Indholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2018 i International Figure Skating

Attending the Olympic Winter Games in South Korea was an adventure in many ways. Staying warm in the bone-chilling cold that greeted us the first few days of February was challenging, even for those who hailed from countries that experience very cold winters. Thankfully the weather warmed up a little, which made being outside a much more pleasant experience. The figure skating venue, which was awash in a sea of various shades of purple, was warm and comfortable. It was, however, disappointing to see many empty seats for the finals, despite claims by organizers that all figure skating events had been sold out in advance. Those empty seats are likely a reflection of ticket prices that have hit a level not too many people are willing, or can afford, to…

He was a controversial choice for the 2018 U.S. Olympic team after finishing fourth at nationals, but Adam Rippon rose above the criticism, lived up to his own hype — as opposed to those who attempted to live up to hype from outside sources — and came through when it mattered in PyeongChang. Third in the Team Event free skate, which helped the U.S. earn the bronze medal, Rippon finished 10th in the individual competition. “Three clean programs here at the Olympic Games and to finish in the top 10 in the individual, and have a bronze medal … you know, that bronze is worth its weight in gold,” Rippon said. “To finally step on Olympic ice felt absolutely incredible. Definitely worth the 28-year wait. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…

Michael Christian Martinez of the Philippines was so disappointed when he failed to earn a berth for his nation at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, he quit the sport. Instead of training every day, Martinez, 21, returned to college to focus on his studies in business law, and accepted a job as an assistant with a U.S. law firm in Irvine, California, where he has lived since moving from the Philippines a few years earlier to pursue his skating career. “I didn’t qualify, so I stopped skating and I had a normal life,” Martinez said. “My federation told me that it was not going to happen because the other countries had confirmed their spots. I thought, ‘It is destiny, it is not meant to be.’ Skating is expensive and it’s…

I am Korean. This is my home country, and this was the biggest competition of my career. Being the first skater was amazing. —Jun-Hwan Cha, the first person to compete on Olympic ice in PyeongChang I was sobbing when she (Mirai Nagasu) finished, and all I could think was, ‘I’m glad I put on waterproof mascara.’ —Alexa Scimeca-Knierim It is always more difficult when you have an early morning practice and then the competition takes place two hours later. Maybe that schedule is good for the TV, but not for the athletes. —Bruno Massot It’s like pretty awesome. I highly recommend it, if you ever have the option to go to the Olympics sometime. Today was just so special. —Adam Rippon on Team USA placing third I remember how our…

We were eating In-N-Out on the roof of her (Mirai Nagasu) house, crying that we weren’t at the Olympics (in 2014) and now we’re sharing an Olympic podium together. If you’re ever depressed, go to In-N-Out and four years later you can be at the Olympics.—Adam Rippon I was very nervous at first. In the six-minute warm-up, I could not do any element clean and I fell. My legs were shaky. But when I went out to compete, I was not so nervous anymore and I tried my best.—Boyang Jin He is such a sassy, confident guy — it’s kind of empowering to have him in the house.—Vincent Zhou on teammate Adam Rippon…

It was really nice to have met the president of Germany and his wife and it is wonderful that they are supporting us. I think it was mainly his wife that wanted to come here because she likes figure skating. — Bruno Massot I really love figure skating. What’s more, I feel like I’m still very young and still have room to do even better. I just want to enjoy my fifth Olympics, perhaps even my sixth Olympics. — Hao Zhang I was stroking around the ice and thought, ‘I am an Olympic champion.’ Then I went, ‘I want another Olympic medal — get back to work.’—Meagan Duhamel…

Being here is glorious enough and I’m very happy, whatever the result.—Satoko Miyahara I’m heartbroken, to be honest. You have good days and you have bad days, and unfortunately today wasn’t my day.—Gabrielle Daleman on her 15th place finish You just have to get up and keep on going as if nothing happened. You know my left arm just got away from me and I just kind of sat down.—Bradie Tennell on falling in the short program I think I over-shot it. I kind of landed it, then I kind of fell. You win some and you lose some.—Mirai Nagasu on missing the triple Axel in the short Who is on the podium doesn’t have to feel happy or sad. I don’t get this question. Of course I was happy.…

“I was thinking the right things. It just wasn’t clicking together.”—Nathan Chen There was likely no one who headed into the Olympic Winter Games with higher expectations hanging over them than Nathan Chen of the U.S. His victory at the Grand Prix Final in December made it reasonable to expect that the 18-year-old could claim a medal in PyeongChang. Making the Olympic team had been a dream for a long time Chen said. “Definitely one I have now checked off my to-do list.” After earning a bronze in the Team event he was hungry to earn one of his own in the men’s singles. “I want to get another Olympic medal,” he said before the men’s short. “That is what has been motivating me and hopefully, I will be able…

“I am the happiest I have ever been in my skating career.”—Patrick Chan When Canada’s Patrick Chan returned to the competitive arena in 2015, he discovered a very different environment than the one he stepped away from following the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Figure skating had undergone a major quad revolution during his absence and it did not take Chan long to realize he would have to raise his own technical level to have any hope of competing against the young stars who now ruled the top levels of the sport. Though Chan was initially enthusiastic, his ardour slowly evaporated when he found himself in the middle of the pack instead of leading it. By the time the Olympic season rolled around, he had resigned himself to the fact that…

“I needed to shout; I wanted to cry.”—Valentina Marchei The story of Valentina Marchei and Ondřej Hotarek has been well documented. A former singles skater in her late 20s teaming up with an experienced pairs competitor, both with no clear direction initially of where the adventure would take them. This year it took them to PyeongChang, where the Italian duo was on fire, outskating and overtaking many teams they had never before beaten. They placed second in the Team Event free skate after a rousing performance of their program set to “Amarcord” by Nino Rota, which earned wild applause from the audience, a personal best score from the judges and helped nudge the Italian team to within a point of the Americans on Day 2 of the competition. “Too many…

He came, he skated, he conquered. It was a huge risk, turning up at the Olympic Winter Games to defend his title after not having competed for three months. But Yuzuru Hanyu, never one to back down from a challenge, came prepared. It took just two and a half minutes for any doubts about his physical condition to be dispelled, as he delivered yet another brilliant display of unrivaled determination in the short program in PyeongChang. “Here I feel like I won the battle with myself.” From the moment he stepped onto the ice at the Gangneung Ice Arena, there was no question Hanyu was on a mission to win a second Olympic titl When it was noted during a Japanese media scrum the day prior to the start of…

After narrowly missing the podium in Sochi four years earlier, Javier Fernandez was determined to not let an Olympic opportunity slip through his hands again. Laying down two solid programs and claiming a medal at the 2018 Winter Games had been his ultimate goal the past four years. And unlike his fourth-place finish at the previous Games, where a popped Salchow at the end of his program made the difference between winning a medal and finishing off the podium, it all came together for the Spanish star in PyeongChang — despite once again doubling the Salchow near the end of his free skate. This was his time, Fernandez said, “to show people that I can skate really good and perform amazing in front of everybody. The Olympics are really special,…

“Today we are going to write a story. We will write history today.”—Aljona Savchenko The pairs event in PyeongChang had an unprecedented 22 entries. South Korea had failed to earn a berth through the qualification process, but as the host nation, it received an automatic assignment. North Korea had qualified a team at Nebelhorn Trophy, but when it failed to meet the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deadline for submission of athletes’ names for PyeongChang, the allotment was given to Japan, the next nonqualified country in line. A week before the Games got underway, North Korea advised the IOC that it intended to field 22 athletes to the Games, two of which were pairs skaters, Tae Ok Ryom and Ju Sik Kim. All 22 teams competed in the short program, but…

Evgenia Medvedeva, was back on top of her game in PyeongChang. The first of the top six ladies to take the ice in the short program, she had no difficulty executing the elements, including a triple flip-triple toe combination that earned 11.91 points. Her performance was awarded with a World record score of 81.61 points, and first place marks across the board. Less than 15 minutes later, Alina Zagitova took to the ice. Showing no signs of trepidation, she launched into a rare triple Lutz-triple loop combination, for which she earned 13.71 points. In the end, that jump sequence would make the difference. Zagitova won the day with 82.92 points — setting her own World record. In the kiss and cry, Eteri Tutberidze — who also coaches Medvedeva – had…

“The gold medal is the cherry on the cake.”—Tessa Virtue All season, it had been a back and forth battle between Virtue and Moir and the French team of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. That set the stage for what would prove to be an epic showdown in PyeongChang and a final result that would be closer than anyone expected. After winning both segments of the Team Event and helping Canada mine gold, Virtue and Moir opened their final Olympic quest with a victory in the short dance. Their performance set the standard, earning Level 4s for all five elements and a World record score of 83.67. “I think there is something about taking time away and gaining perspective and also it (the World record score) is a testament to…

It has been a long and sometimes uncertain road for Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford the past four years. But weathering the lows that came with the highs and sticking with it paid off in the end for the Canadian duo, who closed out an eight-year competitive pairs partnership on the highest note of their career in PyeongChang. A gold medal in the Team Event and bronze in the pairs competition — it was more than either dared to dream about in the seasons leading up to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. “You get to a low point when you don’t know if you’re ever going to get back to where you were,” Radford said. “But last summer, we started dreaming those big dreams again.” Though they medaled at every…

Malaysia’s Julian Zhi Jie Yee not only made his own Olympic debut in PyeongChang, he also made history as his nation’s first athlete to ever compete at an Olympic Winter Games. Yee, who arrived in South Korea on Feb. 6, was given the honor of being an Olympic torch-bearer. “There were a lot of activities going on and it was easy to get distracted,” he said. But as the competition got closer, he blocked everything out to stay focused on what he came to do. “My coaches, I and my team all said, ‘OK, let’s put everything aside and focus on the competition.” The 20-year-old, who trains in Barrie, Canada, with Michael Hopfes and Doug Leigh, placed 25th in the short program, narrowly missing the cut for the free. But…

Javier Fernández: Who constantly fielded questions about the health status of his training mate prior to the Games. “Everybody was asking me, ‘How is Yuzu? How is Yuzu? Everybody was like, ‘Is he going to be ready?’ I said, ‘He’s Yuzu, of course he’s going to be ready.’” On training alongside Hanyu: “I see how Yuzu trains. He’s an amazing skater. He’s very talented and I know if he skates well, it’s very hard to beat him. So I’m glad. You know, at the end of the day, the competition is good for everybody. The more exciting it is for everyone, the more fun everyone is going to have.” On whether he and Hanyu inspire one another: “Yuzu is one of the skaters at the moment that you can watch…

Yuzuru Hanyu joined an elite group with his second consecutive victory in PyeongChang. Only three men in history have won back-to-back Olympic titles: Gillis GrafstrÖm (Sweden, 1920, 1924 and 1928); Karl Schäfer (Austria, 1932 and 1936) and Dick Button (U.S., 1948 and 1952). Hanyu is only the second reigning World champion in 34 years to win an Olympic title. America’s Evan Lysacek was the first in Vancouver in 2010. Japan is the second nation to win two medals in men’s figure skating at an Olympic Winter Games. Russia’s Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko finished first and second, respectively, in Salt Lake City in 2002. Twenty-eight nations have won medals in figure skating — the highest number of all Winter Olympic sports (excluding those won by Olympic Athletes from Russia). Alpine…

PyeongChang marked the fifth appearances at an Olympic Winter Games for Germany’s Aljona Savchenko and China’s Hao Zhang. Savchenko and Zhang are the only pairs skaters to have competed with three different partners at an Olympic Winter Games. Savchenko and Massot are the first pairs team in 66 years to win Olympic gold for Germany, since Ria Baran and Paul Falk in 1952. China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won a sixth pairs medal for China. Since 2002, it holds the record for winning the most pairs medals.…

Alina Zagitova is the fourth youngest Olympic ladies champion in history after Tara Lipinski (U.S. - 15 years and 255 days), Cecilia Colledge (Great Britain - 15 years and 79 days) who claimed silver in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936; and Ingrid Wendl (Austria - 15 years and 261 days) who captured bronze in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956. Zagitova was the youngest medal winner in PyeongChang, the first Olympic medalist born after the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and the first lady to win Olympic gold as the reigning European champion since Katarina Witt (East Germany) in Calgary in 1988. Kaetlyn Osmond won her country’s first ladies’ medal outside Canada since Karen Magnussen captured silver in Sapporo in 1972. The last two medals won by Canadian ladies came on home soil: Elizabeth Manley,…

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won gold in Vancouver in 2010 and in PyeongChang in 2018, are only the second ice dance team to ever win two Olympic titles after Russia’s Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov (1994 and 1998). With three individual Olympic medals, Virtue and Moir equalled the ice dance record held by Marina Klimova and Sergey Ponomarenko (Soviet Union/Unified Team), who claimed bronze in 1984, silver in 1988 and gold in 1992. Virtue and Moir are now the most decorated Olympic figure skaters in history with five medals in total, surpassing Sweden’s Gillis Grafström and Russia’s Evgeni Plushenko, who both claimed four. Maia and Alex Shibutani of the U.S. are only the second siblings to win an Olympic ice dance medal, after Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay of…