Lifeskate: All about figure skating

Figure Skating in Harlem celebrates with skating stars past and present

2012-04-10T06:05:00-04:00

More photos from the 2012 Figure Skating in Harlem Skating with the Stars gala held in NYC, April 2, 2012...

Dee Snider from Celebrity Apprentice with pairs teams Caydee Denney/John Coughlin and Mary Beth Marley/Rockne Brubaker, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Figure Skating in Harlem founder Sharon Cohen with Sarah Hughes and Paul Wylie, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Joannie Rochette, Todd Eldredge, Nicole Bobek, Scott Hamilton, Timothy Goebel and Tanith Belbin, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani with young fan, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Tanith Belbin looking cool and gorgeous as ever, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com:

Vera Wang, Evan Lysacek, Diana Ross celebrate Figure Skating in Harlem

2012-04-08T15:58:55-04:00

DIANA ROSS, VERA WANG, AND DONALD TRUMP JOIN OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS TO CELEBRATE FIGURE SKATING IN HARLEM’S 15TH ANNIVERSARY
---------2012 Skating with the Stars Gala raises approximately $700K to support innovative educational and fitness programs---------

(April 2012) -- Figure Skating in Harlem (http://www.figureskatinginharlem.org) announced that its Skating with the Stars 2012 gala honoring international fashion designer Vera Wang and dynamic Figure Skating in Harlem patron Ellen Lowey is expected to raise approximately $700,000. Harlem artist and entrepreneur Rhonda Ross, accompanied by her mother, the legendary Diana Ross, received the Star Leadership Award. This one-of-a-kind benefit event was held on Monday, April 2, 2012, at Wollman Rink in Central Park. First Lady Michelle Obama sent a letter to be read on her behalf.

The money raised goes to support Figure Skating in Harlem’s (FSH) innovative academics and fitness program for underserved girls, transforming the lives of these 6-18 year-olds and helping them to grow in confidence, leadership, and academic success. Through its unique programming, FSH empowers young girls by combining educational, artistic, and fitness opportunities through the discipline of skating. “FSH is a vital resource for girls in some of the most under-served communities in New York City. We are continuing to expand our programs as we plan for a future home ice rink of our own with
state-of-the-art educational facilities to anchor in the community,” said FSH Founder & Executive Director Sharon Cohen.

Joining more than 600 guests for a festive night of ice skating, autographs, photos, and more were top fashion designers Vera Wang, Kenneth Cole, and B Michael, business moguls Donald Trump, Terry Lundgren, and Stephen Bollenbach, and television personalities including Soledad O’Brien, Tamara Tunie, Jake T. Austin, Rebecca Budig, BD Wong, Harry Smith, and more. Also showing their support were Kevin & Dani Jonas, Emme, New York Rangers legend Rod Gilbert, and Celebrity Apprentice stars Dee Snider and Dayana Mendoza. An inaugural gala dinner celebrating 15 years of FSH was held at The Central Park Boathouse following the skating portion of the night. (Photo above, Vera Wang and Evan Lysacek, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com)

Throughout the evening, guests skated with Olympic legend Scott Hamilton, reigning Olympic Champion Evan Lysacek, and many more Olympic and world-class skaters including Olympic Champions Sarah Hughes and Tara Lipinski, Sasha Cohen (Olympic Silver Medalist), Todd Eldredge (World Champion), Tanith Belbin (Olympic Silver Medalist with partner Ben Agosto), Joannie Rochette (Olympic Bronze Medalist), Paul Wylie (Olympic Silver Medalist), and Nicole Bobek (World Bronze Medalist), as well as the entire 2012 United States World Team: Meryl Davis and Charlie White (2012 US Ice Dancing Champions and 2012 World Silver Medalists), Caydee Denney and John Coughlin (2012 US Pairs Figure Skating Champions), Jeremy Abbott (2012 US Men’s Figure Skating Champion), Ashley Wagner (2012 US Women’s Figure Skating Champion), Alissa Czisny (2011 US Women’s Figure Skating Champion), Maia and Alex Shibutani (World Bronze Medalists), Adam Rippon, Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker, and Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue. (Photo below. 2012 US World Team at Figure Skating in Harlem Skating with the Stars gala, Photo Credit: Greg Partanio/ManhattanSociety.com)

The 2012 Skating with the Stars auction runs through April 17th at www.charitybuzz.com/fsh, and includes the chance to meet President Bill Clinton, Vera Wang, Soledad O’Brien, Carson Kressley, Brian Boitano, Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen, Sophie & Katherine from DC Cupcakes, and many, many more.

2012 World Figure Skating Championships results

2012-04-01T17:55:00-04:00

Here are the results from the men's, ladies, pairs and ice dancing competition at the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France.

Top 10 results for pairs:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY (GER)	1	2	201.49
2	Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV (RUS)	8	1	201.38
3	Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN (JPN)	3	3	189.69
4	Qing PANG / Jian TONG (CHN)	2	6	186.05
5	Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD (CAN)	5	5	185.41
6	Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV (RUS)	4	7	183.68
7	Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV (RUS)	11	4	182.42
8	Caydee DENNEY / John COUGHLIN (USA)	7	8	180.37
9	Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN (CHN)	6	9	179.44
10	Mary Beth MARLEY / Rockne BRUBAKER (USA)	10	10	170.90

Top 10 results for ice dance:

Rank	Name	SD	FD	Points
1	Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR (CAN)	1	1	182.65
2	Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE (USA)	2	2	178.62
3	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT (FRA)	3	3	173.18
4	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE (CAN)	4	4	166.65
5	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV (RUS)	5	5	161.00
6	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE (ITA)	6	6	160.62
7	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV (RUS)	9	7	150.75
8	Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI (USA)	7	11	144.72
9	Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO (RUS)	10	8	144.43
10	Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE (USA)	8	10	143.95

Top 10 results for ladies:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Carolina KOSTNER (ITA)	3	1	189.94
2	Alena LEONOVA (RUS)	1	4	184.28
3	Akiko SUZUKI (JPN)	5	2	180.68
4	Ashley WAGNER (USA)	8	3	176.77
5	Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN)	2	5	175.41
6	Mao ASADA (JPN)	4	6	164.52
7	Kexin ZHANG (CHN)	9	7	157.57
8	Valentina MARCHEI (ITA)	11	9	150.10
9	Ksenia MAKAROVA (RUS)	6	14	149.48
10	Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO)	7	15	149.20

Top 10 results for men:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Patrick CHAN (CAN)	1	1	266.11
2	Daisuke TAKAHASHI (JPN)	3	3	259.66
3	Yuzuru HANYU (JPN)	7	2	251.06
4	Brian JOUBERT (FRA)	4	5	244.58
5	Florent AMODIO (FRA)	6	4	243.03
6	Michal BREZINA (CZE)	2	7	239.55
7	Denis TEN (KAZ)	8	6	229.70
8	Jeremy ABBOTT (USA)	9	8	226.19
9	Javier FERNANDEZ (ESP)	5	14	225.87
10	Samuel CONTESTI (ITA)	11	9	224.89

Meet your favorite skating stars: Tickets still available for Monday's Figure Skating in Harlem gala honoring Vera Wang

2012-04-01T07:39:45-04:00

Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH) provides free ice skating and academic tutoring for young girls in the Harlem Community. FSH will be holding their annual benefit gala tomorrow evening at Wollman Rink in Central Park. This year's honorees include fashion designer Vera Wang. In case you missed last year's event (see video above), Olympic Champion Evan Lysacek presented a check from the Pioneer Fund and Scott Hamilton for $100,000 to support the organization. If you're a skating fan, tomorrow evening is not to be missed -- hobnob with anyone and everyone from the skating world, including: Johnny Weir, Evan Lysacek, Sasha Cohen, Sarah Hughes, Tara Lipinski, Todd Eldredge, Tanith Belbin, Ben Agosto, Joannie Rochette, Paul Wylie, Nicole Bobek, Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Caydee Denney, John Coughlin, Jeremy Abbott, Ashley Wagner, Alissa Czisny, Maia Shibutani, Alex Shibutani, Adam Rippon, Mary Beth Marley, Rockne Brubaker, Madison Hubbell, Zach Donohue, and the list goes on! Hope to see you there!

FIGURE SKATING IN HARLEM CELEBRATES 15TH YEAR AT 2012 SKATING WITH THE STARS GALA

Star-studded event honoring Vera Wang and Rhonda Ross features skating champions and celebritieson the ice with guests at Wollman Rink

Figure Skating in Harlem (http://www.figureskatinginharlem.org) is excited to announce its Annual Skating with the Stars gala honoring international fashion designer Vera Wang, dynamic Figure Skating in Harlem patron Ellen Lowey, and artist and entrepreneur Rhonda Ross. This one-of-a-kind benefit event will be held on Monday, April 2, 2012, from 5:30pm-8:30pm at the famed Wollman Rink in Central Park. This fantastic evening raises critically-needed funds for Figure Skating in Harlem’s (FSH) innovative fitness and academics program for underserved girls, while offering guests the unparalleled chance to skate side-by-side with some of the greatest names in modern skating history. An inaugural gala dinner celebrating 15 years of Figure Skating in Harlem will be held at The Central Park Boathouse following the skating portion of the night.

Donald Trump and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star (and FSH Board Chair Emerita) Tamara Tunie will serve as this year’s Honorary Chairs; Kimberly and Stephen Bollenbach and Terry and Tina Lundgren are our Event Chairs. Past celebrity guests at this always star-studded night include Kelly Ripa, Mariska Hargitay, Olympic Gold Medalist and Dancing with the Stars’ contestant Evan Lysacek, Maria Cuomo Cole and Kenneth Cole, Tommy Hilfiger, and Kelly Rowland, among many others.

Jake T. Austin, Hockey Hall-of-Famer Rod Gilbert, Carson Kressley, Christopher Meloni, and Soledad O’Brien are among those already scheduled to attend this year. Throughout the evening, guests will have the opportunity to skate with Lysacek and many more Olympic and World champions including Olympic Champions Sarah Hughes and Tara Lipinski, Sasha Cohen (Olympic Silver Medalist), Todd Eldredge (World Champion), Johnny Weir (two-time Olympic Team Member),Tanith Belbin (Olympic Silver Medalist with partner Ben Agosto), Joannie Rochette (Olympic Bronze Medalist), Paul Wylie (Olympic Silver Medalist), and Nicole Bobek (World Bronze Medalist), as well as the entire 2012 United States World Team: Meryl Davis and Charlie White (2012 US Ice Dancing Champions and 2011 World Champions), Caydee Denney and John Coughlin (2012 US Pairs Figure Skating Champions), Jeremy Abbott (2012 US Men’s Figure Skating Champion), Ashley Wagner (2012 US Women’s Figure Skating Champion), Alissa Czisny (2011 US Women’s Figure Skating Champion), Maia and Alex Shibutani (World Bronze Medalists), Adam Rippon, Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker, Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue.

Tickets to the gala, which include skating and a festive buffet, start at $300 and are available by calling (212) 222-8240. Visit www.charitybuzz.com beginning on March 26th to find great auction items for bidding online.

2012 Worlds Results

2012-03-31T21:37:00-04:00

Chan wins 2nd figure skating gold for Canada despite fall (via AFP)

Patrick Chan successfully defended his men's figure skating title to give Canada their second gold at the world championships here on Saturday despite a fall during the free skate final. The 21-year-old's title follows that of Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir who reclaimed the ice dancing…

Japan's next generation makes showing at Worlds

2012-03-31T09:41:00-04:00

Rising star Hanyu inspires Takahashi to silver (via AFP)

Daisuke Takahashi admitted that rapidly improving young teammate Yuzuru Hanyu had helped inspire him towards silver at the world figure skating championships. National champion Takahashi, 26, finished runner-up behind two-time winner Patrick Chan of Canada on the final day of competition on Saturday…

Four Continents results

2012-02-11T10:17:00-05:00

Chan claims Four Continents figure skating men's crown (via AFP)

World champion Patrick Chan of Canada won the men's title at figure skating's Four Continents Championship with an impressive free skate. Chan, who led after the short programme, scored 185.99 points for the free skate to take the title with a total of 273.94 points. He was comfortably ahead of defending…

2012 US Figure Skating Championships: Final results of senior division

2012-01-30T20:48:00-05:00

Here are the results from the senior men's, ladies, pairs and ice dancing competition at the 2012 Prudential US Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California. In pairs, the new team of Caydee Denney and John Coughlin won gold, followed by the other new team of Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker. Crowd favorite and Olympians Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig won the bronze. In dance, it was a repeat of the top two finishes from last year with Meryl Davis and Charlie White winning gold and Maia and Alex Shibutani winning silver. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won bronze. For the ladies, Ashley Wagner (FINALLY!) won her US title, followed by Alissa Czisny and Agnes Zawadzki. Olympians Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu finished sixth and seventh, respectively. For the men, my favorite Jeremy Abbott won gold, Adam Rippon the silver, and Ross Miner won the bronze. Next up...the World Championships in Nice, France from March 26 - April 1.

Top 10 results for senior pairs:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Caydee Denney, Broadmoor SC/John Coughlin, KS City FSC	3	1	189.70
2	Mary Beth Marley, DuPage FSC/Rockne Brubaker, All Year FSC	1	2	186.07
3	Amanda Evora, Southwest FL FSC/Mark Ladwig, Red River Valley FSC	2	3	178.98
4	Gretchen Donlan, SC Of Boston/Andrew Speroff, SC Of Boston	5	4	171.61
5	Marissa Castelli, SC Of Boston/Simon Shnapir, SC Of Boston	4	7	168.81
6	Ashley Cain, Stars FSC of TX/Joshua Reagan, Stars FSC of TX	7	5	166.65
7	Andrea Poapst, Broadmoor SC/Christopher Knierim, Broadmoor SC	6	6	166.38
8	Felicia Zhang, SC of NY/Nathan Bartholomay, University of DE FSC	9	8	156.57
9	Tiffany Vise, Broadmoor SC/Don Baldwin, Los Angeles FSC	10	9	140.97
10	Alexa Scimeca, DuPage FSC/Ivan Dimitrov, Individual Member	8	11	132.62

Top 10 results for senior dance:

Rank	Name	SD	FD	Points
1	Meryl Davis, Arctic FSC / Charlie White, Detroit SC	1	1	191.54
2	Maia Shibutani, SC of New York / Alex Shibutani, Arctic FSC	2	2	178.84
3	Madison Hubbell, Detroit SC / Zachary Donohue, Detroit SC	3	3	151.60
4	Lynn Kriengkrairut, All Year FSC / Logan Giulietti-Schmitt, Ann Arbor FSC	4	4	148.55
5	Madison Chock, All Year FSC / Evan Bates, Ann Arbor FSC	5	5	145.08
6	Anastasia Cannuscio, University of DE FSC / Colin McManus, SC Of Boston	6	7	137.37
7	Anastasia Olson, Detroit SC / Jordan Cowan, All Year FSC	7	6	137.08
8	Emily Samuelson, Ann Arbor FSC / Todd Gilles, All Year FSC	8	8	135.99
9	Isabella Cannuscio, University of DE FSC / Ian Lorello, University of DE FSC	10	9	130.35
10	Charlotte Lichtman, Arctic FSC / Dean Copely, All Year FSC	9	10	129.22

Top 10 results for senior ladies:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Ashley Wagner, SC of Wilmington	3	1	187.02
2	Alissa Czisny, Detroit SC	2	2	180.00
3	Agnes Zawadzki, Broadmoor SC	1	7	174.10
4	Caroline Zhang, All Year FSC	4	3	173.19
5	Christina Gao, Northern Kentucky SC	6	5	166.36
6	Rachael Flatt, Broadmoor SC	9	4	164.98
7	Mirai Nagasu, Pasadena FSC	5	8	163.99
8	Angela Wang, Salt Lake Figure Skating	16	6	158.66
9	Vanessa Lam, All Year FSC	7	9	157.62
10	Kiri Baga, FSC of Bloomington	14	10	149.38

Top 10 results for senior men:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Jeremy Abbott, Detroit SC	1	1	273.58
2	Adam Rippon, SC of NY	2	2	240.87
3	Ross Miner, SC of Boston	4	3	230.32
4	Armin Mahbanoozadeh, WA FSC	3	6	224.63
5	Douglas Razzano, Coyotes SC of AZ	8	4	223.38
6	Stephen Carriere, SC Of Boston	9	7	213.41
7	Keegan Messing, AK Assoc of Figure Skaters	5	12	212.47
8	Max Aaron, Broadmoor SC	6	13	211.15
9	Jason Brown, Skokie Valley SC	7	14	209.16
10	Scott Dyer, All Year FSC	13	9	207.97

Complete results for the novice and junior divisions can be found here.

Johnny Weir may appear in a third Olympics

2012-01-19T22:19:00-05:00

Weir eyes Sochi in return plans (via AFP)

Three-time US figure skating champion Johnny Weir announced Thursday on his website that he will return to competition for the 2012-2013 season with hopes to skate at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Weir, a two-time Olympian who finished third at the 2008 world championship, last competed at the 2010…

Johnny Weir to marry Victor Voronov on New Year's Eve

2011-12-30T20:30:00-05:00

Johnny Weir (1) is getting married tomorrow! (2) can't understand why Patrick Chan keeps falling and winning and (3) resumes serious training with his coach, Galina Zmievskaya. [icenetwork]

Mao Asada wins fifth Japanese National title, just weeks after her mother's death. [Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand]

Nikolai Morozov's take on male figure skaters in Russia...very interesting. [FSUniverse]

Stars On Ice begins tour in Lake Placid and Kurt Browning is choreographing the entire show! [LakePlacidNews]

Rachael Flatt survives college finals. [ESPNW]

The top 10 ice dance performances every are...[cbc.ca]

Evgeni Plushenko wins ninth Russian National Championships. Sochi Olympics 2014 here he comes! [icenetwork]

Evgeni Pluschenko allowed to skate at upcoming European championships. [RT]

Patrick Chan wins Canadian Press athlete of the year. [TheStar]

Lucinda "Queen of Spin" Ruh is pregnant with twins! (photo at right, Lucinda with husband Anthony on wedding day, October 16, 2010 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC) [CTNow]

Wow -- check out International Figure Skating magazine's newly designed website. [IFS]

Blazing Blades recounts how it all started. This is my daily go-to blog for figure skating news. [Blazing Blades]