Junior Worlds Wrap-Up

I know, I know...I'm a day late (or like five) and a dollar short but I have to put in my two-cents worth!

I'll gloss over the pairs competition because I thought it rather bland and uneventful. Nice job by the Americans Castelli and Shnapir for getting to the podium with the bronze. It is a not everyday that an American team accomplishes that, it seems to be the discipline where we struggle the most. Russians Martiusheva and Rogonov had one of those come from behind performances to win the free skate from 11th place and get the silver. Gold went to last season's silver medalists Iliushechkina and Maisuradze.

I was quite impressed with the mens event. Artem Grigoriev of Russia nabbed the bronze medal after a pretty good free skate (lacked a triple axel) but more importantly showed that Russia while down a bit (as far as international competitors go), is certainly not out. Seems that Russian skating will survive sans Plushenko. Michael Brezina took the silver after a program that slinked across the ice with great speed and great jumps. I thought he was channeling Jeffrey Buttle as he moved across the ice (the haircut was shockingly similar as well!). The Czech Republic seems on the up and up with mens skaters. But the day belonged to Adam Rippon who really shocked me actually. I wasn't surprised that he won...but rather how he won. All season long I've thought the whole package Rippon had was too heavy. The music, the choreography, just a little thick. But he was amazing in Sofia! He moved across the ice beautifully, the choreography amazing, and the jumps...my goodness where were those triple axels earlier in the season? The last few moments of his program where he does the sliding camel into his final spin...you can just feel the emotion and power in the music! I just loved his program here and I think if Adam skates like that next season he'll be a top contender in every competition he enters.

The Ice Dance competition was all over the map. The Hubbell's just lost more steam with each section of the competition and found themselves in fourth. I was surprised they failed to medal given their solid debut as Seniors at Nationals. Russians Riazanova and Gurreiro slipped in for the bronze medal while Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani slipped in for the silver! There was a lot of slipping as the difference between 2nd and 4th was desperately close. But the clear class of the field was American's Chock and Zuerlein who dominated and never looked back. This competition makes me think...what if? Imagine had both Chock and Zuerlein and the Shibutani's competed as Seniors at National's in Cleveland? Imagine the standings...just think on that...

And the ladies competition was a bit of a tumultuous ride as well. I thought, finally, Elene Gedevanishvili was going to get it together and show she can really be one of the best...wrong. Talk about self-destruct! Ashley Wagner showed one of her weaker performances of the season. That fall on the triple salchow, however, was perfectly timed to the music! Still good enough for the bronze though. Carolize Zhang had another comeback performance, 10th after the short and completely unphased, she delivered another gorgeous, clean free skate (now three in a row...Nationals, 4CC, Jr. Worlds) to get all the way to the silver medal. And Gold went to Alena Leonova of Russia. Interesting how, in the current judging system, you can win no part of the competition and win a gold...sometimes consistency pays off and it did just that for Leonova. Alena is starting to put herself on the map...if you recall, she had an amazing free skate at European's to finish 4th...has Russia found their next female skating star?

Full results (and video if you are so fortunate) can be found here.

But back to my gushing about Adam Rippon! Check his amazing free skate below!

Strong U.S. Junior Team in Sofia

The United States is presenting a very strong team at the 2009 Junior World Championships.

The U.S. Men's team includes our recently crowned U.S. Junior Champ, Ross Miner. This only his second international event and is looking to gain some experience from this event. Curran Oi, who made a successful debut as a Senior at the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships is also on the team. Curran, who finished 6th in Cleveland, has quite a bit of international competition experience under his belt and has a good shot at being in the medal hunt. The one to watch, however, is last season's Junior World Champ Adam Rippon. Adam returns to the competition with an entire season of Senior level competition to rely on and a more consistent triple axel. If he's on, he will quite likely win.

We have two young up and coming Pairs teams competing. Both Brynn Carman and Chris Knierim along with Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir competed on the Junior Grand Prix this season. Marissa and Simon made it to the Junior Grand Prix Final where they placed 6th. Brynn and Chris were the U.S. Junior Silver medalists and Marissa and Simon were the U.S. Junior Bronze medalists.

In Ice Dance we have three teams that have been dominant on the Junior scene this season. Brother and sister team Maia and Alex Shibutani are the current U.S. Junior Silver medalists. In their first season in the Junior Ranks they took a Gold and Silver in the Junior Grand Prix events and placed fourth at the Junior Grand Prix Final. U.S. Junior Champs Chock and Zuerlein are competing as well. This team has won every event they've entered this season and look to continue that winning streak in Sofia. This is their first Junior World appearance. In their way is last season's Junior National Champs, brother and sister Madison and Keiffer Hubbell. Madison and Keiffer were right behind Chock and Zuerlein at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Madison and Keiffer made a successful debut as Senior's in Cleveland, placing fourth.

The U.S. ladies look very strong as well. All three entries have been skating on the Senior circuit for two seasons and have solid international experience. Katrina Hacker, who is replacing Mirai Nagasu who withdrew due to a lingering ankle injury, comes to Sofia after a top six performance at U.S. Nationals. She competed at both the Cup of China and NHK Trophy this season and looks to have a solid skate before leaving competitive skating to focus on her studies at Princeton University. Ashley Wagner wowed us in Cleveland with an amazing comeback performance that pulled her up from 12th place all the way to 4th (she won the free skate). In her favor is the experience of having competed in a Senior World Championships (in Goteborg, Sweden) and her wonderful interpretation of the music 'Spartacus.' Ashley will look to better the bronze she won at this event in 2007. Our top entry is Caroline Zhang who was the U.S. Bronze medalist this season. Caroline also won the bronze medal at this seasons Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris and most recently finished 4th in a very strong ladies field at the Four Continents Cup in Vancouver. Caroline has worked hard this season at increasing her speed in her skating as well as rotating her jumps fully. She is no stranger to this event, having won in 2007 and winning the Silver in 2008.

While I've focused on the U.S. entries, there are a myriad of competitors from around the world that will certainly challenge for the top spots as well. Will be very interesting to watch. Competition kicks off tomorrow. You can see a full list of competitors here.