The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2009 went on Saturday in Sofia, Bulgaria with the Ladies Free Skating.
Ladies, Free Skating
The Ladies event concluded with the Free Skating with a lot of movement in the standings. Alena Leonova of Russia moved up from third place to skate off with the gold medal. Caroline Zhang (USA) vaulted from 10th place to capture the silver. Ashley Wagner (USA) claimed the bronze medal.
Leonova had drawn to skate third in the final flight and turned in a dynamic performance to “La Leyenda del Beso” by Raul di Blasio that featured a triple flip-double toeloop combination, a nice triple Lutz, another triple flip, a triple Salchow-double toe-double loop combination and a triple toeloop-double Axel sequence. She also produced a flying combination spin that was graded a level four, and only the triple loop was underrotaetd and downgraded. The skater from St. Petersburg earned a new personal best score of 101.68 points (51.52 element score/50.16 program component score) and racked up a total of 157.18 points. She was ranked second in the Free Skating but moved up from third to first overall. “This medal means a lot to me. It took me very long to get there. Two years ago I was 12th, last year I was sixth and now I’m in first”, Leonova told the press. “I’m still in shock, but I’m just very happy that I’m in first place. I usually don’t expect such high placements and it happens by itself. I go out in a good mood and I just skate”, she added, smiling. Leonova is the first Russian Lady to medal at Junior Worlds since 2001 when Kristina Oblasova won the title here in Sofia.
A faulty Short Program had left Zhang in 10th place, but today she fought back. Performing to “Ave Maria”, the American reeled off a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Lutz-double toe, a triple flip, loop, Salchow, a triple loop-double toe-double loop combination and earned a level four for her trademark layback spin and a level three for the other two spins and the circular footwork. Zhang picked up 107.03 points (59.43/47.60) to win the Free Skating and took the silver with 154.67 points total. It was her third consecutive medal at Junior Worlds after winning in 2007 and taking the silver in 2008. “I made a lot of mistakes (in the Short Program). It was kind of like it gave away most chances for the title. But I think I did well in the long program, coming back. So I’m happy with my performance today”, the 15-year-old said. “I tried to refocus after the Short Program, tried not to think about it, because all I wanted was to give the best I could today and I think I did it pretty well. I’m still disappointed; I think it was stupid, all the mistakes in the Short”, she sighed.
Wagner opened her “Spartacus” routine with a triple flip-double toeloop combination followed by a triple Lutz, but she crashed on the next jump, a Salchow, that was downgraded. The 17-year-old recovered to nail a double Axel, triple loop, triple flip-double Axel sequence as well a triple toe-double toeloop combination. She also produced difficult spins, all three of which were graded a level four. Wagner scored 96.07 points (48.35/48.72) and slipped from second to third with 153.57 points. The American had won also the bronze medal in her only previous appearance at the ISU World Junior Championships in 2007. “It was a good program for me. Throughout the whole week I‘ve had a lot going up against me so I just wanted to do everything just the way I’ve been practicing it and focusing on everything just in pieces, not as a whole big thing”, Wagner commented. “I fell on a triple Sal. I’m still hitting myself in the head for that. But I’m satisfied with the program. It was good for this week”, she explained.
Joshi Helgesson (SWE) finished fourth at 139.89 points. She completed a triple toe-double toeloop, another triple toe and showed difficult spins and footwork, but she touched down with her hand on the triple Lutz and doubled the Salchow. Katrina Hacker (USA) came in fifth. The American produced three clean triples and strong spins, but a Salchow was downgraded (139.68 points). Overnight leader Elene Gedevanishvili (GEO) made several errors and dropped to sixth (138.32 points).
The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2009 conclude Sunday with the Exhibition Gala. For more information and full results please see: www.isu.org and http://www.isuworldjunior2009.com.
