Lepisto wins first European title

The European Championships concluded today with the Ladies Free Skating event. Finland’s Laura Lepistö won her first European title in front of the packed Harwall Areena, while teammate Susanna Pöykiö settled for bronze. Carolina Kostner of Italy rose from third to capture the silver.

Kostner was first to skate among the medal contenders, and she was determined to show both the audience and the judges what makes one of the best skaters on the international stage. The student of Michael Huth delivered the best performance of her Dumsky Trio program from last season.

However, Kostner left the door open for her rivals when she replaced her trademark triple flip-triple toe loop combination with a triple-double and popped the second triple flip into a double. The skater was careful to avoid getting low levels on her non-jumping elements, however, her intended change of foot sit spin was called a ‘change of foot combination spin’ by the technical panel. As a result, her…

Abbott take US men’s title with points to spare

The 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships concluded with the Senior Men’s Long Program.

The perennial also-ran, a newcomer, and a veteran stood on the podium after the Championship Men’s free skate. Meanwhile, a former champion struggled to move up in the standings after a dismal short program.

Jeremy Abbott (Broadmoor SC), a skater with a natural blend of athletic ability and artistic talent, finally put all of the pieces together to win his first national title. The gold medalist has traditionally struggled with putting two good programs out in a competition until this season.

“I felt awful leading up to this event,” confessed Abbott. “I felt awful today. I felt awful on the ice. I was able to control myself…

Lepisto leads ladies in Helsinki

To the delight of the home crowd, two Finnish ladies – Laura Lepistö and Susanna Pöykiö – put a comfortable distance between themselves and the rest of the field in the short program. Defending champion Carolina Kostner of Italy is currently third.

Lepistö was the first medal contender to take the ice, and the performance she laid down proved to be insurmountable for her rivals.

“It was so great to skate in front of home audience,” Lepistö later told the press. “It was a different situation I hadn’t been used to, being cheered on during the warm up and all. I tried not to think about the audience too much, but at the end it was just amazing.”

The Finnish silver medalist popped a planned double Axel into single, but excellent execution of her…

Khokhlova and Novitski capture European ice dance title

The dance competition concluded with an impressive showdown in the Free Dance in which most of the couples were able to show their best performances.

Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski of Russia captured their first ISU Championship gold medal, while Italy’s Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali and Great Britain’s Sinead Kerr and John Kerr won their first European Championships medals – the silver and bronze, respectively.

Skating last, Khokhlova and Novitski were obviously focused on performing a clean program and avoiding making mistakes. However, unlike their performance at the 2008 World Championships in Goteborg where they were under similar pressure, the couple appeared more comfortable and confident on the ice.

Novitski admitted that the long wait was a…

Davis and White win gold at US Nationals

For the first time since 2004, the United States has new Ice Dancing Champions. Meryl Davis (Arctic FSC) and Charlie White (Arctic FSC) took the torch from former training mates and friends Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who withdrew from the championships due to injury.

“I think that we all wish Tanith and Ben a speedy recovery,” said Davis. “They have been a staple in U.S. skating for so many years, and they have done so much for our sport – specifically ice dance. We really miss them here, and hope that they get better soon.”

Navarro echoed those sentiments.”We hope that Tanith and Ben are healthy and get to go to Worlds. It will…

McLaughlin and Brubaker bag US pairs title

The U.S. Pairs are finally getting somewhere. After many years of having a dismal showing at the National Championships, this year there were several noteworthy and inspired performances that could provide the framework of a budding rivalry in the next several years.

Reigning champions Keauna McLaughlin (Los Angeles FSC) and Rockne Brubaker (Broadmoor SC) rebounded from a shaky short program to win their second consecutive title over a promising new team that should challenge them for years to come.

“I think we owe part of (the title) to our competitors,” said a gracious Brubaker. “I don’t think that we could have done it if we didn’t have such worthy opponents.”

The champions’ West Side Story routine was not without its share of…

Czisny captures ladies US title

It was a crazy night of skating in the championship ladies free skate competition in which Alissa Czisny (Detroit SC, Inc.) held off the rest of the field with an error-laden performance that had many questioning the results.

Leading by more than five points after the short program, the gold medalist opened her Dr. Zhivago routine by nailing her first five elements, including three triple jumps. But heading into the next element, a triple Lutz, Czisny started showing signs of her old self, and things started to go wrong.

“I was a little bit disappointed with my program because I’ve been skating much better than that,” said the 21-year-old. “I guess I just wanted the moment to be perfect, but I know what I have to work on now.”

After falling on the Lutz, Czisny doubled an intended triple toe – the final triple planned in her program. However, the champion showcased her world-class spins and spirals that earned her high levels…

Khokhlova and Novitski maintain lead at Europeans

Defending European Champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia, who stood in fifth after the compulsory dance, withdrew from the competition due to medical reasons. According to the medical bulletin, Shabalin’s knee injury became more acute. Their coach Natalia Linichuk explained that it was caused by the fall in the Compulsory Dance.

“Maxim fell in the Compulsory Dance on his left knee,” stated Linichuk, “the one that was injured before and where he had two surgeries. The knee was sore and swollen and we decided not to risk further injury and they withdrew. They both were very upset, because they wanted to compete here. This morning they left for Moscow. Maxim will see his doctor there and undergo…