Pic of the Week

I'll use any excuse to post another Kristi Can Dance post! Despite the fact that Kristi's lovely Mirror Ball Trophy is more than likely planted on some shelf collecting dust, she has the opportunity to hit the dance floor again!

No she not doing a second season of Dancing with the Stars (as if anyone could beat her anyway!) but she is being given the opportunity to dance the Paso Doble in Macy's Design a Dance competition.

Voting is happening right now through October 6th on who the celebrity should be that makes a return to the Dancing with the Stars stage. Let's all make sure it's Kristi!

The link to cast your vote is right here. <------- I have a sneaky suspicion her top rival may be fellow Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson (I know lots of us like Gymnastics too but don't be swayed!).

Let's get Kristi Yamaguchi out there to show us some moves!

Need a refresher on how fierce Kristi can be with the Paso Doble...see the video below!



UPDATE: We tried. Sad face. It looks like Season Five fave Sabrina Bryan won the celebrity pick for Macy's Design a Dance. Awwwwww shucks!

Junior Grand Prix: Belarus

After a week off, the Junior Grand Prix picked up again. This time in Minsk, Belarus. By all accounts, it was a rough go for Team USA.

In Pairs, China reigned supreme with two of three Chinese teams competing taking the gold and silver medals. Sui and Han, who as far as I could tell were in their first major international competition, won by nearly twenty points. A future powerhouse? See the video below...I find them very accomplished at such a young age! Zhang and Wang, the team that finished 16th at the World Championships in L.A. took the silver. Canadians Hole and Johnson, who won gold in Lake Placid, had to settle for the bronze in Belarus after a comeback performance from 7th place in the short program. Americans Carmen and Reiss finished 10th.

Amongst the women, Polina Shelepen managed another win, her second on the Junior Grand Prix. Japan's Yuki Nishino pulled in for the silver medal and Ksenia Makarova of Russia again medaled on the Junior Grand Prix; this time a bronze. American Kristiene Gong slipped from third after the short program to finish fourth overall.

In the men's field, Russian Artur Gachinski got his season underway with a win in Minsk. China's Nan Song broke up a Russian party by taking the silver (almost the gold, he had the wiing free skate and it was very close) with Gachinski's teammate Stanislav Kovalev earning the bronze. American Eliot Halverson placed fifth in the field.

In Ice Dance, Russian's Monko and Khaliavin dominated the field and took the ice dance easily. The lone medal America was able to walk away with was Tibbetts and Brubaker's silver. A much better performance for them here than at Lake Placid where they had a tumble on their footwork. The bronze went to Agafonova and Dun of Ukraine.

Full results are here. This week the Junior Grand Prix stays in the region with a stop in Dresden, Germany.

Pic of the Week

Interesting fellow...

He's ordained in the state of Colorado. His coach is the PSA Coach of the Year. He has an unusual and somewhat quirky (unusual and quirky might be two solid adjectives to describe this guy) video on YouTube. His personality and wit on the ice are unmatched. Also, he competes this week in Germany at the Nebelhorn Trophy.

Ryan Bradley gets his Olympic Season underway, a season that many feel will be his last in the competitive ranks. By the time his free skate in Spokane rolls around, he'll be 26 and the oldest competitor in the men's competition (not that 26 is so old...others have won the event older than that).

I call Ryan one of the 'bubble skaters' because I feel they are on the bubble of making the Olympic Team...he might and then again he might not. He isn't a skater I feel I can confidently say will be on the team but I can't count him out either. Other 'bubble' skaters include Brandon Mroz, Stephen Carriere, and Adam Rippon. His performance this week will go a long way toward helping me get a better feel where he sits in the mix. He'll face stiff competition from Two-Time World Champ and Olympic Silver Medalist Stéphane Lambiel who will be in the competition as well.

I've long picked on Ryan to work on his jump technique and the overall smoothness of his skating. A little piece of me always wished he would go outside of himself and try a very serious piece of music. This season, his "Dark Eyes" short program and Baroque Era free skate music may be just the venue for him to try just that (although I hear he hams it up pretty good in the short!). In any case, it'll be interesting seeing him do something other than or at least along side schtick.

Let's see what Ryan can pull off this week...he may surprise us all.

2009 Nebelhorn Trophy

Thursday marks the beginning of the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. This is an important competition not only because top talent will be competing but many competitors are on a quest to attempt to qualify berths at the 2010 Olympic Games.

Two men have a realistic chance of qualifying berths for the Olympics (the qualifying process begins with Nebelhorn but it does not end here). Switzerland's Stéphane Lambiel begins his comeback bid here and realistically has to be seen as the clear favorite. It will be the first time we will have seen him in competition mode since the 2008 World Championships and give us a picture of how successful his comeback may be. Also with a solid chance of qualifying a berth for Azerbaijan is former Canadian competitor Fedor Andreev who recently won the Skate Detroit competition. His stock is on the rise and I expect he'll skate well. Plenty of other talent to keep an eye on including Czech skater Michael Brezina who won this event in 2007. France's innovative Yannick Ponsero is in the mix as is the 2004 World Bronze medalist Stefan Lindemann who'll be skating at home. Ryan Bradley from the U.S. will make his season debut in Germany.

This event has a fairly solid pairs and dance field. In Pairs, World Champions Savchenko and Szolkowy look to begin their season with an easy win. Also competing are Ukranians Volosozhar and Morozov, Canadians Langlois and Hay, and Americans Castille and Okolski. The Ice Dance competition gives Americans Davis and White a chance to get early feedback on their dances this season.

Amongst the women, three ladies I feel have a near equal chance at taking the title. Alissa Czisny, who won the title last season, Kiira Korpi, and Sarah Meier all have a shot, just depends who shows up with their jumping legs. Hungary's Julia Sebestyen, 2004 European Champion, is competing but unfortunately she hasn't been much of a factor in recent years.

UPDATE: Terrible news. Fedor Andreev will not be competing at Nebelhorn Trophy and thus will be unable to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Games. The reason...the Azerbaijan Skating Federation forget the paperwork! He and teammate Joelle Forte (who used to compete for the U.S.) were forced to withdraw because of the mishap. You can check out the full scoop at Jenny Kirk's blog. How unfortunate.

UPDATE #2: Sarah Meier has also withdrawn from Nebelhorn.

UPDATE #3: A quick update with the winners of this event. No surprises really. Switzerland's Stéphane Lambiel won the men's event. American Alissa Czisny took the ladies title (despite a sixth place free skate). Pairs title easily went to reigning World Champs Savchenko and Szolkowy of Germany. The dance title went to Americans Davis and White.

I'm slightly confused...

This video kind of confuses me but I guess "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work?" Whatever that means...

Tom Zakrajsek's students apparently have too much free time on their hands. I say another long program run through for all of them!

My favorite is Rachael Flatt's 'Oh Snap!' See if you can spot it along with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

An Unnecessary Distraction

The last thing any reigning World Bronze medalist who is trying to get herself in shape for the most important season of her career needs is media poking around fueling rumors you're in a relationship with your coach.

Unfortunately, that is what Miki Ando is dealing with. Now when I say 'media,' think the Asian equivalent to TMZ.

Whether Miki has hooked up with Coach Nikolai Morozov is inconsequential. One, it's none of our business. Two, she's an adult and can make her own choices. Finally, none of this is confirmed...it's all rumor and back room buzz.

So I say we focus on her skating and not her personal life.

Coaching unshuffle

I think Caroline Zhang has brought the summer of coaching reshuffling to an end with an anti-climatic unshuffle!

She announced officially yesterday (the rumors had been flying for over a week) that she is returning to Mingzhu Li. Three months ago, Caroline switched from Li to train with Charlene Wong. Wong had formerly coached 2008 National Champ Mirai Nagasu who recently switched to Frank Carroll.

It's not a complete split though. Zhang told the press she'll continue to work with Wong on "choreography and footwork."

Hopefully that's the last shuffle I'll report and we can move ahead with the skating season.

UPDATE: At the last second, two more teams decided to switch coaches just in time to be the final skaters to do so this summer (literally...just hours before the autumnal equinox!). Gilles and Donohue as well as Summersett and Gilles have left Patti Gottwein at the Broadmoor Skating Club to train with Elizabeth Punsalan Swallow at the Detroit Skating Club. Jeremy Abbott made the same skating club switch earlier this summer. You can read the full story here.

Pic of the Week

A Pre Disclaimer: I don't have any ill will against Brian Joubert and I wish him the best this season.

Let's rewind (once more) to Brian Joubert's remarks at the conclusion of the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships in Sweden when he blew off some steam in Jeffrey Buttle's direction after losing to a skater who didn't attempt a quad.

He did it again in L.A. this year at World's, complaining about Lysacek and Chan's unwillingness to put it in their free skates. This time, Chan fired back and brought attention to the need for complex choreography as well. Chan didn't say Joubert's choreography sucked...but it's 'kind of implied.'

This quad debate wont dissapear!

Just watched his French Masters Free Skate. It's exactly the type of program any of us would imagine Joubert would skate too in an Olympic Season. Powerful music, very Joubert type music.

I don't want to be the choreo police (actually I can't lie...I'd love that job!) but the program (you can see it below) doesn't cut it. We've seen a lot of this years top competitors in pre season competition and he's is going to have to step it up to compete for Olympic Gold. All the triples and quads in the world wont make up for the deficit he'll have on the component score. Even his own countryman, young upstart Florent Amodio, has better choreography than Joubert.

Joubert must stop pushing this idea that quads should win a competition and instead focus on improving his choreography. Better choreo coupled with amazing jumps should be his focus or he'll face the same fate this season that he's had the last two seasons.

Junior Grand Prix: Poland

This past weekend the Junior Grand Prix concluded in Toruń, Poland. It was a VERY good weekend for Japan!

In Pairs, Takahashi and Tran of Japan bettered their bronze from last week in Lake Placid to take the title in Poland in a close final. Less than one point behind in second were Russians Novik and Kuznetsov with Canadians Jones and Gaskell pulling up to place third. Americans Zhang and Toth improved on their seventh place short program with a top four free skate and finished sixth overall.

In Ice Dance, Russians Ilinykh and Katsalapov won big. They won all three portions of the competition on their way to an easy victory. Their teammates, Antipova and Kudashev were second overall, despite finishing third in the free skate behind Americans Cannuscio and Lorello who took the bronze. Important to note Japan had no entries in Ice Dance.

Amongst the women, Japan also did well with Kanako Murakami taking the title easily. In second was Russian Anna Ovcharova and winning the bronze was American Christina Gao in her Junior Grand Prix debut. American Karen Zhou finished fifth.

Once again, Japan enjoyed success with Yuzuru Hanyu winning the gold medal by more than twenty points. In second was American Kanallakan who held on to second after a rough free skate that was ranked only fifth best. The bronze medal went to Russian Gordei Gorshkov who held off the challenge by teammate Alexander Nikolaev who actually placed second in the free skate. American Keegan Messing pulled all the way up to sixth from eleventh after a top three free skate.

Every Japanese entry in this event won! Full results can be seen here.

No Junior Grand Prix this weekend but the competition picks back up next week in Minsk, Belarus.

UPDATE: Big thanks to @patinaggio on Twitter for posting a link to the video of Yuzuru Hanyu's very elegant performance. My favorite highlight is the Ina Bauer he does.

Yuzuru Hanyu ISU JGP Toruń 2009 free programme
by shah85

Evolution of a Skater: Sarah Hughes

What a transformation!

Great Question...better answer!

I'm currently reading the interview Johnny Weir did with Outsports. The interviewer, Cyd Ziegler Jr. asked:

You once wrote on your Web site that, "You can’t judge a book by its cover." I don’t know you, but I’ve followed your career for several years. I saw Pop Star on Ice. I know lots of straight guys, and I’ve never seen any of them do the things I’ve seen you do . And it seems to me that you haven’t just shown us the cover of the Johnny Weir book, you’ve shown us several chapters. You’ve shown us the 10-page glossy photo insert. From everything you’ve shown us over, can’t we at least discern whether Barnes & Noble would put the book in the gay & lesbian section?

But even better was Johnny's Answer:

My hope is that Barnes & Noble will put it in the best-seller section.

His ability to produce instant wit never ceases!

UPDATE: Phil Hersh just posted a new blog about Johnny you can read here.

The Op-Ed: Intimidated?

"I don't know about you guys, but I think that it's a little intimidating that an Olympic silver-medalist is coming back to compete against us."

This weekend all the who's who of would-be U.S. Olympic Vancouver competitors are in Chicago for a media summit (think of it as a pre-Vancouver Press Junket) and Mirai Nagasu said she was 'intimidated' by the return of Cohen...

Now I'm no sports psychologist but I don't think you should approach a competitor from a compromised position. If I were Nagasu, I would think Cohen should be intimidated, having not competed in a major international competition since March of 2006. Nagasu is giving Cohen the high ground and it makes Mirai's Olympic quest that much more difficult. If she's intimidated by Cohen, we can only assume that she's also intimidated by the likes of Kim, Asada, Rochette, Ando, etc...can't we? All of a sudden, one remark, and we're second guessing Nagasu's ability to compete.

I'm guessing that most if not all of the crew...Czisny, Flatt, Zhang, Wagner, Meissner, Hughes...are a bit uncertain about their Olympic prospects given Cohen's return. But unlike Nagasu, they're not making it the sound bite on the evening news.

Word of advice...sound and act confident, even if you're not.

Pic of the Week

@iceskatingworld just sent out a tweet that reminded me of something special that had happened back in May.

I rarely focus on the coaches of all the amazing skaters we enjoy, but once a year I do like to devote a pic of the week to the PSA Coach of the Year and I actually neglected to do that this year so I'm making up for it now.

This post actually comes as I was just tweeting Rachael Flatt about how amazing her programs look (you can see them here at Blazing Blades!). Of course the coaching muscle behind Rachael is Tom Zakrajsek who is the 2009 PSA Coach of the Year.

Of course Tom Zakrajsek is not only part of the reason Rachael Flatt was the top ranked U.S. woman last season in international competition, but he's also part of the success story for many of the U.S. top skaters including Ryan Bradley, Brandon Mroz, and many up and comers. He also was the guiding force that put Jeremy Abbott on the skating map last season.

So a warm (albeit late) congratulations to Tom Zakrajsek.

Tom was with Rachael at the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships when Rachael had this very successful free skate.

Junior Grand Prix: USA

I'm a little slow to post my Junior Grand Prix Lake Placid update this week. I was out of town until today and thanks to Ice Network which showed the event live and on demand I was able to catch up on all the performances. A big thanks to Ice Network for showing the competition.

So beginning with the pairs, I must tell you I was really impressed with Canadians Hole and Johnson. For having been together for such a short period of time, there skating was impressive. Their gold medal was well deserved. Russians Stolbova and Klimov barely held on to the silver after a program that was ranked only fifth best. The bronze went to the Japanese team of Takahashi and Tran after a program as equally impressive as the Canadians. Americans Simpson and Miller made a valiant push to get on the podium with a top three free skate but came in just short in fourth place.

Amongst the ladies, Kristine Musademba was the clear class of the field with a strong free skate that showed excellent jumps, intricate steps, solid spins, and good speed. Kristine will be competing as a senior in Spokane and I wont be shocked at all if she is in the final group of skaters. The silver went to Russia's Ksenia Makarova who also skated well to pull up from fourth place. Her program had excellent tension and powerful, clear lines. The bronze went to Sweden's Isabelle Olsson who pulled all the way up from eighth place. The younger of two Olsson sisters' competing, her music was a bit odd but her jumping was solid. Americans Taylor Firth and DeeDee Leng self-imploded to finish fifth and seventh respectively.

For the men, Ross Miner easily took his first Junior Grand Prix Title besting his competitors. Ross showed complex choreography and good skating skills along with some solid jumping to take the title. Kento Nakamura of Japan and Russian Mark Shakhmatov's performances paled in comparison to Miner's as they took the silver and bronze respectively. American Joshua Farris had the comeback of the night with (what I thought) was the best program of the night. It included a gorgeous triple axel, a new jump for him, and he pulled all the way up from 10th to finish just off the podium in fourth.

Of all the Americans competing in Lake Placid, I think Maia and Alex Shibutani looked the most refined. Their Tango themed Free Dance looked polished well beyond their years and the team danced to a victory more than 20 points higher than their closest competitors. Canadians Ralph and Hill looked solid in winning the silver while the reigning U.S. Novice Champions Bonacorsi and Mager impressed their way to a bronze medal. Americans Tibbetts and Brubaker, who had a solid OD, ran into problems in the free dance when the duo tumbled on footwork, they had to settle for seventh place.

Full results can be seen here. Next week the Junior Grand Prix stops in Torun, Poland.

Decision Time

Over this past weekend I've had the opportunity to actually give $100 away. That was pretty fun. It was much harder deciding whom to give it too.

I'm a sucker for a compelling story so after careful review of all the submissions I made a decision.

First, all of us who are involved with figure skating know the cost associated with training for this sport. To put it frankly, figure skating is an expensive sport: ice time, driving to ice time, skates, costume designers, music, choreographer, coaches, travel, it all adds up. So when one of the submissions was a parent who would use the gift card to purchase some gear to help in her daughter's training...I felt compelled. Every little bit (especially in uncertain economic times) helps.

But what sealed the deal was the separate e-mail I received from this parent describing past troubles in dealings with Dick's Sporting Goods. I had an opportunity to not only help this parent right a past wrong, but also show the better (and I believe improved) side of Dick's Sporting Goods which was so generous in donating this gift.

So join me in congratulating @icemom for winning the $100 Gift Card from @dickssportcmo!

Not on Twitter yet? Be sure to join in the 'tweeting' fun and follow me @skating102!

$100 Shopping Spree Anyone?

All my readers, you've made this blog so popular that I have Dick's Sporting Goods knocking on my...e-mail?...wanting to give one of you lucky people a $100 Gift Card.

Dick's Sporting Goods...you've never heard of it? Well on the off chance you've never heard of this sporting goods megastore, you can read all about Dick's Sporting Goods here. Basically, anything you could ever imagine related to sports and fitness can be found here. Also, there's a good chance there's one near you. Okay, interested yet?

But how do I win this $100 Gift Card you ask? Two things...very easy:

1. You must follow Dick’s Sporting Goods on Twitter @dickssportcmo.

2. The really fun part, you MUST answer this question in the comments below: "What would you buy at Dick's with $100 and why?" Be sure to INCLUDE YOUR TWITTER NAME in your answer.

That's it! On Sunday @ 6pm CST (that would be your deadline) I get to read through the responses and pick a winner! I'll let you know via Twitter if it's you! Unfortunately, only those in the U.S. and Canada can win the Gift Card.

Dick's Sporting Goods has so much stuff for you (including a LOT of figure skating swag!).

Good luck!

Reminder: In order to win you MUST follow the entry rules above

Emanuel CAN Dance!

Last season Emanuel Sandhu fizzled out of the So You Think You Can Dance auditions. He came back this season and he's killing it! Just a little video for you to enjoy!

Pic of the Week

This weekend give us another opportunity to check out the up and coming talent that exists in U.S. Figure Skating. I got an e-mail from a blog reader asking if Collin Brubaker was related to...and I quote..."that super hot pairs skater Rockne Brubaker." The readers e-mail was of course decorated at the end with every smiley, glittery butterfly, and text code (ttyl, lol, bff's) imaginable so I assume she was 16 at the oldest...perhaps more like 12 or 13 (Ice Girl?)...but I decided to take on her question.

The answer is yes! Collin is in fact Rockne's younger brother (did the hair give it away?). Collin, however, is an Ice Dancer as opposed to Rockne who is a Pairs skater. And lucky for us we get to see Collin and his partner Rachel Tibbetts compete this weekend in Lake Placid on the second stop in the Junior Grand Prix.

I'm super excited to see this duo because their Free Dance is to one of my favorite Andrea Bocelli songs, "En Aranjuez Con Yu Amor." This will be their third consecutive season competing on the Junior Grand Prix and this season they look to be medal contenders.

Make sure to tune in this weekend on Ice Network as they'll be streaming coverage for the Lake Placid event free of charge.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @skating102 for skating news, tidbits, and other fun information!

Pressrelease: One Step Closer - an Aids benefit

NYC - MARCH 13, 2010

A skating exhibition to benefit the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS

The idea came to me (Tim David) on May 31, 2009 after a rehearsal for the end of year North Jersey FSC exhibition. I wanted to use my resources and talent and knowledge as a skating director and executive assistant for 9 years. I wanted to make a difference. I knew a lot of benefits shows already happened and were on the works, Breast cancer & Muscular Dystrophy, shows such as Stand up for Life, Skate for Life, and Skate for Hope. So I decided that I wanted to do an aids benefit. I knew this was not an easy project to tackle. But I was determined that day to make it happen. I phoned my General Manager at the rink and have set the day and date that afternoon for Saturday March 13, 2010.

Now, title of the show…. I previously helped my friend Aaron Gillespie with the title of his show when he had his epiphany that night for Stand up for Life. I also loved Destiny Child’s song, Stand up for Life and thought it was very fitting for the show. Now to come up with my own title and theme song…. My partner/husband Brian Mancuso had come up with One Step Closer. He believes that every benefit and funds go to the research for the cure, we are one step closer. Perfect, I thought.

The theme song hasn’t hit me yet, so I decided to search for aids foundations and the cast of skaters. The aids foundation that One Step Closer benefit will raise money for is the Aids Resource Foundation for Children. Their mission, “Meeting the needs of children and families living with HIV/AIDS.” I looked through their services and was touched by the good deeds that they do. I called them up and expressed my interest.

While I was waiting for the foundation to agree on collaborating with me on this benefit I started looking for skaters.

I asked my former coach, friend, and mentor US Open competitor Heidi Vanderhoof, and close friends 1999 US Juvenile champion Aaron Gillespie, 2006 North Atlantic Regional champion Michael Quadrino, 2001 US Juvenile Brady Chin and 1996 & 1997 US National Senior Ladies competitor Alizah Allen to skate, and all happily agreed. I then contacted other friends and Facebook friends; Nicholas LaRoche, Melissa Bulanhagui, Valentina Marchei, Rory Flack-Burghart, Kylie Duarte and Colin Grafton, and Scott Smith and In addition to the cast I also have skating champions such as Ann Patrice McDonough and Oksana Baiul. I also have other skaters who will let me know around November whether they can skate and attend the benefit on March. Performing also are the Figure Skating in Harlem synchro team.

Serving as my honorary guests I have Sharon Cohen-Founder of Figure Skating in Harlem, Figure Skating Fashion Designer Tania Bass, 2-time Swiss national figure skating champion, former European & World competitor, 2-time Professional Bronze medalist, Guinness World Record holder Lucinda Ruh. Within my board of directors I have US Adult National competitor Thom Mullins and US pairs legend Tai Babilonia. Helping me making this show a success I also have my partner/husband Brian Mancuso serving as my executive director and close friend Karen Malanum as my associate producer event coordinator. The logo of One Step Closer is designed by my close friend and New York City Fashion Designer Potenciano Adobas.

The event is being held at Central Park’s Lasker Skating Rink where I serve as their Figure Skating Director. It is a two rink outdoor facility located at 110th Street Central Park North. Tickets will be available online on Monday, August 3, 2009.

The official website of the event is www.onestepclosernyc.org

For more information, you can e-mail Tim and follow him on Twitter @TimDavid_NYC

UPDATE: There may be some fiddling with the dates for this event. I'll post an update when it's available.