Han Yan looking to become China’s next skating star

Chinese figure skating is mostly known for their strong pairs these days. Pair skating is the most popular discipline and the Chinese pairs have had a lot of success. But the first Chinese World and Olympic medalist and World Champion was Lu Chen, who competed in the 90s. 

However, no Chinese man has yet stepped on to the World podium. Chengjiang Li, a strong jumper, came close, finishing fourth and fifth at Worlds. He also became the first Chinese man to win an ISU Championships in 2001 when he claimed the gold at the Four Continents Championships. A couple of Chinese men medaled at Junior Worlds, most recently Nan Song in 2010. However, China is still waiting for a true male figure skating star, and perhaps Han Yan…

Riazanova and Tkachenko get into starting position for Sochi

Russian ice dance is full of talent, and the tough competition motivates the teams to do even better. Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko belong to the current generation of strong teams that are fighting to become Russia’s number one ice dancers. The outcome of this battle is not clear yet with several contenders more or less at the same level.

Riazanova and Tkachenko teamed up in the spring of 2009, but both were successful at the junior level with different partners. It was no surprise that the Russian Figure Skating Federation wasn’t too thrilled to learn that Riazanova wanted to dump her previous partner, Jonathan Guerreiro, with whom she just had won the bronze medal at Junior Worlds,…

Canadian Champion and World Medalist Bryce Davison moves on to next phase of figure skating career

Skate Liberty 2011

The Liberty Figure Skating 2011 Competition took place this past week at IceWorks in Aston, Penn., with more than 200 entries coming from all over the globe including Korea, Brazil, and Poland. The competition is one of the biggest of the summer due to the early season critiques that the skaters receive from national and international level judges and technical specialists. Golden Skate’s Elvin Walker attended the competition for two days, and caught up with several of the entries.

Nathan Chen, 2010-11 U.S. Novice Men’s Champion Twelve year-old Nathan Chen continued to charm the pants off audiences, winning each competition he entered at Skate Liberty (Junior men’s short program, free skate, and free skate final) with much improved technical content. Earlier this year, Chen told Golden Skate that…

Brown is ready for anything – except a haircut

When he was three years old, Brown’s older sister Jordan was invited to a skating birthday party in his native Highland Park, Ill. His mother, wanting to ensure that her daughter was comfortable with skating, took both Jordan and Brown skating.

“My mom was afraid that my sister would feel left out because she didn’t know how to skate, so she signed my sister and me up to take Learn to Skate classes at the rink by our house,” Brown remembered. “I have been skating ever since, but my sister stopped.”

Brown continued to train, and started to make his mark in skating early on in his career. At the 2007 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships in Cleveland and just 11 years old, he captured the juvenile boys’ gold medal.

“Winning…

Dmitriev, Jr. prepares to make a name for himself

His name turns heads in the figure skating world: Artur Dmitriev. But Dmitriev junior wants to make a name of his own in the sport that made his father one of the most decorated male pair skaters in history. The Russian began competing internationally in the fall of 2009 and was not awarded a Junior Grand Prix assignment at that time. To the surprise of many, however, Dmitriev earned a trip to Junior Worlds in March 2010 after taking the silver medal at the Russian Junior National Figure Skating Championships.

In his debut at Junior Worlds, Dmitriev placed 15th in the short program, but catapulted to seventh overall after placing fifth in the long program. He was the only skater who landed a quad toe (in combination with…