The 2007 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships continued Thursday in Colorado Springs, USA, with the Original Dance, the Pairs Free Skating and Ladies Short Program.
Ice Dancing, Original Dance
The ice dancers opened today’s competition with the Original Dance. Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) edged Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon (CAN) and overtook them while Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir moved up to third place.
Belbin/Agosto skated first out of the top contenders. They put out an intense performance of their Tango program to « Concierto para Quinteto » and « Oblivion » that was highlighted by a rotational lift, a straight line lift and a precise diagonal step sequene, but during the side by side midline step sequence Belbin’s blade got caught in her dress and she struggled to get it free. The reigning World bronze medallists still were able to move up from second to first, earning 60.45 points (30.58/29.87) and adding up 98.17 points so far. « It was pretty obvious that my blade got caught in the back of my skirt. Thankfully it happened in the one-foot section because I couldn’t get my leg out if I wanted to and I’m impressed that I was able to stay on the one foot I had. When I had a chance I just reached out and ripped the skirt from the blade and kept going. These things happen. I’d rather have it happen here than at the World Championships. We just cut the skirt off and start over”, Belbin explained.
Dubreuil/Lauzon appeared somewhat shaky in their routine to « Paya D’Ora ». Dubreuil slipped briefly on a transition move and her twizzles in the side by side midline footwork were wobbly. The couple nevertheless impressed the crowd with their difficult lifts and their characterstic interpretation of the Tango. The 2006 World silver medalists scored 59.32 points (29.58/29.74) and slipped to second at 97.86, but are less than one point behind the leaders. « It was probably the worst we had ever competed. We need to work on our footwork and improve some of the small things. It was not a very good performance today, but we will brush it off and move on. Each day it is a new performance. I just stumbled and was unfocused. Tomorrow is another day and another program and we just have to move onto something else and put the program behind us”, Dubreuil said.
Skating to « Association Tango », Virtue/Scott put out a technically demanding and precise performance that featured a curve lift with changes of position and intricate footwork. The 2006 World Junior Champions earned a level four for all five elements and picked up 57.49 points (31.23/26.26) for this performance. They moved up from fourth to third and have accumulated 90.90 points. « We thought it was the best we had ever skated it. It is great to be here since we train with the other teams. It is a great competitive atmosphere since there are great teams here”, Virtue told the press.
Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) delivered a smooth Tango as well and remained close to the podium with a total score of so far 88.34 points.
Pairs, Free Skating
The Pairs event concluded with the Free Skating. Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao (CHN) skated off with the gold medal with their teammates Qing Pang/Jian Tong claiming the silver. Rena Inoue/John Baldwin (USA) took the bronze medal.
Overnight leaders Shen/Zhao had drawn to skate last. Their lyrical performance of « Meditation » from the opera « Thais » featured a side by side triple toe-double toe combination, a double Axel, a high triple twist and a big throw triple loop and Salchow as well as difficult lifts. The rarely seen forward outside death spiral, the spins ans pirals were all awarded a level four by the Technical Panel. The only glitch in their performance was a loss of unison in the side by side spin and they lost speed towards the end, finishing a little bit too late which led to a overtime deduction. Nevertheless, the two-time World Champions earned 133.76 points (67.85/66.91) and accumulated a total score of 203.05 to win their third Four Continents title after 1999 and 2003.
Skating to « Music of the Night » by Andrew Lloyd Webber Pang/Tong hit a side by side double Axel-double Axel sequence, a triple toeloop, triple twist, throw triple loop and Salchow. Their Axel lasso and toe lasso lift both were graded a level four. The reigning World Champions scored 119.53 points (61.26/58.27) and collected 175.48 points overall. The silver medal was their fifth medal at the Four Continents Championships. Pang/Tong won the event in 2002 and 2004 and were second in 2003 and 2005.
Inoue/Baldwin opened their routine set to a medley of music by Giacomo Puccini with a side by side triple toeloop followed by a double twist and a double Axel-double Axel sequence, but he stumbled out of the seonc jump. Inoue took a hard fall on the throw triple Axel, but recovered to land the throw triple loop later into the program. The couple go level four on all thei elements except the footwork which was graded a level three. The 2006 Four Continents Champions got 113.75 points (60.98/53.77) and remained in third place at 175.48 points. « I think I can say it (winning) comes as a surprise to us. We had a lot of difficulties to overcome, and the last two competitions were very close. I still haven’t overcome the jetlag yet. Therefore we feel very happy to have scored over 200 points here”, Zhao told the press. ”This performance was about the same as at the Grand Prix Final, but we were a little bit slow, because of the altitude. We lost one point (overtime deduction). Technically we still can do better, there were some little errors. But the triple twist was much better today than yesterday”, his partner added.
“Our jumps have improved and it is important to get better. After winning the World Championships we hoped to get better but there have been a lot of obstacles to that. We are confident that we will skate much better at the (upcoming) World Championships”, Tong commented.
“Unfortunately I fell on the throw triple Axel, but the performance level was really good. I felt that at Nationals I was very nervous and we held back a lot and didn’t skate aggressively like we’ve been skating at home. I just wanted to be very aggressive”, Inoue said. “We really attacked that first part of the program. I was very happy to do the first jump in the program, which was the triple toe. I’ve missed five time in a row this season. I was just ecstatic that I did it”, Baldwin revealed.
Valerie Marcoux/Craig Buntin (CAN) finished fourth. The three-time Canadian Champions landed a triple toe-triple toe sequence, but Marcoux popped the Axel while he fell on a double, and the couple didn’t finish their side by side spin (162.79 points). U.S. Champions Brooke Castile/Benjamin Okolski came in fifth at 160.04 points and were ranked fourth in the Free Skating. They put out a solid performance that included a triple twist, a double Axel-double toe sequence and a throw triple loop and Salchow.
Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison withdrew during the Free Skating following an accident. Dubé suffered a laceration to the left side of her face (cheek and nose), when she came too close to her partner Bryce Davison and he hit her with his blade in the face. “She is doing very well, and she will be fine”, ISU Medical advisor Jane Moran said. “She has seen a specialist, a facial trauma surgeon and is currently (7.30 pm) undergoing surgery for repair. The eye was not affected at all. Nothing was broken. She is receiving excellent medical care.” Dubé is being treated at the Memorial Hospital and will stay there over night for observation. Dubé/Davison stood in 8th place following the Short Program.
Ladies, Short Program
The Ladies were the last to compete today. Joannie Rochette of Canada grabbed the lead with Emily Hughes (USA) and Aki Sawada (JPN) following in second and third. The skaters ranked first to sixth are separated by less than five points.
Rochette had to overcome a shaky start into her program to “Little Wings” by Jimmy Hendrix when she stepped out of her triple flip that was planned to be her combination jump. She added a double toe, but it didn’t count as a combination. But the 21-year-old recovered to hit a triple Lutz out of steps and a double Axel. The three-time Canadian Champion also earned a level four for the flying sit and the combination spin as well as for the spiral sequence and received 56.60 (29.71 element score/26.89 program component score). “Despite making a costly mistake on my first jump I was still able to enjoy my performance and do my triple Lutz which I missed at Nationals. It was my goal to do it tonight and I held the performance together in spite of the mistake”, Rochette explained and added that she had been sick after the Canadian National Championships and missed practice time.
Performing to “Carmen”, Hughes struggled with the flip as well and fell on it, but nailed her triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, the double Axel and also received a level four for two of the three spins. The 2005 World junior bronze medallist scored 55.34 points (29.97/26.37). “My goal tonight was to compete for my personal best, it didn’t happen but I am already ready to move on. I am looking forward to Saturday to compete and recover from the fall. The fall surprised me, but it was soon in the program so I took control and feel like I accomplished most of my goals”, the 18-year-old commented.
Sawada was the surprise of the evening. The 18-year-old from Osaka skated last out of the 26 competitors and delivered a solid program to a Blues that included a triple Lutz-double toe, a triple flip, double Axel as well as level-three spins and steps. The Japanese picked up 55.13 points (30.73/24.40), surpassing her previous personal best of 51.97 points. “I was very happy to achieve a new personal best. It didn’t matter to me that I skated last. I didn’t think about it being anything special. The competition is late, but this doesn’t bother me at all, because I’m practicing until 10.30 (pm)”, Sawada said.
Alissa Czisny (USA) went down on her triple flip and finished fourth (54.64 points). Yan Liu (CHN) delivered a good performance, landing a triple Lutz-double toe and a triple loop to come in fifth (53.34 points). Reigning World Champion Kimmie Meissner (USA) missed her triple Lutz and had now combination, and her triple flip was wobbly. She is currently standing in sixth place at 52.49 points. 2006 World silver medallist Fumie Suguri fell on both her triple Lutz and the Flip (downgraded) and placed 12th (46.09 points).
The ISU Four Continents Championships 2007 continue Friday with the Free Dance and the Men’s Free Skating. For more information and full results please see: www.isu.org and www.4continents.com.
