2016-17 Splits & Partner Changes

[Crossover]

Not a chance!

Can I just remind you about Christopher Boyadji's new partner, Zoe Wilkinson (née Jones).

Top British Ladies Singles skater in the late 90's / early 2000's. And then prevented by her own Federation from going to the Salt Lake City Olympics, despite being 2002 British Champion. So, went into retirement.

Came back to competition 12 years later as an Adult Skater, having never competed under IJS rules, and immediately cleaned up at their ISU competition in Oberstdorf. And repeated the feat the following season.

Came back to Senior level in 2015, at 35 years old, and very narrowly missed out on re-gaining the British Senior Ladies crown (she was actually declared champion, but lost it when it was realised that one of Danielle Harrison's jumps hadn't been scored). And Zoe should have been the British representative at Worlds in Boston, except she hadn't expected to be in the running, and so hadn't entered any Senior B's to try to get the minimum TES's until it was too late.

This season, Zoe will be competing in Pairs for the first time at the age of 36.

And having seen some videos on Facebook of her practicing, she looks promising!

So, there is every chance that Zoe will finally get to compete at the Olympics, 16 years after she should have made her debut!

And, if she does, she will be doing so at the age of 38 (Yuko is nearly 2 years younger than Zoe).

Fair play to her!

CaroLiza_fan

Thanks for the enlightenment. I didn't know about Boyadji's new partner. Our sport has so many intriguing examples to get exposed more. I quickly checked on the British Nationals, and the new team will likely be the only pair team represent Britain in 2018, so if they earn all requirements to compete in the 2018 Olympics, how exciting it can be. An interesting fact is that Britain produced the oldest Olympic medalists in ladies (Ethel Muckelt in 1924) and ice dancing (Torvill and Dean in 1994).

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Thanks for the enlightenment. I didn't know about Boyadji's new partner. Our sport has so many intriguing examples to get exposed more. I quickly checked on the British Nationals, and the new team will likely be the only pair team represent Britain in 2018, so if they earn all requirements to compete in the 2018 Olympics, how exciting it can be.

I suppose a lot of it depends on what Christopher's former partner, Amani Fancy, can get sorted out between now and Pyeongchang. Amani is a lot younger (she turns 19 on Thursday), so she and her new partner (whoever he may be) might be considered a better prospect than a partnership consisting of a 38 year old woman with a 27 year old man.

Sorry to be pessimistic, but my worry is that the British Federation have already done the dirty on Zoe once. So, if they can do it when she was 22 at the prime of her career, there's nothing to stop them doing it again.

An interesting fact is that Britain produced the oldest Olympic medalists in ladies (Ethel Muckelt in 1924) and ice dancing (Torvill and Dean in 1994).

Very interesting! Thank you for those pieces of info.

Ethel was 38 when she won the bronze medal in 1924. Fair play to her! You don't see many Ladies singles skaters still competing at that age nowadays! But, I suppose it is a very different sport than it was 90 years ago...

As for Jayne (36) and Chris (35), well, they were special...

CaroLiza_fan

 

[skylark]

I'm more than welcome to any news on a new partnership in pairs as the discipline is physically so demanding and many partnerships of pair teams have been broken. I'm also curious about possibly the new partnership because that case can be a very unique example in many aspects. In many cases of significantly older female partners than their male skaters, the female skaters have a lot of experience as pair skaters and continuously compete. Therefore, if she can adapt herself into the new judging system out of the retirement for 15 years and learn new pair tricks, she will automatically get my mad respect.

Mine too! She really does have a lot of challenges in front of her, so I hope she likes a challenge. Also, I liked that quote from her at the end of the article to the effect that there's nothing in the world like figure skating, and the way you feel when you're doing it. So she may be thrilled to be able to bring that into her life again. I liked the twinkle and spirit she showed in the picture with Nate.

John Coughlin mentioned in commentary this year (I think about Castelli/Tran) that he and Caydee were able to bring their experience from previous partnerships, in which each had been national champion, to bear in their own partnership. I hope that can work for Nate and Deanna, so that they're able to establish their strengths earlier. I don't expect them to challenge for a national medal this year, though, don't get me wrong. I actually don't want them to, it's going to be hard enough seeing one of Alexa/Chris, Tarah/Danny, or Haven/Brandon not able to go to worlds.:disapp: (p.s. I like John C. so much, but I still haven't gotten over his dumping Caitlyn Yankowskas.

I almost forgot about Yuko...I hope she will be healthy enough for earning a spot for the 2018 Olympics as she had to sit out of the latest Olympics due to injury.[

I hear you, although I'd rather see the Russian team be V/T, S/K and A/R. But K/S do keep themselves in the mix admirably.

 

[blue_idealist]

So Lukas Csolley and Lucie Mysliveckova are now together??

 

[Axelsk8r]

Heard that too.....and they're not skating this summer....

 

[Axelsk8r]

Maybe they just didn't announce it yet! They're not skating , not registered at any competition and not attending any of their federation development activities... So if they didn't split they must be close

 

[Axelsk8r]

Carreira /Ponomarenko could choose from 3 countries to represent.... Canada, USA or Russia.....
Canada US can make a trade ....give Mervin Tran to USA and US gives back Carreira/Ponmarenko
Then we would be all set for 2022 :agree:

 

[Ice Dance]

Carreira /Ponomarenko could choose from 3 countries to represent.... Canada, USA or Russia.....
Canada US can make a trade ....give Mervin Tran to USA and US gives back Carreira/Ponmarenko
Then we would be all set for 2022 :agree:

Sorry to tell you this, but I don't think Carreira & Ponomarenko need to go anywhere.

 

[Skater Boy]

Mine too! She really does have a lot of challenges in front of her, so I hope she likes a challenge. Also, I liked that quote from her at the end of the article to the effect that there's nothing in the world like figure skating, and the way you feel when you're doing it. So she may be thrilled to be able to bring that into her life again. I liked the twinkle and spirit she showed in the picture with Nate.

John Coughlin mentioned in commentary this year (I think about Castelli/Tran) that he and Caydee were able to bring their experience from previous partnerships, in which each had been national champion, to bear in their own partnership. I hope that can work for Nate and Deanna, so that they're able to establish their strengths earlier. I don't expect them to challenge for a national medal this year, though, don't get me wrong. I actually don't want them to, it's going to be hard enough seeing one of Alexa/Chris, Tarah/Danny, or Haven/Brandon not able to go to worlds.:disapp: (p.s. I like John C. so much, but I still haven't gotten over his dumping Caitlyn Yankowskas.



I hear you, although I'd rather see the Russian team be V/T, S/K and A/R. But K/S do keep themselves in the mix admirably.

Ah come on lol, give K and S some love. This team and nothing to do with them have had horrible luck with injuries. If people are cheering for Zoe let's cheer for Kavaguti who is pushing Zoe age wise and at least in her 30s has still been competitive at the top level not just the British nationals where let's face it other than dance have struggled in lower mediocrity. I can't even remember right now the name of that skater who just retired and married to the Belgium skater Kevin V - she made Jennifer Robinson who won several Canadian nationals in their drought look like a superstar.

 

[skylark]

Ah come on lol, give K and S some love. This team and nothing to do with them have had horrible luck with injuries.

Yeah, I actually used to them a lot and I still love Sasha, but Yuko is scary thin, injury prone, and hard for me to watch. (I'm an empath.) Given a choice, I would rather see Astkhova and Roganov. Just a personal preference, nothing more.

 

[blue_idealist]

Ah come on lol, give K and S some love. This team and nothing to do with them have had horrible luck with injuries. If people are cheering for Zoe let's cheer for Kavaguti who is pushing Zoe age wise and at least in her 30s has still been competitive at the top level not just the British nationals where let's face it other than dance have struggled in lower mediocrity. I can't even remember right now the name of that skater who just retired and married to the Belgium skater Kevin V - she made Jennifer Robinson who won several Canadian nationals in their drought look like a superstar.

Jenna McCorkell is the skater

 

[blue_idealist]

Maybe they just didn't announce it yet! They're not skating , not registered at any competition and not attending any of their federation development activities... So if they didn't split they must be close

Which pair are you talking about?

 

[Axelsk8r]

Paradis Ouelet

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Ah come on lol, give K and S some love. This team and nothing to do with them have had horrible luck with injuries. If people are cheering for Zoe let's cheer for Kavaguti who is pushing Zoe age wise and at least in her 30s has still been competitive at the top level not just the British nationals where let's face it other than dance have struggled in lower mediocrity. I can't even remember right now the name of that skater who just retired and married to the Belgium skater Kevin V - she made Jennifer Robinson who won several Canadian nationals in their drought look like a superstar.

:gaah: :angry1:

Trying to stop my blood boiling...

I know I'm am WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY biased because Jenna is a local girl (her hometown is 40 miles from mine), but to call her mediocre is out of order.

OK, so she was never going to challenge the top skaters in the world. And I am the first to admit that for a few years there Jenna was on her backside more often than she was not. But, in those last couple of years of her career, she really got it all together, and was skating better than she ever did. And she was beating skaters that people on here have since been holding up as skaters to keep an eye on (Roberta Rodegheiro, Nicole Rajičová, Brooklee Han)

But, I do agree with your point that the British Championships are not exactly the strongest in the world.

Let's face it, the only person in the British Ladies Championships who was able to come close to Jenna's scores was Bermuda's Vanessa James. But then she cleared off to Pairs skating (and then to France), and hasn't exactly disgraced herself on the international stage there. Scotland's Karly Robertson was the perennial runner-up to Jenna, but in terms of the scores, she was never close.

But, nevertheless, for a girl from Northern Ireland, where figure skating is practically an unknown sport, Jenna did us proud.

Oh, and can I take this opportunity to wish all the best to our current skater competing on the international stage, Sam McAllister, who will be representing Ireland in Junior Men this season.

ALL THE BEST SAM!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Mango]

Elisabeth Paradis and François-Xavier Ouellette announced via FB they are splitting. They said it isn't good bye, that you will see them in arenas again.

 

[slider11]

Elisabeth Paradis and François-Xavier Ouellette announced via FB they are splitting. They said it isn't good bye, that you will see them in arenas again.

Sad....I remember the program this past year where her halter hook came undone and they handled it cooly as Francois assisted in the rehook and they finished the program strong. I thought they had a really nice vibe. ahhh...c'est la vie!

 

[Mango]

Sad....I remember the program this past year where her halter hook came undone and they handled it cooly as Francois assisted in the rehook and they finished the program strong. I thought they had a really nice vibe. ahhh...c'est la vie!

They handled that thing really well, changing their program on the fly. It's too bad that was the last time they performed the FD. But now I wonder, are they going to team up with other people? The Canadian ice dance landscape is wide, open, and a bit deserted now.

 

[cathlen]

Elisabeth Paradis and François-Xavier Ouellette announced via FB they are splitting. They said it isn't good bye, that you will see them in arenas again.

So the rumours were true this time too. I wonder who will be left in Canada after 2018 Olympics...

 

[4everchan]

piper and paul ?

So the rumours were true this time too. I wonder who will be left in Canada after 2018 Olympics...

 

[sarama]

I'm secretly thinking Carreira/Ponomarenko should represent Canada since she is Canadian and there are SO MANY young US ice dance teams, while in Canada I can only think of McKenzie and Dimitre... But I really don't see it happening