The article isn't great but watch the video :)

http://www.king5.com/sports/US-figur...207959541.html

The next installment of the Mario and Somic Olympics series will feature pairs figure skating.

As you all know, the gameplay of a figure skating videotape is never great but it's the thought that counts!
Also I like that they are featuring a different discipline.

http://www.gamesthirst.com/2013/05/1...shots-released

By connected I mean doing one after the other consecutively without stopping and dropping my free leg.

After the outside 3 turn, I'm on the inside edge, at this point I try to turn my leg out while bent to perform the next outside 3 turn but I keep dropping my free leg...

I do notice that sometimes on the inside edge the pressure is on the toe where it isn't supposed to be but nonetheless, I shifted the pressure on the heel and still I can't seem to do it right. :(

I have limited turn out (110 degrees) I don't know if this has to do with it...

Season 2012 - 2013 in Russsia is finished.
No high level competition will be in this season.

So it is time to start new thread about next season.

Today was officially published Team Russia for 2013 - 2014 Season. http://fsrussia.ru/upl/ckeditor/1135439.pdf (Russian).

From Danielle O'Brien's (of O'Brien & Merriman, Australian dance champion's) Olympic blog:

http://corporate.olympics.com.au/new...o-brien-s-blog

It's good to see another Senior B outside of Europe!

And before Nebelhorn too.

I'm betting this will draw some good skaters! :)

Hi, I'm new and I've been in the process of editing some of my favorite soundtrack programs to put on my Ipod to listen to. Most of it is going well, but I'm having trouble with three of his programs:

1) I understand in late 1999 he used Star Wars: Phantom Menace for his LP. Does anyone have a video of it so I could see what cuts he used? I can't find it anywhere.

2) In 2001 I know he used the soundtrack from Gladiator (one of my all-time favorites) and I'd really love to see it. Does anyone have a video of it that they could post?

3) Lastly, in his 1995-1996 "1492" routine, I can identify all the pieces except the very last cut. (I know he used Frogs In Space in the middle too). The last piece is really triumphant, but it's not anywhere in 1492. Is it from Robin Hood (sounds a little bit like it) and if not, where would I find it?

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to learning more info here.

We are looking for a figure skating coach for our daughter(spoken French or English) that would be available from September 2013 to January 2014 (prolongation possible if mutual consent) for private training. Monthly salary with room and board. Must be able to coach double axle and triple jumps.. Location is in Switzeralnd.

I want to start this thread because as a fan of the sport, it is our responsibility, to some degree, to tell others about figure skating and get people around us interested about skating. With the winter games around the corner, it's the perfect opportunity to get people interested or at least talking about it at the water cooler at work or during lunch break.

Here are some questions to provoke discussion on this thread. These questions range from things you can talk about to someone who knows nothing about skating to those who don't watch but have some understanding. Some of these questions are great for those who you already have hooked on the sport and they still need to figure out a few things?

-What are some ways or strategies that we as fans can implement that can get people around us interested in skating skating, especially those in areas of the world that has little to no skating culture or areas where popularity has dwindled?
-What are some skating topics that you can talk about that would get people interested?
-If someone asks about how the scoring system works, what would you say so anyone could understand?
-How would you explain each discipline, event?
-how would you explain a short or a long program in each discipline?
-how would you explain in simple terms, the presentation score/program components?
-how would you explain in simple terms how the the elements are marked/ the technical element score?
-how would you explain the scores with (1) a protocol at hand and (2) without a protocol?
-what current skating rivalries or profiles would you bring up to wet someone's appetite because everyone loves rivalries, controversies, scandals etc.?
-how would you explain elements and levels and GOE?
-what happens if a skater makes a mistake on an element or not on an element?
-music
-costumes
-deductions
Etc.

Okay. Go nuts!!

According to IceNetwork:

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

Kori Ade has relocated to Colorado, with her students, family and new baby in tow.
Ade is coaching Jason Brown and Jordan Moeller, among others, at the Colorado Sports Center in Monument, Colo., about 20 miles north of Colorado Springs.


Interestingly:

[Rohene] "Ward, who choreographs for Brown and Moeller, is going to return to competition himself next season. He's planning to take the ice at the Broadmoor Open in June. Ade said she is listed as Ward's coach, but he does a lot of work on his own."

Only Part 1 is up. Will post Part 2 when Jenny and Dave decide to post it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...=fotH9FVzBTY#!

16-year-old Angela Wang has blossomed into one of the most promising young figure skaters in the country. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she lives and trains now in Colorado Springs — home of the U.S. Olympic Committee — where she hopes an intense focus on elite training with top coaches will push her onto the podium at the Olympics one day.

More

The search is on for Britain’s next Torvill and Dean, with Scottish children as young as eight being invited to a special training camp to find the ice skating stars of the future.

More

Figure skater Kim Yu-na placed 44th on the annual list of the 50 Most Marketable Athletes in the world by British sports media SportsPro in association with Eurosport, released on Monday.

More

Former ‘K-Pop Star 2‘ contestant Shin Ji Hoon recently returned to her roots as a figure skater.


On the May 11th broadcast of MBC‘s ‘Human Documentary‘, Shin Ji Hoon gave viewers a glimpse of her journey as a figure skater, which requires waking up at 6AM every morning to go practice at the skating rink. Although she began skating during her 6th year of elementary school, which is later than most child skaters, she learned quickly. Within just two years, she was able to win an award at national and international competitions.

More

(CNN) -- "A must-have quality for figure skaters is, I think, gorgeousness." Japan's Daisuke Takahashi throws his head back and laughs, but he is serious.

More

We published the full version of an interview with Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje on our homepage:
http://www.figureskating-online.com/weaver-poje.html

They talk about the ups and downs of th season, her recovery from injury and you can also find out what the zombie juice is and if they guess what the partner would take to an isolated island. :-)

For the 10 years that I have been watching figure skating, Eurosport has always been my first choice of channel to watch on. Admittedly, the main reason for this was that, until I discovered internet streaming, Eurosport was the ONLY place that I could watch figure skating.

But the other reason was that I really like Eurosport’s English-language commentary team. They have had the same 3 guys commentating together for about 20 years and, no matter who is paired up with who, they all compliment each other very well.

Sure, there are little things about each of them that can be annoying, but this is just a minor thing.

However, over the past few years, Eurosport has been increasing the number of figure skating championships than it shows. This may sound like a good thing, but because Eurosport has the rights to more sports than it used to, the coverage of the figure skating is not as comprehensive as it used to be.

One big side affect of showing more championships is that it is getting harder for Eurosport to get its figure skating commentators together at the same time! Like, each of them has other commitments:

Simon Reed has his commitments as a tennis commentator, not to mention his day job of running Eurosport’s commentary department. Oh, and I just found out that Simon stood in as commentator on the last few episodes of “Dancing On Ice”, while the regular commentator Tony Gubba was on his death-bed. So if he gets the job permanently, that’ll be even less time with us.

To be honest, I don’t know what Nicky Slater’s day job is now that he’s not skating. But, I cannot even begin to imagine the anguish he has been going through in his personal life. I was just surprised that he did come back before the end of this season. But, maybe watching the skating helped take his mind off things.

Chris Howarth’s day job is running a rink in Chicago, so it is not always possible for him to come home every few weeks to commentate for British Eurosport. But, I like the way that when he can’t make it home for a competition he is pencilled in to commentate on, he gets his former coach, David Clements, to stand in for him. It is good to see that even after all these years, the relationship is still there

I have already given my opinions on the regular commentators elsewhere on this forum ( http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sho...l=1#post716913 ) . But, since I just mentioned one of the stand-ins, I will give my verdict on the commentary given by David Clements and Richard Vaughan on the Gala at Junior Worlds.

Firstly, Richard Vaughan has a lovely voice that I could listen to all day. But, he knows very little about figure skating (as somebody pointed out, he normally commentates on curling, a sport I have no desire to ever watch!) He would frequently ask David a question just as a performance was about to start, and it would take most of the performance for David to explain the answer. The result was that we didn’t get to hear the music properly!!! Grrrrr!!! (As you have probably gathered by now, this is a pet hate of mine!)

David Clements, on the other hand, knows a lot about figure skating because he’s been there himself. He was a pretty good former singles skater (1959 British Men’s Champion, no less), and has been a coach for many years. But, knowledgeable though he is, you can tell he has been out of the game for a long time.

The result of Eurosport having a small team that it is becoming more common for them to have one commentator flying solo. Personally, I don’t like it when this happens. I prefer it when we are getting two sets of opinions rather than just the one.

So, I would like to propose that Eurosport expands its (regular) commentary team. In fact, I would not just expand it by one or two, I would double it to six!!!

From what I can tell, Eurosport seems to like to pair a journalist with a former competitor in its commentary teams. Below is a list of some examples.

Figure skating: Simon Reed (journalist); with Chris Howarth or Nicky Slater (former competitors)

Nordic skiing: David Goldstrom (journalist); with Mike Dixon or Patrick Winterton (former competitors)*

*Curiously, the stand-in commentator, Steve Day, is a former motorbike racer! But, he does know a lot about ski-jumping.

MotoGP: Julian Ryder and Toby Moody (journalists); with Randy Mamola (former competitor)*

*Randy Mamola left the team a few years ago, to become manager of British rider Bradley Smith. He was replaced by Neil Spalding, who is better known now as a journalist, but was a successful Club racer back in the day. But, he never got to GP level.

Superbikes: Jack Burnicle (journalist); with Jamie Whitham or James Haydon (former competitors)

Snooker: David Hendon or Mike Smyth (journalists); with Mike Hallett or Joe Johnson (former competitors)

Women’s football: Tim Caple or Wayne Boyce (journalists); with Sue Smith or Emma Hayes (former competitors)

You get the drift?

At the moment, Eurosport’s figure skating commentary team consists of:

Simon Reed(male journalist)
Chris Howarth (male singles skater)
Nicky Slater (male ice dancer)

At the moment, we only have one journalist on the team. If figure skating was made to follow the Eurosport trend, then this would mean that all the weight was falling on Simon’s shoulders. Given the number of competitions Eurosport is covering, that wouldn’t be fair on him. But, of course, Simon’s in charge of commentary, so he won’t let it get to that!

Although I like the current team, I do think that it could do with some female input. Women look at things differently to men, so it would put a different perspective on things.

So, I would like to add a female journalist to Eurosport’s figure skating team.

Also, it is very noticeable that although Men’s singles skating and Ice Dance are catered for in the Eurosport commentary team, Ladies singles skating and Pairs skating are not.

This may seem a minor thing, but when the commentary team is as small as it currently, you are going to get skaters commentating on disciplines that are not their area of expertise. I’ve said this before elsewhere on this forum, but Chris makes no secret that he doesn’t know much about Ice Dance, yet he still ends up commentating on it. Similarly, when Nicky is commentating on Singles and Pairs skating, he tries to apply things from Ice Dance, and it doesn’t always work.

So, I would like to see a Ladies skater and a Pairs skater join the boys on Eurosport’s figure skating team.

The result of my suggestions is a team consisting of:

a male journalist (i.e. Simon Reed)
a female journalist
a male singles skater (i.e. Chris Howarth)
a female singles skater
a pairs skater
an ice dancer (i.e. Nicky Slater)

With a commentary team of six, there will be a bigger pool from which a commentary team for a particular competition can be drawn from. So, there will be less chance of us being left with one commentator flying solo. Even if two or three from the team can’t make it for a particular competition, we will still have enough commentators to give us a variety of views and opinions.

The question now is, who would you like to see join Simon, Chris and Nicky in the team?

Given that Chris sometimes finds it difficult to get back home, it would work best if the additional commentators were based in Britain, or at least in Europe!

So, get your suggestions in. I already have a few ideas, but I am going to post them in a separate reply, as this message is already very long!!! (But, including lists does tend to have that effect!)

CaroLiza_fan

With skating dead in Amerrica, I think Sandra Bezic, Scott, Peggy Verne Lundquist all sucked in past Olympics, big events. I missed Dick Button. Jenny Kirk may do better, on par with Tara but I still hate her new voice-simply irritating but I admit to a short fuse these days.

I do not know how new fans tuning in to this Olympic season will have a clue re the rules. Will NBC do broadcast fluff before hand? The USFSA has failed miserably over 10 years to explain the new sport to us all. Will this lead to it being dumped from Olympic roster? Ideally who should be the explainers and how would you like to see the sport presented? To me, IJS has hurt popularity greatly. Is there a more complicated sport in judged sport?

I love FS but see IJS as needing changes every year to get things more transparent. I am sad to see what has happened to coverage of a great sport. I think a simpler judging system, and massive PR by USFSA using the money that is there in the pockets of many who go rich post whack, is a general statement. If the former stars of skating and commenters and others who prospered will not save the sport they love, then we will see no TV shows, few competitions and in USA only the richest kids will stay in as competitors. Will this simply become a sport loved in Asia where the top skaters will be Asian by and large? I am very concerned for the sport in America and Europe (not including Russia).

This Asus is skipping around-both putters and printers down for count. So if paragraphs don't cohere, Sorry. I am flummoxed by all the issues re puters.

Education key? Or simplified IJS. With World watching ice skating again for a few comps, how can USFSA revitalize, or do they simply not care at this point beyond the elites?

Who do you think? While it seemed a given that Russia would have 3 spots for the Ladies at the Olympics, that's obviously no longer the case.
It seems to be a 3-way race for 2 spots, between Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, and Lipnitskaya. But what about Gosviani, Makarova, Leonova, Korobeynikova?

I'm banking on Sotnikova and Lipnitskaya. Tuktamysheva has been outrageously inconsistent this season, while Lipnitskaya seems to have gotten past her initial struggles this season.

What does everyone else think?

After almost 10 months, I have completed the adult basic skills and just tested the Canasta. I am more inspired than ever to keep on going and am looking for some input. I think I understand the philosophy behind the development of the adult track curriculum, but trying to decide if it is the best path to take. I have heard it said that by going adult vs standard track, one may miss out on some important skills. Thoughts... suggestions??

Thanks!!

Finish the phrase.

If I was a compulsory dance, I would be a...

I'll start- i would be a tango romantica

I am of course referring to the souvenir programs that are "flogged" at skating shows. I used to collect them when I went to shows such as Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice. I've found the programs don't have much content anymore, just photos of the skaters. It's kind of expensive here in Canada - $15.00. I don't know what you pay in the US. I quite liked the programs from the past, but I am kind of disappointed in the programs of late. I usually take a pass on them - although this time I bought one.

Last night, my hubby and I attended the Stars on Ice Show here in Vancouver. It was an amazing night of skating by all of the skaters. Our seats of course could not have been better - rink side - thanks to my husband (an anniversary gift). It's the only place to sit at ice shows now for me! I am getting spoiled. Anyway, from the first number "Somebody That I Used To Know" the show just kept building and building momentum. My husband really enjoyed the opening number. The theme of the show seemed to be about umbrellas as the umbrella was featured in quite a few of the programs. Of course where better than the West Coast to feature an umbrella? It's pouring right now, although last night was beautiful - no rain thank goodness. The commute would have been most unpleasant.

Patrick Chan was spot on! He skated two programs "I Need a Dollar" and "Mannish Boy." Wow can Patrick cover the ice with great speed and grace. Truly an awesome skater.

Ashley Wagner skated to "Vienna" by Billy Joel - one of my favorite Billy Joel pieces. Ashley is a lovely skater. She also skated to "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythimics.

Then came Sinead and John Kerr. They skated to "Mad World" and a comic program completely dressed in Kilts to a tune "Coronach." Being British Columbians we could really relate to the Scottish theme! It was a lot of fun.

Of course Shawn Sawyer delighted us all with his antics. He is a human pretzel. He morphed into a butterfly skating to Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" and then later a very dramatic skate to "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes. No wonder Toller Cranston picked Shawn Sawyer as his protégé. In fact, Shawn reminded me a little bit of Toller when he skated his "Carmina Burana" program. I think Shawn was channeling Toller!

Jeffrey Buttle and Joannie Rochette skated to "Piano Guys" which was a mix of Dave Brubeck/Van Cliburn which showcased Joannie skating to classical music and Jeffrey skating to Jazz. I loved it. They both skated well together. Later Jeff skated two bluesy programs, "Just In Time" Mel Torme and "In This Shirt" by The Irrepressibles (I was not familiar with this piece). Both programs featured Jeff's wonderful artistic skills.

Of course, next came the master of the blades himself - Kurt. He pretty much got a standing ovation before he skated to a song written especially for him called "Kurt's Song" by one of the members of the Tragically Hip - which happens to be my husband's favorite Canadian rock group. It was a lovely piece. At the end of the Act 11 Kurt treated us once again to my favorite Kurt program "Singing in the Rain - complete with a rain storm!

Tessa Virture and Scott Moir did a magical program to a Rihanna piece called "Stay" It was exquisite. They surprised us later with their "Carman" program - what a treat! They also paid tribute to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics with their famous "Canada Goose" move from their Olympic program.

Joannie skated to "Is it a Crime" by Sade and "That Man" by Caro Emerald. She is looking fantastic! I think Joannie could skate in the Sochi Olympics!

At the end of Act 1, Tessa and Scott, Kurt, Jeffrey and Patrick did a group number to a piece called "Wonder."

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford were also supposed to perform their program "True Colors", but for some strange reason it was cut, although they did skate in the final group number. I don't know what happened. I was really looking forward to seeing them skate.

After all that wonderful night of pure skating, fun and entertainment the night was over too soon. The skaters wrapped things up pretty quickly - it was the last stop on their tour. Oh yeah, before I forget, Patrick Chan got a surprise during the "Wonder" program - Kurt ran off ice and grabbed a bucket of water and poured it on Patrick! Jeffrey said later - that Patrick is the "rookie" and "welcome to Stars on Ice." I guess it was his initiation into the Stars on Ice family.

I splurged on a Stars on Ice T-Shirt and a video of the Stars on Ice 1993 show - I can watch it when I need a skating fix this summer.

All in all it was an amazing night of skating. I was thinking, pure skating, pure joy, and best of all - no judges!

:biggrin:

New pair!

http://askatersworld.wordpress.com/2...and-bereswill/

To the horror of Russian skating, there is only room for one male skater to represent Russia in sochi.

My questions are:
Who do you think will make it to Sochi?
Who do you want to go to Sochi?
Which will prevail next year: youth (gachinski, kovtun etc.) or experience (plushenko, menshov etc.)
Are you a plushenko or menshov fan?

GO!!!

Australian ice dance champions dani and greg have finally made a twitter account. Show your support by following them. They are under @OBrienMerriman

I bought a scribe (new), but it came with no kind of instructions. Is there anyone who can tell me?

Thanks in advance

I couldn't find a thread about this year's ATS. Feel free to merge if there already is one. :)

Kim Yu-na
Rochette
Wagner
Kim Hae-jin

Browning
Lambiel
Fernandez
Kim Jin-seo

Volosozhar/Trankov
Savchenko/Szolkowy

Vladimir Besedin & Olesen Polishchuk
Fiona Zaldua & Dmitry Sukhanov

No ice dance teams unfortunately.

Online ticket purchase begins on Wednesday, 15th of May.

Belita, 1946

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDvAFbi-ats#t=3m40s

How many points for a 1A+1A+1A+1A+1A+1A+SEQ? ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTSrpvXO-JY#t=3m0s

Odd thread title, I know, however I wasn't sure how else to name it and whether or not it should appear in The Edge.
What I'm referring to is what each element appreviation meant when looking at a performer's programs (whether it's singles, pairs or ice dance).
Example: I know the jump appreviations 3S (triple Salchow), 3F (triple Flip), etc. however I was unsure of the other elements appreviations (i.e. spins, footwork, and pretty much elements relating to pairs and ice dancing).
Sorry for being ignorant but it would definitely help me when looking at the break down of a program (protocols, etc.).
Thanks :)

Int'l Skating/Ice Dance/Synchro Competitions 2013/14: ISU Communication No. 1792 (May 6)

Communication No. 1792
Announcement of International Single & Pair Skating, Ice Dance and
Synchronized Skating Competitions 2013/2014

Five-page PDF:

Among the listings:

• The Salt Lake City Senior B (U.S. International Figure Skating Classic) will be held again on Sep 11-15, 2013.

2014 Olympics skating/ice dance entries/participation: ISU Communication No. 1791 (May 6)

Communication No. 1791
ENTRIES/PARTICIPATION 2014 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES (OWG)
SINGLE & PAIR SKATING/ICE DANCE

Four-page PDF:

Brian will be appearing on Thursday's episode of The Chew. In the NY/NJ/PA area, the show airs at 1pm on ABC

It's not hard to spot the hockey background of reigning U.S. national figure skating champion Max Aaron.

The 2010 Cheyenne Mountain High School graduate takes the same athletic, aggressive approach to each short or long program as he did each shift as a player in the U.S. national team development program.

'I didn't back down when I took on 6-foot-4 defenseman along the boards and I don't back down in my program, ' the 5-8 skater from Scottsdale, Ariz. said....

http://gazette.com/colorado-springs-...rticle/1500314

Paul/Islam interview with Pj Kwong (May 5 video and blog)

Kwong's blog post:

The 4:00 video interview is embedded there.

Hi everyone!

I'm new and looking forward to discuss future events with you soon :)
But for now, it's the past I want to ask you something about...

Do you guys remember Dubé/Davison's wonderful moment in 2008? They won the bronze medal at the worlds with their program to "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice. If you never saw it, you have to watch this...

search for this on youtube: 2008 W Dube Davison LP Brit Eurosport

Ever since, I've been on a desperate hunt for the exact version of Blower's Daughter they used for this program, but to no avail.

Since their fansite doesn't seem to exist anymore, I don't know who to ask... Do you know, or have any advice as to who I could ask for this info? I'd love to be able to listen to this beautiful instrumental version of Blower's Daughter on a regular basis!

Any help would be most welcome!

Thanks!

The Skating Lesson posted a recent practice session clip on youtube! No jumps, but still wonderful. It was taken on the 29th of April, 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=KWiI2BgwTeg

They're posting an interview with her soon, which should be great!

My husband and I have ice level seats once again for the Stars on Ice tour here in Vancouver on Friday, May 10th. Patrick Chan is going to be one of the guest stars, will be my first time to see Patrick skate in person. I always enjoy seeing new skaters live. It is going to be a great evening. I just hope the weather holds. It's been a beautiful weekend. We have had a soggy Spring so far. Oh well, I have an umbrella.

I just realized that I've amassed a small collection of relatively high-resolution photographs of skaters over the past month (Thank goodness for Google). Just wanted to share some of my favorites.

What are some of the favorites in your collection or memory? (They don't have to be on-ice photos either. Instagram's cool too. Heee.)

Spread the love! :) :love::agree:

Akiko Suzuki - "O" - http://i.imgur.com/Ok1aLf2.jpg
Alissa Czisny - "La vie en rose" - http://i.imgur.com/rzcikXf.jpg
Ashley Wagner - "Black Swan" - http://i.imgur.com/L9nOLWA.jpg
Ashley Wagner - "Pollock" - http://i.imgur.com/5ChRWDy.jpg
Ashley Wagner - "Samson & Delilah" - http://i.imgur.com/Gm3jE82.jpg
Carolina Kostner - "Bolero" - http://i.imgur.com/G9nA9aw.jpg
Carolina Kostner - "Concerto No. 23" - http://i.imgur.com/dJwrU8C.jpg
Davis & White - "Die Fledermaus" - http://i.imgur.com/0IfIS3f.jpg
Davis & White - "Fade into You" - http://i.imgur.com/VpLQ0l6.jpg
Davis & White - "Giselle" - http://i.imgur.com/5Pz8ma0.jpg
Davis & White - "Indian/Bollywood Medley" - http://i.imgur.com/40DDYTx.jpg
Ilinykh/Katsalapov - "Don Quixote" - http://i.imgur.com/3fXQZNQ.jpg (What a pretty costume!)
Kwan & Kim - "Hero" - http://i.imgur.com/RM417DH.jpg
Mao Asada - "I Got Rhythm" - http://i.imgur.com/yfTnk0U.jpg
Mao Asada - "Scheherazade" - http://i.imgur.com/duKSmlS.jpg
Michelle Kwan - "Aranjuez" - http://i.imgur.com/umWuZCL.jpg
Michelle Kwan - "Bolero" - http://i.imgur.com/sF3K8M5.jpg
Michelle Kwan - "Tosca" - http://i.imgur.com/vMIjXE0.jpg
Pang & Tong - "Paso Doble" - http://i.imgur.com/goXZwal.jpg (Whoa. My bad.)
Rachael Flatt - "East of Eden (Black)" - http://i.imgur.com/75NQSVa.jpg
Sasha Cohen - "Dark Eyes" - http://i.imgur.com/IQuAoGb.jpg
Sasha Cohen - "Don't Rain on My Parade" - http://i.imgur.com/rV4uesg.jpg
Sasha Cohen - "God Bless America" - http://i.imgur.com/jqvixXo.jpg (Could pass for a book or an album cover or something!)
Sasha Cohen - "Malaguena" - http://i.imgur.com/hcwVLp9.jpg
Shen & Zhao - "Adagio" - http://i.imgur.com/DllcEsy.jpg
Shen & Zhao - "Adagio" (2) - http://i.imgur.com/owGcajk.jpg
Shen & Zhao - "Who Wants to Live Forever" - http://i.imgur.com/u2mCEgH.jpg
Shibutani/Shibutani - "Samba Medley" - http://i.imgur.com/lXcZowB.jpg
Virtue & Moir - "And the Waltz Begins" - http://i.imgur.com/5qUPX0e.jpg
Virtue & Moir - "Carmen" - http://i.imgur.com/1MGaBPK.jpg
Yuna Kim - "Bond Medley" - http://i.imgur.com/vFKcJkI.jpg
Yuna Kim - "Danse Macabre" - http://i.imgur.com/pO1fLt8.jpg
Yuna Kim - "El Tango de Roxanne", 2012 exhibition dress - http://i.imgur.com/04bemKx.jpg
Yuna Kim - "Homage de Korea" - http://i.imgur.com/vuKdKod.jpg
Yuna Kim - "Les Miserables" - http://i.imgur.com/v0fkp0Z.jpg
Yuna Kim - "Piano Concerto in F" - http://i.imgur.com/wS6CNtH.jpg

Like many guys his age, Patrick Chan loves to play video games.

But to an extent.

The 22-year-old Ottawa native can only handle so much sitting around.

“I do love video games. But after a while, you feel like you really need to get up and do something,” he tells Sun Media in a phone interview.

“There isn’t quite a feeling you get from playing video games that you get when you’re playing sports, which is like a sense of euphoria. You just get the satisfaction of doing something active and feeling good after.”

Besides, Chan didn’t become a three-time world figure skating champion by sitting on his couch....

http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_heal...channel_id=159

Less than 280 days until Sochi and the Australian Olympic Commitee are posting blogs of athletes who will be competing or are in contention of an Olympic Spot next year. With increased events, Australia is expected to send it largest team ever- about 56-58 athletes which is nearly a 50% increase since Torino and Vancouver games.

One of these expected athletes is 17 yr old Brooklee Han. She is an amercian skater training in Conneticut, representing her father's nation, Australia. She began competing for Australia at major competitions since 2010 at junior worlds. This season, has been a break out season with a 12th place at the 4CC, 16th at Junior Worlds and 21st at worlds. She is hoping to grab Australia a spot at the Nebelhorn championship this September.

Here are her first two blogs. I hope there will be more blogs from other skaters too.

http://corporate.olympics.com.au/new...rooklee-s-blog

http://corporate.olympics.com.au/new...es-flight-blog

by Tammy Karatchuk of the Edmonton Journal

The judging system in figure skating is leading the inevitable demise of our sport. That’s probably what some people thought after 2013 World Figure Skating Championships.

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Hello everyone! I'm trying to find some dance videos from four continents in the year of 2011, but I've not had any luck so far. I'm specifically looking for the lower placing teams as well as the top teams. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

http://www.manleywoman.com/episode-64-phil-hersh/

For all of you who think Phil hates skating, he loves it!

This is over an hour, and worth every second to listen to. Thank you, Allison Manley, for this interview.

The title pretty much says it all.

1996 British Junior Ladies Champion Katie Allan (now Scarbrough) lost her battle with bowel cancer this morning.

Here is a link to the announcement on her blog.

Skating In Heaven:
http://www.katiescarbrough.co.uk/201...ing-in-heaven/

Katie, although your career was cut short by injury, when you were competing, you were somebody that skating fans in Northern Ireland could be proud of.

But, the way you dealt with your cancer, and used your battle to help others and to raise awareness of the disease in young people, turned you into somebody that everybody could be proud of.

I may not have known you personally, but it was a privilege to have chatted with you last week.

My thoughts obviously go out to Katie's husband, Stuart; her 2 children, Sam and Sophie; her parents, Les and Joan; and her entire family circle.

You are indeed "Skating in Heaven"

Gordon (CaroLiza_fan)

I'm a roller figure skater, and I decided to create this thread to talk about this "parallel skating world", less famous than ice-skating (in many cases, less pleasant to watch, yes) because it is not an Olympic sport (even if they're fighting to make it a sport at the Summer Olympics)...
Roller skaters compete in singles, pairs and dance (exactly as on ice), but the rules are a bit "old", compared to the ice world: we still do figures, but there are separate rankings at each competition (one for the compulsories, one for SP+FS, one for compulsories+SP+FS), so there are three separated champions at each competition (even if most of the times, one person wins two or even all of them); there are still the CD/OD and the marks are given with a 10.0 system, similar to the 6.0 system; there is synchronized skating (but they don't have the SP) and there are also competitions for solo dancers (with two CD and a FD) and for "show groups", which is almost recreational skating, because they are not allowed to do do synchronized skating elements and jumps/spins/lifts are not required, they are judged basing only on choreography/interpretation/speed/SS/difficulty of the steps etc. and this is what many succesfull single/dance skaters do after their career.
Jumps and spins are much more difficult, because of the weight of the skates and their structure (this is an example http://www.google.it/imgres?imgurl=h...9QEwBA&dur=575)
The strongest skaters in the world are all from Italy, but there are some good skaters from Spain, Germany (especially in compulsories), Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, France. Unfortunately, important countries like USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, China do not have very good skaters...
Some examples...
The best female roller figure skater of all time: Tanja Romano (Italian but with Slovenian origin), she won 15 world titles (7 in the FS, 8 in the combined result)! :eek: Some of her best programs:
2007 Worlds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ4ePXYM1Tg
2008 Worlds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ncBDALJDI
her last competitive performance, at 28: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS_V696ivtk
the best skater in the world at the moment is Debora Sbei: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zc0ABY5-cU
The best men programs:
Luca D'alisera (ITA), 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip-eCbfpENc
Roberto Riva (ITA), 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCNHety99HE
Dario Betti (ITA), 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgfZHeqTP7Y
The best Pairs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4v5uEXSrLA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yRMdcCKbPw
The best dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfEe8rtKckM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXrF5vCVV4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd1P--6fCoY
Synchro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlSgBZ6ZGiI
Some examples of solo dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBidyS5J5qU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aky1fWchFaM
Some of the best show groups:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oraM1GOJk48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLO0BbHrIhI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUlf6_n4Y0Y
Feel free to ask any question :)

"On artistry and athleticism": Poirier blog (May 2)

His entire post (substantive and not overly long) is worth reading, but here is an excerpt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0irp...ature=youtu.be

This is one scary routine! But it's good to see Nicole is staying in shape!

She apparently has always wanted to do a real Cirque routine.

Hi everyone. I hope I'm posting this in the right forum. I just started skating a couple weeks ago and I have a question. With the rental skates I used during my first couple of weeks skating, I guess I learned to tip forward too much to keep my balance. Now I have a pair of Jackson skates which I love, but I tip forward so much on the blade that the toe pick is hitting the ice. This messed with my head a little, so one day I put my skates on the counter and examined the blade and there was a good 10 mm of clearance there from the toe pick to the counter. The description of the blade says there is a 8 ft radius, which I guess isn't technically for beginners but I'd still like to learn on this blade. For additional info, I weigh 150 lbs (maybe that's part of the problem?)

I am taking learn to skate lessons, but we don't get a lot of personal attention. Some books and websites I am reading say that you should center your weight over the ball of your foot. when I do that, I tip forward too much. During our first lesson I was told "bend your knees and lean forward, that'll help you keep your balance" but I'm thinking I might be leaning too far forward if this toe pick situation is happening. So this issue got me thinking too, maybe my posture is to blame. I don't have perfect posture either and never had to concentrate on correcting my posture, but I'm working on it. I also am still unable to even do a one foot glide, and I don't think I will be able to until I find the correct part of the blade to skate on for my personal balance. I'd like to practice on my own to see if it's something I'm doing wrong first before I get the blade altered. I guess I would just like to correct any bad habits I have now before I skate too long. I really enjoy skating and might eventually compete (although that is years from now - lol!)

If anyone has any tips for what I should focus on when practicing, that would be great! :)

Doppio Axel is an Italian figure skating magazine, which has a facebook account.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Doppio...52001281509228

They recently announced on facebook that Ivan Bariev, who competed for Russia, intends to skate for Italy:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1509228&type=1

With the help of Google translate:


If his father is Italian, as the article says, citizenship should not be an issue.

http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00009842.htm

Although he can't qualify for the Olympics in men's, since he last skated for Russia at Cup of Nice in October 2012, finishing fifth, I think he should be able to skate for Italy in the Olympics for the Team event, would he not?

Italy has Cappellini & LaNotte, Berton & Hotarek, and, of course, Carolina Kostner, so they will surely qualify for the team event.

The biggest problem for Bariev is getting a release from the Russian federation, I would think?

According to this site, FaOI will be held on the 6th and 7th of July which, I think increases the chances of Yuzu's participation in DOI due to the proximity of the event dates of both shows. I was under the impression FaOI would be held somewhere in September, probably they're moving forward the dates so as to not interfere with the athletes' preparation for the Olympics season. I think we should also be keeping an eye out for PIW in Tokyo, held from 12th to 15th of July. If he were to participate in all the shows starting from DOI (late June) until THE ICE (late July), there's a possibility that he'd stay in Japan for one whole month.

ETA:
FaOI cast: Shizuka Arakawa, Yuzuru Hanyu, Miki Ando, Akiko Suzuki, Kanako Murakami, Stephane Lambiel, Brian Joubert, Johnny Weir, Philippe Candeloro, Javier Fernandez.
Pretty much the same as last year's. :)

Does anyone know where a video of this is posted (either YouTube or elsewhere) I can not seem to find it, and I was interested in their take on Chan's free. Anyone have a copy, or has al ink to one already floating around on the internets? Thanks! :)

http://isu.sportcentric.net/db//files/serve.php?id=4455
Communication No. 1790
SINGLE & PAIR SKATING
Scale of Values, Levels of Difficulty and Guidelines for marking Grade of Execution
The following Communication replaces Communication No. 1724

There don't seem to be any changes in the base values and SOV, but some minor changes elsewhere. Hoping someone can explain in layman's terms.

http://www.wintersport-news.com/12004,News.html

Eleonora D'Eredità & Laura Sciarrillo have published an interview with Maurizio Margaglio in the e-zine Winter Sport News. Magaglio, who with his partner, Barbara Fusar-Poli, won Italy's only ice dance Olympic medal and only World Championship in ice dance, discusses his work with Finnish synchro teams, and with ice dancers in Finland, Italy and the USA.

I found his description of the opportunities of choreographing a synchro group very interesting:

http://www.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Yuna Kim says she will donate her Gold prize money of $45,000 from the World Figure Skating Championships to children with disability.
In 2011, she already donated her silver prize money of $27,000 from the World Figure Skating Championships to children affected by the Japanese earthquake.


Related news article in Korean: http://sports.media.daum.net/general...30429150143238


---

I just found that there are only 4 pages of threads on this board. What happened?
Anyways I am creating a post designated to Yu-Na news.

This was posted by teach23 on the Michelle Kwan forum. Michelle writes as a member of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.

http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/npa/bl...=P&BlogID=2431

Champion ice skater Katie Scarbrough has revealed the heartbreaking moment she told her two young children that she has just weeks left to live.

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http://www.princehotels.co.jp/iceshow/

I went to both shows on April 28th. Prince Ice World corps de ballet is keeping its traditional amplua- spike of youth, athletism, devoted presentation and hard work all around. A good deal of male skaters did 3T, 3S and 2A, Nanri did 3Lutz. Which is a set for gala EX of some so-called "world champion" whose name shall not be named here. Their theatrical line is never cheap, i.e. no 50cents T-shirts. Each exit is in a new outfit that they wear for a couple of minutes. This season they had an excursus to the past, as well as looking for the future (last season the theme was Summer Oly in London). Junko is very positive and joyful in her skating, while Ota takes the lyrical part with her amazing spirals and spins. Soshi Tanaka with his Roxanne is some collage of cocky Plu and sensitive Dai (and he actually looks like the one: http://www.princehotels.co.jp/icesho...wt/piwt_21.jpg ) Takeshi knows how to hook me since he again took Italian vocals with their opera flavours. He did 3T and 3S quite solid, his powerful eagle as usual full of masculinity and reserved passion. In the morning show's finale he tried 3T-3T combo but had a big step-out on the second jump. For Shizuka I need to make a paste of "ice-princess music, prety dress, 3S, 2A, ina bauer, spin, posing, end" in order not to type the same stuff again and again. There is no changes in her skating, which means she can't or doesn't want to skate something diffferent. Fiona with Dmitry were the only representatives of "skating in pair", so they could entertain the not-spoilt-by-pairs J-audience easily, with all their pair elements and acrobatic tricks.

Sasaki was all Sasaki: cool, fun and full of electric energy. He did 3Z, 3F tano, in the afternoon show's finale he went for 3A but fell. Akiko has a new hair-style and now looks like a 45yo obasan. She skated ice-princess stuff (Costello's "She") in a white dress, the choreo was probably done for 5 minutes, so conveyor-ish it looked. In the morning she had a shaky landing on 3S and singled her axel. In the afternoon she fell on 3S, did 2A. In a finale she tried 3S again but had a huge step out with both hands on the ice. Kanako skated some black-gold dress a la Disney image with a black scarf, a little heavy image but she tried to be expressive. She did 3Z, her 3S-2Lo-2lo combo, camel spin was not good. In the afternoon she had a step-ut on 3Z, in a finale did 3S clean. In general her attitude was very enjoyable.

Tatsuki presented his new prog, music is the soundtrack for J-TV drama "白夜行" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inTyy05Ra0k He was in a deep-blue top with a crimson glove on one hand. Did everything clean in both shows: 3F, 3L, 3A, 3S (had slightly deep sit in the morning show though), combo spin and spins were really nice, as well as "telling" the story with soft arms and hands. He had a moment when he was shaking a hand similar to Dai's move in "Pagliacci", and he finished the prog lying on the ice with a torso a little up, like Dai in the mid of his "Tango." In general he was very light and really involved in music. Also, the quality of his jumps means that he has a rather serious approach for the next season.

Mao had a really good day. She was like a skating piano music itself in her Chopin's Ballad, with all its sophistication and romantism. In the morning show she did a good 3F, then doubled her loop, then did two 2A, magnificient spirals and spins. Her doubled loop was her only mistake of the day. In a finale she, probably feeling disappointed, did 3Loop again and landed it clean, making the happy face expression like "Yatta!". In the afternoon show she was absolutely clean in all jump passes, then she did 3F in a finale and she probably planned to add the second jump, i.e. make it a combo, but the landing on 3F was perhaps not that solid, so she didn't add the second jump. I told her that her Ballad was a masterpiece but I am not even sure that she could hear me well in all that fanfest all around. I made some videos and pics with fans but no vids/pics do her any justice- it's a known fact that she is much more charming in real life. Also, her hands are very warm, like Dai's hands. As if there's sunshine inside them that makes them be so warm-hearted/handed. :)
Mao:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8_j1oB55g4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOJCBw_kfGw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11ojMTRB42A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKY_gGOI5ZQ
Tatsuki:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUihx7srqqs
Kanako:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXbHGFxtVUE
Sasaki:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDCEU0OMgIM
Shizuka:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGOdJqomJW0
Pics: http://twitpic.com/e/2n6h Btw, there are many pics made by fans on Twiiter.

Videos/pics of show itself is not allowed. So, it's only news clip for now. But it's yesterday shows, on 27th, not the ones that I attended. PIW is usually not broadcasted at all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cILFhZdVcpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPuyUxaiszA

Next time I will go to PIW shows in May 3th and 4th, with Dai and Mura (no Mao). Then updates will follow.

I recently sat down and did some research from several different sources and compiled an article on Jackson Haines, the father of figure skating. I was able to make a really interesting historical connection between Haines, Axel Paulsen and the origin of figure skates with toe picks that I did know about and was really fascinated by. I've posted this at http://t.co/37Ts1Lz4Hr for anyone who is interested!

The SD was new in the 2010-2011 season, so the first several "highest" are juniors, who skated SD's before the seniors' season started. After that, all D&W and V&M. This is the ISU's progression of best ever scores:



When the SD was set, the FD stats started over as well:

FD

The Original Dance was replaced by the short dance after the elimination of the compulsory dance. Both sections scored the program components out of 40.

The elements for the original dance were
- 1 short lift
- 1 Set of twizzles
- 2 step sequences (in hold and no touch)

If all were given level 4 the total base value= 4+6+8+8=26pts
If all level 4 elements then get +3, the highest possible TES=4+(1.5)+6+(1.5)+8+(3)+8+(3)=35pts

The short dance elements are
- 1 short lift
- 1 Set of twizzles
- 1 no touch step sequence
- 2 sequences of a compulsory dance

If all were given level 4 the total base value 2 would = 4+6+8+7+7=32pts
If all level 4 element then get +3, the highest TES= 4+(1.5)+6+(1.5)+8+(3)+7+(1.5)+7+(1.5)=41pts

At the end of the original dance era, the ISU began choosing more conceptual themes for this section which made it entertaining. Wouldn't it be cool if they could alternate between the two dances each year. Maybe to make up for the 6pt deficit between the highest possible TES you can get in the SD and the OD, maybe a choreographed step sequence in the style of the OD worth a fixed base value of 3pts with positive GOE increasing by increments of 1pt (I.e. +1=4pts, +2=5pts and +3 GOE=6pts) and negative GOE decreasing by increments of 0.5 (-1=2.5pts, -2=2.0pts and -3=1.5). This sequence shouldn't have a huge base value as this element is more about the style of the dance, rather than about getting a specific number of moves and steps in.

I miss the original dance a lot. I was really looking forward to their 50s, 60s and 70s theme.

From spread eagles to ina bauers, chocktaws to Mohawks. Three turns to rockers. Moves in the field are essential aspects of skating, especially whe it comes to transitions between elements. What is your favourite move or which is the move that you like doing when you go to the rink?

We have a long time between now and next season. Keep the conversation going!

Single/Pair scale of values, levels, and GOEs: ISU Communication 1790 (Apr 26)

Single & Pair Skating
26 April 2013
Scale of Values, Levels of Difficulty and Guidelines for marking Grade of Execution has been published in ISU Communication 1790.

The link to the ISU document:

A luxury sports car, it turns out, is a very appropriate place to interview an Olympian (Florent Amodio) about how he injured his back. Because the contrast between the two is so compelling.

More

USFS (For immediate release):

LOS ANGELES (April 25, 2013) – The following is attributable to two-time reigning U.S. champion Ashley Wagner regarding her professional relationship with coach John Nicks, who announced he will no longer travel to competitions.


“Throughout the year, Mr. Nicks said he was considering no longer traveling with me to events after the 2012-13 season. On Wednesday, Mr. Nicks confirmed he will not travel to competitions with his students next season. I understand that travel, especially to international events, has become a challenge for him and I completely understand his decision to stay close to home.


“Mr. Nicks will still work as my day-to-day coach. We have agreed that I will take three weeks to secure a coach who will travel with me to competitions. Mr. Nicks has been instrumental in the success I have had over the last two years and I look forward to continuing our professional relationship.”


Nicks, 84, is a two-time Olympian for Great Britain. An Olympic and World coach, he has worked with Peggy Fleming, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Jo Jo Starbuck and Ken Shelley, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand and Sasha Cohen.

Seems to be official, too much travel.

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

After Vancouver and Torino Worlds, there have been so many beautiful programs, and I tried to choose my favourite 10 SP and 10 FS judging both technically and emotionally (I left out some programs that were very good technically, but that left me "cold", emotionally).
SP
1) Mao Asada 2013 4CC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5MMw-a-Jc0
2) Carolina Kostner 2012 WTT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IutFxNBUujU
3) Akiko Suzuki 2012 WTT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmEMlrELvzc
4) Yu-Na Kim 2012 NRW Trophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkQGJIefZx0
5) Kiira Korpi 2011 Euros http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9pJ-dBI1Jk
6) Kanako MUrakami 2012 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6-SnT1wRDA
7) Alena Leonova 2012 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iais8SwERwU
8) Miki Ando 2011 Worlds SP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIoMMCgwQyM
9) Yu-Na Kim 2013 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MfgGsf0cZA
10) Mao Asada 2012 NHK Trophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sN8eSJfyZ0

FS
1) Yu-Na Kim 2013 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6d3XEp6mg0
2) Akiko Suzuki 2012 NHK Trophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOuaUMgFOcg
3) Yu-Na Kim 2013 Korean Nationals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs2qSP0ZfUU
4) Carolina Kostner 2012 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOf6-8lT9t0
5) Alena Leonova 2011 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHcQdY1c7Mk
6) Akiko Suzuki 2013 WTT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff3PEs2jsYs
7) Sarah Meier 2011 Euros http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9akOqp9fKc
8) Ashley Wagner 2012 TEB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5enxqwYi7nY
9) Miki Ando 2011 4CC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXJD420s_N0
10) Carolina Kostner 2012 Italian Nationals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5RDSv7NAZM

Let me know what you think!

What are you favourite and least favourite spin positions that you see today?
Also, are there any beautiful spinning positions that have disappeared since IJS's inception?

Despite a definite decline in popularity in this sport, I still think that there are not many other winter sports that can match figure skating. Whenever there is an Olympics something spectacular happens in one of the skating events that define the games or at least takes much of the attention of the media at the Olympics.

Its been a month since worlds and I catch myself watching Yuna's freeskate at least 10 times a day. The music to Les Mis is so powerful and beautiful and I have become obsessed. What other skaters have performed to it? The only other skater I can think of is Sydne Voegel but I know there is a lot more.

For those of you more knowledgeable of skating history, which skaters or pairs attempted a late comeback for the Olympics and how did they fare? By "late" I mean no competition in the season before Olympics. I've only been following skating in recent years so I recall only Shen/Zhao, Plushenko and Sasha Cohen.

I'm interested in learning the history since it's that time again and we're hearing talks of comebacks from Lyzacek, Ando and Czisny.

Hi! The funniest thing - for a few weeks I've been desperately trying to do the cannonball sit spin with no progress what's so ever! My sit spin is JUST FINE but as soon as I try to reach down and catch my leg/foot/blade (I've tried every position) I just lose my balance completely and fall either forward or backwards.
Also, I kind of try to grab and pull myself down to bend over, but what usually happens instead is that I pull my free leg up and backwards and fall or sink down on my butt.
Is this normal? Does anyone have any tips for me? I'll be grateful if you do.

Denis Ten launching his first ice show "Denis Ten&friends" and in a rather fancy company: Lambiel, Joubert, Slutskaya, Carolina, others. Rather fast, especiallly for the country which is not some ISU monster :p. The show will take place on May 25th in Astana (the tickets price made me giggle- about $7-$27 per ticket): http://vesti.kz/figure_skating/173724/

Takahiot Mura, a Japanese male skater age 22, who has had his best 2012-13 season in his whole eligible career so far by winning his very first Grand Prix in France, competing and placing 8th in Men at 2013 Worlds at London Canada, has announced today about his marriage:

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/sports...00037-kyodo_sp

:hb: Many congratulations! :hb: Best of the best wishes to Takahito, his newly-wed wife and their baby!!! :yay:

Hoping some pairs experts can help answer a long-standing question I've had.

B&E did two types of twists during their LP here.

Scott describes the first as a "triple lateral." (http://youtu.be/Z2plbYk2E1I?t=1m23s).

He calls the second a "triple twist," which is what the pairs are doing today. (http://youtu.be/Z2plbYk2E1I?t=3m8s).

So what exactly is the "triple lateral" under COP? Does COP even recognize it? Do/have any other pairs performed that element? Did the former rules allow two types of twist lifts? Would two twists be allowed under IJS?

Thanks!!!

Hello, I am a long time lurker in this forum. :biggrin:

I have been waiting for the following two videos in Finnish translated to English in vain.
My patience finally ran out and I'd like to ask you people a favor today.

It's Yuna's sp and lp from the Worlds a month ago. I believe Laura Lepistö'
debuted as a commentator here. I'd love to know what she has to say.
Would some kind-hearted Finnish person please translate this into English?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MfgGsf0cZA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fzpt...layer_embedded

A little more than a month after the Lively native and her partner, Eric Radford, had a career showing to win bronze at the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ont., the duo keeps churning out memorable performances, such as their silver-medal skate at the World Team Trophy championships in Japan earlier this month or their show-stopping Stars on Ice debut in Halifax last week, which earned them a standing ovation from the Metro Centre crowd.

More

Matthew Young sustained a concussion from a nasty fall with his partner and sibling Alexandra at the Silver Blades Skating Club annual ice show Saturday night.

More

I want Kaetlyn Osmond (1st spot) and Alaine Chartrand (2nd spot)

But, I would be happy also if someone like : Gabrielle Daleman or Veronik Mallet would pick the second spot.

I don't want Rochette to comeback, I think that even if she has win the bronze medal at the olympic, that she is a great skater but she is certainly the one who has contribute to make the canadian ladies to look like headcase, we could see that Rochette is strong mentally but look shy in her skating and have contribute to project the image that skating is serious and the perfection is required to play a character and to not be natural.

Kaetlyn Osmond made a fresh cleaning with her appearance, she contribute to make the image that we can be free, natural and attack with confidence in our skating which is nothing that Rochette is able to do. Rochette is a telegraph skater like Kostner. Sad but true.

Who would be your choices as the top 10 skaters of all time per discipline in order. Mine would be:

Pairs:

1. Gordeeva & Grinkov
2. Protoppopovs
3. Rodnina & Zaitsev
4. Shen & Zhao
5. Miskutienok & Dmitriev
6. Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze
7. Totmianina & Marinin
8. Valova & Vasiliev
9. Savchenko & Szolkowy
10. Wagner & Paul
11. Underhill & Martini
12. Voloszhar & Trankov (will jump to 6th on the list if they continue dominating next year skating at the level they did this season and win the OGM)
13. Rodnina & Ulanov
14. Dafoe & Bowden
15. Pang & Tong
16. Kilius & Baumler
17. Brunet & Brunet
18. Kazahkova & Dmitriev
19. Baess & Theirbach
20. Brasseur & Eisler


Men:

1. Alexei Yagudin
2. Dick Button
3. Evgeny Plushenko
4. Brian Boitano
5. John Curry
6. Kurt Browning
7. Robin Cousins
8. Elvis Stojko
9. Toller Cranston
10. Scott Hamilton
11. Gillis Grafstrom
12. Stephane Lambiel
13. Hayes Jenkins
14. Karl Schafer
15. Daisuke Takahashi
16. David Jenkins
17. Viktor Petrenko
18. Jan Hoffmann
19. Ondrej Nepela
20. Emmerich Danzer


Dance:

1. Klimova & Ponomarenko
2. Torvill & Dean
3. Gritschuk & Platov
4. Pakhomova & Gorshkov
5. Bestiamanova & Bukin
6. Virtue & Moir
7. Anissina & Peizerat
8. Krylova & Ovsiannikov
9. Usova & Zhulin
10. Davis & White
11. Moiseeva & Minenkov
12. Navka & Kostomarov
13. Regoczy & Sallay
14. Towler & Ford
15. Romanova & Roman
16. Denova & Stayviski
17. Wilson & McCall
18. Belbin & Agosto
19. Blumberg & Seibert
20. Linichuk & Karpanasov



Ladies:

1. Yu Na Kim
2. Katarina Witt
3. Janet Lynn
4. Michelle Kwan
5. Midori Ito
6. Irina Slutskaya
7. Dorothy Hamill
8. Sonja Henjie
9. Peggy Fleming
10. Kristi Yamaguchi
11. Herma Szabo
12. Carol Heiss
13. Tenley Albright
14. Madge Syers
15. Cecelia Colledge
16. Mao Asada
17. Shizuka Arakawa
18. Tara Lipinski
19. Trixi Schuba
20. Lu Chen

Laura Lepisto is one of my very favorite skaters. I miss her lovely skating, and I want to wish her a happy 25th Birthday coming up April 25 and to wish her well in her future pursuits.

In my daily srourage through the net, i have become interested in the seating capacity of arenas which federations choose to host event.

Coming off the 2013 world championships, which was held at a junior ice hockey stadium (9,100 seats) do you thing that 2013 Skate America can fill the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit which has a capacity of 20,000+ seats?
Can the skating culture in Detroit get more bums on seats? Is the USFSA being too optimistic? Is it a risk worth taking as watching broadcast of an event in a half filled arena is never a good look?


Keep in mind that 2012 Skate America in Kent, Washington was held in a 6,000 seat arena.

Three-time world champion Patrick Chan supports a union for figure skaters, if only to prevent them from being exploited by the sport’s governing body.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/skatin...e_dimanno.html
“I would be at the forefront of supporting a union for skaters,” the three-peat world men’s champion from Toronto declares. “This is ridiculous. I just think we’re being manipulated for the benefit of the (International Skating Union) because they’re making all the money.”

Well, since WTT is over and the dust has settled, I thought it would be good to make a thread about the 2013-2014 OLYMPIC SEASON.



This will be my first full olympic season as a figure skating fan.

I have a short review of each of the top US Ladies, if you want to add more, feel free.

Nina Jiang: After winning the Juvenile title with a record score, and winning the Intermediate title, she has slipped below her peers. She was a train wreck on the JGP last season, and failed to qualify for Nationals. Her personal best is only 131. Unfortunately, I think we've see the last of her.
Biggest Strength: Musicality.
Biggest Weakness: Landing Jumps.


Angela Wang: The ultimate jumping machine. However, she seems to have Liza's problem in that she keeps flubbing short programs. Unlike Liza, she does not score tremendously well in the free skate.
I see from wikipedia that her short program will be choreographed by Tom Dickson. Excellent. She could be a force to be reckoned with Personal best: 162.65.
Biggest Strength: 3-3-2.
Biggest Weakness: Burying herself in short program.


Ashley Wagner: Ashley has finally destroyed the "best US lady" curse. She has become one of very few skaters to fix under rotation issues. She has been criticized for her lacking technical content, but that hasn't mattered as she "keeps her feet" busy, and for that earns high PCS.
Biggest Strength: Ultimate tough competitor.
Biggest Weakness: Has a lot to lose.

Gracie Gold: After 7 years of tortuous searching, the USFS finally has a winner of the "The Next Michelle Kwan Pageant." Yes, Gracie Gold is here to stay. She is America's best skater since the mid 2000-s. Personal best 188.03.
Biggest Strength: High international scores.
Biggest Weakness: Pressure heaped on her.

Alissa Czisny: The only US lady with a gold medal at a truly major international competition. (4CC doesn't have Europe). She is kinda like Carolina Kostner of the USA. An up and down skater who is sometimes overscored. I think if Alissa comes back she will skate better than she did in 2006 and 2010, but still not enough to make the US team. However, she won’t come back., She has has back-to-back hip injuries. The hip is arguable the most important part of the body for a skater. She is where Kwan Was in 2006. She still wants to compete, but her body is throwing in the towel.
Biggest Strength: Can be best in the world when she’s on.
Biggest Weakness: Can be 22nd in world when she’s not on.


Rachael Flatt: She is as technically brilliant as ever (or so she says). I don’t think she will return per IceNetwork interview.
Biggest Strength: Consistency
Biggest Weakness: School. Back injury foot injury.

Caroline Zhang: Only active american lady with multiple medals at a senior ISU Championship. Believe it or not, she could end up a winner of a ISU CHampionship. She was the second alternate for 4CC this year. With the extra spot next year for worlds and with most skaters skipping 4CC because of olympics, there’s a chance she could go. And if all the other top skaters skip 4CC’s she could win (a la Jenny kirk in 2002, and Katy Taylor in 2006). The problems with Caroline and Mirai is that they are 6.0 skaters. Caroline lands her jumps and looks pretty. She has problems with URs and does basic transitions (for an elite skater). However, Caroline's UR problem is not that mad.. Miyahara Murakami, Nagasu, Asada,a dn Caesario all have much worse UR problems. She is skating to Phantom of the Opera next season. Not sure if its SP or LP. I think she’ll go out with a magical performance at 4CC’s.
Biggest Strength: Work Ethic.
Biggest Weakness: Transitions, Speed.


Mirai Nagasu: Fix UR’s. Fix UR’s. Fix UR’s. She could have won the long program at NHK 2012 if she didn’t have 3 UR calls. Currently, only Ashley Wagner has a higher personal best than Mirai does. She has been pretty consistent on the Gp in the last 3 years (2nd and 4th, 2010), (2nd and 5th, 2011), (3th and 4th, 2012). she is the only one of the 2008ers that has not made the GP Final or WTT. I think that this will eb her last season. Personal best 190.15.
Biggest Strength: Joy and Excitement,.
Biggest Weakness: Under Rotations and DG’s. Flubbing long program

Samantha Cesario: Wow. This girl has really gotten unlucky. She was at Senior Nationals in 2010, then had to withdraw two straight years. However, she was the top US lady at the Junior Worlds this year. In order to content for the olympic spot, she’ll have to fix her UR’s (like everybody else), and improve her transitions.
Biggest Strength: Smooth Jump landings
Biggest Weaknesses: Underrotations.


Hannah Miller: IMO, Her long program at Nationals in 2013 was one of the best. yet it was only scored 10th best. Why? 2 UR calls, and a low transitions score. It’s weird how she and Gracie Gold were in about the same place two years ago. But while Gracie Gold got a PR machine, better technique, and some luck, Hannah has remained a dark horse up and comer. I think she will improve this season, but not enough to make the Olympic Team.
Biggest Strength: High international scores. Musicality.
Biggest Weakness: Small jumps.


Christina Gao: Ah, the 5th Place girl. When she was 5th in 2010, it was a great accomplishment. But in 2013, after coming in 5th for the 4th consecutive year, it was a huge disappointment. She still got to finish as the highest American ladies finisher at 4CC though. (despite the fatc that she fell.). I think that she’ll make the Olympic team, being the least mistake prone of the American Ladies.
Biggest Strength: International Experience. Flying under radar.
Biggest Weakness: Low score ceiling.


Agnes: She had the opportunity to be where Ashley Wagner is today if she only had skated a clean long program at 2012 Nationals. The ability to skate a clean long eludes her. She has massive scoring potential though She has 1 UR call at 2013 4CC. Dont really know how sevre her UR problem is. I think she’s make one critical mistake at 2014 nations which will eb enough to keep her off the Olympic team.
Biggest Strength: High TES potential.
Biggest Weakness: Can’t skate clean long.

Courtney Hicks: Under 6.0, she micght have actually won nationals 2013. But it wasn’t under 6.0. I think that she has potential. It will be interesting to see if she gets a SGP assignment.
Biggest strength: Good height on jumps.
Biggest Weakness: Only skates well at Nationals.


Polina Edmunds: The first US lady with 2 3-3’s since Kimmie Meissner. And she manages to avoid UR calls on both of them. At least at Gardena. I think that the judges will make her wait her turn at Senior Nationals 2014.
Biggest Strength: New, fresh face might take everybody by surprise (Kimmie Meissner).
Biggest Weakness: Keeping jumps through puberty.


Yasmin Siraj: She has been wildly inconsistent. However, she didn’t make that many mistakes at JW, and still got buried.
Biggest Strength: Decent PCS scores, lots of potential.
Biggest Weakness; low international Scores.

Vanessa Lam: She does not get that much height on her jumps, and still has a tilt in the air.
Biggest Strength: Exotic costumes.
Biggest Weakness: Off-axis smallish jumps.

Leah Keiser: I thought that she should have done Junior Nationals in 2012, and the moved up to senior.
Biggest Strength: Solid technique.
Biggest Weakness: Oft-injured.



Now, in the US ladies division, the two lowest scoring nationals were 2006 and 2010. Cooncidence? no. Usually a few skater perform well, and the reso dispoints.





Summer comeptitions are very critical.

Emily Hughes was excellent at Liberty the year before she went to the olympics.

Caroline Zhang scored very well the summer before she won Junior Worlds.

Rachel Flatt won Liberty the year before SHE won Junior worlds.

Also, Caroline Zhang was subpar last summer, and that continued into the regular season.

These summer comps don't count, but they do matter...a LOT.


With Yu-Na, Mao, and Carolina competeting on the GP this year, no more than 3 US ladies should make it to the final.
Ashley (duh), Gracie (duh), I think that Suzuki or Murakami will take the 6th spot.

US Nationals 2014
What will happen if everyone goes clean
1. Agnes Zawadzki (Jeremy Abbot of 2014)
2. Ashley Wagner
3. Gracie Gold
4. Courtney Hicks
5. Mirai Nagasu
6. Angela Wang
7. Christina Gao
8. Polina Edmunds
9. Hannah Miller
10. Yasmin Siraj

What I want to happen
1. Ashley Wagner
2. Mirai Nagasu
3. Caroline Zhang
4. Gracie Gold
5. Christina Gao
6. Leah Keiser
7. Yasmin Siraj
8. Agnes Zawadzki
9. Angela Wang
10. Courtney Hicks

What I think will happen
1. Ashley Wagner
2. Gracie Gold
3. Christina Gao
4. Agnes Zawadzki
5. Courtney Hicks
6. Samantha Caesario
7. Mirai Naggasu
8. Yasmin Siraj
9. Polina Edmunds
10. Angela Wang

This year, it is basically a race for the third spot. I don’t think that Ashley or Gracie will miss the team unless they bomb. I also think that the US ladies will manage not to win a medal at Olympic or Worlds again.

Thoughts?

World Figure Skating News recently conducted an interview with Gracie Gold about her progress across her senior debut season and her goals for the Olympic season. You can read the full article here:

http://fskating.com/2013/04/gracie-g...ch-moment.html

I couldn't help but notice her comment about how she thinks "everyone will be impressed with my new programs." Does this mean that she's still getting choreography from Scott Brown? I sincerely hope not.

I've posted a full review of opening night in Halifax at http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca.

As you all know the first of two roads for skaters to qualify for the 2014 Olympics is closed. Come this September, the humble Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstorf, Germany will be swarmed by skaters desperately fighting for those precious remaining spots to Sochi 2014. A total of 6 spots in the men, 6 spots in the ladies, 4 spots in pairs and 5 spots in Ice Dance will be awarded.

Though the event is months away, it will be fun to speculate based on performances from the 2012-2013 season who will get those spots.

A couple of things to keep in mind.
1. Nations who already received spots at 2013 worlds in a discipline can not receive an additional spot for that discipline through Nebelhorn. These spots are only for skaters who's national federation has not being given a spot already. If you want to see who has qualified already, see link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_..._Qualification
2. If a team/skater qualifies a spot and has not achieved the required technical minimums, they have until sometime in January 2014 to achieve it.

Let the speculation begin.

Unlike the Frank Carroll interview, this one is separated into four parts rather than two.

• Part 1 - http://www.theskatinglesson.com/sand...erview-part-1/
  
  Quote:

  ---

  In part one of our interview, Sandra discusses the challenges of getting Battle of the Blades on the air, its surprising renewal for a fourth season, her competitive career and how how she transitioned into the role of a choreographer. In a world full of sound bytes, we are extremely grateful that Sandra let us take a look inside one of the most creative minds in figure skating.

  ---

• Part 2 - http://www.theskatinglesson.com/sand...erview-part-2/
  
  Quote:

  ---

  In part two of our interview with Sandra Bezic, we delve into the process of creating a winning program and helping skaters reach the pinnacle of the sport.

  ---

• Part 3 - http://www.theskatinglesson.com/sand...erview-part-3/
  
  Quote:

  ---

  In part three of our interview, we discuss Sandra’s tenure at Stars on Ice and her views on the disappearance of ice shows.

  ---

• Part 4 - http://www.theskatinglesson.com/sand...erview-part-4/
  
  Quote:

  ---

  Sandra Bezic has been one of the most visible voices of figure skating on television since the early 1990s. As a commentator, Sandra has often been controversial, as she frequently wore multiple hats as choreographer, director and commentator during the height of figure skating’s popularity. In the final part of our interview with Sandra, we discuss the current state of the sport, her views on the 2013 World Championships and her perspective on one of figure skating’s most controversial Olympic broadcasts.

  ---

Also, she responded to a few commenters--very surprising, I know; it's pretty much unheard of-- in the Part 4 post (it's a relatively long response). After you watch the interviews, be sure to read it!

Had the opportunity to do an interview w/ 2 time Canadian National Champion & Albertville Olympian Karen Preston last night. An absolute sweetheart. Find out what she has to say about the current state of Canadian skating, who she thinks will take home the gold in Sochi and what she's up to these days:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca

Icenetwork.com's Skaters of the Year prove once again it is anti-dance. It's reasoning for this choice over USA's Davis & White's 2nd world title, is that V/T had stronger competition at Europeans than did D/W at 4 Conts in eventually winning their 1st world title. Apparently Virtue & Moir are not tough enough competitors, according to icenetwork and winning against your toughest competitor in their hometown is also not sufficiently difficult enough to accomplish. Certainly V/T had a great season, but I fail to understand the convoluted thinking behind icenetwork's ultimate decision other than it again proves that it could care less about ice dance and America's greatest ice dance team and their accomplishments.

First Suzuki, then Murakami, now Asada.

At this rate of going, Mathman could get their wish of Tsuya Yamaguchi competing for Japan; with Miki Ando and Fumie Suguri as her team-mates! ;) :biggrin:

(If you want to know what I’m on about, see Mathman’s post in my “Parallel Universe” thread)

Seriously, though, these are worrying times for Japan’s international team. If all the rumours we are hearing are true, then all the Ladies skaters that have been representing Japan internationally in recent years (Suzuki, Asada and Murakami) are retiring.

On top of this, the guts of Japan’s Men’s international team (Takahashi and Oda; not sure about Kozuka, Machida, Murakami or Mura) could also be retiring.

Admittedly, the Men’s team does have Yuzuru Hanyu as hope for the future. But, when Kozuka, Machida, Murakami and Mura do go, then it is hard to pick out potential team-mates for him. Ryuju Hino and Shoma Uno looked promising at Junior Worlds, but we all know how difficult the step up from Juniors to Seniors can sometimes be.

But, unlike Hanyu in the Men’s, there does not seem to be any standout star for the future in the Ladies division. Satoko Miyahara and Rika Hongo looked promising at Junior Worlds, but are no-where near stepping into the skates of a Suzuki or even a Murakami. Of the skaters that are already in the senior ranks, only Hiruka Imai jumps out, but she hasn’t had a great season this year.

Although I was joking when I mentioned Kristi Yamaguchi at the start of this comment, this could realistically be the chance that Miki and Fumie were waiting for to get back into the Japanese team, even if it is just for the short term.

And, if Miki and/or Fumie were on the team, it would provide support for whichever championship rookies that were joining them (although Hiruka has been to 4 Continents a couple of times, she hasn’t been to Worlds). And, if all the older guys do retire, Yuzuru could fulfil a similar role in the Men’s category.

Throughout the season (but particularly during the Europeans), I was saying that for major championships like the Europeans and Worlds, the Russian team should have a skater who has been there before to help support Sotnikova and Tuktamysheva if they needed it. My suggestion was that they should have sent Polina K to Europeans, and Leonova to Worlds. That would also have let Gosviani get some GP experience under her belt before the big fight for international places next season. (See this post for my full explanation). But, they didn’t… until the Worlds, anyway. And as a result, during the Europeans, all the Russian teenagers came under a lot of criticism on this forum unnecessarily.

I would hate for this to be repeated with the Japanese teenagers, whatever category they skate in.

Although the picture I am painting is not rosy in singles skating, it is even bleaker in Pairs skating. We saw that ourselves when, after Takahashi and Tran split, Japan couldn’t even find anybody to enter into the 4 Continents, Worlds and WTT.

During the WTT, Mathman asked whether Japan could have entered a novice team to pick up the 7 points. Now, I don’t know if there are any novice pairs teams in Japan, but they certainly don’t have any junior pairs.

Looking through the history of Japanese Nationals, since 1984, there have only been 7 Junior Pairs competitions, and only 1986 had more than 1 entry (a grand total of 2 teams!)

Before Narumi Takahashi and her former partner Yoshiaki Yamada appeared in 2006/07, there had been no Junior Pairs competitions since Yuko Kawaguchi and her former partner Alexander Markuntsov (yes, she had another Russian!) turned senior in 2000! Then, in the 2 years when Narumi was competing, she and her partner (be it Yamada or Tran) were the only entries! And, since Narumi and Mervin turned senior in 2008, there hasn’t been any Junior Pairs competitions at Japanese Nationals!

It was the same in the senior ranks. There had been no Senior Pairs competitions since Yuko Kawaguchi and her new partner Devin Patrick switched to competing for the USA in 2005. Then, in the 4 years when Narumi and Mervin were competing, they were the only entries! And then this year, after Takahashi and Tran split, there was no competition.

This just shows how ill-prepared Japan are for the future. We all know how easy it is to get injured; and we also know how often partnerships split up. And, thanks to what did happen Narumi and Mervin, we all know now how difficult it is to get Japanese citizenship. Surely the Japanese Federation would have known all that as well. So, they should have at least had some sort of contingency plan in place in case something happened.

Although we mightn’t see them on the international stage too often because the headlining partnership is so dominant, at least there would be another pair available to be called on if needed.

That’s what it’s like in ice dance. Although we see the Reeds in every international competition, there are other ice dance partnerships in Japan. OK, so there mightn’t be too many entries in Japanese nationals, but it is worth noting that apart from the 2007/08 season (when there was just the Reeds), the last time that there was only one entry in the Senior Ice Dance at Japanese nationals was 1972/73! (In Juniors, it has been a more regular occurrence to have just one entry, but since 1987/88, the only year with no competition was 2011/12, as the partnership that had been entering the previous few years had moved up to Seniors).

So, I hope that over the next few years, the Japanese Federation puts all their efforts into developing a strong team for the future in all disciplines. Because, if they don’t and all the skaters we expect to retire before Pyeonchang do go, we could see a very sudden end to Japan’s success story.

At the moment, there are just no visible foundations to build a new team from. There is just one block in place – Yuzuru Hanyu.

Until then, I hope that all the skaters who are planning to retire enjoy a successful swansong to their career. Especially Mao and Akiko!!! ;) :biggrin:

CaroLiza_fan

One of the biggest irks about the scoring system is about levels and doing everything to achieve these levels. I really like that over the last couple of seasons more elements instead of being given a level have a fixed base score and are only evaluated for execution. In singles, skaters have the choreographic step sequence and in dance they have the choreographed lift.

Should more elements have a fixed value in the future.

Maybe one of the spins in singles can have a fixed value. And in pairs there can be a fixed base value for a 'choreographed pair lift' and spins or the death spiral. For dance, maybe replace one of the step sequence for a 'choreographed' step sequence with some parts in dance hold and some not touching. Maybe in the future they can replace the 'choreographed lift' in ice dance with a creative element (it could be a dance lift, a dance spin, twizzles, hydroblading etc.) with a fixed base value for more variety.

Shibutanis + Corky Ballas = fun music video from "ShiBCork Productions" -- or is it "BalShiB"?? ;) :laugh: (Apr 10)

@CorkyBallas

The vid is 1:53 in length.

Greensboro 2015 is now taking reservations for rooms at the three event hotels through the official website.
There is no charge for reservations and you can cancel up to the last minute.
I like the DoubleTree myself. But the others are fine too. Lots of good restaurants,
great shuttle service, and a brand new ( renovated) arena with attached practice rink with
real (brand new cushioned) seats. I had a good time there and have talked with the organizers a number of times
before attending the last nats there the last time and they were very fan oriented. Once they had nats they
were very interested in getting it back. I am glad they did. And it didnt hurt that it was warmer than Spokane
and that AC won the ladies, either!:laugh:

Chinese figure skating fans will be treated to the annual gala － Artistry On Ice － in June. A few months later, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo , China's most successful figure skating couple, will have a special treat of their own when they become parents.

More

Skating world shocked, affected by Boston bombs
Jahnke, Harris, Young experience it first-hand; Coaches, competitors in disbelief over tragic events

Is he done?
I am inclined to say he is. He's had a good run at least in the U.S., but can't seem to shed his demons and skate well in the international scene.
Thoughts?