- Joined
- Nov 8, 2011
Amongst other things to come out of the recent Cup of China in Shanghai was the unearthing of a new powerhouse pairs combination... Dylan Muscovitch and Hao Zhang.
While I'm not entirely sure of all the steps that led to the joke, at the short program press conference, Hao Zhang was stretching on the floor while waiting for Kavaguti and Smirnov to join them. Muscovitch and Moore-Towers felt this was a good idea so joined him and soon all three were happily stretching away together (to the joy of many of the photographers in the audience). Despite some language barriers, Dylan and Hao seemed to have become good friends and, while practicing for the Gala Performance on Sunday night, Dylan joked on a few occasions about pairing up with Hao in a 'Blades of Glory'esque performance.
I suspect that this may also have led to the decision to switch the pairs in the finale of the Gala, such that Mark Ladwig went out with Wenjing Sui, Cong Han partnered Amanda Evora, Hao Zhang took Kirsten Moore-Towers for a spin and Dylan Mscovitch lifted Dan Zhang. While the skaters were a little dubious to start, it was (in my opinion) a really special moment which really showed the sense of friendship and support amongst the skaters.
Festivities continued after the finale finished as the crowd filed out of the auditorium and the skaters squeezed through the gates. Muscovitch and Hao Zhang got together and had a bit of a spin in the middle of the rink before Muscovitch and Moore-Towers teamed up with Evora and Ladwig to do a double spin in the middle of the ice. This was then followed by some super impromptu jumping performances by Yuzuru Hanyu and Nan Song.
I'm not sure whether any of this was captured on the television cameras, but I wish I'd had my camera at the time.
While I'm not entirely sure of all the steps that led to the joke, at the short program press conference, Hao Zhang was stretching on the floor while waiting for Kavaguti and Smirnov to join them. Muscovitch and Moore-Towers felt this was a good idea so joined him and soon all three were happily stretching away together (to the joy of many of the photographers in the audience). Despite some language barriers, Dylan and Hao seemed to have become good friends and, while practicing for the Gala Performance on Sunday night, Dylan joked on a few occasions about pairing up with Hao in a 'Blades of Glory'esque performance.
I suspect that this may also have led to the decision to switch the pairs in the finale of the Gala, such that Mark Ladwig went out with Wenjing Sui, Cong Han partnered Amanda Evora, Hao Zhang took Kirsten Moore-Towers for a spin and Dylan Mscovitch lifted Dan Zhang. While the skaters were a little dubious to start, it was (in my opinion) a really special moment which really showed the sense of friendship and support amongst the skaters.
Festivities continued after the finale finished as the crowd filed out of the auditorium and the skaters squeezed through the gates. Muscovitch and Hao Zhang got together and had a bit of a spin in the middle of the rink before Muscovitch and Moore-Towers teamed up with Evora and Ladwig to do a double spin in the middle of the ice. This was then followed by some super impromptu jumping performances by Yuzuru Hanyu and Nan Song.
I'm not sure whether any of this was captured on the television cameras, but I wish I'd had my camera at the time.