Takahashi loves the change

Although it didn’t end the way he had hoped, Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi had a successful season despite his fourth place finish at the World Figure Skating Championships in Göteborg, Sweden, last week.

Takahashi became the top favorite contender for Worlds after winning the Four Continents Championships in February. The 2008 Grand Prix Final silver medalist posted a massive World record score of 264.11 points, besting Evgeni Plushenko’s 2006 Olympic gold medal score of 258.33 points. He skated brilliantly in both the short and free program.

“I landed two quads for the first time in an ISU competition,” said Takahashi. “That’s a big improvement for me. The spins, the steps, the jumps… everything went so smoothly and I felt comfortable…

Delobel and Schoenfelder win World title

The competition concluded today with a dramatic Free Dance event. In the end, the dance podium this year didn’t contain any returning medalists – an unheard of situation for the discipline in which the concept of “paying one’s dues” appeared to be one of the fundamentals.

It took the new gold medalists, France’s Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, 11 years to finally win a medal at a World Championships. In contrast, the new silver and bronze medalists, Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and Russia’s Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski, managed to achieve the same result in two and three seasons, respectively.

When Virtue and Moir took the ice, they wove a spell over the audience with a flawless performance to Umbrellas…

Buttle leads men in Sweden

For the first time since the 1977 World Championships in Tokyo, the men’s event was held last. The decision was most likely spurred by the fact that it’s the strongest skating discipline for Sweden. This proved to be true as no other discipline can boast so many strong Swedish competitors who could finish in the top three.

In the Short Program, Canada’s Jeffrey Buttle prevailed over his rivals and currently leads the field with 82.10 (44.07/38.03) points. Though Buttle was the only skater in top ten not to receive a single negative grade of execution, his lead is more of a formality since less than five points separate first and sixth place.

The 2008 Four Continents silver medalist, who went back to last year’s short program to Adios Nonino…

Buttle takes World title with points to spare

The 2008 ISU World Figure Skating Championships concluded with the Men’s Long Program.

Overnight leader Jeffrey Buttle, who was the last to skate, provided an excellent closure to an error-filled competition as he delivered a flawless performance, earning a new personal best of 163.07 (84.29/78.78) points. With a total score of 245.17 points, he won the his first World title by nearly 14 points.

Though the 2008 Canadian silver medalist didn’t attempt a quadruple jump, he still earned the highest technical score of the night thanks to excellent execution of all his jumps. His eight jumps included a triple Axel-double toeloop-double loop, a triple flip-triple toeloop, and a solo triple Axel.

Buttle also earned a level 4 on all his spins and a level 3 on both footwork sequences. The intricate choreography of his…

Delobel and Schoenfelder maintain lead in Sweden

The Folk/Country dance is the Original Dance (OD) for the 2007-08 season. While there are no restrictions on the the number of music selections used, the dance must have a theme based on a specific country/region.

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France defended their overnight lead by winning the OD with a new personal best of 67.25 (35.30/31.95) points.

The 2008 European silver medalists, who are making their 10th appearance at this event and who have yet to win a World Championships medal, are now in an excellent position to capture the gold. However, the pressure seems to be taking its toll.

While their performance to a French Gavotte was technically flawless, the team appeared somewhat cautious throughout, executing their moves without…

Asada claims World title

Yu-Na Kim of South Korea, who was fifth after the short, won the long program with a nearly flawless performance to Miss Saigon, but had to settle for another bronze medal.

The 17-year-old landed five high quality triples, including an opening triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but popped her second triple Lutz attempt into a single. All her non-jumping elements received levels 3 and 4 and the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion simply floated through her program, but she was simply too far behind the leaders after the short program. She earned 123.38 (64.82/58.56) points for a total score of 183.23.

“I had an injury,” explained the skater at the post-event press conference. “But fortunately I got bronze – a good result in the end. I have to be more careful in the future…

Kostner leads ladies in Sweden

Italy’s Carolina Kostner drew the lucky straw and currently leads the field of ladies with 64.28 (36.34/27.94) points. The 2008 European champion opened her program with an excellent triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but later stepped out of triple Lutz. She was otherwise clean and confident, maintaining excellent flow throughout her routine and execution intricate connecting steps without any glitches.

Kostner gained a level 4 on her spiral sequence, a level 2 on her layback spin, and a level 3 on other non-jumping elements to post the highest technical score of the night and receive a new seasons best – an achievement she admits to being very proud of.

“I have been trying to improve my season’s best during the entire year,” said Kostner at a post-event…

Savchenko and Szolkowy win World title

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from Germany, who stood in second after the short program, won their first World title in the dramatic Pair Skating final. Skating after their main rivals, Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang of China, the Germans opened with a huge through triple flip, followed by a triple toeloop-triple toeloop sequence in which Szolkowy stepped out of the second jump. The team performed a strong level 2 triple twist, but both skaters made mistakes on their side-by-side triple Salchows: Szolkowy fell and Savchenko lost her balance and put both hands on the ice.

Nonetheless, their excellent non-jumping elements (all level 4 except for a level 3 step sequence) and intricate choreography allowed them to make up the ground they lost in the…