The 2007 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships went on Friday in Colorado Springs, USA, with the Free Dance and the Men’s Free Skating and Ladies.
Ice Dancing, Free Dance
The ice dancing competition concluded with an interesting Free Dance. Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon (CAN) overtook overnight leaders Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) to claim their first Four Continents title. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) earned the bronze medal like last year.
Dubreuil/Lauzon skated last and put out an excellent performance of their romantical dance to „At Last“ that was highlighted by beautiful lifts and smooth footwork. The crowd gasped when Lauzon, skating backwards on one foot, held is partner in a vertical position in front of himself. The reigning World silver medallists received a level four for all four lifts as well as for their well synchronized twizzles and the spin to earn 100.73 points (51.11 element score/49.62 program component score). They moved up from second to first at 198.59 points. “It’s been at least three years that we’ve been coming (to Four Continents), so it’s great to come back and have the title, because we never had it before. It was challenging in Colorado Springs, but I think it will give us confidence for Tokyo – to know that we can perform that well with the altitude”, Dubreuil commented.
Belbin/Agosto debuted a new Free Dance set to the “Amelie” soundtrack by Yann Thiersen in international competition. The current World silver medallists completed difficult lifts including a new one where he holds her upside down while skating in a spread eagle and a serpentine lift with changes of position for both partners. Like Dubreuil/Lauzon, the Americans were awarded a level three for the footwork sequences. Belbin/Agosto picked up 98.81 points (50.68/48.13) and collected 196.98 overall. After winning three consecutive titles at Four Continents, the Olympic silver medallist settled for the silver this time. It was their sixth medal in as many participations in this event. “The program is still new. It wasn’t really our goal here to finish a certain place. I think by the World Championships it (the program) will be much more competitive. It was definitely an improvement over Nationals, absolutely a step into the right direction”, Belbin said. “I think it’s always a risk to make changes, and especially when it’s complete revamp of what you were doing. But it was something we really felt strongly we needed to do, and then when the opportunity rose we had to jump at it. We’re really happy with what we’ve done and it’s definitely going in the right direction still, and we keep working on it and it will be even better at Worlds”, Agosto said, referring to changing their Free Dance in the middle of the season.
Virtue/Moir had chosen Jean Sibelius’ “Valse Triste” for their Free Dance. Their lyrical program included a level-four circular footwork sequence as well as a straight line lift in a low position and a dance spin with changes of position. The reigning World Junior Champions scored 93.99 points (50.40/43.59), significantly improving their previous personal best of 88.29points. The captured their second consecutive bronze medal at Four Continents with a total score of 184.89 points. “It’s definitely a good confidence booth for us. We had three good skates, solid performances and it’s definitely nice to get the mileage on the programs. We’re looking forward to Tokyo. We’ve got a lot of work to do when we get home, but we’re excited to get home and train hard”, Virtue told the press.
Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) came in fourth with a strong performance of their “Polovetsian Dances”. They earned a level four for seven out of the eight elements in the program (179.69 points). Kimberly Navarro/Brent Bommentre (USA) wer fifth at 157.82 points. They skated to a Beatles Medley.
Men, Free Skating
In what was an exciting Men’s event, Evan Lysacek (USA) jumped from fourth to first to claim his second Four Contintents title. Jeffrey Buttle of Canada took the silver medal while Jeremy Abbott captured the bronze in which was his first ISU Championship.
Skating to “Carmen”, Lysacek put out a solid program that featured a slightly two-footed quadruple-triple toeloop combination, a triple Axel-triple toe as well as four more triple jumps. The two-time World bronze medallist was awarded a level four for two of his spins and his two footwork sequences were graded a level three. He only put down his hand on his first triple Axel. The 21-year-old earned 159.23 points (84.43 element score/74.80 program component score), improving his previous personal best of 152.58 and racked up a total score of 226.27 points. It was Lysacek’s third medal at the ISU Four Continents Championships. He was third in 2004 and first in 2005.
Buttle hit a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and five other triples in his program to Armenian music from the soundtrack “Ararat”, but he doubled his first planned triple Axel and singled the second. The Technical Panel graded three of his four spins a level four. The two-time Four Continents Champion received 146.24 points (71.94/74.30) for this performance and slipped from first to second at 223.96 points.
Abbott, who skated first in the final flight, opened his routine to Wolfgang A. Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 with a triple toeloop followed by a triple Axel-triple toeloop combination with a three turn out of the first jump. He singled the next Axel as well as his Lutz, but had three other triples and good spins to score 128.88 points (61.60/67.28). The 21-year-old was ranked fourth in the Free Skating but held on to third place with a total score of 203.22 points.
Ryan Bradley (USA), who lives and trains like Abbott in Colorado Springs, finished fourth (196.29 points). He produced a triple Axel-triple toeloop combination but fell on his triple Lutz. Christopher Mabee (CAN) moved up from eighth to fifth with a strong performance that included seven triples (188.41 points). He was ranked third in the Free Skating.
“Tonight was really satisfying in its own way, because it’s been a gruelling three weeks, I run a sort of marathon between Nationals and now, emotionally and physically. So to come here and fight through that performance felt really good. At Nationals, everything was smooth, and effortless and +2 Grades of execution. Tonight some things felt scratchy and it felt like I was fighting for each and every element, but I’m proud that I can fight for it and make sure that I stay on one foot”, Lysacek told the post-event press conference. ”The program is technically so gruelling, it’s probably going to rival anybody else in the world technically. Now that I’m confident with the quad and confident with other jumps it’s going to be all about the artistry”, he added.
“I don’t think I was aggressive as at Nationals in the long program. Definitely in the end I was feeling the altitude. I’m happy about the Lutz but obviously disappointed about the Axels”, Buttle commented. “Overall tonight it obviously wasn’t the skate that I wanted. The jumps felt pretty good except for the Axels. I just didn’t committ to it. There is no other excuse, there is no excuse. I felt pretty comfortable out there but definitely I need to go home, I need to train harder and make up the lost time.”
Abbott was still very excited about today’s result. ” I’m ecstatic with how everything ended up. I’m a little disappointed with how my skate went tonight, but in general this has been such a great experience. It’s been awesome competing in front of my home crowd and having that support. It’s the next step. I feel like I made my mark on the international scene. Now I can move forward from here”, he said.
Canadian pair skater Jessica Dubé, who suffered a face laceration during the Pairs Free Skating on Thursday afternoon, was released from hospital today. When she had come too close to her partner Bryce Davison in the side by side flying camel spin, his blade sliced her left cheek and the left portion of her nose. The 19-year-old underwent surgery on Thursday evening. “I’m looking forward to getting back on the ice with Bryce in the next little while”, Dubé was quoted in a written statement.
The ISU Four Continents Championships 2007 conclude Saturday with the Ladies Free Skating and the Exhibition Gala. For more information and full results please see: www.isu.org and www.4continents.com.
