The 2009/2010 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continued Friday with Cancer.Net Skate America in Lake Placid. Cancer.Net Skate America is the fifth of six events in the series. The skaters compete for a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and receive points according to their placements. The top six skaters/couples in each discipline advance to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Tokyo, Japan, in December. Some skaters hope to assure their spot in the Final here in Lake Placid.
Ice Dance, Compulsory Dance
The Compulsory Dance at Cancer.Net Skate America was the Golden Waltz. The Golden Waltz is a complex dance incorporating many positions not previously used in Compulsory Dances. It was developed by Marina Klimova/Sergei Ponomarenko (RUS) and their coach Natalia Dubova. It was first performed in 1987.
Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) danced to the lead ahead of Russia’s Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski and Italians Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte.
Belbin/Agosto put out a flowing Golden Waltz and made the difficult steps look easy. She wore a stunning dress in “Tiffany turquoise” while he was dressed in a black smoking. The current World silver medalists posted a new seasons best of 39.28 points (20.22 element score/19.06 program component score). “The Waltz felt great today. After China (Cup of China), we really wanted to go home and work on just performing more and having more speed and ice coverage. So we felt really good about how we skated and we are happy to see that our scores went up a little bit”, Agosto commented. “We wanted something that was really special so that I stand out even before we start skating”, Belbin answered when asked about her new costume. “It (the Waltz) is just a really beautiful, very regal dance, and I wanted to make sure that I looked as elegant as possible.”
Khokhlova/Novitski got a seasons best as well for their strong performance of the Golden Waltz and picked up 36.94 points (18.96/17.98). “We are for the very first time in our career at Skate America, and this is also quite interesting for us. We aren’t so frequent guests in America, and so we were a little surprised that we even have fans here”, Novitski said. “The second competition is always easier. Obviously you already got some experience and it should be getting easier with each competition. So it was easier here (than at their first event Cup of China) and we skated more freely. It’s a plus for us that we had the Waltz in both our events.”
Cappellini/Lanotte skated well except for loosing speed in some parts of the dance. The Italians scored 32.04 points (16.90/16.14). “The performance was good, but not perfect. We had a couple of small mistakes, but the judges are sitting so close to the ice and they see everything”, Lanotte noted. “We know that we can do much better. We made a lot of changes to our skating in our work after switching coaches. (New coach) Muriel Zazoui works in a different way. We have improved our skating skills”, he continued.
Alexandra Zaretski/Roman Zaretski (ISR) came in fourth at 31.93 points. Kimberly Navarro/Brent Bommentre (USA) finished fifth (30.19 points).
Pairs, Short Program
Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao of China took the lead in the Short Program with Ukraine’s Tatiana Volosozhar/Stanislav Morozov and Canada’s Meagan Duhamel/Craig Buntin following in second and third.
Performing to “Who Wants to Live Forever”, Shen/Zhao hit a solid side by side triple toeloop, a high triple twist and throw triple loop. The three-time World Champions were awarded a level four for their spins, the hand-to-hand lift with difficult variations and a level three for the footwork. Only the backward outside death spiral was a level two. The husband-and-wife team earned 74.36 points (41.10 element score/32.96 program component score), which was a new personal best for them and a nice extra for Shen, who celebrated her 31st birthday today. The couple equalized the record score of their compatriots Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang from the 2008 ISU World Championships. “I think we skated overall better than we did at the Cup of China, although I felt a little tired”, Shen said. “Last night, I went to bed at 7.30 in the evening, and today I had to skate the short program at this time! The time difference to China is 13 hours.” Zhao added: “We felt really good and did all our elements clean. We are very happy about that.”
Volosozhar/Morozov opened their routine to “Dreams Illusions” with a side by side triple toeloop, but he stepped out of the landing. The Cup of China bronze medalists went on to reel off a huge triple twist, a one-armed lift and throw triple loop. Volosozhar/Morozov received a level four for both spins and collected 61.70 points (35.30/26.40). “Today I made a little error on the toeloop”, admitted Morozov. “Overall it felt a little hard to skate, maybe because of the time change, but it wasn’t bad. Hopefully we’ll skate cleaner tomorrow.”
Duhamel/Buntin landed a double twist and a triple toeloop in their program to “Hotel California” but the throw triple Lutz was wobbly. The Canadians picked up a level four for their side by side spin and the lift to score a seasons best of 59.64 points (33.84/25.80). “We had a great start tonight”, Buntin told the press. “It’s only our second time out with this short program. We did quite a few little technical errors. It gives us something to looking forward to tomorrow.”
Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA) finished fourth at 58.4 points. They completed a triple twist and throw triple loop, but she popped the Salchow. Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang (CHN) are standing in fifth place. Dan Zhang double the Salchow and their side by side spin was out of sync (56.84 points).
Men, Short Program
Evan Lysacek (USA) captured the Men’s Short Program. Florent Amodio of France came in second and Brandon Mroz (USA) finished third.
Lysacek delivered a passionate performance of his routine to “Firebird”. The reigning World Champion produced a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple flip and three level-four spins. However, the triple Axel was cheated and subsequently downgraded by the Technical Panel. Lysacek earned 79.17 points (39.62/39.55). “I took a lot of pride skating in my home country tonight, and I really like this program”, Lysacek told the post event press conference. “I was in China the week before last and I had a good first step to the season, but this event is a little different challenge. I felt great tonight. That music to me builds so naturally that I can’t help but to get excited and for my emotion to build as the program progresses. Hopefully it will continue to grow and improve and be at its peak at the Championships later this season”. Lysacek mentioned the downgraded triple Axel as well: “It hasn’t happened in a long time. Honestly, I just slipped and that happens sometimes. I have to be very conscious not to leave a grey area at all. That’s my responsibility.”
Amodio, who competes in the second senior-level Grand Prix event of his career, nailed a beautiful triple Axel, a triple Lutz and a triple Salchow-triple toeloop combination. He got a level three for both step sequences and a level four for the change foot sit spin, but the combination spin was graded only a level one by the Technical Panel. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champion posted a new personal best of 72.65 points (39.90/32.75). “Today it’s a really good result for me to be in second place after the Short Program at Skate America”, Amodio said. “I am very happy to have done a good program. I’ve had problems with my skates earlier this season but I was able to solve them and to get back to my level of skating.”
Mroz went for a quad-triple toe combination, but did a three turn out of the second jump. He also had to fight for the landing of the triple Axel, but his triple Lutz was good and he received a level four for two spins an a level three for the combination spin and the footwork. The U.S. silver medalist scored 71.40 points (40.90/30.50), setting a new seasons best for himself. “Today I did definitely better than at my last Grand Prix, which is great”, Mroz commented. “I had a few turn outs which is the adrenalin pumping but nevertheless got the job done by the number. It was going to be on home turf today and I just want to rock it hard in the long and give a good show tomorrow”, he added.
Adrian Schultheiss (SWE) is currently ranked fourth. His solid program included a triple Axel and a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination (67.55 points). Shawn Sawyer (CAN) came in fifth. He landed a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and showed excellent spins, but he doubled the Lutz and stepped out of the triple Axel (65.95 points). Andrei Lutai (RUS), whose luggage with his skates arrived only a few hours before the competition after getting lost on the way to Lake Placid, finished sixth (60.54 points). 2008 European Champion Tomas Verner (CZE) faded to 11th after missing his quad toe attempt and doubling the Axel and the Lutz (55.90 points).
Cancer.Net Skate America continues Saturday with the Original Dance, Ladies Short Program, Pairs and Men Free Skating.
Results
