2003 ISU Grand Prix Final

1 March

Pairs, Free Program B

Anabelle Langlois/P. Archetto (CAN), 2002 Four Continents silver medallists
Langlois: This was the second time only that we had a mistake on the throw Salchow. It’s usually pretty good. We had a weird take-off. I felt stuck, so stepped out of it. But we got back on track. After the double Axel all I was thinking was – we have to do the twist, we’re not missing it again. And we did a good twist. I missed the triple toes in the warm up, but our coach always says, it’s just the warm up. It’s just to get your body ready. The more you fall the more you’re warmed up. 

Dorota Zagorska/Mariusz Siudek (POL), 2000 European silver medalists
Siudek: During the Grand Prix we didn’t expect to qualify for the Final, because of our placements, so we didn’t prepare for it. There was not much time. We started to prepare the old program three weeks ago. We’ve been very nervous today, especially Dorota. That’s why we missed a few elements.

Julia Obertas/Alexei Sokolov (RUS), 2003 National bronze medalists
Obertas: He did a double toe and I a single Axel. But overall it was not bad. I was afraid that I would miss everything, the throws, the jumps. We’ve never skated this program before, it has been completely redone. I think placing fourth in our first Grand Prix Final is great. I’m thrilled.

Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov (RUS), 2000 World Champions

Tikhonov: We have a good feeling about this event. We skated pretty well today, the whole program felt strong. Unfortunaly I did only a double toeloop. Maria did a triple, she does it very well. I think the program worked very well for us with the changes we did, and we like it a lot. We’re not sure yet which program we’ll skate at Worlds – this (Chess) or the other (Symphonic Dances). We’ll decide in the next five days. I’m glad that Maria isn’t afraid anymore of the throw loop.

Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao (CHN), 2002 World Champions
Shen: We had some mistakes today. We felt really worn out. After I fell on the triple toe, I tried not to think about it and to focus on the rest of the program. We had to continue. I’m a bit disappointed, but I tried my best. Now we want to get more energy and to prepare well for Worlds.

Tatiana Totmianina/Maxim Marinin (RUS), 2003 European Champions
Marinin: I’m completely tired, but I’m so satisfied and happy. We worked so hard for it. It was so important for us to skate well at home, in St. Petersburg. It’s a very important step towards Worlds. I didn’t make my favourite mistake (referring to the triple toeloop) , but in the last moment I stepped out. Somehow I was too nervous and tired. (On planned changes for Worlds) We might add a small lift and maybe another exit from the last lift, depending on Tatiana’s knee, which still hurts.