2006 Skate Canada Preview

The ISU Grand Prix continues with the second of six events, held in Victoria, British Columbia from November 2 – 5. Canadian Champions headline the field in three of the four figure skating disciplines.

World silver medalists Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, crowd favorites in Canada and throughout the world, will skate their new programs for the first time on home turf. Initially expected to retire after the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships, Dubreuil and Lauzon are back and hoping that their new free dance to Etta James’s At Last will – at last – propel them to the top of the world podium. At Skate Canada, they lead the field and are unlikely to be challenged in pursuit of gold.

Favored for second, Italy’s Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, also long-time crowd favorites, are hoping that a recent move to Detroit to train with the husband-and-wife team of Pasquale Camerlengo and Anjelika Krylova will put them on an upward trajectory….

2006 Skate America: Men’s Highlights

Skate America was the first of six events of the ISU Grand Prix series and was held at the Hartford Civic Center, Oct 26-29, in Hartford, Conn. Over 60 skaters from 15 different countries competed for points and monies totaling $180,000 in U.S. dollars. 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 to compete for a total purse of $272,000 U.S. dollars. The Grand Prix Final will be held Dec 14-17, 2006, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Nobunari Oda of Japan was the winner in the men’s event, capturing his first Skate America title. USA’s Evan Lysacek rose from third place after the short program to win the silver, while France’s Alban Preaubert captured his first senior Grand Prix medal – the bronze.

Oda, who was eleventh to skate in the short, opened his program with a solid triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toeloop…

2006 Skate America: Pairs Highlights

Rena Inoue and John Baldwin Jr. of the United States won their first Grand Prix gold medal in the pairs event, while teammates Naomi Nari Nam and Themistocles Leftheris also won theirs – the bronze. Poland’s Dorota Siudek and Mariusz Siudek won the silver in what was their first Skate America event.

Performing to Steve Fisk’s Soul of Spain, Inoue and Baldwin, attempted to open with side-by-side double Axels, but Inoue stepped out of hers. The 2006 Four Continents champs also attempted the throw triple Axel, but Inoue put her hand down on the landing. Despite the two mistakes, the team overcame with a double twist, and a difficult lift to earn 59.28 points for a first place finish in the short.

“First time out, we had some flaws,” said Baldwin. “But we accepted the challenge of coming to Skate America and doing the first event of the Grand Prix series.” Inoue added that they were not on top of…

2006 Skate America: Ice Dance Highlights

In ice dance, Bulgaria’s Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski won the gold in their first appearance at a Skate America event. USA’s Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov won their first Skate America medal, a silver, at their third appearance (they placed fifth in 2002 and 2003). France’s Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat won the bronze, their first senior Grand Prix medal.

The Compulsory Dance chosen for Skate America was the Westminster Waltz. The dance was invented by Eric van der Weyden and his wife Eva Keats. It was first performed in London at the Westminster Ice Rink in 1938.

Denkova and Staviski placed first in the CD with a score of 39.19 points, giving credit to their coaches. “They prepared us so well that we weren’t nervous at all,” said Staviski.

His partner Denkova added: “We started our preparations rather late, because we decided only end of June that we’re going to compete for another year. But we feel better…

2006 Skate America: Ladies Highlights

Miko Ando of Japan won her first senior Grand Prix gold medal at her second visit to Skate America, while teammate Mao Asada captured the bronze. USA’s Kimmie Meissner settled for the silver in her first appearance at a Skate America event.

Asada, who was last to skate, opened her routine with a triple Lutz followed by a good triple flip-triple loop combination. The Junior World silver medalist also displayed a good level three spiral sequence, good spins, and a double Axel, earning a score of 68.84 (personal best) for her performance to Nocturne by Frederic Chopin.

“I like this program very much,” said Asada. “It is the first time for me to use a slow music for the entire program, but I’m happy that I did that well.” The 16-year-old added that she planned to attempt a triple Axel in the long program.

Teammate Ando landed a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple flip, and a double Axel in her…

2006 Skate America Preview

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating kicks off this week with Skate America in Hartford, Connecticut. Skate America is the first of six events where figure skaters earn points to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, held this year in St. Petersburg, Russia from December 14 – 17.

Grand Prix entrants are seeded by world rank and may participate in two point-scoring events. As the one exception, top pair teams may elect to participate in a third, non-scoring event. Winners of each competition receive 15 points, silver medalists 13 points, bronze medalists 11 points, all the way down to 3 points for eighth place (pairs are awarded up to 6th place).

The ladies event promises to be the top draw at Skate America with World Champion Kimmie Meissner taking on Grand Prix Final Champion Mao Asada. Asada, who defeated all of the eventual Olympic medalists on the Grand Prix last season, was a few months too young to go to…