ISU Senior Grand Prix Predictions (a.k.a. Possibly the Shortest Post Ever)

The GPF is starting in a matter of hours! So let’s get right to it...

Need the Senior GP schedule? Here it is.

(And, for good measure, here’s the Junior GP schedule too... ) 

As for senior GP predictions, mine for gold-silver-bronze go like this:

Ladies: Asada, Lipnitskaia, Wagner

Men’s: Chan, Hanyu, Oda

Pairs: Volo/Trank, Sav/Szol, M-T/Moscovitch

Dance: Davis/White, Virtue/Moir, Pechalat/Bourzat

Let’s pore over all the videos and meet back here early next week!

From Nebelhorn to Ice Challenge... The Best of the 2013 "B"'s

While we wait for the Grand Prix (and Junior GP) Final to get underway later this week, I’ve rounded up all the winners of the “B” events thus far this fall. Some I’ve discussed in previous posts; some events, such as Golden Spin of Zagreb (featuring Kim Yu-Na) haven’t happened yet. But in the interest of checking out all that has been happening around the world (OK, Europe) in the shadow of GP events, here you go.

Although I’m not including point totals with these gold-silver-bronze listings, I’ve boldfaced every finish that had a point total that would have put the skater (in theory, anyway) into the top 10 of their discipline at 2013 Worlds. There’s not a lot of them—only 12 finishes out of the 60 listed here—but it helps to separate the contenders from the rest of the pack. Please note that Tomas Verner is among them. Twice!

By the way, my predictions for the GPF itself will be up... um... sometime before the first senior event starts. Tick-tock, I know...

NEBELHORN TROPHY

MEN: Oda (JPN), Brown (USA), J.Ten (CAN)

LADIES: Radionova (RUS), Ando (JPN), Cain (USA)

PAIRS: Volosozhar/Trankov (RUS), Wende/Wende (GER), Vartmann/Van Cleave (GER)

DANCE:  Hubbell/Donohue (USA), Monko/Khaliavin (RUS), Paul/Islam (CAN)

NEPALA MEMORIAL

MEN: Verner (CZE), Mura (JPN), Liebers (GER)

LADIES: Imai (JPN), Gosviiani (RUS), Gao (USA)

PAIRS: Donlan/Speroff (USA), Martyusheva/Rogonov (RUS), Scimeca/Knierim (USA)

DANCE: Coomes/Buckland (GBR), Guignard/Fabbri (ITA), Kolbe/Caruso (GER)

FINLANDIA TROPHY

MEN: Hanyu (JPN), Voronov (RUS), Gachinski (RUS)

LADIES: Lipnitskaia (RUS), Suzuki (JPN), Tuktamysheva (RUS)

DANCE: Virtue/Moir (CAN), Chock/Bates (USA), Plutowska/Gerber (POL)

INTERNATIONAL CUP OF NICE

MEN: Verner (CZE), Menshov (RUS), Bush (RUS)

LADIES: Artemyeva (RUS), Baga (USA), Weinzierl (GER)

PAIRS: Prolss/Blommaert (GER), Calalang/Sidhu (USA), Wende/Wende (GER)

DANCE: Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA), Alessandrini/Vaturi (ITA), Monko/Khaliavin (RUS)

ICE CHALLENGE

MEN: D. Ten (KAZ), Pfeifer (AUS), Gorskov (RUS)

LADIES: Hicks (USA), Ando (JPN), Rajicova (SLO)

PAIRS: Donlan/Speroff (USA), Wende/Wende (GER), Kayne/O’Shea (USA)

DANCE: Cannuscio/McManus (USA), Beaudry/Sorensen (DEN) , Kolbe/Caruso (GER)