U.S. Nationals (Day One)

Scheduled Events for Today:

Junior Men's Short Program
Senior Pairs Short Program
Senior Men's Short Program

Check this post for results and musings. I'll also be tweeting during the Senior Pairs Short Program at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern) and during the Senior Men's Short Program at 9:45 p.m. (Eastern). You can follow me on Twitter @skating102.

The Junior Men competed their short program earlier today. Max Aaron leads Jason Brown and Austin Kanallakan. You can see the full set of scores here.

The pairs short program was such a shock! First...what wasn't a shock was Denney and Barrett's short which rocked Spokane Arena and, despite being one of the first teams on the ice, they skated to a short program victory the same as they did last season. Right behind them in 2nd was a polished and solid Yankowskas and Coughlin who also managed a standing ovation. In 3rd are Denney and Barrett's training mates Evora and Ladwig who had an iffy performance but stayed on their feet. Veterans Inoue and Baldwin are in 4th after Rena fell on the throw triple axel attempt and John missed a spin. 2007 Champs Castile and Okolski are in 5th after a program peppered with technical mistakes.

At this point you're thinking, you forgot McLaughlin and Brubaker. Well...no I didn't. Keauna and Rockne had a disastrous performance. Keauna fell on her side-by-side triple salchow. Then she two footed the throw triple loop. If it couldn't get any worse, she slipped off her edge on the death spiral and fell again. They are in...wait for it...7th place going into the free and nearly 10 points out of an Olympic qualifying position at this point yet alone a win. The questions are starting to come out...was the pressure too much? Was the expectations of 24 Hour Fitness and Coke more than this team can handle? Was it the switch to John Nicks? Lots of questions right now. This team is going to need the skate of a lifetime in the free and some help from the teams ahead of them to get to Vancouver. I don't forsee them getting a 'good night's rest' tonight.

Full Senior Pairs results are here.

At the conclusion of the men's short program, I'd say things are going about as most expected with maybe a couple little curves thrown in. First, let's talk about who DIDN'T make the cut in the short. Stephen Carriere is in 17th place (ouch right!) and Brandon Mroz is in 10th...guess they won't be medaling this time around. What also didn't make the cut...the quad. All the skaters that tried it...yeah didn't really help them at all.

Let's talk top six. It's becoming clear that anytime Jeremy Abbott skates clean he is dangerous. A clean short found him loftly at the top with a whopping 87.85 points. Really he was brilliant, guess he worked out the kinks from that wonky practice yesterday (see video below). In second is Evan Lysacek who had a solid program but stepped out of his triple axel. Even still he looks Olympic ready and he didn't looked to phased by the mis-step. Johnny Weir currently occupies third but is almost in a dead heat with Evan (these two seem to be like glue as far as their scores and nationals!). Unlike Evan, Johnny skated perfectly clean but didn't have the complex choreography that Evan did...the debate on who should be ahead of who is ensuing on Twitter. Adam Rippon is 4th. He was cruising through his program until he got too close the boards on his patented 'Rippon' lutz. He doubled that jump, ran into the boards, then proceeded to fall on his footwork. Still, his program is brilliant. The surprise of the top group is Armin Mahbanoozadeh who is 5th after a brilliant short despite spending all his free time in Spokane with doctors working on his bruised hip. Rounding out the final group is Ryan Bradley who, after hitting a beautiful quad/triple combo, proceeded to double the rest of his triples...doof! Anywho, nice set up for free skate.

Full results of the men's short can be found here.

UPDATE: Stephen Carriere has withdrawn from the competition. Not sure yet why (17th place SP perhaps?).


Video courtesy KHQ Spokane

Around the World

In Japan, Daisuke Takahashi updated his blog and explained that he has begun jumping again. Unfortunately for all my Japanese readers, he won't be performing at this Sunday's "Koshien Ice." He will, however, be there to greet fans.

In Russia, 1999 World Champion Maria Butyrskaya, gave birth to her second child, a girl. She had a son two years ago. Reportedly she and husband Vadim Khomitski are very happy and had "dreamed" about having a girl.

Lots to report here in the United States. First, Michelle Kwan has graduated from Denver University with a degree in international studies with a political science minor. What's next for Michelle? Nobody knows. The economy has the organizing committee for the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, NC trying a new tactic. During the month of June, if you buy an all event pass for the event, they'll give you a ticket to the exhibition, free. That's a savings of about $60.00! You may have seen the new USOC Television Spots (if not...it's below) that features many of our new 2010 Olympic hopefuls including Belbin and Agosto, Jeremy Abbott, Davis and White, and Johnny Weir. Lastly, unconfirmed twitter reports are saying Evan Lysacek has signed a sponsorship deal with Ralph Lauren who will be outfitting Team USA in Vancouver.

In Italy, Carolina Kostner has left longtime coach Michael Huth reports a German news agency. It's also reported that she'd like Brian Orser, who coaches World Junior Champ Adam Rippon and World Champ Kim Yu-Na, to coach her. However, Orser has not committed to the coaching deal and has previously stated his "plate is full." Stay tuned...

In China, much fanfare over the return of Shen and Zhao to competitive skating after a two year hiatus. "We are aiming for the gold medal this time," the 35-year-old Zhao was quoted as saying by sports.cn. "To achieve this, we have done a lot of preparation, such as inviting the best choreographer and the best costume designers in the world. Before leaving the national team, we got all the titles of that season. So, if we could reach the form at that time, we are confident we can realize our Olympic gold medal dream."

Finally, in Canada, they are selling Vancouver 2010 Tickets like crazy up there! And what tickets were among the first to go? That would be Opening Ceremonies, speed skating and of course, figure skating.

John and Rockne best coaches ever?

Thinks to a tweet from @USFigureSkating I discovered the Mike and Myles Show at teamusa.org.

Apparently these guys run around the USOC Training Center in Colorado Springs checking in with athletes. This past week they found U.S. Pairs Skaters John Coughlin and Rockne Brubaker.

John and Rockne attempt to teach Mike and Myles the 'basics' and laughter ensues...enjoy!