Weiss Plans Busy Season

Veteran U. S. skater Michael Weiss has a busy scheduled planned for 2004-2005, but it’s a bit different from the routine he’s followed for the last several years. “I will be doing three of Steve Disson’s events on NBC this winter, two tributes to Andrea Boccelli and Kenny Loggins, and a holiday special. Having the opportunity to skate to the live music of such legendary performers will be a great experience. I’ll also be doing sixteen Stars on Ice shows in February and March. That’s a change for me, while still competing.”

Weiss has traditionally appeared on the Champions on Ice tour, but not last summer. “I needed a break, if I am going to have a run at 2006,” he explained. “It was a short tour, so I was glad to spend the…

Serov Returns With a Splash

Israel’s Roman Serov returned to the figure skating international scene this season after a two-year absence from major ISU competitions. Serov, a 27-year-old who was born in Moscow, competed for Russia for many years, finishing in the top six at Russian Nationals between 1999 and 2002. But then he fell in love and married Israeli skater Rachel Lior in August 2002. Since Lior had dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, Serov elected to skate for Israel, but he had to sit out the last two seasons because of switching countries. “In Russia, there were too many good skaters and I never got to go to Europeans or Worlds or many Grand Prixs,” he said. “I definitely want to go to the 2006 Olympics, but after that, we’ll see.”

Last season,…

Poland’s Kauc and Zych Dance Towards 2006 Olympics

Alexandra Kauc thought she had a good chance of making it to the Olympics in 2002, especially after finishing 17th at Worlds in 2000 with former partner Filip Bernadowski. But the couple finished skating after the European Championships in 2001 and Kauc concentrated on her studies. Now she’s back in the sport after a two-year absence and hoping for better success with a new partner, 22-year-old Michal Zych.

The couple started training together in April 2003. “Michal called me last year after Europeans,” Kauc said. “The Polish Federation gave him a proposal to call me. I had been focusing on my school for the last two years since my last partner stopped.” Kauc had previously competed with Michael Przyk and Krysztof Tomaczyk before her success with Bernadowski.

They had good success in…

Meissner Prepares for Junior Grand Prix Final

USA’s Kimberly Meissner has moved rapidly up the figure skating ladder since she burst on the scene in her first U.S. national event by winning the novice ladies title in 2003. Meissner, who prefers to be called Kimmie, followed up with a win at the 2004 U. S. Nationals in junior ladies. This season, she’ll be moving to seniors at Nationals with two seasons to go before the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. Meissner will be 16 in Torino, about the same age as recent Olympians Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes. But if she doesn’t make it into 2006, the talented youngster plans to stay around for at least the 2010 Olympics and maybe beyond. “I want to skate for a long time,” she said, “until I can’t skate any more.”

Meissner…

2004 Skate Canada: Ladies Highlights

Canada’s Cynthia Phaneuf, who won silver at Skate America last week, became the first woman to win gold at a Skate Canada event since Josee Chouinard won in 1990. Japan’s Yoshie Onda won the silver, while Susanna Pöykiö of Finland cinched the bronze.

Despite a bad warm-up, Phaneuf skated a clean short to Songs My Mother Taught Me by Dvorák, which included a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, followed by footwork into a triple flip, and a double Axel. The Canadian champion also displayed nice spins with various changes of positions to earn 57.76 for a first place finish after the short, as well as a standing ovation from a cheering home crowd.

Phaneuf was very happy with her program, saying, “It was better than at Skate America. There, I had lost my focus, so I really wanted to stay focused here and it worked.” The 16-year-old, who won silver last week at Skate America, was also surprised to find herself…

2004 Skate Canada: Men’s Highlights

The Canadian men swept the podium with Emanuel Sandhu winning his first gold. Though he won the 2004 Grand Prix Final, this was his first win in an individual Grand Prix event. Ben Ferreira won the silver, a first for him as well, and Jeffrey Buttle, who was second at this event last season, won the bronze.

In the short, Buttle produced a conservative but clean program to Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C Minor, landing a solid triple flip-double toeloop combination, a triple Axel, and a spread eagle into a triple Lutz. The two-time and reigning Four Continents champion also displayed good footwork, spins, and transitions, earning the highest component score (36.75) in the men’s short and a total segment score of 72.15.

Buttle was pleased overall with his program. “I think this is a good place to start from at the beginning of the season,” he said, adding that he felt there is also feels there is room for improvement.

Ferreira…

2004 Skate Canada: Ice Dance Highlights

Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria were the gold medal winners in the ice dance event. Canada’s Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon won silver, while Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski of Israel seized the bronze. All three teams competed at Skate Canada last year, placing second, third, and fourth respectively.

The Compulsory Dance for Skate Canada was the Rhumba. The dance was invented by Walter Gregory and was first performed in 1938 at the Westminster Ice Rink in London.

Denkova and Staviski appeared comfortable and fluid in their CD, taking the lead with a score of 41.05.

“I think our expression could have been better,” offered Staviski. “We could have been more musical maybe. He added that they prefer the technically more demanding dances such as the Golden Waltz. “The more steps the dance has, the better it is for us. The Rhumba and the Quickstep don’t have so many steps.”

France’s Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder placed second with a…

2004 Skate Canada: Pairs Highlights

Skate Canada, the second of six events of the Grand Prix Figure Skating series, was held October 28-31 at the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Skaters competed for points and for prize money totaling $180,000 (U.S.). The points go toward qualification for the Grand Prix Final, to which the top six competitors in points standings from each discipline will be invited. The Grand Prix Final will be held Dec 16-19, 2004, in Beijing, China.

In pairs, the Chinese teams dominated the event with Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao winning gold, while teammates Qing Pang and Jian Tong won the silver. Poland’s veteran team of Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek repeated their placement from last year’s Skate Canada event, winning the bronze.

In the short program, headliners Shen and Zhao earned the highest component score (32.08 points) of the evening in their routine to Debussy’s Claire de Lune. The 2002 Olympic bronze medalists opened with side-by-side triple toeloops, followed…