Pic of the Week

He wowed the socks off me at the recent Japan Open competition and he may just do the same at Skate Canada!

Adam Rippon is armed with some confidence this season. After winning the Four Continents Cup last season (video below), he went on to finish in the top six at World's. Now armed with two solid programs he's looking to make his mark this season.

It won't be easy...he faces stiff competition at this event from both Nobunari Oda and Patrick Chan who plans to add the quad into his program this season.

This is the first season where Adam is looked at as one of the top men in the world and a certifiable contender. On Adam's Official Website he says his "number one goal for this season is show maturity, consistent, clean, and passionate skating every time I go out to compete." I hope he achieves his goal!

The Cardinal Rule?

The Cardinal Rule..."Thou shalt not reveal thy former students music for the upcoming season...especially if thouest be in a messy split with lots of press attention."

@alijolly on twitter remarked: "Is it just me who has never come across this cardinal rule before?"

I never had either. However, I do agree it probably shouldn't have slipped out of Brian Orser's tongue but I wouldn't classify it as the "Cardinal Rule."

Alexe Ainsworth writes at the Universal Sports Figure Skating Blog, "But now, it appears Orser has taken it a step too far by breaking an unwritten rule in figure skating - revealing a skater's music without consent."

The cats out of the bag! Kim Yu-Na's free skate for next season is to a compilation of Korean music, including the song "Arirang."

Somehow I don't think everyone is going to rush out and change their free skate. Laura Lepisto is not feverishly downloading Korean music in an attempt to one-up Kim (as if that was even possible). I don't think that big a secret has been leaked.

But shame on you Brian Orser for revealing one of Kim Yu-Na's tightly held cards. Even David Wilson is shocked you called her out. Clearly you need to spend some time with Johnny Weir and learn how to have a "Poker Face."

I'm being a bit sarcastic and snarky here because as much as I was shocked and interested in all this drama I am now equally done with it. I think there is plenty Orser is not saying, I think the crap that Kim's mom and her agency have been spouting is complete (pardon the French) bullshit, and I don't think Kim Yu-Na has written a single word of the tweets, website letters, social network messages, etc. In short, I SMELL A BIG ASS RAT!

Now what I'm most interested in is how two of the U.S. biggest rising stars (Adam Rippon and Christina Gao) are going to be affected by all this. I'm much more interested in their progress at this point than any other of Orser's skaters.

I'm over it! So are the fans.

Johnny Out...Adam In

The writing was on the wall with the plethora of T.V. appearances Johnny has had since the conclusion of the Men's Free Skate in Vancouver. He's been about as busy as Evan...and he didn't even win a medal.

Johnny Weir has withdrawn from the World Figure Skating Championships in Torino, Italy later this month. He joins Evan Lysacek, Stéphane Lambiel, Tanith Belbin, and Benjamin Agosto...all on the pass list.

But Johnny in his statements is leading his fans to believe that he 'may' continue competing next season. "I want to be a better competitor and win medals for my country, and I hope everyone can respect my decision to take the time to improve. I want my fans to know that I love them, and I work every day to make them proud. I will continue to work hard, and I hope my work for next season will be the most exciting of my career," Johnny told U.S. Figure Skating.

Johnny Weir to compete in the 2010-11 season? We'll see...

Johnny's decision is a golden opportunity for Adam Rippon who'll now get to go to his first Senior Worlds. "I'm very excited and grateful for this opportunity," Rippon told U.S. Figure Skating. "Since competing at Four Continents, I have been training well, and I will be ready to do my best in Torino."

Adam recently won his first Senior ISU Championship at the 2010 Four Continents Cup.

Adam Rippon will join Ryan Bradley and U.S. National Champ Jeremy Abbott in Torino at the end of the month.

Four Continents Cup in the books...next stop, Vancouver!

The Final Pre-Olympics ISU Championship, Four Continents Cup, concluded yesterday in Jeonju, South Korea.

I thought I had the Ice Dance event figured out but my predictions were mostly shot to hell (but oddly, mostly realigned?). I went about pre-placing them logically but logic went out the window with their skating and placement. What I did know all along is that Canadian's Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were the team to beat, and, they in fact won. I was shocked to see their teammates Hann-McCurdy and Coreno with the Silver since several of the teams behind them had skated much better than them this season. I was equally shocked to see American's Hubbell and Hubbell capture the bronze since they had lost, just a week ago, to Chock and Zuerlein at U.S. Nationals who placed just fifth here. This goes to show, we can think we know what's going to happen but until the skating happens we can never really be sure.

The ladies event was the chance for Mao Asada to put herself back into the spotlight before Vancouver as a Gold Medal threat. Asada won, she did two triple axles in her free (both credited), but the program still lacked life and I don't think made her any more of a serious threat to Kim than before. I sound like a broken record with this program...I know...but I don't think she's getting the message. Axels or not, this program will have a tough time competing for Gold. There's no time to change it now so she'll have to do what she can with it...which I feel isn't much. In contrast, Akiko Suzuki, who didn't have near the technical content of Asada, lit up the room with another great performance to West Side Story in winning the Silver. Where Asada lacks life Sukuki is full of it. Caroline Zhang pulled up to nab the Bronze Medal (which means I accurately predicted the ladies podium!). She has a lot of work to do for next season but maybe this will give her a much needed confidence boost. Goal #1 for Caroline...figure out how to love skating again. There was a glimmer of the old Caroline here...keep working at it.

The Pairs event was a great opportunity for Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang to grab a little spotlight for themselves without their teammates (Shen/Zhao, Pang/Tong) over shadowing them and they delivered. While choreographically they still need a tune-up, they managed to get through a free skate clean which really helps there programs since their greatest strength is their athleticism. Americans McLaughlin and Brubaker took the Silver. While problems still prevail it was at least something at the end of their season to hang their hat on. Like Caroline Zhang...there is a lot of work to do before next season. Canadian's Duhamel and Buntin won the Bronze.

The men's event was all over the map with skaters doing the placement shuffle after the free skate. Stunningly, from 7th place, Adam Rippon pulled all they way to take the win and he did so with a gorgeous free skate. He got a monkey off his back by landing both triple axels in his free and was a good poster boy for never giving up no matter what place you're in. Japan's Tatsuki Machida won the Silver. Exactly....who? Machida medaled in a couple Junior Grand Prix's a couple seasons ago and was fourth at this years Japanese Nationals but by all means a stunning senior international debut. Canada's Kevin Reynolds, who was the leader after the short, barely managed the Bronze ahead of American Brandon Mroz despite only an 8th place showing in the free.

Four Continent Cups Results can be found here. Okay...now that all the pre-Olympic competitions are over, you can play in Jumping Clapping Man's Olympic Predictor competition!

Have a skating question? Put my knowledge to the test!

U.S. Nationals Preview (Men)

The mens event event promises to be exciting with one of the most accomplished field of men the event has seen in some time. The U.S. has the extra advantage of being able to send three men to Vancouver making the event all that more exciting. The field includes, among others, six men who have medaled at Nationals at the senior level (wow!), a World Champion (wow!), three national champions (wow!), and three Junior World Champions (wow!). Here's who I am watching out for:

Stephen Carriere - Of all the top men he's had the roughest season. After winning the 2007 Junior World Title he went on to claim the bronze medal at the 2008 U.S. Nationals. In fact you can partially credit him for the reason we get three men at the Olympics this season. Huh you say...follow my logic: He placed just high enough at the 2008 Worlds in Goteborg, Sweden to (along with Johnny Weir's bronze) qualify three men to the 2009 Worlds. Remember, Evan was third at the 2009 National Championships and had it not been for Stephen (and Johnny) he wouldn't have made the world team and thus Mroz and Abbott would have only qualified two spots for the Olympics...see? He's come on tough times recently but in the past he's proven he can be a top contender. In recent competition he placed 6th at Samsung Anycall Cup of China and 8th at HomeSense Skate Canada.

Johnny Weir - Reality T.V. star and U.S. Figure Skating's Diva, he's looked much more focused and prepared this season. After last season's National's disaster (after falling ill after doing skating shows in Asia) he took some time to reflect, get some perspective, put out a movie (Pop Star on Ice) and get his act together. He's one of three U.S. men that have looked solid this season and if he can continue to skate at the level he's shown this season, making the Olympic Team should be easy, however. the three time National Champ has stumbled as much as he has succeeded at this particular event (he's never had more than one real stumble in a row at Nationals so he's do for a success!). As one of only two guys in this event that has felt Olympic pressure, he has the opportunity to apply lessons learned from Torino to this run at Vancouver. After a 4th place finish at Rostelecom Cup to work out the kinks, he went on to win the silver medal at NHK Trophy and the bronze medal at the Grand Prix Final.

Adam Rippon - In the season Grand Prix opener Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris Adam stole my heart with two beautifully choreographed programs. I commented on Twitter that his Jonathan Livingston Seagull short was one of the best ever. He's shown flashes of what could be called brilliance this season. His big hurdle is his triple axel which has been inconsistent. It's something that he and coach Brian Orser (also coaches Kim Yu-Na) have been working on; getting that triple axel solidly under his belt. He's kind of a wild card, as the two time (and reigning) Junior World Champ we know he has what it takes to get to Vancouver, the question is if he'll be up to the challenge in Spoakane. Adam won the bronze medal at Trophee Eric Bompard and was 6th at NHK Trophy.

Brandon Mroz - He's had quite the roller coaster of a season thus far. In his season opener at Rostelecom Cup he was a disaster in the short program landing in last place only to come roaring back in the free skate with a quad and a solid skate. At Cancer.Net he did the exact opposite, hitting a solid short and then went to pieces in the free skate. Perhaps it's all been too much too soon for Mroz. In his first attempt at Nationals as a senior he won the silver medal and went to the World Championships. With such quick advancement it easy to forget he is still a bit on the young side and the pressure of expectation may be starting to weigh on him heavier than before. Still, he has to be considered one of the top contenders. Brandon finished 7th overall at Rostelecom Cup and 8th at Cancer.Net Skate America.

Evan Lysacek - The reigning World Champion has proven this season that his win last season in L.A. was no fluke. He looks well trained, consistent, and has been posting impressive numbers this season. "In the last Olympics, I was young and really excited. I've learned a lot in the past four years and want to take the experience I have gained and put it all into effect in Vancouver." He is certainly doing just that. He's had a stellar season thus far, nabbing the silver at Samsung Anycall Cup of China, the Gold at Cancer.Net Skate America, and the Gold at the Grand Prix Final. Barring catastrophic disaster, Evan Lysacek will be in Vancouver.

Ryan Bradley - During a recent teleconference he made it clear he was going for broke at Nationals. He's the veteran of the field and the oldest men's competitor. He is also the competitor who will attempt the hardest content...a for sure quad/triple combo in the short and two quads, one in combination, for the free skate. He's employing the 'Go Big or Go Home' strategy. Ryan certainly has to see this as his final shot at making it to an Olympic Games. The master showman put on quite the production last time he was in Spokane, taking the silver medal and having the skate of a lifetime. He'll need to summon those spirits again inside Spokane Arena to compete in this even deeper field. Ryan had a tough start to his season placing 9th at Trophee Eric Bompard but kicked it up a notch at Cancer.Net Skate America to win the bronze medal.

Jeremy Abbott - The reigning National Champion had a full plate last season. He was one of just three (Meryl Davis and Charlie White were the other two) U.S. skaters to do two Grand Prix Events, the Grand Prix Final, U.S. Nationals, Four Continents Cup, and World's. By the time he reached L.A., he was just out of gas. "Last season I got burned out toward the end and it didn't go as expected. I started early and pushed really hard all the way through and I think it was just too much to handle at the end of the season." The mid part of that season was fantastic where he won not only the Grand Prix Final, but the national crown as well. "This year, I took a different approach. I started a little bit later and I'm allowing my body and my mind to rest so I don't get overextended at the end of the year. I think it's certainly an attainable goal to be on the Olympic podium." After a so so start to his season at NHK Trophy with a 4th place finish, he rebounded nicely with a win at HomeSense Skate Canada. While he only placed 4th at the Grand Prix Final he had a tremendous free skate and was within a point or so of beating Lysacek in the free. He seems to be peaking just right this season. He and his new coach, Yuka Sato, have clearly made that a priority.

There is quite the cast of second-string men competing in Spokane including previous novice and junior champions, some other well rounded veterans, and some hot-shot young up-and-comers. Don't be surprised if you see a few other names amongst the top contenders!

Who are the ones to watch...to beat? You tell me...

Ice All Stars 2009

Well by all accounts the show was a success. Great job Kim Yu-Na! South Korea's skating hungry audience was delighted to the hilt, Michelle Kwan made a graceful return, and the internet is simply a buzz with skating glee! My friend Reese was able to attend (she actually had a ticket for me...but work got in the way!) and said it was a good time. Everyone on Twitter who was there was simply buzzing about the show too!

First, if your interested in seeing the show. Just head over to YouTube and search for Ice All Stars 2009. You can see many (if not all of the performances from the show there. I've put one of my favorite clips below (I still today am completely impressed by Ilia Kulik).

Second, the cast. What an exciting, if unusual collection of skaters. While I wasn't surprised to see the likes of Rippon, Lambiel, or even Kwan in the show; the presence of Denkova and Staviski shocked me a bit. That's right, Maxim Staviski. Is this his first gig since his, shall we say, trouble? Guess he didn't have to serve those 2 1/2 years after all...

Finally, when can we begin to see this kind of excitement for figure skating back in North America. I'm actually quite jealous of South Korea right now!

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

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!

2008 Junior World Championships

The world's best junior (and in the case of the U.S., some of our best senior) skaters converged on Sofia, Bulgaria for the 2008 Junior World Championships. This event always gives a glimpse into some of the sports future champions and these young champions didn't dissapoint.

In the pairs competition, a couple of young Russian teams topped the leader board. Krasilnikova and Bezmaternikh (mouth full, huh?) won the gold. This is a team we actually saw finish fifth on the Senior Grand Prix circuit at Cup of Russia and competed in their first Senior Russian National Chmapionship this season placing 5th. Winning the silver (but actually winning the free skate) was another Russian Team, Iliushechkina and Maisuradze (whew!). They received strong GOE points on their throw triple loop but couldn't overcome the lead their teammates had acquired after the short program. The intersesting story about these two is that they were both originally single skaters and have been skating together for less than a year. In less than a year they've finished fourth in their first nationals together as a team (and as seniors) and won the silver at Junior Worlds...impressive! The bronze medal went to the Chinese team of Dong and Wu...China of course never short on pairs talent. The Americans finished fifth, tenth, and eleventh, Junior National Champs Paetsch and Nuss highest among them.

The men's event was won by American Junior National Champion Adam Rippon. Since teaming up with Nikolai Morzov Adam has become a force to be contended with. Smooth lines and excellent GOE scores led him to a well deserved win in Sofia. Russian Artem Borodulin won the silver medal. Amazing considering less than three months ago he had a broken ankle. Jinlin Guan of China won the bronze. Jinlin had the highest technical score amongst the medalists, landing lots of clean triples, but his component score suffered due to his lack of artistry and connective elements. Brandon Mroz of the U.S. finished fourth while Tommy Steenberg also of the U.S. finished ninth. Kevin Reynolds of Canada was the only competitor in the field to land a quad, he finished sixth.

In Ice Dance the American team of Samuelson and Bates were finally able to come out and the skate they wanted. At last years Junior Worlds they had to withdraw because they fell and he stepped on her finger, severing a tendon and requiring surgery. At this years nationals the team was hampered by the fact that Emily had the flu virus and was getting IV's to stay hydrated. They finished 4th at that competition (as seniors) despite missing half the practices. But finally they were healthy and well trained and able to push through and win the Junior World title. They held off the Canadian team of Crone and Poirier who were right on Emily and Evan's heels the whole competition. Both teams had excellent GOE and component scores. The bronze went to the Russian team of Gorshkova and Butikov. The Hubbells (U.S. brother and sister team
) finished a strong fifth place.

The ladies event gave us a glimpse into the future for sure. To be blunt, this very well could be one of the most talented field of ladies the U.S. has ever sent to a competion. The last time I can think of a field being this deep for the U.S. was the 2003 World Championships in Washington, D.C. when we sent Kwan, Cohen, and Hughes. It isn't a shock that our ladies swept the podium in Sofia, considering we sent our Senior Gold and Silver medalists as well as the reigning Junior World Champ! In a very close competition between Flatt and Zhang, Rachael Flatt squeaked by to win the event. The only flaw in her program was a wrong edge deduction on her second lutz. Everything else was clean as a whistle and she garnered the highest technical and component score! Caroline Zhang too had a great skate and was actually ahead of Flatt after the short (2nd place vs 3rd) but had some trouble with wrong edges on both her lutzes and couldn't keep up technically. Again, minor errors and still a brillant performance...she was less than .40 behind Flatt. Mirai Nagasu, our reigning Senior Ladies Champ and leader after the short program, struggled a bit with the harder jumps. She had a few underrotation calls and she also struggled with the wrong edge deduction. The technical issues put her back about ten points to Flatt and Zhang and she was only able to capture the bronze, but amongst that field, respectable!

Now our focus turns to Goteborg, Sweden in hopes that the U.S. (or whichever country or competitors!) can do as well there as it did in Sofia. Full results can be seen here.

Pic of the Week

Maybe I'm crazy but I think this kid could be the next big thing! I was completely impressed with him at U.S. Nationals where he won Gold as a Junior. He is, at this moment, enjoying the lead at the 2008 Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria and he was the 2007 Junior Grand Prix Champion. What a talent!

Adam Rippon has shown that he really has what it takes to be a champion. I've always kept tabs on the junior skaters but at this years nationals I really took a detailed look at them, especially the men, and was incredibly impressed. Adam Rippon leads an extremely talented field of U.S. men in Bulgaria, all three in the top six, and I can tell you our future of U.S. men (Adam Rippon included!) looks very bright.

Adam, good luck in the free skate and in your future endeavours! I can't help but get the feeling that this guy is trying to make his time now...and what better time with the Olympics less than two years away!

UPDATE: And has fate would have it...Adam Rippon has won the Junior World Title!

U.S. Nationals Day 3

So here we are...it's Friday and it's been a pretty relaxed day. Spent some time at Mall of America, exploring the downtown area some more, and basically relaxing. So the poll I took it looks like most people thought Caroline Zhang would be our National Champ with Kimmie getting the second most. Well Caroline is in 7th and Kimmie in 4th so we'll have to wait and see if either can pull it off. They skate tomorrow night!

Had the opportunity to check out the Junior Men's Free Skate this afternoon. What a talented group of men. The winner was Adam Rippon (without curly hair per his coach!). He just oozed across the ice with great speed, great jumps, great spins, he was the full package...a credit to his coach Nikolai Morozov. Brandon Mroz also skated very well to take the silver and Andrew Gonzalez skated well for the bronze. Great skating all the way around.

But the headline event for today was the men's short program and they didn't disappoint one bit! First off almost all the men skated well! The point spread between 6th and 14th place is about 4 points...seriously! Scott Smith squeaked out above 8 other skaters to get into that 6th place (seriously, it is going to be a battle royale on Sunday!) with a conservative but mostly solid effort. Then there is a three way battle for third amongst Jeremy Abbott who is in 5th, Ryan Bradley who's in 4th, and Stephen Carriere (I think I pegged this around the time of NHK trophy!) who's in 3rd. These three men all skated extremely well and are separated by about three points. Then we have the leaders. In second place is Evan Lysacek. He had a bit of two foot on his quad (which is far better than his warm-up where he crashed and burned on it three times in a row!) and a shaky landing on his axel. However, Evan's footwork was fantastic and drew big cheers from the crowd! The leader then of course is Johnny Weir who did not have the quad, but had a beautiful Triple Lutz-Triple Toe combo, gorgeous Axel, beautiful footwork, speed, speed, and more speed, and elegant line. He has just over a point lead over Evan. But the rest of the pack is close enough that if either of these two make mistakes, there will be those waiting to capitalize!

For the love, I can't tell you when I've seen a better men's short program. These men really showed up to compete! Final on Sunday.

Full results here.