After being sidelined with a stress fracture this summer, Minnesota's Kiri Baga came back in a big way this weekend at the Junior Grand Prix event in Japan.
Perhaps more impressive than her silver-medal finish is how consistent her triple jumps have become. Baga landed a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination for the first time in her career in the short program, and followed that up by landing 2 triple Lutzes (and a triple flip) in her free skate -- another milestone for the 15-year old American.
Her performances weren't perfect, though. She had trouble with the double Axel in both programs, falling on it in the free skate and receiving negative Grades of Execution on some of her other jump elements as well. What's important, however, is the fact that she had such a strong showing (including a 6-triple free skate) after such limited training time this season. Baga will skate in again at the final JGP event in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in three weeks. She'll need a podium finish once again to ensure herself of another trip to the Junior Grand Prix Final in December.
Baga appears to be turning into a rare breed of skater: one that shines in the face of adversity and has more grit and determination in her entire body than many of us do in our pinky finger.
Watch out for her this season -- she could very well be a top 8 finisher come Nationals in January.
Christina Gao of the United States and Russia's Adelina Sotnikova.
Christina Gao isn't resting on her laurels this season.
The 16-year old, who placed 5th in the senior division at the U.S. Championships last season, won three bronze medals on the Junior Grand Prix circuit last season, including one at the Junior Grand Prix Final. She's upped her game considerably this season in hopes of reaching the top step of the podium.
Gao is now armed with a stellar triple flip-triple toe loop combination, one so breathtaking it draws comparisons to the triple-triple combinations of Olympic champ Yu-Na Kim, Gao's former training partner. With a base value of 9.30 points, the combination, if hit cleanly, could very well catapult the young American to the top of the standings this week at the Junior Grand Prix event in Graz, Austria.
She won't go unchallenged, though. Enter Adelina Sotnikova, the 13-year old Russian "wonderbaby" who makes her international debut this week. Sotnikova won the Russian National Championship in 2009 at the tender age of 11, but has struggled with growth spurts and harnessing the pressure of competition since. However, if she goes clean in both programs, she will be hard to beat; her spins, spirals and skating skills are among the best in the junior ranks.
It will be interesting to see which girl comes out on top Saturday afternoon. I suspect both will score higher than the other junior skaters have so far this season, and I think both are early favorites for the Junior Grand Prix Final and Junior Worlds.
Whatever the case may be, the Gao vs. Sotnikova rivalry looks to be one of the most interesting of the young season.
Gao's new free skate:
Sotnikova's free skate from the 2010 Russian Championships:
With the first two Junior Grand Prix events of the 2010-11 season in the books, here's a quick recap of what went down on the ice:
Event #1: Courchevel, France
The American men opened the series with a strong showing in France, claiming both the silver and bronze medals behind Canadian Andrei Rogozine. Max Aaron of Colorado Springs was second after the short program, but fell to third in the free skate and third overall. Reigning U.S. junior champion Jason Brown, in third place after the short program, laid down a 7-triple free skate to win that portion and climb to second overall. Both American men have been assigned to a second event, the JGP in Japan next weekend, and both look poised to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final.
Russia continued it's dominance in junior ice dance with the team of Alexandra Stepanova & Andrei Bukin winning the gold medal by nearly 10 points over Americans Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus. Another Russian team, Evgenia Kosigina & Nikolai Moroshkin, took bronze in their international debut. Cannuscio/McManus have been assigned a second JGP event in Japan, along with U.S. teammates Joylyn Yang & Jean-Luc Baker.
There was a lot of movement between the short and long programs in the ladies event. Reigning Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist Polina Shelepen of Russia came from behind to win the gold medal by nearly 11 points over American junior silver medalist Yasmin Siraj. Shelepen's jumps are solid as a rock, but the rest of her skating leaves much to be desired. Siraj climbed from sixth to second with a strong, expressive, 5-triple free skate. Roza Sheveleva of Russia was third, France's Yretha Silete was fourth and 13-year old American Nina Jiang rounded out the top five. Siraj will compete at the JGP event in Great Britain in hopes of medalling again and qualifying for the Final for the first time in her career.
Shelepen's free skate:
Siraj's free skate:
Event #2: Brasov, Romania
The U.S. men saw continued success at the second event in Romania last weekend. Keegan Messing fell on a quadruple toe loop attempt in his free skate, but his strong jumps and fast spins were more than enough to give him the victory over teammate Joshua Farris. Farris hit a beautiful triple Axel in his short program to win that segment of the competition, but three falls in the free skate relegated him to second overall. Japan's Keiji Tanaka was third.
In ice dance, Russians Ksenia Monko & Kiril Khaliavin posted the highest score of the season thus far en route to the gold medal. Ukraine's Anastasia Galyeta & Alexei Shumski were second, and Americans Lauri Bonacorsi & Travis Mager won their second career JGP bronze medal, rebounding nicely after a 5th place finish in the short dance.
The U.S. ladies were up against a strong threat in Russia's triple Axel-wielding Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. Tuktamysheva was expected to win by a huge margin, but numerous mistakes in both programs only gave her a 2.22 point victory over American Kristiene Gong. Japan's Shion Kokubun was third, and Samantha Cesario, the other U.S. entry, was fourth. Both American girls got hammered by the technical panel with downgraded triples, but Gong has been assigned a second event, the JGP in Great Britain at the end of September.
Two-time United States pairs champion Rockne Brubaker has teamed up with junior-level singles skater Mary Beth Marley after his former partner, Keauna McLaughlin, announced that she would be taking the year off from skating.
Marley, the 2009 U.S. novice silver medalist, is completely new to pairs skating but has already passed her junior pairs tests. She will take her senior pairs tests within the next few days, as she and Brubaker plan on competing this season. They must register for the sectional championships by September 1 in order to be eligible to compete for a spot at Nationals in January.
Though this pairing may seem unusual at first, it is actually very promising. Marley is a dynamo, with reliable triple jumps, good spins and flexibility, and solid skating skills. She should complement Brubaker well, and appears to be fearless -- something that will aid in the transition to pairs skating. Further, her petite size will also be helpful, as the 5'10" Brubaker is not the tallest male pairs skater in the world.
Marley has recently relocated to southern California to skate with Brubaker, and while no formal announcement has been made, John Nicks seems like an obvious choice for their coach. He worked with McLaughlin and Brubaker last season, and the fact that Rockne has remained in SoCal instead of moving back to Colorado is telling.
Look out for the duo of Marley & Brubaker this season; I have a feeling they could make quite the splash...
In the shocker of all shockers, Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim of Korea announced her split with coach Brian Orser yesterday.
Orser, who guided Kim to World and Olympic titles in less than four years, said the skater's mother, Park Mi-Hee, approached him three weeks ago and said that his services were no longer needed.
There is clearly something more going on here; it's likely that Kim no longer has the drive or ambition to train at an elite level anymore, which is understandable. After all, she's won everything imaginable and is the biggest celebrity in South Korea right now, endorsing everything from refrigerators to her own brand of cell phone.
Skaters change coaches all the time, but this split comes as one of the biggest surprises since Michelle Kwan left Frank Carroll before the Olympic season in 2001.
What makes the situation more awkward is that Kim, 19, still trains at the same Toronto rink Orser coaches at, and he admitted that "it has created a tension that is having an impact on all the other skaters. Something has to change."
Those "other skaters" include both Adam Rippon and Christina Gao, a pair of quickly rising American stars. Orser guided Rippon to the Four Continents Championship gold medal last season, while Gao was a surprise bronze medalist at the Junior Grand Prix Final.
Kim announced her intention to skip the Grand Prix Series this fall, and instead focus her training for the World Championships coming up in March in Tokyo. However, with a plethora of opportunities coming her way since striking gold in Vancouver -- including her own ice show -- it appears unlikely at this point in time that we will see her on competition ice again.
Eight U.S. skaters are headed to Courchevel, France, next week for the opening event of the 2010-11 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.
In the men's event, reigning junior National champion Jason Brown and bronze medalist Max Aaron make their Junior Grand Prix debuts, where they'll face a relatively weak field overall. Aaron's triple Axel should keep him in the medal picture, while Brown's triple/triple combinations and fantastic skating skills make him the early gold medal favorite. The top international contender for the men is Canada's Andrei Rogozine, who also wields a strong triple Axel.
For the ladies, U.S. teens Yasmin Siraj and Nina Jiang will be up against a much more accomplished field of skaters. Russia's Polina Shelepen, who won twice on the JGP last season, is back once again. If she can maintain the solid jumping and consistency she showed last season, Shelepen should steamroll the competition here. Siraj, the current U.S. junior silver medalist is a very good skater, but neither she nor Jiang are at the level of the Russian jump-wise yet. Russia's other entry, Roza Sheveleva (replacing an injured Anna Ovcharova), is also a legitimate medal threat.
While the podiums are fairly easily predicted in the singles events, the same cannot be said for the ice dance event. The Americans will be well represented, though both teams could face an uphill climb to the medal stand. 2010 U.S. novice champions Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton are very good athletes, though both are untested so far internationally. Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus, 10th in the U.S. junior division last year, are back on the JGP series after placing 7th in their lone event last fall. With about 6-7 teams so evenly matched in the event, it really is anyone's title to take.
As always, the Junior Grand Prix series brings together the top junior skaters from around the globe in weekly competition. There are seven events this year, with the top eight point-getters at the conclusion of the series being invited to skate in the Junior Grand Prix Final, held this year in Beijing, China.
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Minnesota's Kiri Baga, who won two gold medals on the JGP circuit last season, sustained a stress fracture over the summer and resumed training six weeks ago. She is said to be progressing well, and is competing her new programs at the Minnesota State Championships this weekend. If all goes well, Baga, one of the United States' top juniors, should definitely receive at least one JGP event.
2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko's talk of competing four years from now at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia is no more.
On Monday the International Skating Union permanently stripped the 27-year old Russian of his amateur status, citing the fact that he broke eligibility rule #102. In their decision, the ISU Council said:
"Based on evidence presented the Council has concluded that Mr. Evgeny Plushenko breached the ISU eligibility rule 102, paragraph 2, i) of the ISU General Regulations and as a consequence has become ineligible under paragraph 7 a) of that rule. The evidence has proved to the satisfaction of the Council that Mr. E. Plushenko, a skater and member of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR), skated in exhibitions held in March and April 2010, in Russia and other countries, without the express prior authorization of the FSFR. Such activity is a breach of the ISU eligibility rules and results in the loss of eligibility."
Here's what happened in layman's terms: Plushenko was slated to compete at the World Championships in March, one month after winning the silver medal in Vancouver behind American Evan Lysacek. Shortly before the start of Worlds, Plushenko withdrew citing injury. His doctor's note to the ISU stated that he would need two weeks of rest, with limited to no skating at all. After not competing at Worlds, Plushenko then skated in the "Kings on Ice" show in Russia. Annoyed, the ISU refused to sanction the shows, meaning that skaters who wished to maintain their amateur skating status were not to perform. Because Plushenko skated in the shows anyway, he is now deemed a "professional" skater and is therefore banned from ever skating competitively again.
The lines between amateur and professional skaters these days are virtually non-existent, as the ISU has allowed more skaters to perform in shows to earn money. The shows must be sanctioned by the ISU, however, and "Kings on Ice" was not. As frustrating as it may seem for Plushenko, and as ridiculous as this whole issue is altogether, the rules are the rules.
While it's unlikely that Plushenko was actually going to skate in another Olympic Games, he now won't have the opportunity of competing even one or two more years to try and rack up more European and World Championship medals. While his figure skating legacy is secure, this has to be a devastating way to end his competitive career.
It was a great four-year run for Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker.
Teaming up in 2006, the young American duo won everything on the junior circuit, including the 2007 Junior World title, and then transitioned to the senior ranks where they claimed back-to-back U.S. championships and qualified for the 2007 Grand Prix Final.
One year ago a 2010 Olympic berth seemed all but assured for this top 10 team, but a disastrous short program at the U.S. Championships in Spokane last January changed all of that. McLaughlin and Brubaker fell from America's best to a dismal 5th place, and were forced to watch the Olympic action from home.
Putting the disappointment of Nationals behind them, the team won silver at the Four Continents Championships in February, and seemed to be back on track for next season. However, it was announced last week that McLaughlin is taking a break from competitive skating to focus on her senior year of high school. Brubaker, 24, now begins the daunting task of searching for a new partner.
This team truly had something special -- that innate star quality that makes you sit up and take notice. They brought a flair and an on-the-edge excitement that wasn't seen in U.S. pairs skating in decades. They will truly be missed by many in the skating community; I wish Keauna the best in her time away from the sport, and I hope Rockne is able to find a partner as soon as possible and, if all goes well and the stars happen to line up just perfectly, qualify for the 2011 U.S. Championships.
In honor of this team, here's their fantastic silver-medal winning free skate from Skate America 2008:
Every so often, a skating program reaches iconic status. It happened in 1988 with Katarina Witt's sultry "Carmen" free skate, and in 2002-03 with Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao's emotional "Turandot" long program.
America's most decorated skater ever, Michelle Kwan, has an impressive portfolio of iconic programs herself, including the Rachmanninof piano medley short program she used in both 1998 and 2002, and her "Salome" free skate from 1996 -- the program which signaled her arrival as a major international threat, and which won her the gold medal as a 15-year old at the World Championships.
While all these programs are spectacular in their own ways, one program doesn't get as much love or attention from the skating world: Kwan's "Dream of Desdemona" short program from the 1996-97 season. It is another Lori Nichol masterpiece, with intricate choreography and difficult transitions into and out of her required elements, all accentuated by a fantastic piece of music. From the opening spiral sequence to the final death drop spin, it's hard to take your eyes off of the program.
There really isn't a piece of music called "Dream of Desdemona." The program is actually a combination of pieces by composer Jules Massenet. The "Desdemona" part comes from the brilliant thinking of both Kwan and Nichol, as it is a storyline they created to depict the turbulent relationship between two of Shakespeare's most famous characters: Othello and Desdemona.
Perhaps this program doesn't get the recognition it deserves from the skating community because Kwan won no major titles with it. It was used during the 1997 season, a season in which she suffered from growth spurts, injuries and confidence issues -- a season in which Tara Lipinski would sweep the major titles: U.S. Champion, Series Final Champion (now called the Grand Prix Final) and World Champion.
Nonetheless, the program epitomizes classic, beautiful skating with deep edges, gorgeous lines, solid jumps, beautiful spins and, most of all, heart. And while it may not be remembered as one of the best ever, it is certainly one of figure skating's greatest "hidden gems."
Frank Carroll, coach of 2010 Olympic champion Evan Lysacek, is going to be one busy guy.
Last month, it was announced that Kazakhstan's Denis Ten, who skated to a top 10 finish at Worlds in 2009, was moving to El Segundo, Calif., to train with the renowned coach.
Earlier this week, Jonathan Cassar announced he was leaving coach Julie Berlin and the Detroit Skating Club to move west and be guided by Frank, too.
Today, three young, promising U.S. ladies also announced that they are to be coached under the tutelage of Mr. Carroll. Leah Keiser, the 12-year old reigning U.S. novice national champion, will be joining Carroll's stable of students along with Ellie Kawamura and Kristiene Gong, second and fourth, respectively, at the 2009 U.S. junior ladies event.
Carroll is the master at bringing out the best in his students. His work with Mirai Nagasu in less than a year took her from 5th in the United States to 4th at the Olympic Games.
Through the summer, he will surely be working with each skater to make them stronger athletes and competitors. Ten needs a confidence boost, while Cassar has all the makings of a champion -- except for the more difficult jumps. Keiser is an incredible talent with great technique already, but Frank has the ability to take her to senior national champion by 2012. Kawamura and Gong will benefit from the same jump and confidence overhaul he gave Nagasu this year.
