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2007 Four Continents Figure Skating ChampionshipsCompulsory Dance, Pairs Short, and Men's Short HighlightsFebruary 8, 2007
The 2007 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, which is taking place Feb. 7-10 in Colorado Springs, Colo., is the equivalent to the European Figure Skating Championships and was first introduced by the ISU in 1999. Twenty-one countries on four continents are eligible to send skaters to the event. This season, approximately 86 skaters from 14 different countries have come to compete in Colorado Springs, which also hosted last year's competition. By competing at the Four Continents, the athletes will be earning points toward the World Standings for the 2006-07 season. Personal best scores are not taken into consideration (in terms of World Standings) as they only apply to Grand Prix competitions. The ISU will be awarding prize money totaling $250,000 to skaters and couples that place first through 12th. In addition, the top three skaters and couples per discipline having earned the most World Standing points during the 2006-07 season will be awarded with a World Standings Bonus totaling $450,000 US Dollars. The event kicked off on 7 Feb with the Compulsory Dance, Pairs Short, and Men's Short. Ice Dance (Compulsory Dance)Canada's Marie-France Dubreuil (32) and Patrice Lauzon (31) put out a romantic waltz that exhibited good speed and flow, placing first with 38.54 points. Due to the high altitude, Lauzon was clearly affected after the performance. It took him a few moments to catch his breath. "It's a pretty hard compulsory dance," said Lauzon. "[There's] not much breathing time in it. For the dance and altitude, we did pretty good." “It felt quick," said Dubreuil. "I think it was a pretty good dance for us. Skating first is always a little more nerve wracking with the altitude. We didn't warm up because we wanted still to have some juice for the performance." Dubreuil has been suffering from vertigo due to an inner ear infection over the last few months. "A piece of my inner ear shifted," she explained. "Every time I turned my head I had vertigo. It was almost like a wrestling match [with my head] for a couple of seconds. It was interesting." Lauzon is unfazed and amazed. "To me, every time she feels sick or injured, when she gets on the ice she's always amazing," he said. "I don't see the difference. To me, she's always as good as she is." Close behind in second with 37.72 points, were U.S. Champions Tanith Belbin (22) and Benjamin Agosto (25). The team delivered a confident dance that displayed good character, however Agosto stumbled in a corner during the second pattern of the waltz. Agosto anticipated the questions from reporters, blurting: "Yes, I tripped in the corner. Basically my toe pick got caught on the ice, but it was OK because the rest of it was good." "It was still a good performance and the fact that we are less than a point behind the leaders puts us in a good position," added Belbin. In their first debut at this event, Meryl Davis (20) and Charlie White (19) did extraordinarily well, displaying confidence in their waltz as well as good interpretation of the music. They are currently third with 33.68 points. The team skated the same waltz at the US Championships almost three weeks ago. "It helps a lot," said Davis. "If we'd had only a week to train the Golden [Waltz], it would have been a lot more difficult." "It's been an interesting ride doing this dance," added White. "At first we thought it was almost hopeless, but you get into it and you start to feel it." Canada's Tessa Virtue (17) and Scott Moir (19), who also put out a precise dance with good matching lines, are close behind with 33.41 points. Teammates Lauren Senft (19) and Leif Gislason (23) are currently fifth, followed by USA's Kimberly Navarro (25) and Brent Bommentre (22) who earned a new personal best of 29.37 points. Pairs (Short Program)
China's Xue Shen (28) and Hongbo Zhao (33) skated a beautiful program to Romanza by Bacarisse that showcased both the team's world-class athleticism and their strong, yet balletic style. The two-time and reigning Olympic bronze medalists opened with a set of side-by-side triple toe loops followed by their renown gigantic throw triple loop that elicited audible gasps from the audience. The only shortcoming in the program was a crashy landing on the split triple twist which did not have the team's usual amplitude. Despite the mistake, the 69.29 points they earned were better than their closest competitors by almost four points. "It was not a big deal," Shen said of the flawed triple twist, "We were conservative about it. I regret that, because our score would have been higher." Shen and Zhao also plan to 'retire' after the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo."We will leave the competition (Worlds) and if we are feeling good in 2009, we might try to compete in the [2010] Olympics," offered Shen. Skating to O Doux Printemps d' Autrefois by Jules Massenet, Qing Pang (27) and Jian Tong (27) executed each element cleanly but tentatively. The lone glitch in the program was the transition into the pairs spin which resulted in a loss of unison, but the team quickly corrected the miscue. Their routine, highlighted by the team's usual high-flying split triple twist and clean side-by-side triple toe loops, was awarded a score of 65.80 points for a second place finish behind their teammates. The reigning World Champions were cautiously pleased with their performance. "It was a quite good performance," said Pang. "There were still some little errors, and we feel that the high altitude is affecting us." Tong added that their individual health issues have been a concern as well. "Coming to this competition is a high point for us, but we don't like being in this shape for this competition," he explained. Pang, who suffers from albuminuria - a somewhat obscure kidney condition - is unable to train for more than an hour without taking a break. "It is better than it was, but I'm still not fully recovered," she offered. "My stamina is still not so good." "Right now our energy is a little low and the high altitude has affected us," continued Tong. "We need more practice and hopefully at the World Championships we will do a lot better." In third place are the two-time and reigning U.S. National silver medalists, Rena Inoue (30) and John Baldwin (33). The team opened their Soul of Spain routine with cleanly executed side-by-side double Axels, however Inoue then pinched forward on the landing of a throw triple Axel. The defending champions earned a Level 4 on each of their graded elements except for their spiral sequence (Level 3), and earned a new personal best of 61.73 points. "I don't really understand why we received a Level 3," said Baldwin of the spiral sequence. "That element has been Level 4 for us all season. The throw triple Axel was something we've been able to do since last year, so it wasn't shocking (to land it today), but it's always exciting to land it." Known by most as an 'ice mathematician', Baldwin is always on the lookout for ways to earn more points. "I want to be aggressive in the long program and bring those levels up," he stated, adding that it was an honor to be in the last group with two World Champions. Canada's Valerie Marcoux (26) and Craig Buntin (26) opened with a very strong set of side-by-side triple toe loops and a good double twist, but had a position problem in the entrance of a lift in which Marcoux struggled to maintain a clean position. The mistake caused the team to reshape the end of their program to Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White, resulting in losing levels on the death spiral. "We had a little less time on the death spiral," explained Buntin, "so we had to take a revolution out of it." Nevertheless, the Canadian silver medalists were excited to skate a fall-free short program and currently stand in fourth place heading into the free skate. With 60.43 points, the team is within striking distance of the podium. Teammates Annabelle Langlois (25) and Cody Hay (23) stand in fifth. Langlois fell on a throw triple Lutz, but the team otherwise skated a clean program, earning a new personal best of 56.15 points. "I could feel it was wrong when I took off," said Langlois of the fall. "I couldn't hang on to it." USA's Naomi Nari Nam (21) and Themi Leftheris (24) had a commendable showing at their first ISU Championships, placing sixth. The team executed clean side-by-side triple toe loops to start, but then had small errors on both the throw triple loop and the death spiral. Teammates Brooke Castille (20) and Ben Okolski (22) were credited only with single side-by-side Axels as Castille popped hers. The newly-crowned U.S. Champions earned a new personal best of 55.12 points for a seventh place finish. Men's (Short Program)Canada's Jeffrey Buttle made a glorious return to the international scene by placing first in the short program in front of one of the most impressive fields that this competition has ever seen. After nursing a repetitive injury to his back after a fall, Buttle returned to competition in January to earn his fourth consecutive national title with relative ease. "I've been spending most of the season off the ice in rehab," explained Buttle. "The injury has healed completely and I've been back on the ice basically training like normal." Buttle's score of 77.42 points, a new personal best, can be attributed to the fact that the three-time Canadian Champion not only received level fours on all of his components, but also earned positive grades of execution on most of them as well. Buttle's strength has always been his component scores, and tonight was no exception. The ease by which Buttle moved from element to element with interesting connection moves helped to create an artistic masterpiece set to Astor Piazzolla's Adios Nonino. Buttle opened the program with a beautiful triple flip to triple toe loop combination that earned him a whopping 10.07 points. His only visible error in the program was putting his hands down on the triple axel, earning him negative grades of execution from the entire judging panel. "I kept rotating after the axel," explained the 24-year-old. "So I had a pretty big step out. But I think all of the other elements … not only the levels, but the quality really paid off." In a surprising second place is Jeremy Abbott, the pewter medalist from the US Championships, who is competing in his first ISU Championship. "I'm a little shocked," laughed Abbott when asked about his ranking. "I was very pleased with my performance, and I knew that I could perform the way that I did." Abbott's routine to Dead Already from the American Beauty soundtrack which earned him the only standing ovation of the night, was highlighted by an opening triple Lutz to triple toe combination, a triple axel, and a light yet powerful triple loop out of real footwork. Abbott's speed and carriage are world class. The 21-year-old used these qualities to cover the entire ice surface from end to end while interpreting the music with angst and power that translated well to the audience. Abbott's score of 74.34, like Buttle's, is a personal best. Abbott went on to explain that he felt much more comfortable and mentally prepared here than at US Championships. "I was very distracted and didn't know what to expect," he said, referring to the US Nationals. "But having gone through that and knowing what to expect, it was a lot easier to get through this short program." Ryan Bradley, the surprise silver medalist at last month's US Championships scored a new personal best of 68.83 points to place third in this phase of the competition. The 23-year-old executed perhaps the biggest triple axel in the competition, much to the delight of his hometown crowd. His only mistake was doubling a planned triple toe loop at the back half of a triple flip jump combination. Donned in a costume with da-glo colors, Bradley enthralled the audience with his routine to Polka and Happy Birthday Variations by Gidon Kremer with a flirtatious charm that only he can convincingly execute. Though Bradley only received a level two and a level three on his footwork sequences, he was able to maintain the audience's interest with his likeable presentation by showcasing much improved spins. Bradley was basking in his placement. "It was a good step for me from Nationals," he said. "Obviously I didn't jump as well, but my other things were a little bit stronger, and that is what we are trying to do. I am very happy with how today came out. The last time I competed in Four Continents (in 2004) was not as successful, this time was certainly better than my last." Bradley was not surprised that he was back-to-back with Abbott. "I feel like we compete everyday and I think that's what pushes us. Obviously being used to the altitude helps. There are a lot of great skaters here, and it just happened to be our day today," he added. US Champion Evan Lysacek struggled in his short program to The Feeling Begins by Peter Gabriel, downgrading his jump combination to a triple lutz to double toe loop and doubling his triple flip. Lysacek's score of 67.04 was good enough for fourth place on the strength of his spins for which he earned level fours. "It was a very strange night for competition," said Lysacek. "I usually try to feed off the energy of the crowd, but there wasn't much energy [here] tonight." In fifth place with 64.98 points is Canada's Emanuel Sandhu. It is always an experience to watch Sandhu compete as he is typically rock solid in practice, but then can't translate that to competition ice. The 2007 Canadian National bronze medalist opened his Pantera En Liberta/Mambo program with a hard-fought quadruple toe to double toe-axel combination and then popped his triple Axel to a single. After a few seconds of interesting choreography, Sandhu stopped skating and went to the referee's table to correct an equipment failure. At some point in the program, Sandhu popped a hook on his boot and needed to repair it in order to complete the program. In accordance with ISU policy, Sandhu was given two minutes to correct the equipment failure, and then would be allowed to skate the rest of his program from the point in which he needed to stop. After the break, Sandhu returned to the ice fighting for each move, landing a beautiful triple lutz before he unleashed a choreographic fury of spectacular moves interpretive of the mambo-themed program. The 26-year-old earned level threes and fours on all of his non-jump elements to edge out Jialiang Wu of China, who skated a clean program without the flair that Sandhu demonstrated. The event continues Thursday with the Original Dance, Pairs Free Skate and the Ladies Short Program. |
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"We will leave the competition (Worlds) and if we are feeling good in 2009, we might try to compete in the [2010] Olympics," offered Shen.