The 2008/2009 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating kicked off Friday with the first day of competition at Skate America at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Washington.     

Skate America is the first of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. Like last season, the skating order in the Compulsory Dance and Short Program is according to the ISU World Standings. For the Original and Free Dance as well as for the Free Skating, the athletes will perform in the reverse order of the Compulsory/Original Dance or Short Program respectively.

Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance
The ice dancers opened today’s competition at the Comcast Arena with the Compulsory Dance.  The Compulsory Dance for Skate America was the Viennese Waltz. The Viennese Waltz is a light and graceful dance which must be skated at a good pace with strongly curved edges, soft knee action, neat and unobtrusive footwork, elegant carriage and pronounced free leg extension, even on the one-beat steps. Body motion should not be excessive. The feeling of waltzing in a grand ballroom must be projected. The Viennese Waltz was created by Eric van der Weyden and Eva Keats and first performed in London in 1934.

Reigning World Champions Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder of France danced to the lead, edging out Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) by less than one point. Great Britain’s Sinead Kerr/John Kerr are currently standing in third place.
Delobel/Schoenfelder put out a strong Waltz and entertained the audience with their humorous interpretation of the dance. The 2007 European Champions scored 38.49 points (19.50 element score/18.99 program component score). “We are very pleased to come out first today and to have skated well. I think we’ve skated this Waltz better before, especially technically we weren’t our best. But we tried to have fun with the Waltz and the audience appreciated that”, Schoenfelder commented. “We weren’t going for a too classical Waltz”, Delobel agreed. “The ice surface is a lot smaller than what we are used from in Europe, so it was a little difficult to adjust to that for this dance and we had to be careful.”
Belbin/Agosto, who enter their first competition with new coaches Natalia Linitchuk and Gennadi Karpanossov delivered a graceful Waltz to earn 37.63 (19.10/18.53) points. “It was very exciting. It’s been something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time”, Agosto answered when asked about entering their first competition with their new coaches. “It’s been going very smoothly. Natalia and Gennadi were very good in keeping our minds in the right place and making sure that we believe in ourselves. This was the most comfortable compulsory competition I’ve ever done. I felt in control of myself. I had a lot of anticipation but less nerves.” Both athletes were pleased with their performance. “It felt really nice. We obviously have a lot of work to do, to feel a little stronger, more confident, more down into the ice, but for the first time out with all the changes that we’ve endured the past few months, I really feel that we did a very respectable job and hope to improve upon it not only through the rest of this competition but through the season”, Belbin explained.

Kerr/Kerr’s Waltz had good flow and expression as well, and the Scots received 34.37 (17.44/16.93) points. “We’ve made a few technical improvements from Finland (Finlandia Trophy) on it (the Waltz) Afterwards our coach (Evgeni Platov) was happy with how we did it technically and with our timing which sometimes can be a little difficult in this dance for everyone. We probably could have presented it better, this is something we’re working on for the next competition with this dance”, Sinead Kerr said. “We came into this event really wanting a medal. Usually in the past we’ve started the season quite badly so we were glad to have a really positive feedback from Finland so we are coming into this competition feeling very confident, very positive”, she added.

Pernelle Carron/Mathieu Jost (FRA) came in fourth at 32.26 points. 2008 World Junior Champions Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates placed fifth (31.81 points).

Pairs, Short Program
Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov of Russia upset Germany’s World Champions Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy to win the Short Program. Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA) finished third.
Performing to “Nobody Home” by Pink Floyd, Mukhortova/Trankov landed a triple twist, a side by side triple toeloop and excellent throw triple loop. Their lyrical routine also featured a level-four lift, death spiral, spiral sequence and pair combination spin. The reigning European silver medalists scored a new personal best of 66.32 points (37.40 element score/28.92 program component score). “When our coach told us that we won the short program, we were shocked, because Aliona and Robin are the World Champions”, Trankov commented. “It was a magical performance for us tonight. We know that we can skate well, but today we just showed that we can do it, we just did our job.”
Savchenko/Szolkowy picked a very dynamic music from the “Lost in Space” soundtrack, but Szolkowy doubled the opening side by side toeloop. The Germans recovered to nail a throw triple flip and a triple twist and their lift, spiral and death spiral were graded a level four by the Technical Panel. However, they were slightly out of sync in their side by side spin. The World Champions were awarded 64.08 points (34.16/29.92). “We are the World Champions, but even we are human”, Szolkowy joked. “The side by side jump was a double, I don’t know why. My body was on the ice but my head was somewhere else. We are hope”
McLaughlin/Brubaker opened their program to “Malaguena” with a strong pair combination spin and the hand-to-hip lift, but then he stepped out of the side by side triple Salchow and she crashed on the throw triple loop. The 2007 World Junior Champions picked up 57.02 points (30.54/27.48).
“This program today was definitely a step into the right direction. We had a few mistakes, but we know it’s the beginning of the season and something to improve on it”, Brubaker said. “Overall I thought the program was ok. Our presentation was pretty good, so I was happy about that and I really enjoyed being out there, performing and playing to the crowd”, McLaughlin added.

Meagan Duhamel/Craig Buntin (CAN) came in fourth at 54.26 points. They completed a throw triple Lutz and a side by side triple toeloop as well as a double twist. Rena Inoue/John Baldwin are currently fifth with 50.00 points after she missed the throw triple Axel.

Men, Short Program
The last to compete today were the Men. Evan Lysacek (USA) grabbed the lead ahead of teammate Johnny Weir. Japan’s Takahiko Kozuka is currently ranked third.
Lysacek gave a powerful performance to “Bolero” by Maurice Ravel that included a triple Axel, triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple flip as well as three level-four spins. The U.S. Champion earned 81.30 points (44.10 element score/38.20 program component score). “I was happy to start the season off that way. It’s a program that I’m really proud of just because of everything that’s gone into it. I was looking forward to doing it. I’ve been training run throughs since June, so for months now I’ve been looking forward to this night, finally getting the season started”, Lysacek told the press. “Skating was good, counting was bad. I didn’t count to four in my beginning pose so I got that music deduction”, he explained, referring to the timing violation he received one point deduction for.
Weir hit a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a triple Axel in his routine set to “Sur les Ailes du Temps” by Saint Preux, but he two-footed the triple flip. The reigning World bronze medalist was awarded a level four for the change foot sit spin and a level three for his other two spins and two footwork sequences. The American scored 80.55 points (42.50/38.05). ”I’m very pleased with the way the first performance of the season went. The first performance of the season is out of the way and I’m happy that I stayed on my feet”, Weir commented. “Of course, there is a lot to work on and there are a lot of small mistakes that I mad that I wish I hadn’t, but at the same time it’s a strong way to start and any score above 80 is fantastic.”
Kozuka’s smooth program to “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck featured a solid triple Lutz-triple toe, a triple Axel and triple flip as well as three level-four spins. The 2006 World Junior Champion scored 80.10 points (44.70/35.40), improving his previous personal best of 70.91 significantly. “I’m quite pleased that I didn’t make any mistakes on my jumps and that I was able to show what I can do in practice”, the Japanese skater said.
Kevin Reynolds (CAN) was the only skater to risk a quadruple jump and landed a quadruple Salchow-triple toeloop combination, but he underrotated and stepped out of his triple Axel attempt. He came in fourth (67.18 points). Adrian Schultheiss (SWE) finished fifth. He struggled on the landing of his triple Axel, but produced a triple Lutz-triple toe and a triple flip (64.40).

Skate America continues Saturday with the Original Dance, the Ladies Short Program, the Pairs and Men’s Free Skating.

For full results please see www.isu.org.