Bavarian Open 2017

julieca said:

Lajoie Lagha finished 2nd with 141.20, and Stairs Royer 3rd with 136.20. So 2 medals for Canada!

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Sry had VC

Ice dance was fabolous, I ve put so many stars behind skaters names, which always means quality!

Now I just need to bring it to paper ... HKG were so cute

Lets wish Vincent all the best now t minus 45 minutes.

Vincent has it,

Didnt write it down as i took a picture, but itwas way above requirement.

No video of Yanovskaya and Lucaks?

bramweld said:

No video of Yanovskaya and Lucaks?

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72.92 - 124.88

No Video sry.

Great Sli, love how she changes direction there.

Jenifer and Benjamin have 131.24
Juulia and Matthias 130.60

104.18 for Smart/Diaz in the Free Dance. More than 10 points ahead of Lorenz/Polizoakis (whose score was less than couple of points below their season high at Golden Spin). In turn the Germans were 3 points clear of the Torn/Partanen (who have been just behind them at Euros and Worlds).

Overall

Cappellini/Lanotte 190.14
Smart/Diaz 171.7
Lorenz/Polizoakis 156.64
Torn/Partanen 150.2
Galayavieva/Abecassis 145.48
Alessandrini/Souquet 143.0
Robledo/Fenero 142.06
Tweedale/Buckland 139.3
Tessari/Fioretti 138.1
Urban/Steffan 131.24

As it happened, final day

I have to admit, that I will probably never get used to victory ceremonies. You know that feeling when you go into a room, with 30 high class skaters and coaches, who make all these beautiful programs possible and you, you have never even put your own boots on the ice... Besides that, everyone knows everyone and you are a bit the new kid on the block, which might have made me popular in the 90´s, but today?

In the end, however, it is always an honor to share the room with those, who put so much joy in your own life, so I can´t really complain, can I.
We sang a happy birthday song for Anna Cappellini who won with Luca Lanotte in the seniors competition or laughed about Valentin Wunderlich, who was almost to tall for the number one spot on the podium, which he shared with his partner Ria Schwendinger during the Bavarian Junior Dance ceremony, a traditional price for the best Bavarian skaters at the BO. Said skaters from Oberstdorf, had that beautiful Adams Family FD , a competition that saw a showdown between Russia and Canada, in which the Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha were just trailing by 0.02 points, to the winners Ekaterina Kuznetsova and Dmitri Parkhomenko.

It was a real nail biter and to just mention those above, wouldn´t do this day justice, as we saw the "joy on dance" by all skaters and in the end, nobody was a loser, but everyone a winner, as they raised questions in the crowds about this sport, questions I often had to answer during ice breaks, which was one reason, why I so often slacked with my reports, something that I hope you guys can forgive me but it´s been a busy week!

In the end, all the skaters did a wonderful job, they spread the word about this great sport and therefore, I can only say, mission accomplished guys! My own mission, however, will take a bit longer this time, as writing on my column will be delayed a bit, due to a silly but necessary procedure on my heart, that I postponed by one week, to be at the Bavarian Open

Said heart, made a big jump when Vincent Zhou, landed his quad Lutz right at the beginning, leaving no doubt that he want´s to win here and "qualify" for worlds, two goals which were greatly achieved, with a few obstacles here and there, but he managed to take them all! He is a wonderful competitor and a great joy to watch, I envy you guys in NA for your male skaters, they are just super handsome and highly skilled!
My latest news is, that Jason Brown and Nathan Chen are going to Worlds, but oh boy, is that quality in the making!

I will call it a day for now, congratulations to all skaters and no, I did not forget our wonderful Junior Pairs where NA, was dominating with Evelyn and Trennt, winning, while two German couples, shined bright with great compositions and lot´s of bravery. These stories, however, I will tell you one other day.

Thanks everyone for that wonderful week and we or should I say, "I" will talk again once my column goes online.

Slightly handicapped, I have started writing my column, but it goes a bit slower this time, so that I aim for next week Friday.

Here is a list of skaters I have already talked about.

Stephen GOGOLEV
Nicolas NADEAU
Aurora COTOP
Emilie GROSCH
Ting CUI
Angelina HUANG
Giuditta SARTORI
Josefin TALJEGARD


More will follow, I update the list as I go on. I will also have a feature on our German talents and check out the Hungarians.

added on Sunday,

Dora Hus
Paula Mikolajczyk
Alissa Scheidt
Nathalie Weinzierl
Ann Christin Marold
Lea Johanna Dastich

added on Monday and Tuesday

Mariia BESSONOVA
Ekaterina KUZNETSOVA / Dmitri PARKHOMENKO
Ria SCHWENDINGER / Valentin WUNDERLICH
Kavita LORENZ / Joti POLIZOAKIS
Caroline GREEN / Gordon GREEN
Sophia ELDER / Christopher ELDER
Katarina DELCAMP / Maxwell GART
Anne-Marie WOLF / Max LIEBERS
Sofiia ALEKSOVA / Maksemilian DUBOV
Peggy BEECK / Leon WAGNER
Julia ALBRECHT / Kai HOFERICHTER
Jessenia TSENKMAN / Marko GAIDAJENKO

Wed & Thursday additions

Angela WANG
Vincent ZHOU
Robynne TWEEDALE / Joseph BUCKLAND
Sasha FEAR / Elliot VERBURG
Emily ROSE BROWN / James HERNANDEZ
Villö MARTON / Danyil SEMKO
Flora MUEHLMEYER / Pietro PAPETTI
Lucy BURTON / Thomas INGALL

Friday editions

Csenge RABB
Julia LANG
Bo-In MOON
Tiffany KLAUNIG
Soon-Jung KO
Corey CIRCELLI
Senta BÖHLKE
Karoliina LUHTONEN
Aimee BUCHANAN
Elif ERDEM
Fruzsina MEDGYESI
Julia SAUTER
Maria-Katharina HERCEG
Juulia TURKKILA / Matthias VERSLUIS
Olivia SMART / Adria DIAZ
Cagla DEMIRSAL / Berk AKALIN
the dog

and a few minor additions. I will let the Column rest for today and proof read it tomorrow and publish it afterwards!
There were too many good skaters this time

Bavarian Open Column 2017


Table of Content

1.0 Introduction
2.0 The discoveries of Oberstdorf

• 2.1 Lizaveta Malinouskaya
• 2.2 Aurora Cotop
• 2.3 Josefin Taljegård
• 2.4 Emilie Grosch
• 2.5 Giuditta Sartori
• 2.6 Ting Cui & Angelina Huang
• 2.7 Stephen Gogolev & Nicolas Nadeau

3.0 A quick look at the best teams

• 3.1 Team Germany

• 3.1.1 Dora Hus
• 3.1.2 Nathalie Weinzierl & Lea Johanna Dastich
• 3.1.3 Paula Mikolajczyk
• 3.1.4 Team Wende & Ann-Christin Marold
• 3.1.5 The Dancers

• 3.2 Against all Odds

• 3.2.1 Sofiia Aleksova & Maxemilian Dubov
• 3.2.2 Mariia Bessonova
• 3.2.3 Ekaterina Kuznetsova & Dmitri Parkhomenko

• 3.3. The Cannibals

• 3.3.1 The Sweeps
• 3.3.2 Angela vs. Vincent
  
  
• 3.4 Team GB does it again!
• 3.4.1 Emily Rose Brown & James Hernandez
• 3.4.2 Sasha Fear & Elliot Verburg
• 3.4.3 Robynne Tweedale / Joseph Buckland
  
  
• 3.5 The conclusion

4.0 What I like about you

• 4.1 We don´t give up!
• 4.2 Spin me around
• 4.3 Best music
• 4.4 Best programs
• 4.5 Best outfit
• 4.6 Land of the smile
• 4.7 The dog
• 4.8 Hold me tight

5.0 Final Words

1.0 Introduction

Looking back, I realize how hard it is to organize such a big event, but also how challenging it can be, to take part in it. Many of the NA skaters, had issues with their accommodation, so that the team members were spread over various locations, which resulted in a bit of stress and very early wake up times, like with the Canadian Novice team Natalie D´Alessandro / Bruce Waddel, who showed unusual errors in their performance and couldn´t crack a smile later on, after just coming 4th, behind the three teams of the United States.

Other skaters mentioned, how they had to arrive late at night or couldn't stay for the VC´s, as their schedules did not allow more than two or three days at Oberstdorf. We even had re-arranged starting groups, or a brand new competition as seen with Rakhat Bralin to help with that situation, to make it less stressful for the athletes, something that however, didn´t work all the time and even myself, faced obstacles, as I had to skip several VC´s, due the competitions, which were running at the same time.

That being said, time wasn´t the only problem, as the Russian members noted. They explained, how hard it has become, to actually travel to the "west", now that the Ruble currency is so weak. Hotels now cost a fortune, flights are impossible to manage, so that only the very wealthy ones, can still afford those trips, to an event, that never had as few Russian athletes like this year.

In my opinion, it is incredible sad, that politics have such a big influence on the sport and it´s not only skaters that struggle, it´s the journalists, volunteers or fans as well. I spoke to a young lady, Aisha, she noted how she has come to the event´s at Oberstdorf for years, and that Tugba Karademir inspired her to start skating, but now she is afraid to come, as the situation in Turkey is so horrible and she is afraid to not be let in again, once she left and that her family might face problems with a pro western daughter.

I often wonder, what type of world that is, where young athletes, can not pursue their sport, because of a situation that they have nothing to do with. All they want is to compete, all they want, is to share their programs, so why not let them?

Another aspect I had come across with, was how strange I might look to people at times, when I dive into the performance of a skater, almost as a coach, hoping that they can do well and if not, then I clap, just like I do after a performance. I had a chat about professional journalism and that a person in my position, shouldn´t clap for athletes.
I mean, maybe that is the truth, maybe I shouldn´t support them, but then again this wouldn´t be me. I love to get behind people, maybe because I coach a bunch of kids at home, or was an athlete myself and know, how support can give you that little kick, that final push as with Sondre Oddvoll Boe, who did just run out of steam in his FS, but after a bit support from the crowd, he could finish with a clean double Axel and a 9th in total.

That being said, I don´t care that I might look unprofessional or even weird, I have probably run 20 times to the K&C to congratulate athletes or take a picture, I guess that's just who I am, a guy who is different, but being different does not mean being bad, does it -, as the Austrian skater, Emilie Grosch, proved very well, with elements and lines, that you just don´t see anywhere else.

What you could see however, was an immense spirit by the skaters and I have to once again, congratulate all the participants for their strong will, to just not let go, as with Maelle Oberländer, who had such a nasty fall in the warm ups at times, but she competed like everyone else did, as if nothing had happened, just like, Samira Huskic, who fell a few times and always with a smile!

Of course, skaters don´t just struggle with the programs, but actually also their costumes or the boots, as we saw with the Italian Matilde Battagin and one of my personal discoveries, Llizaveta Malinouskaya, who always gave the ice a little kiss, prior to her performances, maybe knowing what was there to come.

2.0 The discoveries of Oberstdorf

Whenever I go to an event, I check out each single performance, I do so, as I believe that everyone does have, something special. It is an incredible joy for me, to discover skaters I have never met or seen before, as this makes my job so exciting, to look for new breed, to look for someone, who just puts a seed into your heart, which later grows into a huge tree, a tree of compassion, support and strong will, that this skater will just do well. My list of former discoveries is large and I can say without a doubt, that I would not be such a big fan of skaters like Kaetlyn Osmond, Gracie Gold, Adelina Sotnikova or my skaters from Finland, if I wouldn't have seen them as kids, quite often, novice skaters already.

Therefore, the following lines, are for those who were brand new in my book and said book has filled quite dramatically over the past six days.

2.1 Lizaveta Malinouskaya

When my book was only filled with a few lines, this young Belorussian, stepped on the ice and right from the first moment, I knew this will be fun! Elizaveta, brought not only the speed, cool outfits and an immense maturity! No, she also brought a very strong will to just always get up again, no matter what!

In the short, this novice lady who is the reigning national silver medalist, performed incredible in a never ending, active performance. You know when I always talk about "it´s so Russian" and it is. These kids, are coached in such a way, that the whole body is always performing, hands, upper body, the knee bends or the facial expression, it´s all a part of the show! Said show, however, came to a stop, when her boot got lose and she tripped during her step sequence, a sequence, that was so amazingly done, with knee falls, stationary dances, smiles - just so busy and demanding on the skater!

But as I said, there was this issue and when I would have been crying my eyes out, all she did was a quick chat with the officials and then she went on with the show and a triple Sal combination and a very clean double Axel at the end. What impressed me that day, should impress me even more in the Free, when she managed to pick herself up immediately, after each of the four falls there! It was almost, as if she never, ever wanted to let the slippery ice win over her and again, the double Axel - double Toe, made her the winner in the end.

This very flexible skater with gorgeous spins, who won the Volvo Cup last year in November and Tirnavia in October, is absolutely someone to look out for, she is the total package, with the right outfits, music, the style of her programs fit her personality - it´s all there and this is something, also our next competitor brought to Oberstdorf.

2.2 Aurora Cotop

Aurora who is coached by Jonathan Mills and Myke Gillman at the Thornhill Figure Skating Club, does not only have the name of a star or actually goddess, no she actually is one in the making!

The current reigning national juniors champion, has impressed me, right from the first line she did in the warm up. It is hard to describe for users at home, but sometimes you have a skater that skates without doing too much and yet, it is more than anyone else could do. What I like about her most is not only the calm expression on her face, but also those wonderfully choreographed and very busy programs, - designed by Myke Gillman. Said programs, offer very difficult transitions and the speed and grace she can accomplish on ice, is second to none.

Canadian Ice, has great female skaters as we know, Alaine and Kaety being my personal favorites and Gabby has just recently scored a bronze medal at 4 CC.

Cotop with the Romanian touch, however, might be able to even top them, as she has the ability of Osmond, to fill the whole ice with her presence, while not missing out on speed or transitions, very visible with the double Axel sequence in the short, where she doesn´t just try to land it, but actually adds a fluent transition into the final spin and all of that, with posture and grace, which easily makes her one of my favorite skaters at Oberstdorf.

Not sure, if I was Aurora´s favorite photographer at Oberstdorf, but I still gave it a try and scored a nice picture at the VC, which was actually a funny situation, as the 14 years old, who likes to stay in her "personal bubble during competitions", was not fully prepared for that red carpet, which I had unfolded for her there.

I had the feeling, that she wasn´t even aware, of how good she actually was on both days, landing a great triple Toe combination in her "Ave Maria" short, while only missing out on the triple Sal in the Free, where she skated to "somewhere, only we know".
In my opinion, does Aurora understand very well, how to not overdo it, while still using the whole body, to actually transport the music on ice. Her arms are beautiful, she is very musical and has come a long way since she was four years of age, when she made first contact with the cold and at times evil surface that allows all these beautiful performances.

While she was edged out by Ann-Christin Marold, "only" finishing 4th in total, I believe that we will hear a lot more from this young athlete, who is able to combine grace and athleticism in one body.

2.3 Josefin Taljegård

Athleticism is so spot on, if we talk about our next competitor, Josefin from Sweden. I called her "the pocket rocket" and exactly that´s what she is. That lady, has so much energy, she is faster than Usain Bolt, does more turns and spins than a formula one racer and is super fun to watch! It was incredible and quite lucky for all of us, as Taljegård, did quit figure skating in 2014, due injuries and her "new life", the university.

Her heart, however, won over her mind, so she decided to come back this season and she did it with a bang! From my point of you, the 21 years old, is an absolute fan favorite, as she just grabs you with her huge energy and you can see, that she just enjoys to be back on ice! The Free is almost like a short visit in Amnesia or Pasha, she is making a big party out of her skate and still, doesn´t lack the maturity and grace, when she has to take the foot off the gas during one of the breakdowns, as seen with the spirals, which were just backed up by the vocals, to "don´t you worry child".

The Swede, who is coached by her sister, will hopefully add more seasons after this one, we need skaters who are different, who skate out of the box and this she surely did, coming sixth with 147.96 and a total of six triples, while always nailing those steps!

2.4 Emilie Grosch

What she nailed was having the most creative, unique and funny skating of the Bavarian Open 2017. I say this with all due respect, but this Austrian girl did not skate like anyone I have seen in the past years. She was almost performing, as one of the rhythmic gymnasts In the short, all she needed was a pair of clubs and in the Free, Emilie took us first to the "Wiesn" and afterwards on a very romantic and calm rock concert.

While the 18 years old from the "union Eissportclub" doesn´t have triples yet, she has style and what a great one. I was raving on my chair, it was fantastic to see a skater, who just goes out there, to make people smile with very touching and special performances on both days. But it´s not just a gimmick that I mention her here, as she was fun to watch, no she is actually pretty musical and well choreographed for the music, she presents the music in her very own and special way, at times it even looks like a freestyle on ice, so free are her movements.

In my opinion, this kid is very clever, as she knows what she excels in, a skill, I wish more skaters would have, skaters who try to pretend to be something that they are not, just to fit the masses. I hope, this Austrian skater who finished 12th in the Junior Ladies two, will keep that very unique approach to figure skating.

2.5 Giuditta Sartori

Unique and special, was this Italian lady here, who did compete at the Girls Novice II. Not only did she look like a million dollars, no she also liked to really style up, as we say in snowboard and she wasn´t afraid of me either, even though she had the sharp blade and me just a blanket, when she was stretching on my bench.

As for her skating, she does a lot of cool things, while being very mature and graceful, pretty much skating like a junior already, while making it look so easy, always skating with the music, making sure that her timings are correct, the double fully rotated and that she expresses the music. It is not a coincidence, that she has not under-rotated or popped a single of her jumps during competition and that she came back from a 22th SP, where she suffered a fall in her step sequence, not making much wrong in the FS, claiming the 13th best score there and a 17th in total, just 8 points away from the top ten.

My favorite thing about her, however, is that signature move, which she is using since a few years already, usually as a transition to the double Lutz. She is gliding backwards on the left blade, very close to the ice, while her right leg is extended. I am sure, there is a word for this, if not we can just call it the "Sartori" from now on!

I have seen some senior ladies, with similar tricks, but I don´t think anyone that young, has ever performed it, as a transition to one of the hardest jump elements, the Lutz. Besides that, she does spirals and gorgeous steps, while really working hard on her transitions, always adding a difficult connection, while not hesitating or going for the easy stuff. If you ask me, she is a skater with a great attitude on ice and absolutely worth checking out.

Sadly, I do not know that much about her, she does however, compete for a figure skating club at "Trentino" - the Circolo Pattinatori Artistici di Trento, and does originate from Galdonazzo at South Tirol.

2.6 Ting Cui & Angelina Huang

From a totally different corner of the world, do these two young Americans come from and there was dynamite on ice, whenever those skated! Said dynamite or better put "Dorothy´s" house, did almost land on Sissy Krick´s lap, when Ting went for her double Axel - triple Toe combination, almost burying one of the judges below her, which left Sissy with a huge smile on her face, greatly amused by the flying lady who came second at nationals.
That the very expressive skater did not win at home, was the "fault" of Angelina Huang, so in that department, Cui got a little revenge here at Oberstdorf, as the Colorado based skater finished third with the best Free, behind the Italian Marina Piredda, who was leading after the short.

What I like about American skaters, is that huge confidence and power, that they always bring. They are not afraid, they want to sell their programs, show their absolute best and this these two surely did, even though we have to admit, that both lost quite a few points on ice, when the legs got tired towards the end of their free skates.

Something else that I noticed was how bubbly Angelina actually is, a very outgoing personality with lot´s of smiles and jokes, some talking to the ice and she considered what I always say "add something unique, when you leave the ice and wave to the crowd". In Huang's case, this was the "Panda bow" in the Free and a touch of her heart in the short!

The lady who did triple Lutz - Loop - triple Sal at nationals, is quite someone to reckon with, but unfortunately there is hardly any video footage of her available, which might be because of her dad, as he once said that he "can´t hold a camera straight, as it makes him too nervous, to watch his daughter skate".

2.7 Stephen Gogolev & Nicolas Nadeau

I don´t have any information about similar problems within the family of our Mozart or Elvis, but these two Canadians won their competitions with lot´s of attitude, while putting up a huge show.

Stephen, who is with 12 the younger skater, has huge jumps, great figure skating manners and lot´s of speed while Nicolas looks like a 30 years old, - which are not my words by the way, despite being so spot on! He performs like someone, who is in the business for at least a decade, it´s so entertaining what he can do on ice.

In the flawless short consisting of four triples, the 19 years old from Québec, skated to "For me" and I was really impressed how much grace he had in his program, how creative the spins were and in general, how different he skated to so many others around his age, when quite often the programs have strong jumps, but the actual choreography´s can lack a little bit behind.

Not so here, however, as it was a calm and thoughtful skate, yet with lot´s of speed, while he skated a totally different program to Elvis in the Free, showing how versatile this young Canadian actually is.

A young men, that If we look back a few months, was out due to an ankle injury, that he picked up while attempting a quad toe, making him miss the whole JGP season and you would think that it could show, but it absolutely didn´t.

While he skipped the quad loop at Oberstdorf, he was so fun to watch, as seen with the transition to "that´s all right", when he breaks down accordingly to the music only to instantly get up and party his butt off with us in the crowd!

He has all these little pictures, those moments in his programs, things that you will always remember, like the hand going through his hair, the slower passages during "through troubled water" and he can really fill a whole venue with his presence, speeding up and slowing down accordingly to the music - which is so much harder to do than just going full throttle all the time and where this guy takes the energy from, for that last minute is unbelievable!

There was no fatigue or lack of power in the entire program, he sold every part of it and might could have gone on with the show, for another minute. Said show, however, still continued as we had a Canadian Sweep in the junior men, with Conrad Orzel coming second and Joseph Phan third, both with a quad toe in the Free!

While the Quad´s did not happen for our first Canadian winner, they almost happened for our second, Gogolev, who did attempt the Quad Sal in his Free, an element he is able to land since the age of 10! While the programs had it´s problems with clean landings, it was impressive what courage this kid has, not holding back at all, always going for the highest difficulty possible.

Out of all novice boys, Stephen who is coached by Brian Orser and Lee Barkell, was the only one with two clean triple Axels, an element that as sad it may sound, most juniors still can´t do consistently.

As with all skaters from Team Orser, he understands that skating for the people, is more beneficial than skating just for himself and the originally born Russian, is quite a musical guy as well, which you can see for instance, during the step sequence to Mozart's "Zauberflöte", where he almost paints the music on ice. Agility, flexibility and an almost blind understanding of his air positions, will grand this young men, a bright future and I don´t remember anyone being so far, at such young age, if we talk about the men.

North America is in great shape and it is important to note, that most of these young skaters, have roots from abroad, which might should open the eyes of a few people.

3.0 A quick look at the best teams

With open eyes, I was witnessing how our Canadian Ladies Gabby and Lubov were lifting the team trophy during the Nebelhorn Trophy, a reward for the best team, something we sadly didn´t have at the Bavarian Open. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to make our own little victory ceremony in which we have a look at some of the most impressive teams in the past week.

3.1 Team Germany

For us in Germany, figure skating has a long tradition and does not only go back to Katarina Witt, the two time Olympic champion. Aljona and Robin, were on top of the game for many years, won several Worlds and European titles, including two Olympic medals and yet, the sport has almost no media coverage. When I offer articles to the bigger newspapers in my country, it´s always the same answer "no, the people don´t know these skaters, therefore don´t care about them". A friend of mine, even noted, that once Aljona and Bruno stop, the coverage will completely dry out, as football and co is more profitable to the media agencies.

Therefore, let´s make our own little news section now, where I want to talk a little bit about the things in Germany, that nobody of the big players, want´s to publish.

3.1.1 Dora Hus

Let´s start with a young skater from Mannheim, who I mentioned a few times before, back then however, she was still a novice girl and this year, she does compete at the juniors, claiming a very good 5th spot with 131.13, a new PB I believe.

What´s interesting about Dora who came second at junior nationals is her technique, which helps her a lot through what so many ladies fear - the puberty. Because of her skill and the awareness in the air, she can still land her jump elements, even if the body changes or she might not get the perfect take off, which is a huge plus in the business and one reason, why she was able to do as good as she has done so far, in her very first junior year.

Looking back a few years, her desire to become a figure skater actually originates from a TV series that we had for a few years, where a former figure skater and worlds bronze medalist "Tanja Szewczenko", played the leading role. I have to admit, I have never watched this series, but I know that it was the favorite of Dora´s mom and obviously influenced her daughter, who can land four different triples already!

Hus, did land her first triple Loop in competition at the age of 13 and has a very good musical understanding and feel for rhythm, very visible in the short, like with the sequence after the Axel or during her step sequence, when the drum roll kicks in and her feet are following the exact pattern.

I like how her programs have actually grown up with her over the years and that she showed us a different site in the short, where she portrait a young lady, with a few tips for her future husband, while the Free, was more quiet with lot´s of grace.

In my opinion, she has definitely improved her PC´s most over the past year, it looks a lot more mature now, she is selling the performance better and Peter Sczypa, her coach, has done a very good job in a quite competitive environment, with lot´s of great skaters from Mannheim.

3.1.2 Nathalie Weinzierl & Lea Johanna Dastich

One of these skaters is Nathalie, the law student and having been one myself, I know how time consuming this can be! What impressed me most this year, however, was her Free program, as Nathalie is usually a more Jazzy type of skater and I always wanted to see her skate, to a different piece of music, which is more calm so to speak. She had skated to "Meditation" last year, but in my opinion, her choice this season, was even better. The 22 years old, picked "on my own" from the OST of "Les Miserables" for her Free and I think it suits her well.

A fun fact is, that at times you really think that German skaters are "on their own", if you consider how spare the information about them can be at times and only gossip seems to be of interest for our media, as seen with the situation at the Europeans last season, where Nathalie came 7th, but everyone only spoke about her "team jacket".

I find it quite sad, that nobody seems to be responsible for setting up a few bio´s, some interviews or just a profile at the club or DEU websites. Give us more information about the skaters please, when did they land their first elements, what music has been chosen this season or in the past, who made the costumes and so on. I am actually quite happy if parents upload programs of their kids, like with Paula´s and Dora´s dads.

Nathalie, even has a website where she sometimes posts a few updates and I felt the results this season are quite impressive, with many top ten placements.

Weinzierl, who has won the nationals and often faced the issue of two clean runs, was able to skip her nemesis this time at Oberstdorf, as both programs were very clean and as always with lot´s of speed, attack in her jumps and expression. Said expression really came out in the Free, so I can only guess that this program also had a message for someone out there and I really enjoyed how she was involved with her choreographed elements in said program. Besides a lovely dress, the German seems in good shape again, after a small break was necessary, making her skip the Universiade.

Overall, Weinzierl achieved a new PB of 181.50, coming second with a mix of class and romance, while keeping her cool this time, fighting for all her jumps, while nailing a triple toe combination during her "Burlesque" and will hopefully be ready for Worlds, coming next month!

Another German lady is also going to Worlds, but the Junior version of it. Lea Johanna Dastich, second of the senior nationals, has also gained more points than ever before!

With 173.78, she came third and one reason for that big jump is her better performance, as she is not only smoothing out her jump elements, - that suffered under lack of rotations in the last year. No, she also improved her artistry and yes, there is still work to do, maybe a few dance classes like Hip Hop, some ballet here and there, but the start was made and I also think that the "west-side story", suits her better, than "loud & quiet" of the last two seasons.

Coached by Anett Pötzsch, former Olympic champion, Lea has work to do, but is on a very good way to gain more grace and she is still just 16 years of age, so there is lots of time for the young skater from Dresden, who did land a total of 10 triples, including triple Flip - triple Toe in the short and a sequence of triple Flip - Loop - triple Sal in the Free. To note is also how she loves to be on the ice, there are all smiles everywhere and she is fighting hard for her landings, pushing the free leg if needed, so that she can get the landings done, obviously having picked up a few tricks over the years, by Anett.

3.1.3 Paula Mikolajczyk

There can´t be a report about our German skaters, without "Pauli", a young lady from Chemnitz, who is a little star in the making. Just like Lea, she want´s to be on the ice, she want´s to perform and I have to really dash out a big compliment for this young lady and her Short program.

When she stepped on the ice, I thought we were at the Oscars already, what a beautiful dress and she so rocked that! You usually don´t tell a lady that she looks older, but damn - she looked like a grown up lady, accordingly dressed for the red carpet!

Skating to “Skyfall”, Paula convinced with huge attack on everything throughout the program, it was a different skater to last year and for sure no longer the cute girl with the pigtails from years ago. Nope, she looked like a million dollars, greatly in shape, sexy, with tons of confidence! I really love her hands and arms, those fast turns - mini Twizzles, well balanced steps, always aware of what her body is doing, it has so much grace, it´s elegant and very mature. I bet, this girl rocks every dance floor and maybe we will see each other someday there, with me playing the music and you putting on a show.

Said show, is always present when she put´s on her pink dress, for the Free, a program which saw a few modifications, the dress is different, something we guys are often told we wouldn´t notice, but I did! But also the elements have changed, showing the great progress she had in the last year.

For instance, did she kick out the Lutz, while adding three triple jumps, including the Sal and Toe Loop, latter also combined with a double Toe and I also noticed a variation on the last spin, the combination spin, plus she has worked on her levels and I am a big fan of her layback, it looks so gorgeous!

Overall, her already good program, seemed more powerful and was rightly rewarded with a much higher score, about 16 points, above the NRW Trophy score from last season, granting her a combined total of 128.33, which gave her the third spot on the podium.

Like a little puppy, I am already exited to see where Pauli is going to next year and my luck is, I don´t live to far from her ice rink, so I can always try to sneak in and take a peak, of this great young lady, with so much talent!

3.1.4 Team Wende & Ann-Christin Marold

Of course, we had a lot more German skaters on ice, like those of "Team Wende", who skate with so much passion, like Lena Kreitmeier & Anton Kempf, a brand new pair in their very first competition that seemed a bit nervous, but nonetheless very balanced and musical, with very entertaining choreography´s or brother and sister Calderari, who perform so well in such young age and last but not least Alissa Scheidt, who just recently joined Maylin and Daniel.

Said skater had a little disaster in the SP, but came back so strong in the Free, jumping on three, with the second best FS of the Junior Ladies II. Interesting about her is that strong will, that I witnessed over the past five years. She does so skate for the crowd, I loved her Elvis Dance moves, how much power she has and that she is never letting go. A true fire cracker on ice and if I heard this right, then a Pizza here and there, might be the secret ingredient for this young lady or the one mentioned before Paula, as they wanted to eat three of those, right after the Victory Ceremony at Oberstdorf and what was that about school in the morning?

Another name is Ann-Christin Marold, who was so spot on in her Free, greatly dressed for the occasion, a very bubbly but tiny skater, with lot´s of smiles and big goals, as she noted how she want´s to do a triple - triple combination at the cup of Tirol and with it, jump into the "Bundeskader B" which requires another 140 points result. The triple – triple came out in the short at Innsbruck, sadly the 140 were not given by the judges, but I am sure this won´t stop her, after all she has achieved great things already, including the assignment as a sub for Junior Worlds!

If you now consider that her schedule is only 8 months long, that she has to travel 300 km´s for practice, then you have to wonder, how this kid is able to do all of that, while also being quite decent in school at "Untergriesbach", as I have heard!

With just 13 years of age, Ann-Christin is able to land all triples, except Axel and Flip, as Nicole Brünner, her coach from the EC Regensburg noted. She is also a quick learner, as there was a little issue with the CD at nationals, which had a scratch and therefore didn´t play properly, which ultimately cost her the sure victory, after leading in the short. Said CD, did not jump at Oberstdorf, but Marold did and she landed a total of eight triples, with very clean landings.

Besides enjoying her technical abilities, I was a big fan of her choreography´s, with these little dance moves and how she put on some make up, before she went out to party! It´s things like these, that I appreciate a lot with skaters, if they give you something to remember, a picture, a memory and she had plenty of those, including a super cool outfit!

If I could suggest one thing, however, then this would be a better cut of music, as the transitions were not perfect between songs in the Free. The volume just dropped and at times, Ann-Christin was left with no music, which surely costs a few marks by the judges.

Besides that minor suggestion, I was very pleased with the skater who named Liza and Carolina as her big idols!

3.1.5 The Dancers

While you guys are probably tired already of my huge German chapter, I still want to say a few things about our ice dancers, who were pretty good, even winning a very good bronze medal with Kavita Lorenz & Joti Polizoakis.

In a high class field with former world champions and now also Bavarian Open winners, Anna Cappellini & Luca Lanotte (for a full feature on the Italians, please check out my Nebelhorn Column), but also the new found dance combination of Olivia Smart and Adria Diaz, the two Germans proved, that there is a future without Nelli and Alex.

A future, that starts with a mastermind in ice dance, Igor Shpilband, who always knows what his skaters are good at, as seen with the Free of the Germans, where he puts a very strong straight line lift right at the start, so that both skaters can show their strength and balance, while following it up, with a gorgeous dance spin, that shows great flexibility and posture, by both skaters, who were competing in singles before becoming dancers, which always helps with spins and I especially like Kavita´s grace in there.

By choreographing a program like that, you try to squeeze out a few more points by the judges, just like you do, if you put an impressive element at the end and this was the curve lift, unfortunately it did not work out this time, as there was a clear error with her kind of slipping down, but interesting was, that nonetheless both skaters kept performing and I would assume that most in the audience did not even see the error, but the judges did, which resulted in just a level one and lot´s of points, left on the ice.

In the end, a very respectable third place with 156.64 and I hope, we will see those dancers who teamed up in 2015, for many more years to come and that not once again, Drama comes in the way and we lose yet another great dance couple, as last time with Tanja Kolbe and Stefano Caruso.

Of course, did we not only have Drama and grace among our German ice dancers, we also had a couple that is just so fun to watch and they have such harmony and huge sense of humor, while they always relate to each other on ice.

Ria Schwendinger and Valentin Wunderlich, the sympathetic duo from Oberstdorf came 4th in the juniors and I tell you, they just rock so much!

Whenever I see them perform, I have a huge smile on my face, they do exactly what I so want to see by everyone on ice, a role-play throughout the program, which is always present and these two deliver that, beautifully, I love the commitment for their characters and story line, it is fantastically done!

Both skaters from the EC Oberstdorf, make a show out of ice dance, wonderfully choreographed lifts, her expression is so gold to me, they have all these funny pictures - she lifts the skirt and he just looks so spaced out at times, I love that, both are these people that they portrait, just as it should be in my opinion and the musical understanding is top notch as well.

It just all works together so nicely, plus they have difficulty like the crossing pattern in the Twizzle and the whole acting throughout the lines, lifts or the spin, adds an additional difficulty to the whole performance!

Both skaters, make sure that everyone in the audience has a good time, while they sing along and just look super charming during their Adams Family routine.

I also checked out our advanced novice pairs and I was impressed how good they are already, with Anne Marie Wolf and Max Liebers being my favorite, as they already have lot´s of little details in their program, as with her colors, being in his chest pocket, while always skating with grace, expression, good posture and nice extensions.

Last but not least we also had Peggy Beeck and Leon Wagner from Berlin, who teamed up in 2015, after already skating together in 2011 -2012, not sure why they decided to try out new partners, maybe because she has grown so much, something that was quite visible also at Oberstdorf, but then again we have the Italians Fabbri / Guignard who are world class, even with the difficulty in height so it´s not impossible to make it work!

While I liked the outfits, speed and overall choice of music, I would had liked to see a bit more personal involvement in their program, something that was done very well by Julia Albrecht and Kai Hoferichter.

Said duo, - in which he wears the glasses and she brings the red cheeks, offered good presentation skills and a proudness in their eyes, while the Berlin based skaters, had all the glamour, good speed, but lacked the facial expression. Maybe, they are just a bit shy or I have seen them on a not so good day, but that´s really something I would love to see improve over the next months, as both are decent looking lads and have good posture and grace, it would be a pity if they don´t use these things to their advantage.

Overall, however, it was not too bad and my favorite novice were of course, the little Russians, who are just so amazing and proud, it made me wow!

3.2. Against all Odds

Russian skaters, have it hardest these days, as a lot of people seem to blame them for all the wrongs in the world and especially here at GS, not everyone is fair and nice to Russian athletes.

Besides that, they suffer big time under the loss of currency, as the Ruble has dropped so much over the past years, making trips to Western Europe almost impossible. Luckily, we still had a few Russians here at Oberstdorf and this is their story...

3.2.1 Sofiia Aleksova & Maxemilian Dubov

Sofia and Max started very early in the morning on both days, as our novice dancers had to catch the early bird. What I first noticed with these kids, born in 2005 and 2003 was the extreme proudness to be on ice.

You can not really describe it with words, you just need to see it, if you look into their eyes like of Sofiia, how happy she was and how she was so holding on to her "mate", they just looked so adorable together and they had some of the better Twizzle´s too, on a day when a lot went wrong for our other skaters, skaters who were quite often much older than these two from St. Petersburg.

Coached by Denis Lunin and Valeria Morozova, they captured the essence of their programs beautifully and you just wanted to give them a little hug after each element, step and spin, as they so deserved it and the other skaters gave them a lot of applause as well!

If there is one thing a lot of skaters could learn from these two kids, then it is the ultimate desire to get out and perform, while skating with your partner, but also the crowd. Just think about it, we are talking of young kids and they already show the grace of the adults, with fluent transitions, a calm hold and so much joy at all times!
When the female vocals kicked in, you can feel how they love what they are doing, as their love for the sport, just goes directly into your own heart and how they pulled off this huge straight line, I don´t know - she is such a darling and he takes good care of her, also seen at the rotational, what a strong boy, she was right up there in the split and he did not break a sweat!

Their PB of 69.93 wasn´t touched this time, but I hope to see those soon again, two young kids, who teamed up in 2015, after Sofiia pursued a solo career landing a single Axel with round about 8 years and a double Toe later.

Of course, I also want to note how lovely Wing Yi Valerie So & Marcus Yau did. The couple from Hong Kong, looked super proud, wearing great costumes and were just as tiny as the Russians!

3.2.2 Mariia Bessonova

Our next skater is coming from Moscow and was just incredible charming on ice or the K&C.

Marsha was born in 2000 and so disappointed, of not being able to jump on the podium, coming just 5th again, like a few weeks ago at the club event at Moscow, this time however, she improved her score by almost 20 points!

For me, she was one of those that I enjoyed just a bit more than all the others, as I was impressed with her wonderful commitment to her programs, she was so proud to be there, she was skating her characters like the Maestro with grace and wonderful expression, she was just astonishing good as a performer and in many countries of the world, she would be one among the best and featured in news articles or videos, but in Russia... she is sadly not in the spotlight, as the depth is so big over there and most people don´t really bother with a young lady who still had trouble with the double Axel at 12 and doesn´t already have gold around her neck with 16.

Luckily, she does keep fighting and as we could see, the double Axel was there now and someone also noticed her and I am sure many more will, if she keeps competing internationally, which seems to be quite rare in her case, as I could only find a few results from 2010-2012 and now those two with Oberstdorf and Moscow.

My guess is, that all the money in Russia, goes to the top skaters, those that land triple Lutz with 10 already, so that the other talents are just forgotten and I find that very sad and really if you could have seen her on ice, you would understand why I want her to get out there more, as she was incredible nice and so appreciative of every single word and the best was the VC, something that almost all Russians always skip, as they don´t have team leaders there, so nobody tells them when the VC is, something that even happens with the absolute best, as seen with Liza and Julia in the previous years.

Marsha, did not miss her VC and controlled all her instruments beautifully in the short, while grace and quietness accompanied her in the Free, which made her even more charming in my books!
Said book, got a new note, during the Victory Ceremony, a procedure that is always very special here, as each skater get´s a medal and the Diploma and at times, they bring surprises to these reward ceremonies and exactly this, Maria did.

What she brought, put a tear in my eyes, as for us guys there is nothing worse than meeting a lady, who you like, who looks wonderful and who is not a Drama queen and then, you watch Star Wars with them and they ask you after the movie "where was Captain Kirk"?...

This, I am sure, would never happen with Marsha, as she knows these things, being a big fan of Star Wars and she looked so lovely, with that Star Wars shirt on!

I am pretty sure, girls that read these lines, will not understand me, but I bet the boys will, because we cry every time, when someone does not share our passion for science fiction.

Bessonova´s 152.69, the triple Loop - double toe, these smooth steps, or her graceful spins, were sure as hell, not science fiction, they were real, just like my memories about this wonderful young lady, from Russia.

3.2.3 Ekaterina Kuznetsova & Dmitri Parkhomenko

Good memories can also be shared with these two Russians, as they managed to keep the extremely strong North American teams at Bay, edging out Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha from Canada by 0.02 points! The Canadians had immense feel for Rhythm, great lines with wonderful expression and timings, but as we saw, it was just the best Free this time. If you want to know more about these two, feel free to check out my column from Dresden!

As for our Russian duo, it is actually quite funny, that the very first competition by Ekaterina and Dmitri in February 2013, was a regional one called "Ural & Volga cup", at said competition these two actually came last! Several years later, they not only won at Oberstdorf, but could in theory even go to Worlds as they got the minimum score a few weeks ago at Tallinn.

If we now consider that ice dance has the hardest to reach minimum TES, that both came over from Moscow where they are coached by Alexander Zhulin and Alexei Sitnikov, then this is quite an achievement for such a young couple, being born in 2001 and 2002. What I noticed right at the start was their cleverness with their lifts, it is very well done, similar to what Soloviev & Bobrova, the reigning national champions do.

The entry and the exits but also transitions, are very smooth, as seen with the straight line in the short, where she jumps with her right shin on his right upper leg, sits there for not more than a half second, then turning inwards, giving him the free left leg, which he grabs and holds the balance with. All this, without the slightest error or hesitation, it just goes all hand in hand, so typical for Katja and Dima, something I have fallen in love with over the years and it is wonderful that there is a young Russian team, following their steps!

Similar can be found at the Twizzle sequence, they cover a lot of ice, have good speed and add a small choreographed sequence within the sequence of Twizzle´s. Besides having good edges and a very strong facial expression that actually changes with the music, these two dancers have all the secret ingredients to make a good duo on ice, close and soft in hold, mirroring each other during the no touch lines, strong arms by both and a pretty well done dance spin too, a very balletic team, overall.

Also to note is how much skill they bring to the table, something very noticeable with the curve lift in the Free, her flexibility is gorgeous and what a tight radius he can skate, such depth in the Ina Bauer position, - it´s quite something that just stood out!

Of course, It would be a bit sassy to now claim, they are the next champions, but you really see a lot of similarities, not just within the coaches, but the overall choreographed lines, the blind understanding of each other and as I said, the skill in everything they do, gaining most of the level four, never taking a break and beating the top nation in Ice dance competitions, does not come from luck, it´s a lot of hard work and I am very curious how they will do next season.

3.3. The Cannibals

What the Canadians couldn´t do in the junior competition, the US Americans did at the advanced novice, winning the gold, plus bronze and silver, something that was only repeated by the Japanese in the Novice Girls I, with Moa, Akari and Rion on the podium, while Catherine Carle achieved a very good 4th, with a beautiful performance to “once upon, a December” in her Free. Quite noticeable was, how quiet and silent she was on blades, yet offering huge attacks on her jumps. Besides that, she is very expressive – quite the total package, with double Axel – triple Toe, already!

No Axels of course in our ice dance competitions, but Twizzles and they became a little bit the Nemesis of many of our skaters. That being said, all three American teams proved that selling a program, is a natural given thing in the United States.

On three, we had our "little ones", with a brilliant Bollywood program, I loved their costumes especially by Katarina Delcamp, she looked like a little Lena to me, but I doubt that Ilinykh can pull of a double Axel or Biellmann spin, as this kid here does! This time however, she teamed up with her partner Maxwell Gart, who executed all these difficult lifts with her, it was impressive to see, just like these beautiful edges and transitions, but also the great use of her flexibility as seen at the dance spin.

Also to note is that they were smart enough to finish their program with a bang and the rotational lift and I especially want to point out here, how they exit said element, with him kind of jumping out, what a great idea.

In an always progressing program to the OST of "Slumdog Millionaire", these two from the Dallas figure skating club, offered great extensions, always selling their performance and I was really happy that someone finally picked the "Latika´s Theme", as I love those hunted vocals by Suzanna de Mello, great choice of music!

With 74.10 they could edge out the Canadian Novice Champions Natalie D´Alessandro & Bruce Waddel, who were clearly disappointed about the so unusual mistakes by him in the Twizzles.

n two we had the "Elders", Sophia and Christopher with 79.04 and their "Waltz & Masurka" dance, a more traditional approach to the other Americans. Interesting is, that Christopher at first had to be convinced of skating with his younger sister, a job that obviously was done well, with the help of a few toys and candy´s as I have heard.

To me, both skaters were very mature, they seemed to be the "most" advanced of the "advanced" skaters, if we talk about blind understanding, mostly coming from a 10 years experience, they just know each other inside out and manage to skate as one!

Unfortunately, did they have a costly mistake on the Twizzle too, therefore no chance to take over the lead and even with a clean program, the Green´s, Caroline and Gordon were pretty much untouchable, winning each single skate with a combined total of 89.21.

Impressive was their dance spin, an element I am not always keen on, as I find it a bit old-school, therefore I appreciate skaters who make it entertaining and a true part of their program, which the Greens did, by having a very nice transition into it, but also the exit with the dance hold, was very nicely done.

Overall, we could see that siblings are able to skate with emotions, as these four were acting non stop and I enjoyed the speed, that was present throughout the whole performance, smart move with the "Pumpkin and Honey Bunny" closing, which gave the whole program a worthy finish.

Having teamed up in 2009, these two have not lost a competition since 2013, including a regional competition a few weeks ago, which is quite impressive and I so love her hair, please never cut it!

I also want to note that there were other non American teams with great programs, like the Estonians Jessenia Tsenkman & Marko Gaidajenko, who had great speed and were floating with the music in their Free, in an overall always improving performance, coming 13th, 8th and finally 4th in the Free Dance or how about our Italians Alice Rossi & Marco Cilli, who had all these great positions on ice and wonderful grace by her.

3.3.2 Angela vs. Vincent

Grace is exactly spot on, if we talk about our last two Americans here, Angela Wang and Vincent Zhou.

What I first noticed was their passionate skating, especially with our young Lady from Salt Lake City, who was just like me at the Olympics 2002 and just like her, I decided to give a try, her try, however, was more successful as I have become just a writer and DJ, while she is a world class athlete, who gained 183.65, while offering us 9 triples including a Flip - toe combination in the short, where she skated to "somewhere over the rainbow".

n said program, she was skating lights out for me, with incredible expression, always performing the hell out of her program, with beautiful extensions, so balletic and emotional, that I was unable to take my eyes of that performance to write down a few notes and just settled with my typical "star" next to the name!

Said star, was also added after her Free skate, which had two very different types of music, yet offered a fluent progression and I love how she timed that Flip with the flying camel, right on the transition to "in the mood", by Glenn Miller.

Our happy girl who has the fun hobby of "hair growing..." is overall, a very musical skater and I honestly wonder if you guys in the US, will ever stop sending me new skaters I fall in love with, as my heart can´t take it anymore...

What I can always take more of, are male programs that are actually clean and a performance, like with Vincent. The guy, who finished his very first international competition at Oberstdorf, not only won with a whooping 43 point advantage, no he also qualified for the Senior Worlds, which he however, might not even go to, as Brown and Chen have the spots there, right now.

Talking about the present, Zhou skated with a very brave heart, landing a quad Lutz in the Free, which I believe not more than a handful ever did! Besides that, he added a clean quad Sal in the Short and a slightly under-rotated one in combination with a triple Toe, on day two!

What I really appreciate about the 16 years old from Riverside, is his ability to not only post the high TES, but also very good PC´s, which is always much more difficult, than having just a jump heavy program, without transitions, emotional involvement and so on, something that I criticize a lot with our male skaters, who then even fall so much, that I become sad!

Luckily, no sadness there with Vincent on the ice who brought back the art to figure skating and it was a pity that not more people could witness it, when history was in the making.

3.4. Team GB does it again!

History always repeats itself as we know, therefore I was super happy to see the British dancers once again, as I so love their style, they always have these romantic story-lines! Being an ice dancer, however, is a lot of hard work, of which I want to tell you a little bit about now, with the example of our first little stars Emily and James.

3.4.1 Emily Rose Brown & James Hernandez

These two skaters teamed up in summer 2015, with him being a former ice dance national champion, while Rose did a bit of everything, Pairs, Singles and Dance, after starting with eight years.

When they teamed up, there was instantly some type of connection, something they like to describe as "soul mates", which is at least as important as the physicality (weight, size …). In ice dance, you not only need to find the perfect match, someone who you can lift / can lift you, has similar stamina - feel for rhythm ..., no you also need to find someone, who can make a few sacrifices for you, as this is a two person sport and exactly this, both had to prove multiple times.

While the Hernandez family was living down south at Amersham, with him practicing at Slough, the Browns were all the way up North, with her practicing at Sheffield, which usually resulted in a drive on 2 AM Saturday morning, so that they could practice over the weekend and Monday, driving back and forth.

With this tough schedule in mind, the parents of James offered Emily a stay, to ease the 600 pounds gas bill, that the Brown family had accumulated every month. But even this, was not a solution forever, so that the whole family did relocate, 200 miles south to Berkshire and this at Christmas 2015!

The result was a less intense drive of now just one hour every morning, as both skaters do practice six days a week, with the alarm clock ringing at 04:30 AM, a time i remember well, but from actual coming home...

Anyways, said commitment lead them to a great second place at their first junior nationals last December, after winning the novice nationals with just about three months of being together, the year before.

Now that these two have come twice to Oberstdorf, it is even more impressive what they actually do on ice. Not only did she start quite late with the sport, but also the commitment to travel all the time, to completely relocate, design the own dresses and so on, that is what makes someone a winner in the future!

This year at Oberstdorf, the 15 years old who are coached by Phillip Poole and Nicholas Buckland, presented their brand new SD and a reworked version of their "ghost" performance, updated to the junior requirements, with new versions of "unchained melody" like by Alex North, including a few vocal samples, directly from the movie I believe.

What i first noticed, was the wonderful outfit by Emily in the short and I did wonder was that still the fabulous work of Esther's mom, which and I hope I don´t say anything wrong now, would be the grandmother of Emily, who did already design her dresses last season.

Said dress from the short, did totally remind me of the 40´s, like with Kate Beckinsale in the movie Pearl Harbor, but also Judy Garland who had a similar style back in the days! Why do I mention this, well I do, because outfit, music and expression are so key in ice dance and in my opinion, these two captured that pretty well, skating to “Summertime” and "in the mood".

You could really see that they had fun on ice during the Jive, that they were graceful in the Blues, it just worked very well together and it shows that commitment can move mountains, even with a small budget.

As for the Free, I did watch them at Estonia last year during the JGP and I wouldn´t call it a disaster, but you saw it wasn´t their best performance and also at Dortmund they still had a couple of issues, like with the Twizzles where she stepped out or the Straight Line Lift, but and this I like about these two, they keep on working and always deliver best at the Bavarian Open, where pretty much everything worked out well and it is not easy to perform such a strong SLI at the end of your program, especially if the person you lift, does not stand completely still, so kudos to James!

I am not sure if they compete at any other event this year, they wanted to go to the Junior Worlds, but I believe that GB only has one spot, so that Sasha Fear and Elliot Verburg will most likely go, as they won the Junior Nationals and also came one place in front of Em & James this time.

3.4.2 Sasha Fear & Elliot Verburg

Above I mentioned how three months of practice can be enough to win the novice title, as Brown and Hernandez did, but it also works in Juniors, as seen with Sasha and Elliot, who did both skate with totally different partners until the start of the season, including the JGP at St. Gervais, where Sasha teamed up with Jack Osman coming 12th!

Why they split, I don´t know, but these two are pretty good on ice and because of that, they could pull this stunt off, because that's what it is for me, I would never do that within a season, to be honest, but as we saw in Germany, it happens more often than it should and I respect the privacy and do not ask further, why!

What I would had liked to ask Sasha, however, was how her six-pack is doing, because such a rotational lift you can´t do without them, but honestly, jokes aside, I was never in the world, expecting that they were such a new pair, as they looked like everyone else, who has been together much longer!
They mirror each other beautifully in the NT of their SD to "That´s life / Jumpin Jack" or the Twizzle´s which end exactly where they should end to find the connection, the lifts on both days are smooth in and out, good spins - great hands by her there and always selling the elements, with that huge smile on their faces!

I love positive skating on ice, skaters that come across and just smile at you, so delightful! These young lads, they just always performed and showed the "fun on dancing" that is not just a requirement, but also important for the crowds, as nobody want´s to see a few robots on ice.

Their Free to music by "ThePianoGuys", was very joyful performed, with great lines - I like it a lot how soft their holds are and how they never miss each other, it´s such seamless skating and they definitely profit from their personal skill and the perfect match on ice, as both are so equally present and balanced!

Short and Free, were wonderful to watch and it is always a pleasure with teams from GB on ice.

3.4.3 Robynne Tweedale / Joseph Buckland

Last but not least these two skaters, who came 8th in the senior dance, with a fantastic FD to "my immortal" and their "Elvis" short.
By just mentioning these two track titles, you can see how versatile these skaters are, they can go very quiet and emotional, but also funky and groovy.

Again, I have to point out, that they didn´t skate together for that long, as Joseph did skate with Olivia Smart prior to the last season, while Robynne did skate with Edward Carstairs, with whom she came second in 2014/15 at junior nationals.

Now that I think about it, are you guys from team GB trolling me or something :shocked:, what´s up with this whole coming out of nowhere and being so good all the time with new partners...

Anyways, these two here who are coached by Igor as well, currently practice in Nottingham at home and the United States at Navi and they have tons of speed, so much that Robynne became a bit dizzy at the Twizzles in the SD.

That being said, she did absolutely gorgeous in the Free and they could make up for that error, with a top level 4 Twizzle sequence and I like the edges in the NT mid-line, maybe the best part of their Elvis performance, including of course the lift with the changing positions by her, at the very last seconds of their program, ultimate difficulty!
I said it before, Igor knows what's important in Ice Dance, put a huge finish, make the judges go higher, great job there together with Philip Askew, who is not related to Mr. John Askew, the DJ right?

Anyways, let´s go to their FD which as I said, was fantastic! I liked the outfits, which were not so much in your face, especially by him, very casual and good use of music, right at the start, with the minor break where both pull their arms to their chests, skating slightly forwards on their right leg, I love that - such a nice picture - it´s art you know, a big part of figure skating.

Overall, they used the music greatly, especially the vocals by the absolutely gorgeous Amy Lee of Evanescence, as seen with their lifts and it was so smooth all the time, great entry into the dance spin, but also the exit - it was creative and different, just as I like it and they don´t force anything in the program, either.

It´s all soft gliding and dancing with the music, a music which requires you to be quiet and calm, yet impressive, as the song is so big so your skating needs to be as well!

The curve lift at the end, I think my highlight of the whole performance, such a great placement and a wonderful finish with the choreographed dance lift, where she slowly glides down on his back, always perfectly aligned with the key strokes of the piano.

GB has so much talent, but stop trolling me please and stick together guys, it cant get much better than this!

3.5 The conclusion

As you can see, we had amazing teams at Oberstdorf, with Japan being very dominant in the Novice Girls I and Junior Ladies i, while our North American friends, decided to claim most of the dance and pairs medals, while not letting anyone get close in seniors and all the other single skater disciplines, even edging out the three Japanese men, preventing the second sweep for Nippon!
It is not on me to decide who was the best or most impressive and as I said above, I did miss the Russians but also Ukrainian skaters from the past years, as they always have such a classy skating style, very balletic with immense story lines and I really hope that our World will still be in tact next year, as of right now, I have my serious doubts about all of this, since our politicians are stupid, greedy and fake!

Anyways, let´s talk about the good again and of course, it was not just these skaters above who made my day, it were also the Italians, who skated with so much heart all the time, especially Flora Muehlmeyer & Pietro Papetti, the dancers who sold their programs to all sides, not just the judges in a very balanced duo, or our Czech duo, Lucy Burton & Thomas Ingall, who were not only admired by me for their emotional Free Dance, but by many of the skaters as well, as I was watching their performance within the skaters seats, quite an interesting perspective and skaters are so supportive for each other, great spirit there in the stands of the skaters!

And how about Villö Marton & Danyil Semko, who were just outstanding fantastic, I love how he presents her all the time as his lady and he was rewarded with a piece of her, when she was allowing him to bite her, at the end of Dracula. It was also very funny, how they covered their ears prior to the scores being announced of the previous skaters, they had all these little choreographed elements there, I was laughing a lot.

It always makes my day to see unusual elements and choreography´s, while keeping the difficulty up, as with the entry to the dance spin, so low by both - very well done and of course the lift right before , with her in the air! They only need the steps higher in level and they will be very competitive, I mean they already were, we are talking of level fours for everything, except the steps sequences, which were on two.

Not on Two, but one was Sarah Tamura, the Canadian who left no doubt about her winning the Junior Ladies II, skating a firebird free - she is such bubbly skater and last but not least, what about Seo Young Lee, who sold her programs so well, always busy acting, never taking her foot of the gas, while bringing some very special outfits each time, coming 4th in the seniors with 157.49.

We saw good pairs as well, with my favorites Joulia Chtchetinina & Noah Scherer winning gold at the seniors, also skating to “my immortal” and I am a big fan of the way that these two skate, be it the no touch, lifts or overall alignment, even in the side by side jumps. It´s just something for the heart and she is so beautiful, what a lady! Joulia is capable of landing the throws like the triple Lutz and the program ends so well, with them standing apart of each other...

Oh well, time to take the tissue´s away and also wish our wonderful Lola Esbrat a speedy recovery, as she hurt her hand and therefore couldn´t compete with Andrei in the Free!

Overall, the competition was the smallest of all, if we exclude our only competitors in advanced novice (Edita Hornakova & Radek Jakubka) - which always makes me a bit sad, as pairs is so wonderful to watch and at times these skaters even make some fun about themselves as with Emilia Simonen and Matthew Penasse, who competed for Finland and both said, that they were “just not good enough for singles”, so they posted their profiles at ice-partner search and decided to give it a go.

The Fin federation on the other hand, told them to try their luck at Oberstdorf and now they even qualified for Worlds, with very lovely performances, they just look so balanced on ice, great posture and a triple Sal throw already – lot´s of eye candy as I call it!

Said candy, was there plenty with our North American pairs as well, who decided that Europe should not play a part at the top three in Juniors.

Evelyn and Trennt, won with 155.50 and just like at Dresden, they looked lovely aligned and her expression was so cold in the short, for someone like me who is afraid of women, kind of creepy! But honestly, they have captured the music really well, I like the part shortly before the spin at the end, where he goes all out.

At the Free, they brought Adele and Alex was no longer scared but enchanted, by so much expression, always working with the vocals, as with the first lift, also very difficult entry into the Death Spiral and always performing, great pairs spin, where she holds on to him, lovely choreography!

On two, we had Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland, also from Canada, shortly behind with 151.85 and with these two I noticed a very cute way of skating, making all these little emotes in the short, lot´s of smiles, she is hyper positive during the whole skate and probably could go as a Barber too, I mean, that NT looks so dangerous to me, please be careful there!

Alexandria Yao and Austin Hale, might have been my favorites coming third! Their short was very graceful, especially he did an amazing job and the DS variation with her looking at the ice, I wonder how that feels and my big nose, would probably get a lot of scratches there, if I would try that!

The Free on the other hand, offered once again great extensions and creative elements, as with the choreographed sequence and I like how they used the music in their second lift, when he goes one handed there into the rotation, that looked super classy! If we now consider and I am not 100% on this, but this lady has started skating around 2010 and with Austin she is skating since this season... how do you guys do that! I would had never guessed this, great job here at Oberstdorf!

4.0 What I like about you

I tell you, a book of round about 100 pages, had been filled after the event, so many great skaters on ice, if I could I would write a few lines about everyone, but sadly that is just not possible, but once I have my own blog up, you will find these little stories like above, there, when I feature specific athletes from all around the world, but until then, we have to settle with these columns and i hope you had a good read so far. As always at the end, we are reaching the point, where we hand out the medals for all and I want to start with a few medals for many skaters, because they were so tough and strong!

4.1 We don´t give up!

I want to start with Soon Jung Ko, who was obviously injured in her Free, only making singles or doubles, - but she did skate until the end, it was so heartbreaking to see, just like with Oksana Artyomenko who fell really hard and you could see her pain, but there was no giving up in her mind just like with Mariella Lange!

Or how about my Karoliina Luhtonen, who told me after her short, that she will make sure, the double Axel works in the Free and she kept her word and did land it so proudly with a big smile in the Warm up and during competition on day 2. She also had great spins and is such a determined young lady and I guess we need to wait a bit longer for the triple - triple in competition, but I am sure she will do it one day! For now, she had to settle with a small medal and her Diploma which she at first didn´t feel like taking, but a day later she was all smiles again and very happy!

And what about the Turks, like Elif Erdem, who brought such a traditional style to her programs, always remembering where she is coming from by using some oriental patterns in her music, having good detail in her outfits as well and she didn´t win gold, but her smile was that of a winner at all times, she was selling the heck out of everything she did, with these huge - proud eyes accompanying her all the time! We even had a pair from Turkey with Cagla Demirsal & Berk Akalin, former ice dancers and it was so visible from the first moment on, that they came from dance, as they skated so dangerously close to each other, my mouth was wide open when I saw it!

Despite all the problems with their federation, the Visa and all that bad stuff happening with Erdogan, these two have a dream and they want to achieve it together, which is so wonderful to see, it reminds me of that one soccer player three years ago, who so tried to qualify for the Olympics at Nebelhorn and it was so heartbreaking to see, how it just didn´t work out and with these two here, they have all my support and sympathy for their goals!

Maria Katharina Herceg is another young lady, who has once been hyped as the biggest talent we had in Germany, she even won the Bavarian Open a few years ago, competed at the JGP and youth Olympic games where she won bronze, but then stuff happened that was out of her control with the injuries and coaching issues, so that today, she is a bit lost in two worlds, university or sport and she want´s it both, but it´s tough and I felt her great smile had left her eyes and I hope she will be back strong soon again.

4.2 Spin me around

Next up are the spins and we had Adelina spins, yay! Tiffany Klaunig showed one, Julia Sauter as well and the German is actually a pretty cool performer on ice, she was really living her short to "all that jazz", having a very expressive and proud style of skating, interpreting the music nicely and if she steps on ice, always with a smile, such a happy fellow this young lady from the EC Oberstdorf.

I also want to mention Aimee Buchanen, who for sure get´s all the boys back home, she is such a stylish skater, so much heart just like Fleur Maxwell and if she could just land those jumps... She is always so into her music, just like all the Israeli girls - I know they are pretty much mostly American, but still they want to skate, they might couldn´t do this under the stars and stripes banner, so they found another way and that´s what it takes at times, you need to give it a try and if it doesn´t work first time, then just try harder until it does. She was also singing or talking during her performance in the FS, maybe sending herself a few vibes.

Corey Circelli offered great spins too, as I said earlier, he does all the cool things the girls do and the best is, he is actually also an ice dancer together with Katerina Kasatkin and I believe they came 4th at nationals this year, after having teamed up in 2016, so another of those shooting stars at ice dance. I like his flexibility, the grace in his movements but also skill to interpret his program music like with Hallelujah in the short.

Sophie Abrams also needs to be added to the list, or Anastasiia Arkhipova, the Ukrainian lady “without the bones” in her back, who skated to “will always love you”, such a charming performance, by such a young skater!

4.3 Best music

Let me start with Senta Böhlke the Chemnitz based skater, who opened up the Girls I Free and she had music by Ellie Golding "cool kids" and it was so spot on, because they were all the cool kids indeed! I really enjoyed her timings, a very musical skater that uses the music well during her routines.

Or how about the dancers Celia Robledo & Luis Fenero, with their dirty dancing Free and the Mambo Magic (De todo un poco), finally someone used that piece of music, as the OST has so many good tracks, with my favorites being " do you love me", "stay" or "cry to me" which are cool to dance to if you have the right partner and of course "hungry eyes"!

As for these two, they used the music nicely and had good timings, with the more uplifting part at the end, to the signature song "time of my life", where they both captured the essence of the music so nicely, heads up - smiles, positive and just enjoying their time of their life's!

The Italian Lucrezia Manelli, also picked Hallelujah and she worked that music so well, everything timed amazingly well, huge smile at the double Axel, very passionate skater.

4.4 Best programs

If I think back about the best performances, then I always think about one name, Julia Lang, the Hungarian who put so much joy in my face during her routines. Coming 8th at the novice girls I, she convinced with great musicality, a gorgeous choreography always in sync with the music, her spins are fantastic and overall, she has attitude and glamour all around her.

Before the short, she went to Renata in the Ukraine, picked up her dress and then showed us that "the race II" can also be performed by a single skater and she did wonderful, just like the Ukrainian pair with Mark Bardei and Renata Ogenasian always did. She had energy, strong will, insane flexibility as with the Biellmann, where she pulls down the boot to kiss it, that was insane and it got even better in the Free, where she pulled out another trick of her pony tail!

At said Free Program, she is doing a transition into the Lutz, it´s a spiral and she pulls the right leg all the way down to the ground on her left side, while holding it, then she pulls it up again into the spiral position, turns and goes into the double Lutz with tano ... How is that even possible, but also the flying camel spin, such a great position by her and the step-sequence, I so love this one, she has been incredible on ice and her talent is huge, so much potential!

I tell ya, we will have tons of fun with this lady from Hungary, I don´t think that Ivett was already so great at the novice stage and there was even another skater from Hungary with huge potential and a fantastic Free at a time, when the competition needed a good skate.

4.5 Best outfit

Csenge Rabb! saved us when she came on ice, so fitting to her character of a Jedi and I want to start with her perfect outfit, it was my absolute favorite! She looked absolutely fabulous, it was not for the red carpets, but for an adventure and what adventure did she give us, we were able to see a lady who was so committed to her role, and remember what I told you before, there are not many girls on this planet, who understand Star Wars... No offense but I could tell you stories...

Anyways, Csenge was really breathtaking, she is a great performer, holding her lightsaber proud, full of compassion - going down on her knee´s always selling the music, great steps, what an energy in her step-sequence, I was completely blown away how she just exploded on ice at the two minute mark, as if she was just fighting the battle of her life!

There was so much Drama in her face, it was an absolute delight if you ask me and Csenge, Julia, Dora and all the others, they are the reason why I travel to those event´s, as you always find someone who just leaves an impression and as much as I like the red carpet dresses and we had plenty of those at Oberstdorf again, this Lady Csenge here, absolutely nailed it for me, she looked perfect from head to toe!

4.6 Land of the smile

Japan is considered to be the home of smiles and not every smile means what you think it does, but our Japanese ladies were really charming, almost as if Saya, Riko, Moa, Akari or Rion wanted to tell you before each element, that they only do it for you!

Saya Suzuki loved to look at people, always checking for reactions and she even speaks some English or she was just being nice to me when I wanted a picture... anyways, her jumps such as the Lutz toe combination in the short, were super huge and secured her the top spot at our Junior Ladies I.

I am not a coach in FS, but looking at her technique with the jumps, then I can´t help but say that it all looks very sharp from start to finish, she does not lack height or rotation and she knows exactly where she is, which always helps with the landings and without looking at the protocols, I would say she had the most solid jumps at least for our Junior ladies, with big variety and quite some back-loading going on, with the Flip, Sal both as triple very late, or that immense double Axel - triple Toe, the toe especially huge height for her there in the Free.

Riko Takino, convinced with great timings and musicality especially in her step-sequence, always selling, staying positive, with her huge smile, great kid so charming.

Moa Iwano, has such beautiful music in the short, with soft vocals and right before the spirals she looked at me, as if she wanted to say, hey Alex you like that right? She has great expression for such a young girl, very nice spins - a bit like Yulia and always selling, great hands, so much heart on ice by the tiny Japanese, who was a little star already, who even if she made an error, never showed it in her face!

Same can be said about Vilma Leppänen, who never stopped smiling while having such a friendly way of skating, just lovely! Or how about yet another Hungarian, Fruzsina Medgyesi, with that lovely short with the Piano playing, she looked so lovely and happy after her skates, and within, she was a part of her music, so graceful and very mature, but with power - she is not someone with minor jumps, she actually really takes of and at least here, she did land them all, some with a fight, but overall, very confident and I believe, she likes the Loop and Sal a bit more, than all the others.

4.7 The dog

I mentioned it on the first days, that there was actually a dog in the building and he had his favorites for sure like with Amber De Maesschalck who he checked out with his big eyes and I am sure he also liked her attack and those wonderful steps, or he was just hungry...

You never know with the dog, as it was quite noticeable, that he always came out when the girls were on the ice, especially during warm up! At said, he was making very sure that nobody disturbs the ladies and girls, as he just blocked the stairs!

We did not always agree about skaters, as with Julia, who he just commentated with a "yawn" but nonetheless he was very supportive, sitting on his little blanket, keeping the toilet breaks at an absolute minimum while always coming out, when a skater struggled, to give them that "look" of desperate support!

4.8 Hold me tight

Desperate was our “kitten” Juulia, when everyone at Finland looked at her, expecting the undo-able and her sad eyes told you everything, that there was to know.

Juulia Turkkilla missed the Olympic spot, not even for her, but the competitor who couldn´t fight herself, Kiira Korpi and I remember how I had a chat back then and her coach mentioned how it was just too much pressure for her tiny shoulders...

These shoulders are still tiny, but oh boy has this lady grown up! I can´t help but think that moving on to ice dance, has done a great job for her confidence. She did compete with Matthias Versluis and for me personally, they had an absolutely fabulous and enchanting dance, that was so spot on, especially the end when he holds her.

It seemed as if Juulia could let go of the past and just enjoy her time on ice, with a great partner who cares for her and lends her a shoulder if she needs one.

A fun fact is actually, that the Finnish Federation announced their partnership on April the 1st! What might had looked like an Aprils fool, wasn´t one and if you watch their movements on ice, then it has a very natural feel, they mirror each other well and it is nice to see that in a country of just five million people, two hearts have found each other and their transitions are already very clever, as with the straight line lift early on. I am sure we will hear more from these two in the future and I am just happy to see her back! Which reminds me, any chance that Alisa Mikonsaari could also come back to the ice rink? Damn, I so miss her, she always had such great programs, maybe someone could find her an ice dance partner too! (pick me, pick me!!!)

Who found a new partner is actually Adria Diaz and I am honest with you, I was so sad when Sara and Adria no longer skated together, one of the dream teams on ice, with always entertaining and different programs.

I didn't follow the gossip, asked quickly and never looked back at the reasons, so all I can say is, that I was very happy to see that both skaters found a new partner to skate with.

Adria Diaz with Olivia Smart and Sara Hurtado with Kirill Khaliavin who actually won the Spanish nationals and now go to Worlds, but I think this will be a tight competition in future, hopefully peacefully and on ice.
As for Adria and Olivia at Oberstdorf, well what can I say, it was brutally good and they are such friendly guys, Alex took his picture and all smiles! Their FD, had such an intense atmosphere, both connect so well to each other, it is so important to relate to your partner and this they did, but I also felt that they didn´t forget us in the crowd and I couldn´t take many notes either, as I was so focused on their great performance.

What I remember from the Montreal based duo are the Twizzle´s in the FD to "Experience", super close and sharp, perfectly ending on the breakdown of their music, very creative lifts, lot´s of grace and smooth transitions, always being aware of their surroundings!

5.0 Final Words

As you can see, there were tons of amazing performances at Oberstdorf in a six days Marathon, as Tanja Odermatt called it, the Swizz who promised me to be back at Nebelhorn after her long injury from last October.
Knowing what was ahead of me the week after the Bavarian Open, the event gave me some comfort and I could relax, do what I love to do, watching people on ice, spotting new talents, checking out the development by others while being blown away at times.

For many, novice or juniors are not interesting, but for me they are the most important thing right now. I want to see what the future brings, I want to encourage those who need it most when puberty hits and it all of a sudden, becomes so much harder and the doubts crawl into their minds, not knowing if there is any future in this at all.

Again, I met wonderful people like Ivica the dad or Dora, who actually offered me some coffee, something that nobody ever did before, but I was promised some Swizz chocolate once, but I never got it...

Besides that, i heard a lot of news, like with Mari Vartmann who has found a new partner with Matti Landgraf, or how hard it is for some skaters, to actually go to events even if they have the qualification score as with Loena Hendrickx, who got help by her brother Jorik, such a gifted girl, with great Skating Skills, but there is no money for such a talent... and if I would actually write about all the wrongs in this skating world, then I would make a lot of enemies I think, so I just want to say that I hope, that skaters, especially the female ones, will finally get a bit more support where it´s lacking, they are far from just second class athletes, as it´s so often seen within tennis or football, where many people, say very rude things about those that give it all, day in and day out.

In a few months, we will have the Olympic Qualification event at Nebelhorn and if all goes well, I will be there, just like I will take a close look at Junior Worlds, Helsinki is sadly out of reach financially wise, but maybe I will take a peak there too, you never know, as we saw with Russian nationals, sometimes you get invited and then you would be dumb, to not take it.

With these words, I want to thank all the skaters for their cooperation at the event, be it pictures, news or just these amazing performances on ice.

For me, everyone was a winner and I do hope that those that picked up injuries, will be soon back on the ice and that next year, our Russian friends will be back in numbers and that our world will actually still be there and not blown away, by those stupid politicians all around the world, people that only care about their own money and not those who actually live in their countries.

Until then....

Disclaimer:

I tried my best to not have too many typos and to get the names right, but at times mistakes happen, so please forgive me!

Wow, this is an excellent article, Alex D! :clapper: It's so detailed that I almost feel like I'm at the competition. Your insight on these skaters is very valuable considering that only a small number of performances from this competition were uploaded on YouTube.

Out of curiosity, is your column published online elsewhere (even if it's not in English)? I want to share it with one of my Facebook friends who's not on the GS forum, so I was wondering if it's also available on another website, blog, etc.

Alex D said:

In the flawless short consisting of four triples, the 19 years old from Québec, skated to "For me" and I was really impressed how much grace he had in his program, how creative the spins were and in general, how different he skated to so many others around his age, when quite often the programs have strong jumps, but the actual choreography´s can lack a little bit behind.

Not so here, however, as it was a calm and thoughtful skate, yet with lot´s of speed, while he skated a totally different program to Elvis in the Free, showing how versatile this young Canadian actually is.

A young men, that If we look back a few months, was out due to an ankle injury, that he picked up while attempting a quad toe, making him miss the whole JGP season and you would think that it could show, but it absolutely didn´t.

While he skipped the quad loop at Oberstdorf, he was so fun to watch, as seen with the transition to "that´s all right", when he breaks down accordingly to the music only to instantly get up and party his butt off with us in the crowd!

He has all these little pictures, those moments in his programs, things that you will always remember, like the hand going through his hair, the slower passages during "through troubled water" and he can really fill a whole venue with his presence, speeding up and slowing down accordingly to the music - which is so much harder to do than just going full throttle all the time and where this guy takes the energy from, for that last minute is unbelievable!

There was no fatigue or lack of power in the entire program, he sold every part of it and might could have gone on with the show, for another minute. Said show, however, still continued as we had a Canadian Sweep in the junior men, with Conrad Orzel coming second and Joseph Phan third, both with a quad toe in the Free!

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Is it alright that I correct the minor errors in this section and then post it in Nicolas Nadeau's Fan Fest thread? I'll obviously add a link to your original article and mention that I had reworded it slightly.

siberia82 said:

Wow, this is an excellent article, Alex D! :clapper: It's so detailed that I almost feel like I'm at the competition. Your insight on these skaters is very valuable considering that only a small number of performances from this competition were uploaded on YouTube.

Out of curiosity, is your column published online elsewhere (even if it's not in English)? I want to share it with one of my Facebook friends who's not on the GS forum, so I was wondering if it's also available on another website, blog, etc.



Is it alright that I correct the minor errors in this section and then post it in Nicolas Nadeau's Fan Fest thread? I'll obviously add a link to your original article and mention that I had reworded it slightly.

Click to expand...

Yes sure, you can do that. I am curious about the corrections too! as I always try to improve my own language skills.

As for your first question, no I don´t have it published anywhere else right now. I intend to publish all my event reports, interviews, pictures ... on my own website / blog in future, but I have no ETA for that yet. I get asked about this a lot, as not everyone can access it here at GS, so I will look into it when I find the time.

Thanks for reading it!

Alex D said:

Yes sure, you can do that. I am curious about the corrections too! as I always try to improve my own language skills.

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Thanks for your permission. I'm almost done, but there's one part where I need your clarification. When you say, "when he breaks down accordingly to the music", do you mean that Nic fell exactly on the beat of the music?

siberia82 said:

Thanks for your permission. I'm almost done, but there's one part where I need your clarification. When you say, "when he breaks down accordingly to the music", do you mean that Nic fell exactly on the beat of the music?

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Hehe, I actually noticed that "breaks down", might sound a bit strange! He did not fall, but he took a break in his performance (we in music refer to that as a breakdown), to then start with those dance moves, he has done this prior to the Lutz, but also later between the final spins, which I would refer to as a choreographed sequence.

Overall, he understood very well, when to take the foot of the gas, while going full throttle at other times. The music was always present in his skating.

I need to edit this later, thanks for pointing it out!

Ivica said:

Hallo Alex , Thanks for your excellent Column:thumbsup: , next Time, hope you will take a cup of coffee , can you give me please your web site , I can send you more about Dora. Best Regards

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Will do

I don´t have a website yet, but once I do, I will get in touch, a story about Dora sounds like fun :thumbsup:

Alex D said:

Hehe, I actually noticed that "breaks down", might sound a bit strange! He did not fall, but he took a break in his performance (we in music refer to that as a breakdown), to then start with those dance moves, he has done this prior to the Lutz, but also later between the final spins, which I would refer to as a choreographed sequence.

Overall, he understood very well, when to take the foot of the gas, while going full throttle at other times. The music was always present in his skating.

I need to edit this later, thanks for pointing it out!

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Thanks for clearing that up for me. You can read the finished product here : http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?56592-Nicolas-Nadeau&p=1658271&viewfull=1#post1658271

Hi Alex.
It was so great having this article to read thank you