Olympian Cody Hay moves from competitor to coach

Michelle Kwan — Sports have power to change lives

Olympic gold medalist Michelle Kwan on how the lessons she's learned in figure skating have helped her throughout her life.

Hubbell and Donohue capture gold at Nebelhorn Trophy

USA’s Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue overtook more experienced teams to dance off with the gold medal at Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf on Saturday. Germany’s Nelli Zhiganshina and Alexander Gazsi who led after the short dance, settled for the silver and Canadians Kharis Ralph and  Asher Hill earned the bronze medal.

Hubbell and Donohue had drawn to skate last and put out a strong performance to I Put A Spell On You. They had good flow and their elements looked effortless. The Americans, who have been skating together only since the end of May, picked up a level four for the spin, lifts and twizzles, while the footwork sequences were a level two and three. The team scored 84.19 points…

Nagasu skates to gold at Nebelhorn Trophy

USA’s Mirai Nagasu skated to the gold medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf on Saturday. Elene Gedevanishvili of Georgia earned the silver medal and the bronze went to Sweden’s Joshi Helgesson. It showed that Nebelhorn is an early season event as the skaters made many mistakes.

Skating to Spartacus, Nagasu fell on her first opening triple loop-double loop jump combination, but recovered to nail a double Axel-double toe, a triple Lutz combo, a triple loop, and another double Axel. However, the solo Lutz and the flip were underrotated. Her three spins merited a level four, and she was awarded 109.08 points (totaling 167.46).

“Coming into this competition my goal was to do as well as I could to gain my confidence back,” said Nagasu. “I lost a lot of confidence last season…

Olympic champion Evan Lysacek has sights set for Sochi in 2014

Olympic champion figure skater Evan Lysacek says he's gearing up for a comeback for the 2014 Olympics.

Volosozhar and Trankov take gold with strong skate at Nebelhorn

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia redeemed themselves and took gold at Nebelhorn Trophy with a strong free skate to the Black Swan. Teammates Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov moved up from fourth to earn the silver, while USA’s Caydee Denney and John Coughlin slipped from second to earn the bronze in their first international competition as a team.

Volosozhar and Trankov were determined to redeem themselves after the subpar short program. They opened their powerful, dark Black Swan routine with a huge triple twist followed by side by side triple Salchows and a triple toe-double toe combination. The Russians also hit a throw triple loop and Salchow and earned level fours for the spins, the death spiral and two lifts.

The only error came at the end when…

Yuzuru Hanyu skates off with Nebelhorn gold

Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu skated off with the gold at Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf on Friday. Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic moved up from fourth to take the silver,  and USA’s  Stephen Carriere held on to the bronze medal.

Performing to music from the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack, Hanyu stumbled out of his opening quad toe but hit two beautiful triple Axels (one in combination with a triple toe) and four more triples. He only popped a Lutz jump. The 16-year-old had excellent flow over the ice, and earned 151.00 points for the free skating and a total score of 226.26 points.

“I am pleased with the result and that I won, but I missed a few things and I’m looking forward to improving on this performance,” said…

Nagasu leads Ladies after short program

USA’s Mirai Nagasu leads the Ladies after the short program at Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf on Friday. Elene Gedevanishvili of Georgia finished second and Germany’s Sarah Hecken is currently sitting in third.

Nagasu’s tango to Julian Plaza’s Danzarin featured a triple loop out of footwork, a double Axel and two level-four spins, but she underrotated the triple Lutz in combination with a double toe. The 2010 U.S. Champion picked up 58.38 points.

“For one of the first competitions of the season it went really well,” said Nagasu. “There is a lot of work to be done in every small aspect, including my costume, my skating and my jumps.”

“I put it on a CD for Frank (Carroll) to listen to it and he really liked it,” Nagasu explained of her music choice. “We all decided that I am…