| Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Skate America, Day Three |
Skate America in Spokane, Washington, continued Saturday with the Free Dance and the Men's and Ladies' Free Programs.
Ice Dancing, Free Dance
The Ice Dance event concluded with the Free Dance. Elena Grushina/Ruslan Goncharov (UKR) held on to their lead to take home the gold - their first Grand Prix gold medal. The silver medal went to Russia's Tatiana Navka/Roman Kostomarov while Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) captured the bronze. Those two couples medaled for the first time in the senior Grand Prix Series. However, Navka had won Skate America in 1991 with her previous partner Samvel Gezalian. The Ukrainian husband-and-wife team produced difficult footwork in their dynamic routine to "Quixote" by Bond. They earned marks ranging from 5.4 to 5.8 for technical merit/required elements and from 5.6 to 5.9 for presentation. Navka/Kostomarov impressed the judges with innovative lifts and moves in their exotic interpretation of "The Feeling Begins" by Peter Gabriel. Their first mark went up to 5.7 and their second mark up to 5.8. The World Junior Champions, Belbin/Agosto, really shone in an entertaining and intricate routine set to an Elvis Presley Medley. Their upbeat performance earned them a standing ovation and marks up to 5.6 for technical merit/required elements and up to 5.8 for presentation. "The idea to do an Elvis program was not just for my love of doing an impersonation of Elvis. The idea came from my coach Igor (Shpilband). He brought the music and he thought it would be a really great vehicle for us to show a lot of energy and a little bit of comedy too", Agosto told the press.
World bronze medalists Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovski (ISR) remained in fourth place.
Skate America was a scoring event for all top ranked couples. Grushina/Goncharov received 12 points and will score again at the Trophée Lalique in Paris, France. Navka/Kostomarov took 9 points and will compete again at the Cup of Russia. Belbin/Agosto picked up 7 points and their next event is the Trophée Lalique.
Ladies, Free Program
Four-time World Champion Michelle Kwan (USA) claimed her seventh Skate America title and thus set a new record for the event. Teammate Ann-Patrice McDonough moved up from sixth place to capture the silver medal while Elena Liashenko of the Ukraine took the bronze.
Kwan had to overcome a shaky start when she doubled her opening loop and fell on the triple Lutz. The 22-year-old rallied back to land four clean triples including a Lutz and a double Axel. Her routine to "Concerto de Aranjuez" also featured her trademark spirals. Kwan's marks ranged from 5.4 to 5.7 for technical merit and from 5.7 to 5.8 for presentation. "I felt a little stiff in the legs, a little uptight", she explained. "My practice was solid, but I couldn't get into the ice. I wasn't alert, wasn't aggressive. I was surprised when I fell on the triple Lutz. I was like 'hello, wake up', and I got back into it." Skating last, McDonough delivered a solid performance to "Madame Butterfly". The Korean-born American opened her program with a double Axel, triple Lutz and triple loop, but she doubled the toeloop and fell on her triple Salchow. McDonough landed two more triples and showed strong spins. She earned marks up to 5.7 for both technical merit and presentation. "I am very surprised", the reigning World Junior Champion admitted. "I was shaky and nervous. I tried to get my mind together. The program wasn't the best, and I didn't think it would be enough (to move up to second place)." Liashenko, a veteran competitor, showed improved choreography in her Tango routine and produced four clean triple jumps, she only doubled the loop and two-footed her second Lutz. "I really like this music, and the interpretation comes from within myself", the Ukrainian said. "I'm happy that we chose this music. We were looking for an interesting and comfortable program for me."
The Ladies pushed the limits in this competition as Liudmila Nelidina (RUS) and Yukari Nakano (JPN) landed triple Axels. It has been ten years since Midori Ito executed a triple Axel in competition (at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France). So far Ito and Tonya Harding (USA) were the only Ladies to perform this element in competition. The ISU Referee of the competition ratified Nelidina's and Nakano's Axel as landed, but added that Nakano's wasn't technically completely clean as it was slightly under rotated.
Skate America was a points event for all three medalists. Kwan has 12 points but probably will not compete in another Grand Prix event. McDonough got 9 points and will score again at the Cup of Russia. Liashenko collected 7 points and her second scoring event is the Trophée Lalique.
Men, Free Program
The Mens' competition took a dramatic turn when Olympic Champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia was forced to withdraw due to injury just before he was scheduled to compete. The hip injury that has bothered him for a couple of weeks now forced him to pull out of the event. "I never withdrew from a competition, and I hope it won't happen again", a disappointed Yagudin said. He is not sure if he will be able to compete next week at Skate Canada.
Brian Joubert of France took the opportunity to win his first Grand Prix medal with Alexander Abt (RUS) claiming the silver. Matthew Savoie (USA) earned the bronze medal.
Joubert, who stood in second following the Short Program, delivered a solid performance that included an excellent quadruple toeloop, a triple Axel-double toeloop combination and four more triples. The European bronze medalist only missed his second quadruple toeloop and second triple Axel attempts in the program to the soundtrack of "The Untouchables". The range of marks for the Frenchman was 5.3 to 5.7 for technical merit and 5.5 to 5.8 for presentation. "I only had aimed for making the top five", a delighted Joubert told the press. "I'm disappointed for Alexei Yagudin, but I'm happy for myself." Abt nailed a spectacular quadruple-triple toeloop combination, but then he went down on his second quadruple toeloop and on the triple Axel. The European silver medalist fought back, completed five triple jumps including an Axel and good footwork in his "Bolero" program. It was a close decision between him and Joubert. Abt's marks ranged between 5.4 and 5.7 for technical merit and between 5.5 and 5.8 for presentation. "This was my first competition after the Olympic season, and I'm quite pleased with how I skated. I went for a second quad for the first time. Unfortunately, it didn't work out this time, but I had decided to risk it", Abt said.
Savoie was in sixth place following the Short Program but he pulled up to third. Skating to a selection of Ragtime, the 22-year-old run into trouble at the beginning when he stumbled on his toeloop in the triple Axel-triple toeloop combination and doubled the Salchow. He managed to pull himself together to produce five triple jumps including a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and excellent spins. "It's unfortunate to benefit from injuries, pull-outs whatsoever, but I'm happy with the way I skated", Savoie commented.
Joubert, Abt and Savoie all competed for points in Spokane. Joubert scored 12 points and will skate again at the Trophée Lalique. Abt's second scoring event will be the Bofrost Cup on Ice in Germany, while Savoie hopes to pick up more points in Moscow at the Cup of Russia.
Skate America concludes on Sunday with the Exhibition Gala. The Grand Prix Series continues next week with Skate Canada in Quebec City.
Skate America was the first of six international qualifying events of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The skaters will be awarded prize money and points, and the top six skaters and couples with the most points overall will proceed to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in St. Petersburg, (RUS). Full standings will be published after each event and also made available directly on the ISU Internet site on ww2.isu.org .
Smart Ones Skate America 2002 Ice Dancing Free Dance FPl. Name Nat. Points CD OD FD 1 Elena GRUSHINA / Ruslan GONCHAROV UKR 2.0 1 1 1 2 Tatiana NAVKA / Roman KOSTOMAROV RUS 4.0 2 2 2 3 Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO USA 6.0 3 3 3 4 Galit CHAIT / Sergei SAKHNOVSKI ISR 8.0 4 4 4 5 Melissa GREGORY / Denis PETUKHOV USA 10. 5 5 5 6 Kristin FRASER / Igor LUKANIN AZE 12.0 6 6 6 7 Emilie NUSSEAR / Mathew GATES USA 14.0 7 7 7 8 Nozomi WATANABE / Akiyuki KIDO JPN 16.0 8 8 8 9 Josee PICHE / Pascal DENIS CAN 18.0 9 9 9 Ladies Free Program FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Michelle KWAN USA 1.5 1 1 2 Ann Patrice McDONOUGH USA 5.0 6 2 3 Elena LIASHENKO UKR 5.0 4 3 4 Jennifer KIRK USA 6.0 2 5 5 Ludmila NELIDINA RUS 6.5 5 4 6 Viktoria VOLCHKOVA RUS 8.5 3 7 7 Yukari NAKANO JPN 10.0 8 6 8 Julia SEBESTYEN HUN 12.5 7 9 9 Miriam MANZANO AUS 13.0 10 8 10 Annie BELLEMARE CAN 14.5 9 10 11 Zuzana BABIAKOVA SVK 17.0 12 11 12 Elina KETTUNEN FIN 17.5 11 12 Men Free Program FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Brian JOUBERT FRA 2.0 2 1 2 Alexander ABT RUS 3.5 3 2 3 Matthew SAVOIE USA 6.0 6 3 4 Min ZHANG CHN 6.0 4 4 5 Michael WEISS USA 8.5 5 6 6 Emanuel SANDHU CAN 9.5 9 5 7 Vakhtang MURVANIDZE GEO 12.0 10 7 8 Derrick DELMORE USA 12.0 8 8 9 Sergei DAVYDOV BLR 12.5 7 9 10 Kensuke NAKANIWA JPN 15.5 11 10 R Alexei YAGUDIN RUS 1 For further information please contact: Grand Prix of Figure Skating & Final Skate America Patricia Mayor, Bob Dunlop ISU Sports Coordinator USFSA Press Officer Figure Skating Tel: +41 21 612 66 66 Tel: +1 509 242 42 67 Fax: +41 21 612 66 77 Mobile: +1 719 351 96 09 E-mail: mayor@isu.org