2001 Cup of Russia: Highlights

The 2001 Cup of Russia competition was held in St. Petersburg, Russia at the Ice Palace, November 23-25, 2001. This is the fifth of a series of six competitions before the Grand Prix Final which is to be held in December in Ontario, Canada.

Russia’s Evgeny Plushenko attempted to earn a place in record books with a quadruple lutz, but the nineteen-year old fell on the attempt and also went down on the ensuing quadruple toe loop. Nevertheless, a full arsenal of triple jumps was enough to keep the World Champion ahead of a largely undecorated field.

Fellow Russian Roman Serov jumped from fifth in the short program to second overall, but a disappointing tenth-place finish at Skate Canada gives him no hope of advancing to the Grand Prix Final.

bronze medalist Ivan Dinev has an excellent chance to earn the final berth to the Grand Prix Final with any medal at this week’s NHK Trophy. The American competitor, Matt Savoie of…

Hughes Rapid Rise Rivals Lipinski’s

At the 1994 Olympics, only diehard skating fans had heard of Tara Lipinski. But in 1998, she was the Olympic champion. Before 1997, Sarah Hughes was almost unknown outside of the Eastern United States, where her best finish was a 6th in novice ladies. For the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, she’s one of the favorites after winning her first World Championship medal, a bronze, at the 2001 Worlds in Vancouver, and beating Olympic co-favorites Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya at Skate Canada in November.

Hughes had a breakthrough year in 1998 when she won the U. S. junior ladies title in her first Nationals and took two more silvers at her first two…

2001 Trophee Lalique Highlights

The 2001 Trophée Lalique figure skating championships were held in Paris, France, November 15-18, 2001. This is the fourth of a series of six competitions before the Grand Prix Final which is to be held in December in Ontario, Canada.

The partisan French crowd had much to cheer about during the season debut of former World Champions Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat. Earning a perfect mark of 6.0 for each of their new programs, the French have served notice that they will be strong contenders for Olympic gold. After the lukewarm reception of reigning World Championships Fusar-Poli and Margaglio at Nations Cup, Anissina and Peizerat have established themselves the early favorites.

In their non-scoring event, Canada’s Shae-Lynn Bourne and Viktor Kraatz took home a silver medal ahead of Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania. Bulgaria’s Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski were third, ahead of the second-ranked French team of Delobel and Schoenfelder.

France’s other medal came in the pairs event, where…

2001 Sparkassen Cup on Ice: Highlights

The 2001 Sparkassen on Ice Cup (Nations Cup) figure skating championships were held at the Emscher-Lippe-Halle, November 9-11, 2001, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. This is the third of a series of six competitions before the Grand Prix Final which is to be held in December in Ontario, Canada.

World Champion Evgeny Plushenko made his debut in fine form, sweeping ordinals in both the short and free programs with two rock-solid programs. Amazingly, his coach, Alexei Mishin, has curtailed Plushenko’s training for fear that he may peak too soon in this Olympic season. If the nineteen-year old is capable of easy quadruple toe-triple toe combinations when not at his peak, one can only imagine what he will be skating like at the Olympics.

American Timothy Goebel placed second with a strong performance, qualifying himself for the Grand Prix Final for the third consecutive year. Goebel, as well as bronze medalist Chengjiang Li of China, landed a quadruple salchow and a quadruple toe loop,…

2001 Skate Canada: Highlights

Skate Canada International was held at Saskatchewan Place, November 1-4, 2001, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. This is the second of a series of six competitions before the Grand Prix Final which is to be held in December in Ontario, Canada.

The ladies race to the Olympic gold medal became a three-way battle with American Sarah Hughes rallying to win the much anticipated showdown between Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya. One of the only competitors to deliver a clean short program, Hughes’s advantage in this phase of the competition proved essential. Slutskaya handily won the free skate, but a fourth-place finish in the short program prevented her from taking the overall title.

Hughes and Slutskaya each landed six triple jumps compared to Kwan’s five. Kwan had planned two triple-triple combinations, but both resulted in falls. Presently coachless, Kwan’s attempt to up the technical ante resulted in the end of a remarkable streak of first or second place finishes dating back to February…

Susan Ng: Online Interview

Susan first started skating when she was seven years old. Her mother wanted her to pick up some type of sport rather than sitting at home reading all day long. Susan received a number of choices such as swimming, tennis, basketball, ballet, and much more. The only thing that interested her at all, besides gymnastics, was figure skating. “I had never watched figure skating before, so I do not know why I picked it. However, I am very glad that I did. I loved it from the very first moment I stepped on the ice and continue to enjoy it,” said Ng.

During her first two years, Ng skated twice a week on public sessions, took group lessons, and a few private lessons. “I did I.S.I. competitions for fun and won my first competition,” recalled…

2001 Skate America: Highlights

Skate America International was held at the World Arena, October 25-28, 2001, in Colorado Springs, Col. This premier international event, conducted annually by the United States Figure Skating Association, begins a new and exciting season of figure skating as the 2002 Winter Olympic Games draw near.

North Americans dominated all four events at Skate America. Reigning World Champion Michelle Kwan won the gold medal over U.S. teammate Sarah Hughes in a 5-2 split decision that did not go over well with the crowd. Both Kwan and Hughes landed six triple jumps, but Hughes had two double Axels to Kwan’s zero, as well as a triple-triple combination. Nevertheless, a majority of judges put Kwan ahead on both the technical merit and presentation marks, giving her the win, the $30,000 prize money, and 12 points in the Grand Prix Series. She will meet Hughes again next week at Skate Canada, where arch rival Irina Slutskaya will also be competing.

Russian Viktoria Volchkova took…