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2008 European Figure Skating Championships - HighlightsLadies Short Program and Free Dance
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The 2008 European Figure Skating Championships continued with the Ladies Short Program and the Free Dance.
Defending champion Carolina Kostner of Italy won the Ladies short program with 59.31 (31.56/27.75) points, despite doubling her planned triple Lutz out of steps. The 2007-08 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist opened her program to a creative arrangement of Riders on the Storm by The Doors with a fluent triple flip-triple toe loop combination, the only triple-triple of the event. While she leaned in the air on her double Axel, the 2007 NHK Trophy champion managed to land the jump cleanly.
Kostner's non-jumping elements were rather strong, and included a level 4 flying spin and spiral sequence, a level 3 step sequence and final combination spin. The Italian champion's choreography (done by Lori Nichol) was one of the most creative during the event. In addition to generally strong transitions and interpretation, she was the only skater not to use a typical serpentine pattern for her spiral sequence.
"It's a new situation as I'm now a defending champion," said the 20-year-old. "It's different from last year, but I am having a lot of fun and I am trying to concentrate. The mistake on the Lutz happened so fast, I guess I lost concentration. I will try my best in the free".
Carolina Kostner of Italy performs her short program to Riders on the Storm by The Doors. |
At a post-event press conference, Kostner elaborated on her choice of music: "Actually I came across this music almost by an accident. My choreographer, Lori Nichol, sent me some music from Canada. I found some other tunes on the internet and I was listening to all of them and this one really stood out because it's so strange."
Eventually it came down to three choices.
"My coach and choreographer left the final decision to me," continued Kostner. "I listened to all three in the evening before going to bed, and I decided that whatever music will be playing in my head when I wake up, I'll take it. And it was this one."
When asked about how it felt to skate in the warm-up with three Finnish skaters, the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy champion joked: "I am already accustomed to feeling as if I'm skating at Finnish Nationals. This autumn I competed at 2007 Finlandia Trophy and it was the same there. But it does feel a bit weird."
Finland's Kiira Korpi is second after a clean program to Triunfal by Astor Piazzolla. The skater, who was sidelined with an illness in the beginning of the season when she was forced to withdraw from 2007 Skate America, landed a triple Lutz-double toe, a triple loop out of steps, and a double Axel. However, the 19-year-old had some problems meeting technical requirements for non-jumping elements. Her spiral sequence was only given a level 1 and her layback a level 2, but she posted the third highest technical score of the event. She is currently less than a point behind Kostner with 58.60 (32.14/26.46) points.
"I had a great feeling," said last year's bronze medalist. "I was relaxed. In the warm-up, I was a bit nervous. There were supporters and noise, but I was prepared for that. I was able to get a determined, but relaxed feeling. Now I'm relieved and glad that I was able to enjoy my skate. I gave 110% in the last step sequence. I have always been a fighter, I don't give up if there are setbacks."
The Finnish silver medalist was was annoyed, however, with the level 1 she received on her spiral sequence.
"Maybe I didn't hold one of the positions long enough," said Korpi. "Also two spins were a bit slow. I don't think that my score would be good enough to win the short program, but it gives me a good position for the free skate."
When asked to comment on the Finnish team taking on the European level, Korpi replied: "We really have a very strong team in Finland, with some very strong young skaters coming up. Like Jenni (Vähämma) here, she is a real talent. It's a shame that Susanna (Pöykiö) cannot come here. We had a very good internal competition. We have great coaches, great working attitude, and great skaters and we really push each other."
Teammate and Championship debutante Laura Lepistö is currently third after a nearly clean performance to Legend of 1900. The Finnish Champion planned to open her program with a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, but only did a triple-double. The 19-year-old didn't allow this mistake to affect the rest of the performance, however, and went on to land a triple loop and a double Axel. She also delivered solid spins, most of which were graded level 4, and received 56.96 (32.24/24.72) points.
"Yesterday I thought I would be more nervous," admitted the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist, "but actually I was quite relaxed before the program. I'm annoyed about the mistake on my combination, but otherwise it was a good skate. In the warm-up, I noticed that my legs were shaking. I stepped out of jumps and had bad landings. Maybe I was trying too hard. I definitely attempted a triple-triple. In past competitions, I tend to double the second jump even though the first one was good."
Switzerland's Sarah Meier finished a close fourth with 56.44 (30.16/25.28) points after an enchanting performance to music from the Patch Adams soundtrack. Her only mistake happened on a solo jump out of steps. The 23-year-old replaced triple flip with a triple salchow, but she opened the rotation in the air and landed the Salchow on both feet half-a-revolution earlier.
"Obviously I am not very happy, because I made a mistake on the Salchow," said last year's silver medalist. "We changed my solo jump because I got only 3.5 points for my flip (because of a wrong take-off deduction). I feel more comfortable with the flip, but this mistake could have happened with the flip as well. I still tried to do the rest as good as I could and my points are ok."
Meier also replaced the flying sit spin with a flying upright spin after she received no credit for the element at 2007 Trophee Eric Bompard (because the sit position wasn't low enough). The Swiss champion earned levels 3 and 4 on the non-jumping elements, and her soft and lyrical style, as well her charming presentation, allowed her to make up for the technical mistake with high presentation scores.
Julia Sebestyen of Hungary is currently fifth with 55.54 (30.90/24.64) points. The skater, who has been struggling to regain her former level in recent seasons, seemed to be right on track as she opened the program with a solid triple flip and a huge triple Lutz-double toe combination, but then she singled an Axel.
"I rushed a bit and I was a bit ahead in my head," explained the 26-year-old, of the popped Axel.
However, the 2004 European champion's spins were strong as usual, and her excellent basic skating skills allowed her to match the flow of the Shubert's Serenade.
"It wasn't bad," said the Hungarian champion. The triple Lutz was perfect. It was a good program. Tomorrow I will do my best and fight."
Valentina Marchei of Italy rounded up the final flight of skaters for the free program. The 2007 Merano Cup champion gave a powerful and commanding performance to the music from La Traviata, which she opened with a solid triple Lutz-double toe loop combination. She also landed a double Axel and triple Salchow, earning 53.59 (30.86/22.83) points.
The Italian champion, who placed 10th at Skate America and ninth at Trophee Eric Bompard, admitted to having a bad seasonal start.
"Usually all the beginnings are like that for me," said the 21-year-old. That's the way I am. I can't change, but my form grew. My goal was to skate perfect here in Zagreb and I did."
When asked what it was like to compete alongside teammate Kostner, Marchei replied: "I came here as an Italian Champion and now Carolina is here. It's not very motivating, but being close to her means that I'm in the top two and that is what matters."
The highest technical score of evening belongs to Jenna McCorkell of Great Britain. The 21-year-old scored 33.40 for her elements which included a triple flip-double toe combination and a triple Lutz out of steps. Her overall score is 53.68 (33.40/20.28) and she was just 0.01 away from making it to the final group.
"This was the best short program of my life!" exclaimed the British champion. "I'm relieved. It's something I knew that I could do for so long, and I've been trying to push it out. Sometimes I was trying a little bit too much. This time, working with Vera (Vandecaveye, her coach) and Kevin (Van der Perren, her fiance), I pulled it all together. I've never had 53 (points) in the short. I know I am capable of placing in the top ten, but if I panic too much about that, I loose the focus in my actual performance."
Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin perform to Masquerade Waltz for their Free Dance. |
In the final showdown of the ice dance competition, Russia's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin regained their leading position with an inspiring performance to Masquerade Waltz. Skating after their rivals, they held nothing back. The flow of their Free Dance (FD) surpassed that of any other dancers who performed today.
While their performances earlier in the season haven't always been convincing, this time the 2007-08 Grand Prix Final champions have proven that the choice of music is the right one for them. It capitalize on their strongest points: excellent basic skating skills and lines.
"The idea of our dance belongs to Tatiana Tarasova," explained Domnina. "She suggested it at the end of last season. The actual choreography was done by Sergei Petukhov. I felt the story is self-explanatory. It's [about] poor Oksana being forced to marry an evil St. Petersburg's... well, Maxim, who had that evil gleam in his eyes. And that's what I was trying to portray today."
The students of Alexei Gorshkov seemed to float across the ice, delivering a powerful and dramatic performance which was marred only by the lack of speed in the end of the non-touching midline step sequence and relatively slow final reverse rotation lift. They placed first in the FD with a personal best of 104.99 (53.78/51.21) points, and moved up to first overall (207.14 points) to claim the gold.
"I'm speechless," said Domnina, at a post event press conference. "I think I left all my emotions back on the ice. We are very happy we survived the competition. I want to congratulate Maxim on his birthday and to thank him for his courage and his strength. Only he knows how difficult it was."
"It was the hardest competition of my career," added Shabalin. "We knew it was going to be difficult, because I had an operation (knee surgery) a month ago. It was a risky decision to come here, but now we know that it was the right decision. I made it on January 9th, when I returned to the ice for practice, and I knew that I would be able to train in order to prepare for the competition. The decision was risky because the doctors recommended three weeks of swimming and two weeks of cycling to regain the shape. And watching Europeans on TV."
"I really enjoyed dancing with Maxim tonight," added Domnina. "He was great, I really felt his support both inside and outside."
Defending champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France were great as well. Skating before their main rivals, they left nothing to chance, and executed all their elements smoothly. However, the change of the position in their combination lift was a bit heavy and the exit of the spin looked somewhat abrupt. In addition, their non-touching midline step sequence received only a level 3.
Nonetheless, those minor drawbacks didn't distract from the mesmerizing quality of their dance to music from the Piano soundtrack. The sign language seems to be a very appropriate theme for their subdued and sophisticated love story, which really silenced the audience, and the crowd loudly cheered the team as they took to the ice. The defending champions set a new seasonal bests by scoring 101.95 (51.69/50.26) for the dance, and 205.92 points total.
At the end of the performance, Delobel pumped a fist in the air, but in the end, the team from Lyon had to settle for silver.
"You know there is a lot of stress and we did a good program," said Delobel, regarding her gesture. "I wanted to do the best and I did. I am a bit disappointed because we won at Europeans last year, and now we didn't. Anyway, we did a good job from the beginning of the event. That is life. That is sport. Fair play."
When asked about the changes they made to their dance, Schoenfelder replied: "I think we did some good changes, modified some lifts and some steps, and as we beat out best score, we must have done it right. For Worlds, we have to analyze our performance. Perhaps, we will change some steps. We still haven't got all levels 4, and that's our goal."
The team also changed costumes from a modest brown to a more vibrant red. "We changed our costumes, because the brown color we had before was too sad," explained Delobel. "We changed my costume to red because it's the color of passion and this dance is about passion."
Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski won their first European Championships medal with an energetic performance of their Night at the Bald Mountain free dance. The 2008 Russian champions have improved their speed and power from the previous event, and really captured the audience's attention with the impressive lifts and tricky connecting moves. This time, they were able to maintain the momentum through all four minutes of the program, giving 100% on all their elements. However both their step sequences received only level 3. The team placed third in the FD with a new personal best of 99.66 (51.46/48.20) points, and 197.06 points total to win the bronze.
"The crowd was awesome," said Khokhlova, after the event. "When they started to clap along during our side-by-side steps, it gave us so much energy."
"It was fantastic tonight," added Novitski. "It was probably the best performance of the season. We are well received everywhere, but here the crowd was just amazing."
When asked how they felt about winning their first European medal, Novitski replied: "I haven't realized it fully yet. I have chaos in my head right now - after the performance and the amazing reaction of the crowd."
When asked how they felt watching the Italians Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali perform, Novitski replied: "We watched them with mixed feelings. We really wanted to win our first medal at European, and we were probably more nervous watching them than before we went out to skate. There were just two points difference between us, and that's not much in ice dancing."
Faiella and Scali finished fourth in free dance with 95.29 (49.29/46.00) points and overall (190.95 points). Their program to Papa, Can You Hear Me? was highlighted by excellent transition moves and strong lifts, but Massimo stumbled towards the end of the serpentine step sequence and the element was rated a level 3. The Italian champions also only received a level 3 for the first half of their combination lift, but overall their soft and enchanting dance provided an excellent ending for the competition.
"We are very happy," said Scali. "We did a good job at these Europeans, especially after the last season (they were sixth). We were more ready mentally to fight for a medal. It was hard for us to skate last in the group. It was difficult to keep our focus. I think we did a great job in the Free Dance."
Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France pulled back up to fifth place overall (185.26 points) after a clean performance of their "Craziness" Free Dance for which they earned 93.71 (49.24/44.47) points. The team did an excellent job in capturing and portraying the idea of a downward spiral towards insanity, which ended up with Bourzat putting Pechalat in a straight jacket. Their series of synchronized twizzles were also one of the most original versions of this rather standard element. The 2007-08 Grand Prix finalists managed to avoid major mistakes, even though they lost a lot of training time due to Bourzat's knee surgery.
"It was a bit hard to go out for the Free Dance because of the lack of practice after Fabian's surgery," said Pechalat. "But it's good that we fought until the very end and did a good competition without any major errors. Considering that we started training only ten days before, I am very pleased that we came, although we would have wished to achieve a higher placement."
"Yesterday we wanted to move up," added Bourzat. "Today we just wanted to do a good job."
The French team feel they can still improve on their footwork, which only received a level 3 at this event.
"Physically we can improve," said Bourzat. "We can improve our score at Worlds."
When asked if he spoke with Maxim Shabalin about the same surgery they both had, he replied, "Yes, we were exchanging glances at practice. We know that the other one is also hurting. We understand each other."
Sinead Kerr and John Kerr of Great Britain finished sixth in free dance with 89.97 (48.10/43.87) points and overall (182.06 points). The students of Evgeni Platov presented a very original program on a theme of space travelers, but Sinead slipped and fell in the corner while doing crossovers. Their serpentine lift and midline step sequence received only a level 3, and the team also took two deductions: one for a fall and one for an extended lift. Despite the errors, their unique lifts, bright costumes, and innovative connecting moves impressed the audience.
"It's always hard (to recover from a fall)," said John, "but I think we handled it relatively quickly. It happens to everyone, and all you have to do is get up and get on with it."
The event concludes tomorrow with the Ladies Long Program.
