The 2005 Four Continents Championships continued Thursday in Gangneung, Republic of Korea, with the Original Dance, the Ladies’ Short Program and the Pairs Free Skating.

Ice Dancing, Original Dance
Today’s competition started with the Original Dance. The Original Dance for the 2004/2005 season is the „Rhythm Combination“. The couples can chose two or three from the following rhythms: Quickstep, Foxtrot and/or Charleston.
Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) strengthened their overnight lead ahead of  teammates Melissa Gregory/Denis Petukhov, but the standings below the top two teams shuffeled quite a bit.
Belbin/Agosto produced an excellent performance of their Original Dance set to Charleston, Foxtrot and Quickstep. The defending Four Continents Champions showed a difficult side by side footwork line with twizzles in both directions as well as a curve-rotational lift and a dance combination spin with changes of position. The US Champions scored 65.20 points (25.25 element score/39.95 program component score), setting a new personal best for themselves. They now have a total event score of 109.20 points and a solid lead.
Gregory/Petukhov opened their routine to a Charleston and Foxtrot from the „Chicago“ soundtrack with the side by side midline, skated mostly on one foot. They also completed two nice lifts, but their combination spin looked somewhat slow, and Petukhov stumbled at the end of the diagonal step sequence. Nevertheless, the couple held on to second place with a score of 55.10 points (21.36/33.74), which added up to a total score of 93.12 points.
The third US team, Lydia Manon/Ryan O’Meara, delivered a strong performance to the rhythms of Foxtrot and Charleston as well. Their dance included a serpentine lift and and a demanding side by side footwork line. The National bronze medalists earned 53.75 points (22.11/31.64) to move up from fourth to third place with a total score of 86.25 points.
Nozomi Watanabe/Akiyuki Kido (JPN) delivered a solid Original Dance as well, but their rotational lift was laboured and the team dropped to fourth (84.15 points).
Canada’s Mylene Girard/Bradley Yaeger put out a strong Original Dance to move up from a ninth place after the Compulsory Dance to fifth (77.90 points).

The top three American couples all had to fight through some problems: Belbin/Agosto’s and Manon/O’Meara’s luggage was lost on the way to Korea and just arrived yesterday, on the day of the first competition. Manon also injured her left leg in practice and Melissa Gregory is recovering from food poisoning.
”We were actually talking to each other and were saying that this is a great test of a competition, because everything that could go wrong, is going wrong. But nonetheless, I think everybody skated very well today. I think it’s good thing push through“, Belbin commented.
„We had a little trip in the diagonal step sequence which happened at the end our program. But we’ve been working a lot on our performance and the way we’re skating our programs, and I think the rest of the program the best yet we’ve done – minus the trip“, Gregory said. „When you have food poisoning and can’t do anything about it, it’s quite challenging, but I just had to try to let my body take over what it has been trained to do (and) to rely on my husband Denis to help me through it and keep feeding myself rice, water and crackers all day long, but it’s much better today“, she went on. „I think we had a good performance today, because, compared to yesterday, we stepped it up a notch from expression and everything, and we’re very happy“, Manon told the press. „On the warm up for the CD, I fell on one of the twizzles, I just hit the inside, so I have a muscle bruise. It’s getting much better. On the ice, we forget about hurting“, she continued, referring to the injury sustained yesterday.

Ladies, Short Program

The Ladies started their competition with the Short Program. Japan’s Fumie Suguri and Yoshie Onda came in first and second while Jennifer Kirk (USA) is currently standing in third place.
Kirk had drawn to skate second, but she apparently wasn’t bothered by the early starting number and put out a solid program to the „Chicago“ soundtrack. The 2002 Four Continents Champion landed a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple flip and a double Axel, but lost speed during her spiral sequence to earn 51.24 points (26.73 element score/24.51 program component score).
Onda’s dynamic performance to music entitled ”Freedom” featured a high triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple flip a double Axel as well as nice spins for which she received a level 2. The two-time Four Continents bronze medalist was awarded 58.02 points (31.82/26.20). „Today I’m so happy because I did a very good performance“, Onda told the post-event press conference. ”But I still have to do the long program. I don’t think about Worlds”, she added, referring to the fact that the outcome of this event will decide whether she or Suguri will be selected for the Japanese team for the World Championships in March.
”Skating is about performing and not about fighting against each other. So I just want to have a good performance. If I can’t go to Worlds, it will be ok.“
Skating to the „Pink Panther“ soundtrack, Suguri delivered as well. The two-time Four Continents Champion (2001 and 2003) hit an excellent triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple flip, double Axel and solid spins in her playful and charming routine. The 24-year-old scored 61.44 points (33.06/28.38). ”Looking from the total, it was pretty good (today). I gave about 80 or 90 percent”, the two-time World bronze medalist commented. ”I’m satisfied with what I’ve done, but I still have many things to improve. I wish I can go to Worlds. We have to do our best and then the judges decide.”
Suguri explained that she has been working with former coach Nobuo Sato since the Japanese National Championships as coach Oleg Vasiliev stayed in Russia with his other students.

Australia’s Joanne Carter came in fourth with a solid program that included a triple flip, double Axel and level three spiral sequence, but she did a three turn out of her triple Lutz in combination with double toeloop (49.63 points).
Beatrisia Liang (USA) is standing in fifth place after doubling the Lutz in her combination (47.30 points). Vicky Boissonneault (CAN) is ranked sixth. She fell out of her double Axel, but completed the Lutz-combination.

Pairs, Free Skating

The first champions were crowned in the Pairs event. Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang of China defended their overnight lead to win their first Four Continents title. Defending champions Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN) settled for the silver this time while Kathryn Orscher/Garrett Lucash (USA) claimed the bronze.
Zhang/Zhang had drawn to skate first in the final group. The two-time World Junior Champions opened their program to „In the Hall of the Mountain King“ with a spectacular triple twist, followed by a double Axel-triple toeloop combination. Dan Zhang put down her hand on the throw triple Salchow, but the team recovered to land a side by side triple Salchow and a throw triple loop. Zhang/Zhang scored 117.94 points (62.34 element score/55.60 program component score) and added up a total event score of 181.61 points. It was their first title at an ISU senior Championships, and they beat their teammates Pang/Tong fort he first time in an international competition.
Orscher/Lucash skated next. Performing to „Samson and Delilah“ by Camille Saint-Saens, the US Champions landed a triple twist and a strong throw triple flip as well as a throw triple Salchow and good lifts, but they struggled with the side by side jumps. Lucash doubled the first toeloop and Orscher fell on the second toeloop. The team was awarded 96.90 points (49.31/48.59) and remained in third place with 153.05 points.
Pang/Tong then skated next. The two-time Four Continents Champions produced a high triple twist as well as a throw triple Salchow, throw triple loop and difficult lifts, but they, too, had problems with the side by side jumps. Tong touched down with his hand on the side by side triple toeloop and Pang singled both Axels. The reigning World bronze medalists earned 115.73 points (57.90/57.83) which added up to a total score of 177.80. They lost the gold by less than one point.
Elizabeth Putnam/Sean Wirtz (CAN) remained in fourth place. They attempted a side by side triple Lutz, but Wirtz doubled the jump, and Putnam later doubled the side by side Salchow (145.08 points).

„First of all I want to thank the Korean audience for their warm welcome and their support“, Hao Zhang said. „We were a little nervous. We tried our new combination double Axel-triple toeloop for the first time in competition, and haven’t been doing it for a long time. We landed it, and we’re very pleased about that. There were some minor mistakes, but I guess they don’t matter now.”
Tong commented: ”Too bad for the mistakes in our program today. This whole season, things haven’t been going so well. Both my partner and I have been through some injury problems. Now we’ll have one last chance at the World Championships to prove that our program is a really strong one.” ”I changed my skating boots after the Grand Prix Final, and I’m still not very comfortable with the jumps”, Pang explained.
”This is our first ISU medal, and so Katie and I are very proud of this accomplishment”, Lucash told the press. ”This wasn’t as good as of a performance for us as our US National Championships, but we’re going to use this as a building block for Worlds and we’re really hoping to bring our level of skating up to and beyond to the way it was at Nationals. I think it is an honor for us to be on the podium with the other skaters tonight.“
Results