Emily Carlson figure skating

Young champion should be exception to stupid rule - Emily Carlson

2008-01-27T09:20:00.000-08:00

On her very first jump in her long program, Mirai Nagasu tumbles to the ground.
Gasps fill the Xcel Center in St. Paul.
But the 14 year old wasn't disappointed with her fall - she was angry.
She went on to land the next seven triple jumps, and became the second youngest United States figure skating champion ever.
Nagasu is just 34 days older than Tara Lipinski when she won the title in 1997.
Because she is just 14, she cannot compete in the World Championships next month in Sweden. The International Skating Union says to compete at Worlds, skaters had to be 15 by July 1, 2007.
Mirai won't be 15 until next April.
The rule is supposed to keep the young "kids" out of the lime light and all the intense pressure until they are a but older and "ready." In reality, it's a stupid skating rule.
As a real rule, skaters peak when they are teens, sometimes young teens. Oksana Baiul was 16 when she won Olympic gold in 1994, Tara Lipinski was 15 in 1998, and Sarah Hughes 16 in 2006.
This year, 14 year-old Mirai has been traveling the world, competing in International Junior events, skipping school and making money. Not typical "kiddie" behavior.
Mirai could be a her peak right now. So why not let her skate at Worlds?
Mirai isn't the only one left in the dust. Second place Rachel Flatt is 20 days shy of the age requirement, and fourth place finisher Caroline Zhang is just 14 as well.
Meaning the USFSA could end up sending 3rd place Ashley Wagner, 5th place BeBe Liang, and if they stick to placement, 6th place Katrina Hacker, who has little to no international experience. According to sanctions, they could pass her over for 7th place Kimmie Missner, who fell three times in her long program.
If we can't send our top little skaters to Worlds because of their age, and their older, but not as competitive counterparts don't skate well, they could cost the US dearly.
If the placement from the top two skaters from a country is below 13 - say a seventh and an eighth place finish - that country can only send two skaters to the next Worlds.
Smart rule, right?

Nagasu makes smashing debut - Emily Carlson

2008-01-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

The 2007 U.S. junior champ earned a 70.23 to place first, and defending champion Kimmie Meissner fell on her opening jump and finished fourth.

By RACHEL BLOUNT, Star Tribune

The night before her senior-level debut, Mirai Nagasu couldn't sleep. Even her mother scolded her, reminding the 14-year-old skater how much rest she would need before the women's short program at the national championships.

Nagasu lay in bed visualizing what Thursday night would feel like. But even in her sweetest dreams, she couldn't imagine just how magical her performance would be. In a '60s-styled hot-pink dress, the southern Californian romped through a program overflowing with charm and bubbly personality, overwhelming the crowd -- and her competition -- at Xcel Energy Center.

Nagasu earned 70.23 points, a personal best by a large margin. Ashley Wagner, also making her senior debut at nationals, and Rachael Flatt, another of skating's young stars, were second and third with scores of 65.15 and 62.91. Defending champion Kimmie Meissner fell on her opening jump and placed fourth; world junior champion Caroline Zhang had two jumps downgraded and was seventh.

"I'm pretty excited," said Nagasu, the 2007 U.S. junior champ. "It was just fun out there, pure fun. That's what I'm here to do. I just want to continue to do it."

Nagasu skated to "I Got Rhythm," and she said during training that she was inspired by dancer Gene Kelly. She channeled his verve with her opening triple lutz-triple toe jump combination followed quickly by a triple flip. Her spine-defying layback spin and two other spins all earned the highest levels of difficulty.

She received a standing ovation from a crowd of approximately 9,000 and took a deep bow. Flatt followed immediately with another George Gershwin number, "It Ain't Necessarily So," and another captivating performance. Wagner got a standing ovation for her athletic "Henry VIII" program, highlighted by her huge jumps.

All three of the top skaters landed triple-triple combinations. Meissner tumbled on her opening triple flip and turned a planned triple-triple combination into a triple-double. She earned a score of 57.58 and said she was generally happy with her performance.

"The flip was a silly mistake," Meissner said. "I thought, 'Kimmie, that's not right. There's no falling in figure skating.' I nailed the lutz, and everything was cool."

Zhang received her lowest technical mark of the season and finished with 53.49 points. Zhang, 14, has struggled with tougher judging standards for jumps and had a triple lutz and a triple toe loop downgraded because she did not complete three full revolutions.

"I thought it was OK," said Zhang, who expressed surprise that the lutz was downgraded. "It could have been a lot better. I think my jumps could have been better. I just wasn't skating very well."

Two local competitors, Molly Oberstar of Duluth and Angie Lien of Superior, Wis., skated clean programs to great applause. Oberstar finished 11th and Lien was 13th. Oberstar said as she left the ice that skating in her home-state nationals was the most fun she had had in her life.

Meissner said that in her free skate Saturday, performed to the dramatic opera theme "Nessun Dorma," she will try to stay more focused through the entire program. So will Nagasu, who is determined not to wilt.

"To be first is really exciting," she said. "I'm not going to let any pressure bother me [Saturday]."

Partnership takes off - Emily Carlson

2008-01-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Mark Ladwig and Amanda Evora clicked quickly as a team, and the U.S. pairs tandem sees long-term potential.

By RACHEL BLOUNT, Star Tribune

Every great relationship revolves around that defining moment, that instant when you know you've found your match. For Mark Ladwig, it happened as soon as Amanda Evora agreed to try out with him.

The first time they skated together, Evora told Ladwig to launch her into a throw triple loop. That was all it took for the guy from Moorhead, Minn. Any woman willing to try such a daring trick with a total stranger had just the kind of spark he was looking for in a pairs teammate.

Since that day in 2002, Ladwig, 27, has made his other perfect partner his wife, settled into an unlikely skating haven in Florida and earned four top-10 finishes with Evora at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In tonight's short program at Xcel Energy Center, the two hope to take their first step toward going global. With making the world championship team their primary goal, Ladwig and Evora will also try for their first U.S. championships medal.

"We've been right on the edge,'' said Ladwig who still calls the Red River Valley Figure Skating Club his home. "The podium is a goal for us, but making the world team is the biggest goal. We've trained very hard and very consistently, and we are prepared.''

Like many partners, Ladwig and Evora aren't exactly alike. He listens to country music; she prefers anything but. He lived in Moorhead until he was 19, while she's a native Texan. She's classically trained and had to work to get into the groove of their "Stray Cat Strut'' short program, which wasn't a problem for her more pop-oriented partner.

They mirror each other in their appetite for work and in their respect for their craft and for each other. Ladwig works as a restaurant server, skating teacher, skate sharpener and Zamboni driver at Florida's Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex, where the pair has trained since 2003. Evora does office work at the rink and gives lessons in between her classes at the University of South Florida.

All that fits around their skating. After performing their playful, crowd-pleasing short program at a Tuesday practice session at Xcel, Ladwig and Evora gritted their teeth and skated sprints up and down the ice.

"Most of the success we've had is because we share that work ethic,'' Evora said. "We're a pair in every sense. We have similar goals and a similar approach to going after them.''

Ladwig played hockey as a kid in Moorhead, where his father, John, is a doctor and his mother, Carol, is a member of the school board. He shifted to figure skating at age 12 with little success in the singles ranks. "Once in Peoria, I was first in the short program as a novice boy and pretty much died of shock,'' he said. "That was the only time I did well.''

Until he decided two can be better than one. Ladwig already had begun skating pairs and had three partners before his former coach, Ron Ludington, helped him find his match. Ladwig had been skating in a Radio City Music Hall ice show before volunteering at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics; afterward, he drove across the country and tried out with a number of potential teammates.

Ludington had mentioned him to Florida coach Kerry Leitch, who suggested Ladwig give Evora a whirl. He did, literally, and was impressed with her nerve and steely attitude. They have made the national championships in each of their six years together, finishing fifth in 2005, seventh in 2006 and fourth last year.

"She is very gutsy, very tough mentally, and I could see that right away,'' Ladwig said. "She also has a very feminine presentation, and that's a great combination. We were able to have success pretty quickly.''

The pair had one of its best seasons in international competition this year, with a third-place finish at the Nebelhorn Trophy and a fourth at Skate America. Ladwig also is in a new comfort zone after marrying junior-high sweetheart Janet Beverly of North Dakota in 2006. An interior designer who just happens to be named after figure skater Janet Lynn, she and Ladwig recently bought their first house in Parrish, Fla.

She will be part of the substantial rooting section in St. Paul. Among the few missing are Evora's sister, who just had a baby, and Ladwig's brother, who serves on USS Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf.

If all goes as they hope, Ladwig and Evora's season will be extended through the world championships in March. They expect their association to run far longer, now that they've found the perfect fit.

"[Leitch] said when we first became a pair that it takes five years to become a pair team,'' Ladwig said. "Then after that, you start developing into a good team. We're just at the beginning of a great partnership.''

Back on home ice - Emily Carlson

2008-01-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

Skate boots made at the Riedell Skate Company in Red Wing.

Some of the skates gliding across the ice this week are having a homecoming of sorts, as products of a highly specialized Minnesota company.

By Kim Ode, Star Tribune

RED WING, Minn. - We'd love to tell you how a skate boot is made. But we'd lose you somewhere around Step 112, and there still would be 38 steps left in a top-quality skate's path from cowhide to center ice.

That intricacy is why a custom-fit boot from the Riedell Skates factory can run upwards of $700. That's why the TV cameras know to zoom in when a distraught skater storms off the ice pointing to her feet, or why commentators speak solemnly about boot-lacing rituals.

In any sport, good gear can mean success or failure. But quality takes on a particular intensity when the task is to accelerate up to 30 miles per hour across a sheet of ice before launching yourself into the air, then corkscrewing until gravity pulls you back onto the rink by way of a sliver of steel, the jolt of your return absorbed and supported by your skate boot.

Or not.

Skate boots have evolved since Paul and Sophie Riedell founded Riedell Shoes Inc. in 1945. They were pairs skaters -- Paul was inducted into both the ice- and roller-skating Halls of Fame. But Paul also worked for Red Wing Shoes, rising from machinist to an assistant plant manager, all the while experimenting with building a more comfortable ice skate that would give skaters' toes more room, and thus more maneuverability.

Today, his grandsons Bob, Dan, Scott and Paul Riegelman run the company, and the ice-skating pond their grandfather tended has become a parking lot for the more than 100 employees. Over the years, the family-run outfit has made skates for some of the best on blades, including four-time World Champion Kurt Browning and three-time U.S. Champion Johnny Weir. Dan Riegelman, the company's vice president, said he expects more than 30 skaters to perform in Riedell skates during this week's U.S. championships.

But there also are the skates they've built for the occasional performing chimpanzee, bear or movie star: Riedell skates adorned funny feet in the 2007 Will Ferrell figure-skating comedy, "Blades of Glory." And the most innovative role ever played by a Riedell skate was as Tom Hanks' inventive dental tool in "Castaway."

Designing for triple jumps

A top-quality skate boot begins with a cow.

Dan Johnson, Riedell's director of manufacturing, smoothed an animal-shaped piece of leather, explaining how a hide varies in thickness and elasticity. For instance, shoe tongues are cut from the belly, across the stretch. At $4 a square foot for top-grade leather, pattern cutting is an art, trying to get the most pieces from the right places. "You make it or break it in the cutting room," Johnson said.

From there, the pieces of leather begin a weeklong journey through many pairs of hands and into the maws of incredibly specialized machines, many of which have photos of family vacations or kids in hockey uniforms taped to their sides. Little bursts of hot vapor rise from spots around the assembly room. At various stages, a boot needs to be heated or softened before it's eased into its next shape -- a step that's grown more challenging as boots have grown stiffer.

The push-the-envelope athleticism of today's skaters is driving a demand for more rigid boots, Johnson said. "It's one of the biggest changes in the past 45 years," he said. "If you're doing quads, you need more support. You try to give the boots some flex forward, but they need to be stiff side-to-side -- otherwise, skaters will blow out their ankles."

Layers of reinforcement are built up like plywood. Glue, align, press, stitch. Bevel an edge to ease a seam. Steam the leather so it folds around the heel. Johnson is always on the lookout for new materials, such as the fibrous fabric backing the eyelets that's so strong it's used in road construction.

Each layer adds weight to a boot, and while there's a tipping point, skaters in fact want their skates to weigh a certain amount. And we mean certain in the most literal sense: Skaters want their skates to be 4.5 to 5.5 percent of their body weight, because centrifugal forces help them spin in the air.

One at a time

Custom boots are all of this, and more. More measurements, more layers, more time, more money. Lee Olson is Riedell's custom shoemaker, making new patterns from measurements provided to the company by skaters. Local athletes may visit the factory, but most measurements are mailed in from around the world.

Using reinforcing layers, Olson can build up an arch, curve around a toe, or make allowances for an especially protruding ankle bone. "A little can make a big difference," he said. He cuts each piece by hand, working at a butcher block in a quiet sanctum of the factory. He's been with Riedell for 35 years, working his way up to the custom level. "You can't go to school for it," he said. He documents each step so a skate boot can be made again to the same specifications, a necessity given that a competitive skater can go through a pair a year.

Riedell's top custom boot is $680 -- and that's just the price of the boot. A top-level blade can cost again as much and is attached to the boot later by a blade specialist working with the skater.

And while Olson builds boots that have won world championships, he doesn't skate himself.

Rolling into the future

Ice-skating actually is in the midst of a downturn, Riegelman said, ticking off reasons ranging from overexposure on TV to judging scandals. But no worries. Derby roller-skating is growing in popularity nationwide. Even the legendary roller-skating scene at Venice Beach, Calif., is reviving, which is good news for Riedell, whose skate boots can be fit with either ice blades or roller wheels.

The company even brought back an old "Riedell" logo for its roller skates, because it had the retro look that derby skaters favor.

There used to be about 2,000 shoe factories in the United States, Riegelman said. That number is down to fewer than 50. In Red Wing, pop. 16,000, there are two.

U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Locals to watch - Emily Carlson

2008-01-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

Rohene Ward, from Minneapolis, Minn., leaps in the air during his routine in the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006.
© AP Photo - Eric Gay

THE FIELD
Nine skaters with local ties will be competing in the championships. Seven currently live in the area:

Senior women
• Angie Lien of Superior, Wis.

• Molly Oberstar of Duluth

Senior men
• Eliot Halverson of St. Paul

• Rohene Ward of Minneapolis

Junior women
• Kirsten Olson of Savage

Junior men
• Alex Johnson of Minnetonka

Novice women
• Samiera Abou-Nasr of Woodbury

Pairs
• Moorhead native Mark Ladwig and partner Amanda Evora, who live in Florida, will compete in the senior pairs. Oakdale native Michael Chau and partner Tracy Tanovich, who also live and train in Florida, will skate in junior pairs.

HOW THEY GOT HERE
Most of the local skaters qualified through the Upper Great Lakes Regional and the Midwestern Sectional. Oberstar and Johnson won their events at the sectional; Ward and Olson placed second; and Lien and Halverson placed fourth. Abou-Nasr qualified by placing second at the Pacific Coast Sectional. Chau/Tanovich earned their spot by winning their events at the Eastern Sectional. Evora and Ladwig, who finished fourth at Skate America and fourth at the 2007 U.S. championships, received a bye.

DID YOU KNOW?
• Halverson is competing at the senior level for the first time after winning the U.S. novice title in 2006 and the U.S. junior championship in 2007.

• Lien turned 27 on Jan. 16 and is the oldest competitor in the women's field. This is her fifth nationals.

• In his first season competing at the junior level, Johnson won his event at the Midwestern Sectional by 33 points.

• Oberstar is reprising both of her programs from last year, a short program to a guitar version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and a free skate set to a gypsy medley.

• Olson has placed in the top 10 in both of her previous appearances at nationals. She was ninth last year in the junior division and fifth as a novice in 2005.

• Ward's programs include a quadruple toe loop, which he has landed in competition. He can spin and jump in both directions.

Nationals huge draw in St. Paul - Emily Carlson

2008-01-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

Johnny Weir is one of the athletes scheduled to compete at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The figure skating nationals appear to be a huge draw for St. Paul, which could reap nearly $30 million during the weeklong event.

By JEAN HOPFENSPERGER AND KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune staff writers

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships begin Sunday and run through Jan. 27, with senior competition beginning on Wednesday. Single tickets and event packages are available. For more information, go to www.saintpaul2008.com

Lindsey Goff doesn't just admire figure skating, she lives it, and she won't be missing a minute of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that start Sunday in St. Paul.
"This is a huge honor to have this big of a competition in St. Paul because they are the best figure skaters in the country," said Goff, 21, who teaches figure skating in Roseville and once performed in the nationals herself. "It's just so cool to perform for other people, feed off the crowd's energy, show them what you've worked for."

In a weeklong event that could set attendance records at the Xcel Energy Center, the championships will feature 250 top national skaters, attract an estimated 125,000 spectators, sell 7,000 nights in hotels, and bring as much as $30 million to St. Paul businesses. More than 600 volunteers, working from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., will do everything from taking tickets to helping 300 sports reporters. NBC will broadcast live coverage of the finals next weekend.

One reason for a big turnout might be the presence of several national figure skating celebrities. Brian Boitano and Scott Hamilton plan to attend, as do former champions Todd Eldredge, Kristi Yamaguchi, Randy Gardner and Tai Babilonia.

Nine of the contestants come from Minnesota. They include Eliot Halverson of St. Paul, Molly Oberstar of Duluth and Rohene Ward of Minneapolis. The skaters will compete at novice, junior or senior levels for 12 national titles awarded in ladies' singles, men's singles, pairs and ice dance.

Goff, who performs with the University of Minnesota figure skating team and has competed in synchronized events in the nationals, said Ward is one of her favorites. She plans to watch every competition and will volunteer as an "ice monitor" during practice sessions.

"It's cool because you get to sit close to the ice and see the skaters up close and personal," she said Friday.

Nancy Meyer, who belongs to a club in Burnsville, is another Minnesota figure skating addict.

"When you're watching skating on TV, you only see part of the picture,'' she said. "You don't get to see them warming up, having their coaches give them that last-minute talk ... (Plus) You get to see Dick Button doing commentaries, you get to see the 'kiss and cry' area with nobody in it."

Winners of the St. Paul event will advance to the world figure skating championships in Sweden in March. "These are the people most likely to compete in the 2010 Olympics," said Elizabeth Harty, of the Twin City Figure Skating Association and a co-chair of next week's event.

Sponsors predict considerable economic benefits to downtown St. Paul. Cities that recently have hosted the championships have found it generated $25 million to $30 million in revenues, said Kathy O'Connor, spokeswoman for the Xcel Energy Center. At least 7,000 nights in hotels in St. Paul and Bloomington were booked by Thursday, she said.

The championships proved a bonanza last year in Spokane, Wash., which sold a record 154,893 tickets and drew spectators from Canada, said Pam Scott of the city's Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau. Ticket sales beat the previous record set in 2002 in Los Angeles, where 125,345 tickets were sold, she said.

While Xcel officials weren't disclosing actual ticket sales, other indications of the event's popularity were beginning to appear downtown.

The St. Paul Hotel, which is two blocks from the Xcel Center, is sold out for the last four days of the skating championships, said David Miller, the hotel's general manager. Miller said that "a good majority" of the hotel's 255 rooms were rented by people who will attend the championships.

The figure skating championships, coupled with the Republican National Convention this summer, will put St. Paul in the national spotlight, said Sue Gonsior, communications director for Capital City Partnership, a promoter of downtown St. Paul.

"It fills up hotel rooms and fills our street with visitors during off hours," she said. "I hear a lot of talk about it. People are excited that it's in St. Paul."

Meanwhile, hundreds of ordinary Minnesotans will contribute in ways that put them close to the competitors. A lucky group of young Twin Cities skaters will do the "sweeps'' during the events, picking up the stuffed bears and flowers tossed in appreciation onto the ice. Another group of young adults will join in the awards presentation ceremonies.

Goff and other local skaters have been appearing at rinks throughout the Twin Cities to promote the championships, show off a few moves and give impromptu lessons. Up to 2,000 people have come to some of these sessions, which she said is more proof of the popularity of "the beautiful sport" of figure skating and should ensure good attendance at the championships.

"I definitely think if they come watch any of the events it would be impossible to not be inspired," she said.

The competition starts Sunday, with the younger competitors. The most seasoned skaters begin competing Wednesday, with their national finals over the weekend.

"It's elegant and graceful," said Goff, who compares figure skaters with ballerinas and dancers. "But very athletic."

Jean Hopfensperger • 651-298-1553 Kevin Giles • 651-298-1554

FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships begin Sunday and run through Jan. 27, with senior competition beginning on Wednesday. Single tickets and event packages are still available.

Online: www.saintpaul2008.com

Hughes will miss Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul - Emily Carlson

2008-01-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

Emily Hughes at the HomeSense Skate Canada International in Quebec in November.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Emily Hughes will miss next week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minn., because of a hip injury.

The injury has prevented Hughes from training. She said Monday she hopes to resume "serious training" in four to six weeks.

"This injury is just really bad timing," said Hughes, who finished second to former world champion Kimmie Meissner at last year's national championships. "I'm extremely disappointed to have to miss the U.S. Championships. This is a competition I've been looking forward to all season."

Hughes, the younger sister of Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes, was seventh at the Turin Olympics and has been in the top 10 at the last two world championships. A full-time student at Harvard, she finished fourth in both of her Grand Prix assignments this year.

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are Jan. 23-27.

Duluth's Lien has lasted in young woman's sport - Emily Carlson

2008-01-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

Once again Angie Lien will be the oldest competitor at this week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and she doesn't mind at all.

By RACHEL BLOUNT, Star Tribune

When the U.S. Figure Skating Champion-ships come to St. Paul next week, much of the focus will fall on the teenagers striving to become their sport's next superstar. Angie Lien never held such lofty ambitions.

Instead, she opted for longevity. The Duluth skater will celebrate her 27th birthday Wednesday, two months after qualifying for the national championships for the fifth time. Her performance at Xcel Energy Center likely will be among the last in a career that began before some of this year's contenders were born.

For the second year in a row, Lien will be the oldest skater in the women's competition at the U.S. championships. She has endured for two reasons: her deep love for the sport, and her well-balanced approach to life. During Lien's skating career, she finished high school, earned a degree in exercise science at Minnesota Duluth and began coaching at the Duluth Figure Skating Club -- where some of her students aren't much younger than the favorites in the U.S. championship field.

"I definitely have days where I think, 'Wow, I feel old out here today,'" Lien said. "I'm a little more comfortable with it now. I love being around the girls, and the younger ones make me feel young at heart.

"I was definitely not the type of kid who wanted to go to the Olympics. I just wanted to work hard and make progress and have something else in my life besides skating. It worked out really well. The fun I've had, and the friends I've made, have been great."

Since last summer, Lien has been training with coach Damon Allen at the Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado Springs. Its emphasis on developing elite competitors --including 15-year-old Rachael Flatt, who is expected to challenge for the U.S. title -- has enabled Lien to focus more intently on preparing for her final national championships.

A Superior start

Lien's heart remains in her hometown of Superior, Wis., and her home club. Her mother, Sue, has taught in the Duluth club's learn-to-skate program for 20 years and is its director. A former competitive skater and show performer, Sue encouraged Angie to enjoy the ice but didn't push her to live on it.

Angie, in turn, kept her expectations simple. A self-described tomboy, she loved to jump and finished 14th at the 1999 nationals. She has remained one of the Midwest's top senior competitors since then, finishing 20th last year and 15th in 2005 at her two most recent U.S. championships.

Along the way, she was forced to take time off because of injuries, and she made time for school, including five months of study abroad. While that kept her schedule packed, it also kept her from getting burned out on skating.

"I love to skate, and I love the challenge it brings," Lien said. "The time away from it helped me appreciate it that much more. I didn't skate as many sessions as some of the kids I competed against, but I got my work done. And in the long run, you have to do what benefits you most."

Her parents helped Angie finance her skating while she was in college. She paid her school expenses with loans and her income from coaching. To this day, Sue Lien isn't sure how her daughter juggled classes, competition and coaching.

"She's very organized, and she likes to be busy," Sue Lien said. "She did what was right for her, even though it was really hard. She's a role model for people who want to have a life outside of skating."

One more year

Angie originally thought she would retire from competition last year. At the end of the season, she felt ready to try for one last national appearance in her home region. With the help of choreographer Tom Dickson, who has helped her make great strides in her artistry, Lien has had a satisfying season.

She plays an evil queen in her short program, set to Bach's "Toccata and Fugue." Her free skate, to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," evokes a '70's hippie vibe. In the Upper Great Lakes Regional and Midwestern Sectional, she found a new mental strength that helped her overcome mistakes, a quality she hopes will carry over to nationals.

A large group of friends and family will be there, as will some of Lien's young students, who will have the rare opportunity to cheer for their coach.

"One of the things that's kept her going all these years is that she always finds something to improve," longtime coach Zoe Hill said. "That's one of the things she's passed along to the kids. Having watched her grow up, I'm very proud of everything she's done."

Hit the DECC, it’s a ‘cold war’ weekend - Emily Carlson

2008-01-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

Kjerstyn Hall skates up a storm at a practice at the DECC’s Pioneer Hall before the Northland Competition, a figure skating event, which will be held at the DECC this weekend.

Matt Suoja Budgeteer News

The mixture of sounds at the DECC’s Pioneer Hall Tuesday was more than eclectic. There were symphonic sounds, the theme from the “Titanic” with intermittent bursts of techno music and the most shocking: students listening to their teacher (in this case, figure skating coaches).

All of this is in preparation for a “cold war” with competitors from all over the United States and Canada.

This weekend, the Duluth Figure Skating Club’s (DFSC) Northland Competition, which began Friday morning, will continue on from 7:20 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the DECC.

“We have people coming from St. Louis, North Dakota, Illinois (and Canada),” said Dan Gilderman, president of the DFSC. “This is one of the largest figure skating events in the Midwest. There are over 500 skaters coming.”

To get ready for such an event, skaters practice all year long.

“There’s no breaks in figure skating,” Gilderman said. “These girls, and the boys, are just in shape. They skate everyday, a lot of them two to three hours a day.”

Kjerstyn Hall is fine with that schedule.

“I love the sport,” said Hall, 13. “I love to skate.”

The different competitions throughout the weekend will feature competitors as young as three years old up to adults.

A synchronized skating competition will begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. This event has teams of skaters (like synchronized swimmers) competing against one another.

This weekend’s contest could serve as a building block toward a bigger dream.

“One of my goals is to go to the Olympics and win gold,” Hall said.

About the club

The DFSC, which began in 1924, has many different options available for Northlanders of many ages.

One aspect of the DFSC is the Learn to Skate program. During this time, newbies learn the basics of figure skating from coaches. This program runs every three months and is for all ages.

“That would be, more or less, a feeder to the club,” Gilderman said.

Even though the Learn to Skate program is sponsored by the DFSC, students participating in it (for most cases) must pass different tests in order to be a part of the club.

These tests prepare some for competition.

“It’s not all based on competitions, but that’s an aspect of it,” Gilderman said. “It’s mainly just a discipline where you’re learning different figure skating techniques. You don’t have to compete. Every level is tested, and there are judges that come in from out of the area to test.”

These tests have prepared two local skaters (both members of the DFSC) for the national scene.

Angie Lien and Molly Oberstar will be competing in two weeks at the U.S. Figure Skating National Championship, which takes place Jan. 20-27 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

“Their level is what is called senior ladies, that would be on the same level as Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen,” Gilderman said.

If Lien or Oberstar do well at the “big game,” then they could move on to international competition — or even the world championship.

If this event were occurring during an Olympic year, both of them would have a shot at it.

Lien, who has appeared in other national championships, said she still gets nervous before the competition.

“I’m kind of an excited-nervous,” she said in a phone interview from Colorado Springs, where she’s been training since June. “I can’t wait for it to come, but you really can wait for it to come.”

Oberstar, 19, feels the same way.

“I get nervous before every competition,” she said in a phone interview from the Twin Cities, where she’s training. “This one should be extra fun.”

This nervousness is built on the competition they are facing.

“It’s pretty amazing,” said Lien, 26. “There’s a lot of young kids that are very good; it’s all the top skaters in the nation.”

One day this experience could lead to the Olympics.

“Everyone would like to do that,” said Oberstar, who has competed in the event before. “(I’m going) to take one year at a time.”

News to use

To get involved with the Learn to Skate program call Robin Jones at 590-1710. Cost is $60.

You can also visit the Duluth Figure Skating Club’s Web site at www.duluthfsc.org.

Skating benefits from writers strike - Emily Carlson

2008-01-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

Prime exposure for U.S. Championships
By Philip Hersh, Chicago Sport.com

Figure skating catches a much-needed break from TV programmers this month.

A schedule change owing peripherally to the writers' strike will give the sport two nights in prime time during the U.S. Championships later this month in St. Paul.

And NBC, the U.S. Figure Skating Association's new broadcast partner, promises significant promotion of the telecasts, according to spokesman Mike McCarley.

NBC has moved the telecast of the Sunday, Jan. 27 men's final from live in the late afternoon to delayed in a Sunday evening slot (6-8 p.m.) that had been assigned to "Dateline."

According to the Los Angeles Times, the TV news magazine's staffers have been scrambling to produce as many "Dateline" shows as possible to replace shows lacking new episodes because of the writers' strike.

The women's and dance finals will be in prime time Saturday, Jan. 26.

The bad news—which describes most figure skating news lately—is the USFSA's inability to sign a new title sponsor for its premier event as it's exposed to a larger audience.

State Farm, title sponsor the past 12 years, chose not to renew. Negotiations with other companies, including Procter & Gamble, have yet to produce a replacement.

"It was a matter of timing more than anything," USFSA executive director David Raith said. "I am sure in the future this won't be an issue."

The USFSA has to come up with revenue to replace the $12 million it had been receiving annually in a rights fee from ABC, which broadcast the championships for 43 years.

That TV money won't be replaced this year under the terms of the three-year NBC contract, in which there is no rights fee but both sides are selling advertising with profit-sharing incentives.

Raith expects the USFSA bottom line for the 2007-08 season to be "break even," which means the federation likely will dip into income produced by its foundation to balance the budget.

But he is encouraged by NBC's commitment to give the sport better coverage, thanks in part to a revamped competition schedule.

The pairs, dance and women's finals will be televised live in two Saturday shows, the first from 1 to 3 p.m. (including pairs), the second from 7 to 10 p.m. (dance and women).

To pull that off meant splitting the women's free skate into morning and evening groups. The women who finish below 10th in Thursday's short program will skate Saturday morning. The new judging system made such a move possible because it does not require ranking skaters to award scores.

Needless to say, not every skater will be pleased by the notion of an "A" final and a "B" final, even if few beyond the top eight ever are worthy of anything called a final.

"Everyone has been informed about how this is going to work," Raith said. "The judges are sensitive to how important both groups are. My hope is someone from the first group gets close to the podium or on the podium."

The women's competition has the most interesting plot lines, including the senior national meet debuts of Caroline Zhang, Mirai Nagasu and Ashley Wagner, who swept the medals at last year's world junior championships.

Any or all could challenge reigning champion Kimmie Meissner if she does not rebound strongly from an abysmal performance in the Grand Prix Final.

Renewal of the Evan Lysacek-Johnny Weir rivalry highlights the men's event, while Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto have no peers in dance.

The top three age-qualified women (Zhang and Nagasu, both 14, are too young) and men move on to the March worlds in Sweden, the last international event ESPN will cover under its expiring four-year contract.

The International Skating Union's search for a new contract has so far been futile, leading ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta to tell the Tribune last month he would give away the rights if necessary to assure a U.S. telecast of the 2009 world meet in Los Angeles.

The next three years are critical to skating, which needs a big boost from the buildup to another North American Winter Olympics—2010 in Vancouver—to avoid a fate like the poor player in MacBeth, who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.

Pairs skaters challenged by system - Emily Carlson

2008-01-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

By Lei Lei (China Daily)

China has been a pairs figure skating powerhouse since 2002, when Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo snapped the dominant streak of Western skaters to bring China its first-ever pairs world championship title.

But if Chinese figure skaters want to continue their recent success, they still have a lot of work to do on the ice.

Zhang Dan/Zhang Hao
Now that Shen/Zhao have temporarily withdrawn from international competition, the pressure for success falls squarely on the shoulders of two other pairs - Olympic silver medalists Zhang Dan/Zhang Hao and 2006 world champions Pang Qing/Tong Jian.

As if competing without their stars wasn't enough of a challenge, some say the new scoring system puts Chinese skaters at a further disadvantage.

"Some of the items of the new judging system take the advantages of western pairs, and some of the judges are very hard on the Chinese skaters," said Yao Bin, head coach of China's national figure skating team.

"But we can do nothing but adjust ourselves to it and improve ourselves to a much higher level."

The situation is not unfamiliar to Yao, known as the "godfather of Chinese figure skating". Yao has coached Chinese pairs since the days when Shen/Zhao struggled to make it into even the top three, and was by their side when they stepped atop the highest podium at the worlds.

"When Shen/Zhao chased the world championship title, they had to do more difficult movements and perform extremely better than others from Europe and America," Yao recalled. "Now the situation is the same for the other two duos. We have to be severe on ourselves firstly and try to do much better if we want to be approved by judges."

But under the new scoring system, which was applied in 2004 by the International Skating Union (ISU) to replace the old 6.0 system, raising the difficulty of a pair's moves is not necessarily an efficient way to improve scores. Judges instead award points based on technical elements and overall program performances.

Each season new new items are added to the scoring system to make it more detailed.

At the World Grand Prix Finals last month in Turin, Zhang/Zhang and Pang/Tong finished second and third, respectively, behind Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, although doubts were cast on the fairness of the judging in some of their technical elements.

Yang Dong, director of the figure skating department of China's Winter Sports Administrative Center, said this is a sign that the new system still needs some work.

"The new judging system is still improving and different technical judges may have a different evaluation of the same element," he said.

"We still have to communicate more with those ISU judges and listen to their advice."

Under the new system, each element in a skater's routine, such as a jump or a spin, is worth a certain amount of points. If a skater performs an element perfectly, he or she receives all the points for that element. The way each specific element is judged therefore becomes very important.

Pang Qing/Tong Jian
"The new system is more fair and depends more on the details of the movements," Yang said. "I believe most of the ISU judges are impartial. They just have to be familiar with the updated system gradually."

To deal with some of the uncertainties facing judges, Yang suggested Chinese skaters try to wow the judges by showing them something new.

"Some young skaters have started dominating the competitions of women's and men's singles, so the judges may also need some new faces in the pairs," Yang said. "The two Chinese veteran pairs have to impress the judging panel with something new in their appearances and routines."

New faces

After the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, a group of veteran skaters - including gold-medal pair Tatiana Totmianina/Maxim Marinin, men's singles winner Evgeni Plushenko, and women's singles winner Shizuka Arakawa - retired from competition, opening the door for some new talent.

ISU judges, meanwhile, seem to be impressed with the new breed of skaters: 17-year-old Kim Yu-na is the newly crowned women's Grand Prix Finals winner and 22-year-old Stephane Lambiel is the men's champion. There were also new faces among the pairs finalists.

Yang said Chinese skaters, old and new, have adapted well to the new scoring rules, but stressed that they still have a lot to learn.

"In my opinion, the figure skating nowadays requires difficulty, stability, beauty and new impression," he said. "The Chinese pairs do well in the first three categories, but still have to find something new to impress the judges. This season is not linking to the Olympic year and we will take time to adjust to the new system, as well as learn more about our rivals."

Zhan Hao, who narrowly missed the Grand Prix Final's title with his partner Zhang Dan, is confident in their future.

"We still hold the highest difficulty level and if we are in our best form, I believe we can win," he said.

Coaching through feats, falls

2008-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

Pat Muth works with 5-year-old Montana Ignacio at the Columbia Ice Rink, where she has taught for more than 30 years. Muth says ice skating teaches youngsters to perform under pressure and deal with disappointment. (Sun photo by Andre F. Chung / December 11, 2007)

Skating sage has taught since 1970s

By Melissa Harris | Sun reporter

"Ooooh. Ouch," Muth, 67, said as 9-year-old Ana Shimeall took the 10th and, by far, hardest blow of the afternoon. Muth skated out to her.

"Do you have butt pads?" she asked. Ana sheepishly shook her head no. "You need to ask Santa Claus to bring you butt pads."

Ana began to set her feet and arms for another attempt as Muth glided back to the side of the rink and said with pride, "She's willing to fall."

For more than 30 years, Muth has been coaching young children in Columbia through great feats and, more often than not, fall after fall after fall. Muth loves the sport, the way the cold air blows her hair when she skates fast, and what it teaches young people - to perform under pressure and swallow disappointment.

She wishes that she had been given the opportunity as a young figure skater to push her body and her nerve to the limit. Typically it takes a skater one year to master an axel and each double jump thereafter. That's seven years of training for difficult - but not even Olympic-level - jumps.

"Sometimes I'll tell a student to do something and they look at me like, 'Do I have to?'" Muth said. "It's so frustrating because I would have killed to have an opportunity to really train. There are rinks in every corner now, but there were never any all around me."

For a full-time figure skating coach, Muth has an unusual background.

She never competed or performed in professional shows. Her family moved too much, from England to Washington to Texas to England again and finally to Baltimore. In the 1950s, when she had rink access in Texas and could train, the skating world - with its heavy emphasis on meticulously traced figure-eights - was nothing like the brute athleticism of the sport today.

From age 19 to 30, she didn't skate, returning to the sport when her daughter, Martha, began group lessons at the newly opened Columbia rink. The family had moved to the new community so Pat's husband, Philip, could work as a planner for the Rouse Co., which built Columbia.

In her early 30s, Pat Muth learned to jump again, from the simple waltz to the axel - a jump with 1 1/2 revolutions - which is difficult because the skater takes off facing forward. While taking lessons and ice dancing, she co-founded the Columbia Figure Skating Club in 1973.

Since then, the club and the number of skaters in the region has grown, in part due to Muth's ability to sell the sport to children and their parents.

Katie Tincher, 6, assisted Muth this month in teaching a group of "tots" the hokeypokey. Muth uses the "turn yourself around" lyric to teach toddlers how to swivel around on the ice. Katie started skating after Muth gave her free tickets to the club's annual performance of The Nutcracker on Ice, which Muth organizes.

"She loves Miss Pat," said Katie's mother, Chris Tincher of Marriottsville. "She has the patience of a saint. She's very good with them. She took an interest in Katie. ... The kids really gravitate toward her."

Approaching the sport as an adult has given "Miss Pat" a different perspective but no less dedication, said Martha Muth, who coaches with her mother. In the early 1970s, before the Muth family had a second car, Pat would walk a half-hour to the rink in the Oakland Mills Village Center.

When parents call seeking private lessons for their children, Muth asks them whether their children know how to skate. If they say no, she gives them the facts.

"Here are the costs: ice time, lessons, skates, which are hundreds of dollars alone," Muth said. "Then I try to explain to them how hard it is. How your body is balanced on this skinny thing, and there's a thing on the end of it that makes them trip. They see it on TV, come to the rink, go flying out and crash. And then they cry because they're terrified."

After explaining this to a parent this month, Muth said the woman accused her of trying to talk her out of lessons for her daughter. Muth said that wasn't the case. She only wanted her daughter to take group lessons first to get a feel for the ice.

"On the first day, we don't do much skating," she said. "We talk about blades and the toe pick. I have them crawl out on the ice to feel it, and then I help them slowly get up."

Her coaching career started when she volunteered to teach a class for handicapped children. From there, she began going to coaching seminars, reading about the sport and eventually began student coaching under her friend Denise Cahill, an accomplished competitor on the national level.

"Denise always says that the best teachers are the ones that can teach one thing 18 different ways," Pat Muth said.

When Muth's students reach a certain level, she turns them over to Cahill, who owns the Chesapeake Skating School, which runs the group skating lessons in the area. For every student who toils hard enough to be sent to Cahill, there is one who leaves the sport.

Nicole Hansen recently took her final lesson. The 13-year-old from Catonsville, who started taking lessons from Muth at age 3, is stopping the sport to focus on another passion: rock climbing.

For a finale, Muth asked Nicole to pick her favorite move and perform it. She chose an Ina Bauer, one of the oldest and most graceful moves in figure skating. Named after its inventor, the Ina Bauer is a variation on the fourth position in ballet and requires an enormous amount of flexibility in the back and hips.

Nicole performed it to near-perfection. When she returned to the side of the rink, Muth called it "beautiful." And when Nicole said she was going to miss figure skating, Muth covered her face in her leopard-print gloves and began to cry.

"Oh, come here," she said and then pulled Nicole into her large down jacket for a hug.

Figure skating show debuts in Vail

2007-12-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

Haha! I used to skate here every summer at good ol' Dobson arena. Vail is a great city, very friendly and quaint. I always enjoyed coming to Colorado and competing!

Vail's figure skating club will perform "Ice: A Musical Journey"
By Sarah Mausolf

VAIL, Colorado — A group of girls clad in rhinestone costumes clasps hands and glances nervously at one another.

They begin skating in circles to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” migrating from one side of the Dobson Ice Arena to the other.

This is ring-around-the-rosey, except with blades and breakneck speeds — and it surely will make the audience “scream their head off,” 10-year-old Morgan Mueller predicts.

Once a source of terror for adolescent members of the Skating Club, the “traveling circle” has become a crowning move in “Ice: A Musical Journey.”

The musical is the 10th holiday show from the skating club.

Set to debut Thursday, it follows three girls after their graduation from the Regal Performing School of Arts. One graduate strikes out to star in “Dreamgirls” on Broadway, while a second wants to become a Vegas showgirl and the third pursues a career in rock ’n’ roll.

More than 70 skaters ranging from 3-year-olds to adults will perform. Show director Dawn Ristow said the soundtrack is an eclectic mix of motown, oldies and pop.

“Grandparents will know the older songs, the Frank Sinatra, the old Vegas, all of it,” she said. “The young kids will know the ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Dreamgirls’ and ‘Hannah Montana,’ so I tried to make it a family show where any age can enjoy it.”

An energetic brunette some skaters call “coachy-pooh,” Ristow wrote the script with the movie “Dreamgirls” in mind. After spending months compiling a list of songs for the soundtrack, she sent them to a recording studio in Chicago, where a friend paired them with the voice of a professional narrator.

As the show took shape, community members pitched in with preparations. Dads swooped in to build the set, which includes a cardboard Volkswagen bug and 6-foot records. Meanwhile, moms glued thousands of rhinestones onto the costumes.
“It’s all about the glitz and the glamour — the bling,” skate club President Jeanmarie Angarola explained.

For the performers, the show is like a homecoming. Some girls come from as far away as Florida to participate, while others, such as 19-year-old Mackensie Boris, of Edwards, will perform during a trip home from college.

To perfect the skating moves, girls used a buddy system. Ice veterans like 16-year-old Jenna Beairsto, who will perform a double axel in the show, served as a role model for the younger, less experienced girls. To learn dance moves, the girls sought help from a local dance instructor. And when it came to learning music history, they watched Elvis movies and the “Thriller” video.
“They appreciate the different types of music out there now,” Ristow said.

The Skating Club of Vail is a nonprofit organization with about 40 members who get together for social events and competitions. The annual holiday show draws hundreds of spectators. Past themes have included the “Wizard of Oz” and Disney princesses.

As for “Ice: A Musical Journey,” Ristow expects to sell out the roughly 700 seats available. She looks forward to seeing hours of rehearsals pan out.
“They put in all that hard work and sleepless nights, and I’m just really proud to see them skate well,” she said. “Whether they fall or they don’t, the kids do pull it together.”

But for Ristow, the show is about more than one night of bling. It’s about handing her love of skating down to a younger generation of girls.
“If I can give them the love of skating that I have and the passion, then I succeeded,” she said.

Succesful Partnership

2007-12-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

BY PAUL DANZER, Columbian staff writer

She made it clear: The dancing was just for fun.

"I really didn't want to do dance competitively," the 13-year-old said.

He was running out of opportunities. The 16-year-old had competed at the U.S. Figure Skating Junior Nationals six times, and placed sixth in the juvenile dance competition in 2006.

But by midsummer, it appeared he would not be returning to nationals. His previous partnership had dissolved, and it didn't appear he'd find a suitable partner in time to prepare for this year's competition.

By Dec. 1, less than four months after they first started skating together, Madeline Heritage and Nathan Fast - who train at Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver - were standing atop the podium, receiving gold medals at the U.S. Figure Skating 2008 U.S. Junior Championships.

"It was a shocker," said Fast, a West Linn High School sophomore who placed sixth in the nation with a previous partner at nationals.

"But we connected really fast. I was sure we'd do well. I wasn't sure how high we'd place, though."

Their collaboration began over several weekends of social ice dancing events, and after Madeline had initially balked at a suggestion from Nathan's mother, Barbara, that the two team up.

"What I didn't want is a situation where it was 'Oh, I need a partner. I'll just settle for anybody,' " Madeline said.

She also didn't want to lose focus on her individual goals, which are to skate at the highest levels individually and in pairs figure skating. Once she and Nathan danced together informally, she became intrigued. Madeline and Nathan share a focus and drive, and they had fun skating together.

"The next thing we knew, we had a coach," Madeline said.

The coach, Ikaika Young, is himself a former national novice champion who competed internationally. He said such a quick rise to national champions is unusual.

"It isn't normal," he said, noting that most of the top competitors in Salt Lake City had been skating together for years. "By design, as a coach, you don't want to have only four months to put everything together."

Putting it all together meant getting Madeline and Nathan through their testing by the end of August - less than a month after Young began coaching them - to be eligible to compete as juveniles at sectional and national events.

Young had to choreograph the free dance that eventually lifted them to the national championship. And he had to prepare them to perform two compulsory routines that demonstrate the basic skills skaters must execute.

In addition to the short span of their partnership heading into this fall's major competitions, Madeline and Nathan had the disadvantage of being new on the scene, and thus unknowns to the judges who determine the fate of skaters come competition time.

"They are both very good skaters on their own parts," Young said, explaining how Madeline and Nathaniel were able to dance their way to the top. "And Nathan has skated in dance for a number of years, so he had that experience."

Nathan and Madeline, in fact, are both seasoned skaters.

Nathan took up skating at Clackamas Town Center at the age of 4 and has focused on competitive ice dancing for six years.

Madeline, a home-schooled seventh-grader who lives in Beaverton, Ore., took her first skating lessons at the age of 4 in Illinois. In 2001, her family moved to the Portland area and she began skating with the Portland Ice Skating club, which calls Mountain View its home rink.

Her passion on ice is singles and pairs skating, disciplines that involve jumping and more high-speed spins and lifts than does ice dancing. In 2007, she placed 12th in novice pairs at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

"There's a lot more choreography" in dancing than pairs, she said. "The lifts are not as high, but they are more difficult to get into."

In addition to dancing with Nathan to championships at the Pacific Coast Sectional and the nationals, Madeline placed eighth individually among juvenile girls at the Northwest Pacific Regionals this fall.

She continues to train to compete individually, and plans to see how high she can climb up that ladder.

But she and Nathaniel are already back training at Mountain View Ice Arena, where they regularly train before dawn. They are making the first strides in preparing for the 2008-09 season, which will include a trip to a top-flight competition at Lake Placid, N.Y. They will move up to the novice competition level, meaning the competition will be tougher.

And Madeline and Nathaniel won't be a surprise to competitors, judges, or themselves.

Young, their coach, said that's just fine. Any pressure they feel from higher expectations shouldn't limit their progress.

"The hardest thing in a presentation sport is to exude confidence," Young said. "Any time you can boost your confidence it's a good thing. And winning nationals is certainly a confidence boost."

Did you know?

Madeline Heritage, 13, and Nathaniel Fast, 16, who train at Mountain View Ice Arena, won the juvenile division ice dancing national championship recently in Salt Lake City.

In ice dancing, pairs perform two compulsory dances and, if they qualify for finals, a free skate. Madeline and Nathan were fifth after their first compulsory dance, but placed first among 18 finalists in the second compulsory dance, then won the gold with a strong 46.36 score for their free skate.

The first international ice dancing competition was held in 1950 at the World Figure Skating Championships in London. Ice dancing became an Olympic sport at the 1976 Innsbruck Games.

Ice dancing is like ballroom dancing on ice. By contrast, pairs figure skating requires acrobatic lifts, jumps and spins.

Can Seal make figure skating cool?

2007-12-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

BY MARIA SCIARRINO, On The Scene

Ed. note: Last night, the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., hosted "The Music Of Seal On Ice," which would bring together the songs of the deep-voiced, Heidi Klum-attached crooner and the ice-skating prowess of Brian Boitano, Todd Eldredge, and Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman (who look like they're attacking Seal with Ina's skate above). And lucky for us, former Idolator guestblogger Maria Sciarrino happens to be an expert on both figure skating and pop music, so we bundled her up and sent her down to the nation's capital for a report on just what would happen when one tried to combine a Seal concert with a few jumps and spins on the ice.

Around 4 p.m. yesterday I was dealing with the fact that I was not going to see "The Music of Seal on Ice," a benefit for Autism Speaks that'll air on TV next month, down in D.C. Tickets appeared to have sold out and Craiglist's scalpers were asking upwards of $300. (This was "Seal on Ice," not the Arcade Fire at Randall's Island!) But then, the gods of figure skating (Bill Klingbeil, perhaps?) smiled upon me and within minutes I was in a car, hoping the notoriously awful D.C. traffic wouldn't thwart this opportunity to marry two of my hobbies: figure skating and music. The two have a strange relationship. Figure skating is a sport that originated with royalty, and is now commonly associated with well-to-do families; so it comes as no surprise when the sport carts out music deeply coded with privilege. It's probably the only place George Bizet's Carmen is continously touted as cool and inspiring, where "trends" are thirty years behind the curve.

Even though the phrase "Seal on Ice" sounds ridiculous (even moreso to me; I IMed Maura this phrase endlessly over the past two days, mostly in caps), last night's performance--featuring, among others, Olympic gold medalists Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi--combined skating's stodgy-yet-luminescent demeanor and an artist known for brooding, uneasy music with mostly successful results. First of all, it sounded good; the Verizon Center managed to avoid the tinny, canned sound design of most rinks. More importantly, the choreography avoided overloading skaters with jumps and other bombastic gestures (except for Michael Weiss, who must be overcompensating for something given his backflip-laden performance), opting for moves that matched the music's muted nature. Performers like Boitano and Todd Eldredge (swoon) were impressive, but Caryn Kadavy and Yuka Sato's programs achieved breathtaking symbiosis with the darker moments in Seal's songs. Their strong control over their speed and power really separated them from the pack. Also impressive was the smoky performance of Silvia Fontana and John Zimmerman, whom many might recall from an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. There were a few moments of somewhat blah choreography, but I have a feeling it worked well for the camera.

Which is important, because last night was taped for television (first broadcast goes to NBC, then to the Style Network). So there were small gaps for editing in commercials, recording extra audience applause, and retakes. (Yes, retakes. This explains why you never see skaters fall on televised programs; at the end of the performance, producers make any skaters who flubbed their program re-skate any segments that contained errors.) Taped programs are filmed on smaller rinks to make it seem like skaters are covering large expanses of ice quickly (even if they're moving a bit slower than usual) and to conserve their energy. But it's still pretty fun; a lot happens in these situations that never make it to the final cut, like crazed fans being held back by security when they try to climb on the ice to give Kristi Yamaguchi flowers, or a cheering/heckling section for Michael Weiss getting a little overzealous, or Seal performing extra takes of particular songs (and hamming it up even more).

Seal sang five songs ("Wedding Day," "Kiss From A Rose," "Crazy," "System," and "Don't Cry"); otherwise, the skaters performed to recorded tracks. And even though the show was all scripted and stuff, I was impressed with Seal's decision to handle vocal duties live. There were some backing tracks, but otherwise it was all him. The biggest, most hilarious, and unfortunately never-to-be-televised moment came during "Don't Cry," which featured Brian Boitano. When the music started up, Seal's microphone wasn't on, and he was completely unaware of the situation due to his in-ear monitors. Just like a scene plucked from South Park, Brian saved the day by going up to Seal and tapping him on the shoulder to let him know the mic was dead. And then that happened two more times, causing the Michael Weiss hecklers to scream "WHAT WOULD BRIAN BOITANO DO?!?!" I came this close to wetting my pants from laughing so hard. Confidential to the companies who produce skating events: I really hope you'll consider putting these bloopers on DVD, because they are too hilarious to leave on the cutting room floor.

As for those hecklers: typically I would try and find cameraphone so as to include them in "Hey Asshole!," but those crazy fans really kept the audience energy up when the scripted pauses threatened to break up the show's flow. Best line of the night to rise out of the crowd, right before the start of Yuka Sato's program: "You sparkle so well!" All of last night's other performers--who were up to the task of transforming the moodiness of Seal into something quite effortless--did, too.

Pelletier and Sale say skating needs more exposure

2007-12-19T08:31:00.000-08:00

Dave Gross, CanWest News Service

Olympic and world champion figure skaters David Pelletier and Jamie Sale say a great deal of the magic and lustre that drew a huge skating fan base in the late 1990s, has been muddied.

The Canadian pairs, who won Olympic gold in 2002, believe a lack of accessibility and personality has dimmed the spotlight on competitive skating.

"It is very, very sad to see right now the amount of skating we have on television and what time it is on. You take Skate Canada or nationals and I don't know where it will be in the scheduling," said Pelletier in a conference call Wednesday. "You're going into domestic (Olympic Games) and you will have a hard time finding your own skaters on (television).

"That's kind of the state of figure skating right now."

Pelletier contends the International Skating Union has been lax in getting the sport on television.

"It's a lack of good leadership at the ISU. You can't sell your sport at a decent price to an audience, then you'd rather not sell it at all, then you're not putting your product on TV and it's kind of hard to sell, right? To me, if the sport is never on TV you're not going to attract an audience.

"There's still a very hardcore audience in every market we go to, especially in Canada. So in Canada it will always remain a great sport to watch and to talk about. In the U.S. also. But as a whole, if we don't get the ratings and it's not on TV... it just doesn't make sense," said Pelletier.

Sale and Pelletier, who were married in 2005 and became first-time parents in late September this year, retired from competitive skating six years ago. They remain active with the Stars on Ice and embark on a 40-city tour in late January.

When away from the ice, they say they try to keep track of their fellow Canadians looking to reach the same heights they attained in Salt Lake City.

"It's still enjoyable to watch. Like David said, skating was really hot for a while and everything goes in cycles and maybe this is a little bit of a low time and it'll go back up after the Olympics," said Sale.

Pelletier believes a splash of colour and an influx of personality would help.

"If you look at the 90s and we had Kurt (Browning) and Elvis (Stojko). You had all these charismatic people that were kind of like rock stars. Maybe back then, personality-wise what you had on TV, maybe people related to them a little bit better," said Pelletier.

"I agree with that," said Sale. "When (Browning) was competing everyone talked about how charming he was and it was Kurt, Kurt, Kurt and Elvis, Elvis, Elvis, and we don't hear that as much anymore."

Sale and Pelletier will perform in the Parade of Champions at the conclusion of the 2008 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships in January.

The championships run from Jan. 16 to 20 in Vancouver - site of their world championship win.

They will also be officially, and finally, inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame.

Sale and Pelletier were named to the hall of fame in 2005 but the induction ceremony was never held due to scheduling conflicts.

Duluth figure skater got a little help from a lot of friends

2007-12-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

After a confidence-shaking season last year, Molly Oberstar is back -- thanks to relatives, friends, old coaches and a new mentor.

By Rachel Blount, Star Tribune

Every figure skater understands that feeling of solitude that comes while standing all alone on a vast sheet of ice, waiting for the music to begin. Inside their hearts, though, they often carry a small army of helpmates who guided them to that place in the spotlight.

Molly Oberstar will be invisibly accompanied by a host of Minnesotans when she skates in the women's competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January. There are her longtime coaches, Zoe Hill and Heather Seyfer, and new mentor Ann Eidson. There's former choreographer Jill Scott, who molded her artistry. There are her parents, David and Barbara, who uncomplainingly financed a lifetime of skating, and uncle Vince Giorgi and aunt Marcia Appel, who welcome Molly and Barbara into their home four days a week during Molly's St. Paul training sessions.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a teeming metropolis to nurture a figure skater into a national contender. Oberstar, 19, will make her fourth trip to the U.S. championships -- and first at the senior level -- after pushing her talent to fresh heights with a little help from a lot of friends.

"I'm lucky to have such good coaches and so much support," said Oberstar, of Duluth. "Ever since I heard nationals were going to be in St. Paul, it's been my main goal to make it here. It's such an amazing experience, and it's going to be even better to be able to skate in front of family and friends."

At 5-8, Oberstar is tall for a skater, and she combines the elegance and classical beauty of a ballerina with a captivating exuberance. She finished 11th in novice women at the 2004 nationals, then moved up to the junior level, where she placed seventh in 2005 and sixth in 2006.

Most skaters struggle with the transition to senior competition. Injuries further complicated Oberstar's shift last season, and after finishing sixth at the Midwestern Sectionals -- and missing the cut for the U.S. championships -- Oberstar sensed she needed a change.

Just not a radical one. Hill had coached her since Oberstar first showed promise in a learn-to-skate program as a 5-year-old at the Duluth Figure Skating Club. Oberstar wanted a place where she could train with other elite skaters in a serious environment without uprooting her family, and she found it at the St. Paul Figure Skating Club.

She skates there under Eidson's tutelage four days a week. Oberstar and her mother drive down from Duluth on Monday mornings, stay at her uncle's Lakeville home until Thursday, then drive back to Duluth for the weekend and one day of training with Hill and Seyfer.

"Last year was a hard year," said Oberstar, who deferred her enrollment at the University of Minnesota to devote this year to skating. "I lost my confidence, and I wasn't having as much fun. But I still had an incredible love for the sport. I knew I had the potential to go farther."

So did Hill, who coached Oberstar to a first-place finish at this year's Upper Great Lakes Regionals.

"I miss not working with her on a daily basis," Hill said. "But this is the best thing for her skating at this point in her life. I'm happy it's worked out so well."

Eidson, who has known Hill, Seyfer and Scott for years, saw her role as building upon the solid foundation they had given their young skater. Scott, Oberstar's first choreographer, had developed the artistry and abundant joy in the sport that shaped her charismatic presence on the ice. Hill and Seyfer nurtured her athleticism and stamina.

Upon joining the St. Paul club in September, Oberstar drew inspiration through training with U.S. junior champ Eliot Halverson. A consistent training regimen, and some subtle technical adjustments, strengthened Oberstar's jumps and fueled her confidence. She needed to place in the top four at both the regional and the Midwestern Sectional to make it to nationals. She won both.

You could have heard a pin drop when she skated at Midwesterns," Eidson said. "Her skating was enchanting. She is just beautiful to watch.''

Oberstar's next goal is to increase her fan base with a strong performance at the U.S. championships. "I've never been so nervous about a result as I was at sectionals," she said. "My legs were shaking. I felt like I was going to faint. Then I saw my name at the top.

"I didn't expect to win. But I believed I had it in me. It feels great to feel happy about my skating again."

Figure skating's ice gets thinner

2007-12-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Champions on Ice run is coming to an end, and TV rights deals are shrinking.

By Philip Hersh, Special to The Times

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The ice continues to melt under figure skating in the United States.

Champions on Ice, the top figure skating tour in the country for more than a quarter-century, is dead after a 38-year run, according to sources familiar with the situation. An announcement is expected in about a week.

And International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta, apparently feeling the spirit of the season, said he would give away television rights if necessary to guarantee U.S. viewers could watch the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles.

It may come to that.

Both are signs of the decline in the sport's mass-market popularity, which was strong for more than 50 years and peaked at an artificial high created by the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding soap opera leading up to the 1994 Olympics.

There are a variety of reasons behind the steady erosion of interest.

Competition from other entertainment sources, including musicals and Disney-style skating shows appealing to "'Tween" girls who were prime audiences for the Champions tour, has increased dramatically over the last decade.

The sport's telecasts, like much of television, fight for attention with relatively recent viewing options, including DVDs, digital video recorders, video on demand and YouTube.

And skating has produced no new champions with the long-term star quality of a group including Michelle Kwan, Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt, Scott Hamilton and Kurt Browning, whose appeal went beyond the sport's hard-core fan base. All either have retired or are skating only in an occasional made-for-TV show.

Ratings for the prime-time telecast of the U.S. championships have dropped from double digits into the 4.0 range. The U.S. Figure Skating Assn., which made $12 million a year from NBC over the previous 10 seasons, had to settle for a profit-sharing agreement with no rights fee in its new, three-year contract with NBC.

In its heyday during the mid-1990s, the Champions tour played more than 70 major cities from April into July, some with afternoon and evening shows, many with sellout or near-sellout crowds. For several seasons, it also had a winter tour in smaller cities.

Its last extensive tour was after the 2006 Olympics, when Champions appeared in 56 cities; the tour went to only 23 cities in 2007.

The handful of Champions dates tentatively scheduled for 2008 will be canceled, and the tour will be subsumed by its rival, Stars on Ice, the sources said.

That will confirm an Oct. 4 Times report about merger plans between the tours.

AEG bought Champions on Ice from its founder, Tom Collins, in 2006. The International Management Group has owned Stars on Ice since its creation in 1986.

An AEG spokesman declined to comment, and an IMG representative did not respond to an e-mail.

Cinquanta, in Lausanne to attend a meeting of the International OIympic Committee's executive board, has been trying, so far in vain, to get a new U.S. television deal for the ISU's properties, which include figure skating and speedskating events.

"The United States and U.S. television have been very good to us, and we are not going to turn our back on them," Cinquanta said. "I will let them have this [the 2009 worlds] for free if there is no other solution."

The ISU's four-year deal with ESPN expires after the 2008 worlds in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Cinquanta has had discussions with ESPN, NBC and Fox, but none is willing to pay anything near the $5 million a year the current deal provides the ISU.

"The Americans are telling me they have no money," Cinquanta said Tuesday.

The ISU probably will wind up agreeing to some sort of profit-sharing contract with a minimal rights fee at best.

It will be a far cry from the $22 million a year it got from ABC for the five-year deal that ended in 2004.

The demise of Champions on Ice will leave some skaters without a primary source of income. Many earned six-figure annual salaries from the tour, with the big stars getting $10,000 or more per show.

First organized by Collins as the Tour of World Figure Skating Champions in 1969, the tour had been closely aligned with the United States and international figure skating associations. In recent years, its biggest star was five-time world champion Kwan, who chose not to join the tour last season.

Stars on Ice began with Hamilton, an IMG client, as its featured performer.

Stars has 39 U.S. dates in the 2008 season. Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen is its headliner.

That means little when the sport makes few headlines.

Philip Hersh covers Olympic sports for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Saskatoon to host 2009 national Canadian figure skating championships

2007-12-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

TheStarPhoenix.com

A spot on the 2010 Olympic team will be on the line for the country's best figure skaters, when Saskatoon plays host to the 2009 Bank of Montreal Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Jan. 14-19, 2009 at Credit Union Centre.

"We'll have the country's very best skaters in attendance and it's going to be an amazing event and we're excited to bring the event back to Saskatoon," said Debbi Wilkes, Skate Canada Director of Sponsorship and Marketing, at a Wednesday morning press conference to make the announcement.

It will mark the third time that Saskatoon has been the site of the national championships. The city previously hosted the event in 2003 and 1991.

The event will welcome close to 150 skaters in women's, men's, pairs and ice dance disciplines in both the senior and junior levels. The winners will earn spots for the Skate Canada national team, junior national team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the 2009 World Figure Skating championships, the Four Continents championships and the world junior championships.

Ticket packages for the 2009 nationals will go on sale in early February.

Takahashi wins figure skating NHK Trophy

2007-12-03T14:59:00.001-08:00

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) — World silver medallist Daisuke Takahashi came from behind to defend the NHK Trophy Sunday, winning a place in the Grand Prix finals in Turin.
European champion Carolina Kostner of Italy was the surprise winner of the top women's prize during the four-day event, as world champion Miki Ando made some disastrous errors in the free skating.
European champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany overwhelmed their competitors to win the pairs title in the last leg of the ISU Grand Prix series.
Takahashi won a standing ovation from home fans for his dramatic free skating routine to Tchaikovski's "Romeo and Juliet", performing a successful series of multiple-rotation jumps and intensive stepwork.
Overall, Takahashi collected 234.22 points, surpassing the earlier leader of the field Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic with 229.45 and American Stephen Carriere with 204.98.
"I cannot say it was a perfect performance, but it was good to win the NHK Trophy," said Takahashi, who opened the free skating routine with an attempt at a quadruple toeloop, but lost his balance and touched the ice with his hands.
"I learned areas for further improvement. I had been in third and second at previous Grand Prix finals. I will go for the victory this time," he said.
The women's competition ended on an anti-climactic tone as Kostner's free skating was shaky at best. Her hands touching the ice after combination jumps and she failed to complete several multiple-rotation jumps.
"I have to say," Kostner said, "my reaction after the free programme, I think I was not quite satisfied with the things I did."
Ando, silver medallist at Skate America, had been seen as a strong contender to take the NHK Trophy, but came in fourth and failed to secure a spot in the finals.
In the pairs section, the Germans dominated the field, earning 190.64 points, far above second-placed Americans Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker who collected 166.48 points.
In the ice dancing section, European champion duo Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France captured the NHK Trophy, followed by Canadian pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

Kostner takes figure skating NHK Trophy

2007-12-01T18:06:00.001-08:00

SENDAI, Japan (AFP)

Italian Carolina Kostner performs her free skating at the NHK Trophy Figure Skating competition the last leg of the ISU Grand Prix series in Sendai. Kostner of Italy staged a surprise victory at the NHK Trophy, as world champion Miki Ando deteriorated and failed to make the podium.

Kostner herself was shaky at best, with her hands touching the ice after combination jumps and failing to complete several multiple-rotation jumps in her free skating programme to the tune of "Dumsky Trio" by Antonin Dvorak.
The Italian collected a total of 164.69 points -- 103.45 for the free skating and 61.24 from the short programme -- and has now qualified for the elite six-skater Grand Prix finals in Italian city of Turin.
Swiss skater Sarah Meier came second with a total 163.17, and Japanese Nana Takeda received the bronze.
Ando, silver medallist of Skate America who was largely expected to take the NHK Trophy, followed with 145.81, making her the second substitute for the Grand Prix finals to be held later this month.
The NHK Trophy for the women's segment also came to an anticlimactic ending, with skaters voicing dissatisfaction over their flaw-filled free skating.
"I have to say," Kostner said, "my reaction after the free programme, I think I was not quite satisfied with the things I did."
"I had many mistakes on the jumps," she said, adding that she was "rewarded" for her clean spins and steps.
Meier's free skating was rated first in the segment despite its shortcomings, including a failed triple salchow.
"After my performance, I was very disappointed because I am not really satisfied with my free programme," said Meier, who became the first substitute for the finals.
Takeda, whose beaming smile won the hearts of the home fans, admitted that she was packing her bags and preparing to go home when officials stopped her to go to the winners podium for the victory ceremony.
Kostner, nonetheless, said she was happy to compete in her home Grand Prix finals.
"So now I have to work on jumps, to be more consistent and to be more calm," she said.
Meanwhile, Ando said she will take a brief break to refresh and refocus.
She said she was overwhelmed by her world championship victory last season, and sometimes failed to seriously practice and could not reset her goals for new competitions.
Her short programme here placed her second with 60.52 points Friday. But her free skating was seventh in the field with 85.29, repeatedly falling down on the ice.
"I was worried and tense, and it showed in my performance," Ando said of the pressure of appearing before eager homeland fans.
Minutes before her free skating, she slightly stubbed her right thigh with a skate blade during practice.
Ando added she was unable to fully "digest" her coach's advice, telling her to perform easier combination jumps to ensure clean performance.
"Before I can talk about my jumps... it was all psychological. Top skaters put on their performance even if they are full of worries. But I tend to skate with whatever mood I was in at the moment," she said.
"Sometimes I ask myself why I go to competitions and why I skate," she said in a casual bluntness, adding that her coach has recommended her to take a break to release her stress.
"Now I will have some time off, and perhaps it is a good opportunity. Rather than trying to win the finals, I want to aim to win the world championship," she said.

Tara Lipinski

2007-11-29T17:48:00.000-08:00

Iced "T":

Curiosity finally lured Tara onto an ice rink when she was 6 years old. Her dad, Jack, vividly remembers his daughter "flopping around" during that maiden voyage atop a frozen surface. Rather than make her nervous, Jack and Pat, Tara's mom, went indoors for hot chocolate. They returned a short time later to discover that the ice suited Tara to a tee. She might as well have been on roller skates. Everything came so naturally; she progressed through skating lessons in no time. The transition happened quickly. But no one could have guessed just how quickly ice skating would come to recognize the potential of a young girl named Tara Lipinski. In fact, Tara advanced from first lesson to national medalist in less than 6 years. After rising to the silver medal podium of the novice division, it was obvious that the Philadelphia-born Tara was blessed with above average skill and determination. This was a youngster, after all, who frequently rose as early as 3 a.m. for pre-dawn skating lessons after her family re-located to Texas, near Houston. Eventually, Tara went back to her former Delaware rink. In the summer of 1994, Tara brought new meaning to the "Spirit of St. Louis" with a show stopping performance at the U.S. Olympic Festival. At 12 years, 1 month, Tara became the youngest athlete ever to win a gold medal at the Olympic Festival. In 1995, Tara was already in the public and media spotlight. At the U.S. Championships in Providence, RI, she earned the junior silver medal and, a Providence newspaper declared her "the future".

Days to remember:

The 1995-96 season saw Tara move into skating's senior division and also marked a change of scenery for Tara and her mom. They relocated to Bloomfield Hills, Mich. There, she would be coached by the acclaimed Richard Callaghan, whose students included national champions Nicole Bobek and Todd Eldredge. When she is not traveling to compete or tour, Tara's days in suburban Detroit are always busy and productive. She also enjoys family outings on weekends when her dad visits from Houston, where he is an oil executive. During the week, Tara receives daily four-hour tutoring and is proving to be as proficient at academics as she is at skating. Tara is an "A" student who faces homework in the evenings despite the additional demands of four, 45 minute training sessions spread over each day at the Detroit Skating Club. This disciplined lifestyle undoubtedly contributes mightily to Tara's competitive toughness. Her technical and mental preparation has been rewarded again and again over the past two seasons during a remarkable ascent to national, world and Olympic championships. "She's so far beyond where we thought she'd be," Jack Lipinski said in a recent interview with People magazine. "She's always rising to the occasion."

The "Tara era":

Against the measuring stick of history, Tara's accomplishments are staggering. Carol Heiss, Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn, Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi were great U.S. Champions, yet not one was a national medalist at 13 or a gold medalist at 14. During the early months of 1997 Tara earned titles and made history on what seemed like a weekly basis. The culmination of the 1996/97 season was at the World Championships last March in Lausanne, Switzerland, where Tara eclipsed a record that had endured 70 years. She replaced legendary Norwegian Sonja Henie as the youngest woman to be crowned the world's No. 1 skater, only a year after debuting at this competition with a 15th place finish. Tara landed her signature triple loop-triple loop combination jump and five other clean triples to finish ahead of reigning world champ Michelle Kwan. All of this came just one month after Tara secured her first national championship with the same seven-triple free program in Nashville, Tenn. It was in that event that she became the first woman to land a pair of triple loops in combination. Two weeks after Nashville, Tara won the Championship Series Final in Hamilton, Ontario, as a prelude to Lausanne. Rarely has an athlete opened an era in so dominant a fashion.

Bumps in the road to gold:

The 1997/98 season started out on a bumpy note for Tara as she finished 2nd at Skate America to fellow American Michelle Kwan. The road became even bumpier as Tara struggled against illness and bad blades to finish 2nd at the Trophy Lalique competition in Paris. Tara proved herself capable of a major comeback just over a month later, however, becoming the first woman to succesfully defend her Champions Series Final crown with hard-fought victory over Germany's Tanja Szewczenko in Munich. Tara returned to her roots in Philadelphia for her 2nd title defense of the season at the US National Championships. After a fluke fall in her short program, Tara stood in 4th with a spot on the Olympic team hanging in the balance. Proving herself to be as resilient as she is talented, Tara performed an impressive long program and moved up to take the Silver medal along with a spot on the 1998 US Olympic Team.

One for the ages:

Tara entered the XVIII Olympic Games with two goals in mind: 1) becoming the youngest-ever gold medalist in Ladies Figure Skating and 2) Having a LOT of fun! She accomplished both goals during her stay in Nagano, and turned in one of the most amazing upsets in Olympic history, defeating her heavily favored teammate Michelle Kwan with a free skate of epic proportions and capturing the imagination and hearts of skating fans worldwide.

Michelle Kwan

2007-11-27T19:05:00.001-08:00

Michelle Kwan is Emily Carlson's favorite figure skater.

Check out some fun facts about her!

Personal Info
Full Name : Michelle Wing Kwan

Nick Name: Shelly

Birthdate: July 7, 1980

Hometown: Torrance, California

Family: Danny (Dad), Estella (Mom), Ron (Brother), Karen (Sister)

Coach: Rafael Arutunian (former: Frank Carroll '92-'02; Scott Williams '02-'03)

Choreographers: Tatiana Tarasova, Lori Nichol, Sarah Kawahara, Christopher Dean, Peter Oppegard, Brian Wright, Philip Mills, Nikolai Morozov, Karen Kwan, and Michelle

Agent: Shep Goldberg, Proper Marketing Associates

Home Club: Los Angeles FSC

Training Rink & Town: East West Ice Palace in Artesia, California, Ice Castle's International in Lake Arrowhead, California, Healthsouth in El Segundo, California

College: UCLA and University of Denver

Fun Facts
Michelle always wears a good luck necklace that her grandmother gave her.
Michelle finished 11th grade with a 3.8 GPA and 12th grade with a 3.9 GPA, for a cumulative high school GPA of 3.61.
She had to go behind her coach, Frank Carroll's back in order to move up to the senior level.
Michelle had a pet squirrel when she was younger.
Her sister, Karen, also skated competitively at the elite level, finishing 6th at Nationals in '97
When she first lived at Ice Castle, she lived in the cabin called, "Debi Thomas' Teepee."

Weir wins the Cup of Russia

2007-11-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

11/24/07) - Johnny Weir blew away the field in the free skate Saturday at the Cup of Russia to win his second Grand Prix Series event of the season. Second after the short program, Weir scored 149.81 for the free skate to take the title by more than 11 points. The win earns him a spot in next month's Grand Prix Final.

Jumps

2007-11-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Jumping was Emily Carlson's favorite thing to practice when she skated. Here is some more information on jumping from Wikipedia:

Jumps involve the skater leaping into the air and rotating rapidly to land after completing one or more rotations. There are many types of jumps, identified by the way the skater takes off and lands, as well as by the number of rotations that are completed.
Most skaters rotate all their jumps in the counterclockwise direction. Some prefer to rotate clockwise, and a very small number of skaters can perform jumps in both directions. For clarity, all jumps will be described for the counterclockwise skater. Jumps are one of the most important parts of figure skating.
There are six major jumps in figure skating. All six are landed on one foot on the right back outside edge (with counterclockwise rotation, for single and multi-revolution jumps), but have different takeoffs, by which they may be distinguished. The two categories of jumps are toe jumps and edge jumps.