Worlds: Best & Worst

[Hikaru]

Zhang banging into Totmianina during practice on the morning of the finals. Yeah, right...an accident.

:sheesh:

 

[eliza88]

Best:
Jeffrey Buttle's SP
Weir holding it together as best as he could for the LP
Pairs SP's (I only wish the LP's were skated as well!)
Lambiel's spins and consistent quad, his fluidity on the ice
Irina skating the best I have ever seen her in front of her home crowd (finally she skated to music that suits her! Too often she either skates to something overly dramatic or overly balletic)
B/A skating superbly and winning the silver
Michelle looking very at ease and smiling/skating beautifully to her exhibition program
T/M wonderfully skated SP
all the Russian music in the exhibitions (I might need to buy some Russian CD's now!)

Worst:
Pairs LP competiton--just too many mistakes!
all the injuries/withdrawls
Michelle's QR
all the mistakes throughout
some really really bad costumes!
Another miserable Worlds for Jenny Kirk

eliza88

 

[agatha_christie]

One thing I disliked about this Worlds was the medias' insinuation that Zhang/Totmianina's was not an accident, but rather premeditated (on Zhang's part). I mean, accidents do happen, and it is ridiculous that Zhang would risk injuring himself. (And he did injure his back).

Damn sensationalism!

 

[Doggygirl]

One thing I disliked about this Worlds was the medias' insinuation that Zhang/Totmianina's was not an accident, but rather premeditated (on Zhang's part). I mean, accidents do happen, and it is ridiculous that Zhang would risk injuring himself. (And he did injure his back).

Damn sensationalism!

ITA!!!!!!!

DG

 

[attyfan]

One thing I disliked about this Worlds was the medias' insinuation that Zhang/Totmianina's was not an accident, but rather premeditated (on Zhang's part). I mean, accidents do happen, and it is ridiculous that Zhang would risk injuring himself. (And he did injure his back).

Damn sensationalism!

I'm surprised that the ISU isn't hyping this more -- remember what Tonya/Nancy did for ratings?

 

[Sk8n Mama]

Best:
-Jeff Buttle's SP and eventual silver medal
-Joannie's short and her 3-3 combo in the LP
-Eman going for and landing the 4-3 combo in SP and LP
-Carolina Kostner's SP
-Canadian pairs both really giving all they could in both SP and LP, even with injuries/emotional times
-Slutskaya's "bring the house down" LP

Worst:
-Ridiculous CoP judging
-Shen/Zhao out of the Pairs
-Lime-Green Fluorescent spandex in Pairs and Dance
-E-man popping the 3 Ax in the SP
-Cynthia Phaneuf's entire week (where is her confidence???)

 

[clairecloutier]

I have to say, this was one of the worst Worlds I've seen. The overall level of skating was kind of low, except in ice dance. Just so many falls and mistakes and sub-par performances. Considering it's the pre-Olympic year, it's kind of surprising. So, overall there were more lows than highs, but here's my list.

BEST

--Irina's long program: easily the best I've ever seen her skate. It's always great to see the champion win with a truly inspiring performance.

--Belbin & Agosto's silver medal. I still can't believe it. After the 20-year drought, I never thought I'd see an American dance team medal again at Worlds. It may be silver, but it feels like gold!

--Delobel & Schoenfelder's third place in the free dance. Maybe they deserved higher. But getting third in the free, earning the highest technical marks, and coming *thisclose* to the bronze, is nonetheless a major breakthrough for them (along with the bronze at Europeans). Let's hope they keep this momentum going.

--The overall high level of competition in ice dance. It's just so exciting right now, with all the great teams at the top.

--Stephane Lambiel. His programs weren't perfect, but the joy and fire in his skating was great to see.

--Johnny Weir. I'm so proud of him for staying in the competition and doing his best, despite the injury. He's grown up a lot since Nationals two years ago!

--Carolina Kostner. She was a breath of fresh air in a rather tired, uninspired ladies' competition.

--Shen & Zhao's short program. Even though they only got third place, I found this program just magical. It reminded me again what an amazing pair this team is.


WORST

--Michelle Kwan. I am a longtime, devoted fan, therefore it's particularly sad for me to witness her continuing decline. I don't know why, but Michelle is just not the same skater she used to be. She was once such a consistent, mentally focused, determined competitor. Now, to see her doubling, two-footing, omitting, and falling on jumps, is sad. This was her worst performance in all the Worlds I've seen her at. I am convinced there is something going on with her, beyond just COP or skipping the Grand Prix.

--The judging in the ladies short program. It was distressing to see Irina and Sasha do so well in the short despite obviously flawed performances. Their marks seemed way too high to me. I know there are a lot of mathematical reasons for that, but still it didn't seem right. I felt like both of them were held up majorly by the judges, especially Irina.

--Sasha Cohen. I don't agree with Peggy that her skating in Moscow was really much better than in previous competitions. To me, it seemed like the same old Sasha: shaky jump landings all over the place. Disappointing to see in the silver-medal finisher.

--Miki Ando. Aside from the jumps, she has so little to offer. Her spirals, spins, and general presentation are just terrible. I was disappointed that she placed even as high as sixth.

--The withdrawals of Evgeny Plushenko and Shen & Zhao. The competition wasn't the same without them.

--The overall low level of competition in pairs. After five or six years of great pairs competitions, this one was a real letdown.

--Johnny Weir not getting the bronze. I'm still upset about that.


MIXED BAG

--Shizuka Arakawa. Obviously it was disappointing to see the defending world champion struggle and finish so low. And yet, despite the technical problems, I found myself enjoying Shizuka's programs and skating. My husband said the same. I think Shizuka is still growing as an artist and performer, now she need to get her confidence back.

 

[Hikaru]

One thing I disliked about this Worlds was the medias' insinuation that Zhang/Totmianina's was not an accident, but rather premeditated (on Zhang's part). I mean, accidents do happen, and it is ridiculous that Zhang would risk injuring himself. (And he did injure his back).

Damn sensationalism!

Absolutely right!!!!

 

[cianni]

comments

Thanks eyria for being so honest. I see it that way also sloppy skating is ignored in COP and so Sasha should do well and I see no improvement in her skating either. Irina did well in the qr and fs so Im ok with her win but the inflated marks are an insult to her because she can win without the cheating to make sure she wins. She deserved to win without the sp inflated marks. Im not disappointed in Michelle as I think she is testing the waters to see if she wants to continue competing. I dont think Michelle is a trick skater and maybe she just doesnt want to beat up her body at this point and risk injury. I hope she does continue but who knows. I wouldnt bet that the interest in Ice Skating will not continue to erode.

 

[tannisming]

BEST WORLDS EVER

 

[brad640]

--Michelle Kwan. I am a longtime, devoted fan, therefore it's particularly sad for me to witness her continuing decline. I don't know why, but Michelle is just not the same skater she used to be. She was once such a consistent, mentally focused, determined competitor. Now, to see her doubling, two-footing, omitting, and falling on jumps, is sad. This was her worst performance in all the Worlds I've seen her at. I am convinced there is something going on with her, beyond just COP or skipping the Grand Prix.

I agree with most of what you said, especially that something is going on with Michelle. I don't think she will reveal to the media what is going on until after the Olympics.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I agree with most of what you said, especially that something is going on with Michelle. I don't think she will reveal to the media what is going on until after the Olympics.

Exactly! MK is the mysterious one. No real website; no diary, no news except editorials, no sightings except at competitions.
If she retires before the Olys, it will be a quiet event but it will create volumes of comments. jmo.

Joe

 

[hongligl]

One thing I disliked about this Worlds was the medias' insinuation that Zhang/Totmianina's was not an accident, but rather premeditated (on Zhang's part). I mean, accidents do happen, and it is ridiculous that Zhang would risk injuring himself. (And he did injure his back).

Damn sensationalism!

Me, too, ITA.

I heard something like "Zhang is a male, and T is a female and as a result, T was naturally a victim". How about the collision in 2002 SLC olympics then? I didn't hear any russian coach or athletes emphasize the gender difference.

I just can't figure out why Zhang would even think about to collide with T deliberately. Why should he risk his bright future (he is only 19 years old, and already at this level) for someone who's going to retire soon? If one took it as for the sake of Zhang/Zhang themselves, it should be very clear that S/Z would still be ahead of them no matter how badly S/Z were injured (there was an old chinese saying "the most skinny camel is still bigger than a horse). And it was in Moscow, there must be at least one russian pair at least on the podium as everybody knows for sure. It wouldn't change their ranking so much anyway. If one took it as a strategy of the chinese team as a whole, why should they do it when Zhang/Zhang were in the position of more promising pair for the podium when Shen/Zhao needed to withdraw? And when Russian team claimed M had a dislocation of her spine and T/M would skate last, if S/Z wanted to take advantage of M's possible injury from a "premeditated collision", why S/Z still withdrew? Why had they sacrified Zhang for nothing? There is simply no logical explanation for "premeditated collison".

I just went to Yao's website and there is an article Yao released his reaction to the hype about this accident to a journalist. He really regretted that he was not at the press conference after the competition as he was too busy with Zhao's injury and didn't go to the press conference. He didn't expect that T/M and their coach would make it a big hype. Yao said Zhang/Zhang was in an absolutely normal process of preparing to do a throw jump and Zhang didn't see T was in their way (M was far far away from T, they were not in the middle of preparing for an element), Yao suddenly saw that they were going to collide and shouted at Zhang/Zhang, Zhang slowed down, (not in time to avoid the collision). Yao said otherwise both part would be injured more and Dan Zhang would have been injured too. Yao also mentioned that it was S/Z withdrew from the competition, not T/M who claimed had an spine dislocation(!!!) due to the collision. I didn't see any sign of a severe injury in T/M's skating, it was Zhang who made an uncharacteristic mistake and couldn't bend his back at the end of the program. The poor kid suffered both physically and emotionally (Yao reproached him for being not able to stop in time and T/M's coach rushed to the athletes' change room and scolded Zhang. ) Yao said how could they sacrify their Zhang/Zhang for T/M, it simply doesn't worth it. Although Zhang/Zhang are his number 3 team, they even beat T/M and P/T once. (Everybody knew Yao knows how much he cherishes his youngest pair Zhang/Zhang). Yao was very angry with T/M's coach. He said he would have said to him "Russian is a great nation, and Russia has made great contribution to figure skating. Russian pair skating had been our example. It is normal to have accidents in training occasionally. Why did you treated a kid so badly?"

I find this funny, but Yao said to the journalist who wrote this article that at next olympic he will let his pairs stand by the board watching the russian pairs to warm-up so that they will not have the excuse to blame chinese team and he has the confidence that his pairs would still skate to their best. I wish he is not serious about this.

Anyway, the worst thing for me was S/Z withdrew from the competition. I was so sad. Not much to watch without them. In addition, it is confirmed long ago that S/Z are going to retire after the 2006 olympics. They missed 4CC and this World, and we can count with one hand how many times more we can see them. I'm going to miss them terribly. I felt sorry for Xue Shen. She cried out when she learned that they would have to withdraw.

Best of the World:

Irina's LP to WIN her Gold. What a comeback! So inspiring.
Stenfane Liembel(sp?) won the gold. He's so much more mature than last World, more refined, more powerful, more in control. He got the whole package.
Jeff Buttle won the silver! But at a quad next time!

P/T(Russian)'s reaction to the collision. They have once again shown their excellent personalities. Glad they got a silver after their last Gold. Wish them luck. Actually some chinese fans worried about them after T/M became national heros. I wish people still treat them nicely.

 

[Hikaru]

Hi hongligl!!

Me, too, ITA.

I heard something like "Zhang is a male, and T is a female and as a result, T was naturally a victim". How about the collision in 2002 SLC olympics then? I didn't hear any russian coach or athletes emphasize the gender difference.

I just can't figure out why Zhang would even think about to collide with T deliberately. Why should he risk his bright future (he is only 19 years old, and already at this level) for someone who's going to retire soon? If one took it as for the sake of Zhang/Zhang themselves, it should be very clear that S/Z would still be ahead of them no matter how badly S/Z were injured (there was an old chinese saying "the most skinny camel is still bigger than a horse). And it was in Moscow, there must be at least one russian pair at least on the podium as everybody knows for sure. It wouldn't change their ranking so much anyway. If one took it as a strategy of the chinese team as a whole, why should they do it when Zhang/Zhang were in the position of more promising pair for the podium when Shen/Zhao needed to withdraw? And when Russian team claimed M had a dislocation of her spine and T/M would skate last, if S/Z wanted to take advantage of M's possible injury from a "premeditated collision", why S/Z still withdrew? Why had they sacrified Zhang for nothing? There is simply no logical explanation for "premeditated collison".

I just went to Yao's website and there is an article Yao released his reaction to the hype about this accident to a journalist. He really regretted that he was not at the press conference after the competition as he was too busy with Zhao's injury and didn't go to the press conference. He didn't expect that T/M and their coach would make it a big hype. Yao said Zhang/Zhang was in an absolutely normal process of preparing to do a throw jump and Zhang didn't see T was in their way (M was far far away from T, they were not in the middle of preparing for an element), Yao suddenly saw that they were going to collide and shouted at Zhang/Zhang, Zhang slowed down, (not in time to avoid the collision). Yao said otherwise both part would be injured more and Dan Zhang would have been injured too. Yao also mentioned that it was S/Z withdrew from the competition, not T/M who claimed had an spine dislocation(!!!) due to the collision. I didn't see any sign of a severe injury in T/M's skating, it was Zhang who made an uncharacteristic mistake and couldn't bend his back at the end of the program. The poor kid suffered both physically and emotionally (Yao reproached him for being not able to stop in time and T/M's coach rushed to the athletes' change room and scolded Zhang. ) Yao said how could they sacrify their Zhang/Zhang for T/M, it simply doesn't worth it. Although Zhang/Zhang are his number 3 team, they even beat T/M and P/T once. (Everybody knew Yao knows how much he cherishes his youngest pair Zhang/Zhang). Yao was very angry with T/M's coach. He said he would have said to him "Russian is a great nation, and Russia has made great contribution to figure skating. Russian pair skating had been our example. It is normal to have accidents in warm-up occasionally. Why did you treated a kid so badly?"

I find this funny, but Yao said to the journalist who wrote this article that at next olympic he will let his pairs stand by the board watching the russian pairs to warm-up so that they will not have the excuse to blame chinese team and he has the confidence that his pairs would still skate to their best. I wish he is not serious about this.

Anyway, the worst thing for me was S/Z withdrew from the competition. I was so sad. Not much to watch without them. In addition, it is confirmed long ago that S/Z are going to retire after the 2006 olympics. They missed 4CC and this World, and we can count with one hand how many times more we can see them. I'm going to miss them terribly. I felt sorry for Xue Shen. She cried out when she learned that they would have to withdraw.

Best of the World:

Irina's LP to WIN her Gold. What a comeback! So inspiring.
Stenfane Liembel(sp?) won the gold. He's so much more mature than last World, more refined, more powerful, more in control. He got the whole package.
Jeff Buttle won the silver! But at a quad next time!

P/T(Russian)'s reaction to the collision. They have once again shown their excellent personalities. Glad they got a silver after their last Gold. Wish them luck. Actually some chinese fans worried about them after T/M became national heros. I wish people still treat them nicely.

hongligl, thank you for reporting what was posted on Yao Bin's site (I wish they had an english version, but thank you so much for informing us!! really appreciate it). I didn't see what happened in the warm-up, and I was worried about the recation this would cause. Regarding to Shen and Zhao, I was also very sad when they withdrew, my favorite pair!! I saw Xue crying, and I had never seen her like that, and I know that she was worried about Hongbo's injury, and how much they wanted to do well in this championships. Do you have any news on Hongbo? I'm so going to miss them when they're done with competitions; they really are in a class of their own in today's pair skating.

 

[LegalGirl82]

I haven't seen all of it yet, but from what I've seen:

BEST
Irina's LP: The comeback, rocking the hometown crowd, big jumps--good for her!

Sasha: Thumbed her nose at the naysayers and gritted her way through without falling apart. Good job, Sasha.

Carolina: Increased the average Italian's interest in the Olympics by earning the bronze. The organizing committee is going to love her!

Fumie and Michelle: For fighting back and moving up. :yes:

Stephane Lambiel's SP. It has been a very long time since a male singles skater caught my attention the way he did. And I do mean for his skating.

T&M: A couple of years ago, I found them cold and unlikeable. Last year, at COI, I saw a different pair and began to look forward to seeing them. Another comeback; back to back golds. I like, I like!

Belbin and Agosto: Silver--YESSSS!!!

Rosaleen's reports. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Russian audiences. Sounds like they were very enthusiastic for all the skaters.

WORST:
Injuries taking out Plushenko, Z&S, etc.

Secret Judging.

Not being able to see all of the competitors. Come on, ESPN, how many times do you have to air Brian Boitano's Holiday Spectacular? May I say DUH!

 

[hongligl]

hongligl, thank you for reporting what was posted on Yao Bin's site (I wish they had an english version, but thank you so much for informing us!! really appreciate it). I didn't see what happened in the warm-up, and I was worried about the recation this would cause. Regarding to Shen and Zhao, I was also very sad when they withdrew, my favorite pair!! I saw Xue crying, and I had never seen her like that, and I know that she was worried about Hongbo's injury, and how much they wanted to do well in this championships. Do you have any news on Hongbo? I'm so going to miss them when they're done with competitions; they really are in a class of their own in today's pair skating.

I made a mistake in translation. It was not in the warmup, the collision happened in the morning training section. I assumed what Yao said "training" was warmup, and I'm wrong. Sorry for the confusion.

Hongbo's injury is in a place where not much blood goes into (I don't know the English word for the tissue) and as a result it is very slow to recover. He used "pain and cold" method before the World to control the pain---press the injured place very hard for 15 min, and use ice before and aften skating. I wish he will find some better method to cure it.

 

[Derekj]

Opinions in this Post are Humbler than They Appear

Trying to make an additional point or two:

Scattered Bests:

Plushenko's doing what may be his last Biellmann spin for a home crowd. It even looked like one of his better ones. Whatever one may think of his spinning, it was his signature move for several years.

The magnitude of win #2 for Slutskaya. If memory serves, taking the last 25 years, she now leaves a long list of one-timers: Biellmann, Zayak, Sumners, Thomas, Ito, Trenary, Baiul, Sato, Chen, Lipinski, Butyrskaya, and potentially (presumably?) Arakawa (apologies for any inaccuracies). Yes, IS has stuck around much longer than many others to get #2, but having an undefeated season at age 26 should move her well up future All-Time Greats lists.

The Little Prince Grows Up: It would be so easy to write a fairy tale around Lambiel, the Little Prince of a small but devoted country, mostly overlooked among the crowd of princes from greater countries, and how he built on his unique talents and conquered the world. I think I saw a banner calling Stephane "le petit prince de nos coeurs," and in his ESPN interview after the SP he seemed so young. Two days later, not only was he world champion but suddenly he sounded about five years older and more than capable of living up to the title.

Though I'm not wild about Kostner, it was nice finally to see the point of her FS selection. The program made the best of her skip-like jumps and seemed among the best matched of the character programs in a season not replete with outstandingly good choices.

Weir's high standards for his own performance. In one or two areas he could perhaps use a gentle kick in the backside, but at least he won't turn defeats into victories in the postmortem.

Slutskaya's triple lutz-triple loop, which I'd despaired of ever seeing again. Yes, Ando makes it look almost boring, but this was the one jumping pass when IS did it first that turned a Kwan cakewalk into a real rivalry that has lifted the sport, and it was wonderful to see IS pull it off with conviction. I can easily imagine in years to come MK sitting in the commentary booth and reminiscing about IS in a manner similar to the way Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova each recall the other.

Buttle's appreciation of Lambiel's SP. I've long thought JB to be a real sweetheart and have generally noticed that the Outskated tend to look dour, uninvested or wry; seeing JB react to having a strong performance topped (and by someone of reasonably similar style) with enjoyment of his competitor's program was a huge Best. I also find it refreshing to come out of worlds with the gold and silver medalists not pitted against each other.

Scattered Worsts:

Prize money having dropped significantly from a few years ago. If memory serves, last place in the GPF once paid what the winners received this year (or close to it), and $45K for winning worlds seems down too. I remember Malinina winning NHK a few years ago, Peter Carruthers telling her she'd made the GPF, and her asking in shock, "Are you sure?" when at the time she and her husband couldn't afford coaches. It's a shame to realize that things have probably gotten worse for many skaters.

ESPN's giving a number of skaters the cold shoulder - not showing Li at all, not interviewing Buttle, and if I'd caught all the coverage I'd surely have more to add. This may improve, though - their tennis coverage has.

The Guest in the Booth - ESPN knows better than to bring in an inexperienced teenager. Fifteen minutes after seeing Lysacek being congratulated by the Protopopovs (too bad ESPN didn't follow up on that), I was watching ESPN2's tennis coverage of a Maria Sharapova match, with fascinating insight on multiple topics provided by guest commentator Billie Jean King. What might have been fascinating during the coverage would have been the insight of one or two of all those former champions. My dream GitB would have been Denise Biellmann - not only would there have been Lambiel winning, but she could have been sounded on her indirect influence on CoP, and they could have compared spins of current skaters to footage of DB herself.

 

[Mathman]

Derikj, very nice perspectives in your post. And (a few days belated) welcome to the forum!

Carolina: Increased the average Italian's interest in the Olympics by earning the bronze. The organizing committee is going to love her!

I hadn't really thought of that, But Carolina could be huge as the face of the Olympics at Torino. She's so pretty and sweet and photogenic.

Silvia Fontana is equally beautiful, but she was never a real threat to medal. Fusar-Poli and Margaglio were contenders, but ice dance is not as front-and-center as the ladies event in terms of national and international viewership.

If Carolina medals it would be worth millions to her.

Rosaleen's reports. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Golden Skate had more views for Rosaleen's reports than for all the other threads put together. And they were quoted and talked about on all the other figure skating sites as well. Rosaleen and Paula rock!

MM

 

[hockeyfan228]

The best (no particular order):

*Slutskaya standing up to pressure, illness, and family worries with superb skates in the quali and especially the FS, and enough in the SP to take the gold like a true champion. And using music in both programs that emphasized her strenths.

*Buttle's SP, a near perfect rendition of brilliant choreography.

*Naqoyqatsi. Having seen this program live, I think it's the greatest singles free program of all time. The ice coverage and detail in the program is incomparable, and Buttle, who can interpret through stillness and the mere shrug of a shoulder, is the perfect instrument for Wilson, as perfect as Villella was to Balanchine. Sadly I didn't see the best performance of it live -- that was Canadian Nationals -- but I'll live with the video files.

*Kostner skating solidly in all three phases of the competition, with the best speed and flow of any Ladies skater, and better speed and flow than most of the Men. I thought she had the finest SP for the second year in a row.

*Navka/Kostomarov's OD, where they skated as if they owned the world. (And they did.)

*Frida, a brilliant program skated brilliantly by Delobel/Schoenfelder. My vote for the best free skate. Kudos for Zazoui for not trying to turn them into Anissina/Peizerat. (She's got Dubreiul/Lauzon for that )

*The Pairs SP, for so many great performances.

*The Pairs podium: T/M for skating so well after her injury and his concern for her, Petrova/Tikhonov for breathing new life in their programs toward the end of their career, and the Zhangs, for realizing more of their vast potential this year.

*Savchenko/Skolkowy, the big wuzrobbed of the event. His posture and line is as impressive as Marinin's, they flow equally well in and out of their elements, and they have control, polish, and attention to detail that is remarkable for a pair that's been together for two years -- and out of international competition as she sat out for change of country -- and terrific musicality. Their FS had the most impressive pairs choreography, covering every inch of the ice. Bravo Ingo Steuer, to whom the program is attributed.

*Ingo Steuer, Peter Grutter (Lambiel's coach), and Yuri Bureiko (Jenna McCorkell's coach and former World Junior silver medallist) for being there and on the big screen in Kiss 'n Cry

*Stephane Lambiel, for standing up to the pressure, particularly in his SP -- his traditional nemesis -- and extending his lead, and for attacking his programs after a year of injury, coach upheaval, and a last-minute, month-old LP, with all of the quads. His skating was much smoother this year and his edges cleaner, a great improvement. But as much for being so sweet in all of his interviews.

*Viktor Pfeifer's SP. (Yes, I know he barely qualified and ended in last place.) His LP to "Art on Ice" was pretty wretched, and he played to the audience and flirted shamelessly with the young women a few rows in from of us, showing good taste The kid has no stage fright at all. He looks like a rock star, and my impression after the qualis was that his ambition was to replace Phillippe Candolero. Then he started his SP to "Tango" from Cirque du Soleil: suddenly he started to skate like a grown-up: beautiful line, completely controlled arms and upper body, and the maturity of a middle-aged tango dance. It was like a complete transformation before my eyes, and he grew about three feet taller. A very impressive skate.

*Young men from smaller skating federations: Kristoffer Berntsson, skating three solid performances with remarkable consistency and ending in 14th place. Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari and Karel Zelenka, two more lower-ranked men, who also showed great improvement over the last few years.

*The pairs in general -- the overall quality of pairs has improved greatly since last year, as the lowest level teams skated like the middling teams last year.

*Jamal Othman: a beautiful kid with the softest blades and line imaginable. If there was ever a ballerino on ice, it is he.

*Evan Lysacek: after a controversial third at US Nationals, with his goal to qualify, he stood up to the pressure of skating in the final group for the SP and nailed it, and skated after the furious ovation for Stephane Lambiel and did himself proud.

*Yan Liu, a graceful skater from China with clean, simple lines and beautiful technique, who softly completed each element in the FS impeccably, including Hughes-like run-out after her 2A and gorgeous layback spins. She isn't a speed demon, but she skates so softly, she doesn't "feel" as fast as she is. I believe this skate would have won the bronze or pewter medal at US Nationals this year, and that it was horribly underrated. Liu also gets snaps for having the most beautiful costume in the SP.

*Li: he's almost there, with improved spins on the first side, and stamina and conviction throughout the program. He still needs to get the second side of his spins up to par -- they are noticeably weaker than his first side, which loses him points -- and better ice coverage, the weakness of which is apparent live and unobservable on tape. But he is so close to breaking out, and his integration of martial arts into skating is as impressive and strong as Stojko's was, although I fear it will have the same (nil) impact on the judges. There's something really attractive and open about his skating that doesn't translate into videotape, either.

*Poykio and Liashenko -- there will be two Ladies from Finland and Ukraine at the Olympics and Worlds next year.

*Sokolova's SP: I know her 3F was flawed, but her presentation was as good as anyone's in this program, a totally different skater than in the quali/LP. She was a delightful Kitri.

*Joubert's and Lindemann's spins: night and day since last year in speed (Joubert) and variations of position (both).

*Rochette's SP: except for the travel on the closing spin, she skated the SP brilliantly.

*Joanne Carter's LP: I can count the transitions in her program on one hand, but, for the most part, she nailed her program with speed and attack, and she came in 11th in the FS.

*Domnina/Shabalin: They are on their way.

*Megan Lowe: She bends her knees and points her toes.

*Belbin/Agosto: They, too, skated brilliantly under pressure, three programs in a row.

*The arena -- a wonderful, intimate venue (2-3K seats, I heard) in which to see skating, not the usual NHL barns. Good, simple food, and great beer on draft in the arena.

*********MOSCOW!!!!!!!! -- a beautiful city with so many nice and helpful people, including Zhennia, our perpetually patient guide.

*I will be forever grateful to the lovely woman who pointed out the grave of Shostakovich at the Novodevichy Convent cemetery, as a friend and I were rushing back to join our group.

*The young guard at Luzniki who smiled and said, "Good luck to your sportsmen!" as she handed me my assorted paraphenalia.

*The ticket taker, three coat check people, two program sellers, and two ushers who patiently and with humor, got three of us to our correct seats at the Bolshoi Theater.

*The basso profundo who did the Russian announcements at night. His voice was so beautiful, it was almost an opera performance in itself.

(A belated apology to anyone who needed to get anywhere the morning our large group took the subway tour.)
--------------

The Worst (not in any order)

*The injuries and withdrawals: not just Plushenko, Shen/Zhao, and Honda, but Weir, Lindemann, Zhang, et. al.

*The meltdowns: Arakawa, Sebestyen, Takahashi, Lindemann, Rochette (in the LP), M. Zhang. Griazev (after he looked so much more controlled), Dobrin

*The state of the world that so much security was needed.

-------------------------

The Mixed:

*Sandhu, who melted in the SP, redeemed himself in the LP to earn three spots for Canadian men next year), Goebel did the same; the US would have sent three men had Weir had to withdraw.

*The Crowd: some boos for Cohen, among others (and not from Kwan fans), and general hand-sitting for anyone who seemed like a threat (Shen/Zhao, Cohen, Lambiel until Plushenko's withdrawal, Faiella/Scali, etc.). it was mostly a local crowd, as many foreign visitors were afraid of Chechnian terrorists and/or are saving the exhorbitant sums (10K/week) to attend the Torino Olympics. Not even the French Supporters were there, with their bullhorns and red-white-and-blue-painted faces and pompoms. (As a result, the clusters of Swiss fans were relatively rowdy by contrast.) So it was the reverse of DC Worlds, not too surprising.

*The constantly changing rules. I think they should just publish "No food or drink in the arena" on the back of the tickets and just get it over with.

 

[Mathman]

Thanks, Hockeyfan. That was a great read.

MM