| 2002 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships: Day Four |
The 2002 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships concluded on Sunday in Jeonju City, South Korea, with the Ladies' Free Skating and the Exhibition Gala.
Ladies, Free Skating
The crowning of the Lady Four Continents Figure Skating Champion concluded the championships in Jeonju City. Some skaters switched standings after the Short Program. As a result, Jennifer Kirk (USA) took the gold medal, her first title since winning the Junior Worlds in 2000, while Japan's Shizuka Arakawa stayed in second to claim the silver medal, which was her first ISU Championships medal. Overnight leader Yoshie Onda (JPN) slipped to third and settled for the bronze medal, which she already had claimed last season.0
Kirk delivered a solid performance to "Danse Macabre" that contained a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, four more triples and a double Axel, but she stepped out of the triple flip and some of her landings were a little shaky. The 17-year-old did not try her triple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, as she had been handicapped by a groin injury. Her marks ranged from 5.3 to 5.7 for technical merit and from 5.5 to 5.8 for presentation. "I'm really happy that I was able to skate and push through my program. I don't think it has sunk in yet", Kirk commented. "It's been a hard season, so it feels really good to end it on this note. I didn't expect it (to win) at all. There were so many great skaters here, I just was hoping to skate well and maybe pull a medal."
Arakawa skated last and still had the chance to win. It was close between her and Kirk as the Japanese completed a triple Salchow-double loop combination, a triple Lutz-double toeloop, a triple loop and even went for a triple toeloop-triple toeloop-double loop combination in the last seconds of her program to "Turandot". However, the ambitious combination wasn't completely clean, and Arakawa also stepped out of her first Lutz and doubled the flip. Her marks went up to 5.7 for both technical merit and presentation, and she lost on a split of five to four Judges in favor of Kirk. "Last year at the Four Continents, I was third after the short program, but I didn't win a medal, I dropped to sixth after the free program. Today I'm pleased with the result, but I could have skated better", Arakawa said. "My triple toeloop-triple toeloop-double loop was very consistent in practice, but it's difficult to do it in competition. It wasn't perfect today. I can also do triple-triple-triple in practice, when the first two triples are good. I will try it in competition, when it's solid."
Onda was hoping to improve from last year's bronze medal, but her nerves got to her. She fell on her triple Axel attempt right at the beginning of her program but then she recovered to land five triples and a double Axel, although she looked a little tentative. Onda also stumbled on her second triple Lutz. "I was first after the short program, and I really felt the pressure. I didn't feel confident all week, I was holding back in the competition", the 19-year-old explained. "It wasn't my best today. I tried the triple Axel for the third time in competition after the Sparkassen Cup and the Grand Prix Final, and it was a good attempt today."
Canadian Jennifer Robinson moved up from fifth to fourth place, while Ann-Patrice McDonough (USA) dropped one spot to fifth. Both skaters made some errors in their performances. 1999 Four Continents Champion Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan finished in tenth place, after she hurt her leg in a bad fall during her program and was not able to land any jumps afterwards.
The twelve medals of the Four Continents went to four different ISU members. Canada, China, Japan and the USA each claimed three medals: China took the title and the bronze medal in the Pairs event and a bronze medal in the Men's event. The USA collected gold medals, in both Ladies' and Ice Dancing events, including a silver medal in Ice Dancing. Japan picked up the silver and bronze medals in the Ladies competition and the silver medal in the Men's category. Finally, Canada has taken home three medals from three events: a gold in the Men's, a silver in the Pairs and a bronze in Ice Dancing.
Results Ladies FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Jennifer KIRK USA 2.5 3 1 2 Shizuka ARAKAWA JPN 3.0 2 2 3 Yoshie ONDA JPN 3.5 1 3 4 Jennifer ROBINSON CAN 6.5 5 4 5 Ann Patrice MCDONOUGH USA 7.0 4 5 6 Annie BELLEMARE CAN 9.0 6 6 7 Dan FANG CHN 11.0 8 7 8 Akiko SUZUKI JPN 14.0 12 8 9 Joannie ROCHETTE CAN 14.0 10 9 10 Tatiana MALININA UZB 14.5 7 11 11 Andrea GARDINER USA 15.5 11 10 12 Miriam MANZANO AUS 18.5 13 12 13 Joanne CARTER AUS 18.5 9 14 14 Anastasia GIMAZETDINOVA UZB 20.0 14 13 15 Shirene HUMAN RSA 24.0 18 15 16 Jenna-Ann BUYS RSA 24.5 15 17 17 Bit-Na PARK KOR 25.5 19 16 18 Qingyun WANG CHN 26.0 16 18 19 Gladys OROZCO MEX 29.0 20 19 20 Yea-Ji SHIN KOR 30.5 21 20 21 Christine LEE HKG 31.5 17 23 22 Rocio SALAS MEX 32.5 23 21 23 Diane CHEN TPE 33.0 22 22 24 Sarah-Yvonne PRYTULA AUS 36.0 24 24 25 Quinn WILMANS RSA 25 26 Helena GARCIA MEX 26 27 Imelda-Rose HEGERTY NZL 27 28 Anny HOU TPE 28 R Young-Eun CHOI KOR For further information please contact: 2002 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships Aline Bussat Ingwersen, Kim Tae Wan, ISU Media Coordinator Press Officer Tel: +41 21 612 6666 Tel: +82 63 224 1276 or Fax: +41 21 612 6677 +82 63 224 1380 E-mail: bussat@isu.ch