Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i International Figure Skating

With the first half of the season now in the books, skaters are looking ahead to the World Championships in March. As we saw on the 2019 Grand Prix circuit and at the Final, a new era in skating has dawned, most notably in the singles disciplines. While many are talking about the trio of Russian teenagers that dominated this season, few are talking about the mastery of Nathan Chen. His runaway victory over Yuzuru Hanyu at the Grand Prix Final was both surprising and enlightening. But both men are pushing the technical envelope with five quads in their long programs, and have moved so far ahead of everyone else in the world that it will be almost impossible for any of them to match or challenge Chen and Hanyu…

When Meryl Davis stepped away from the skating spotlight, she had a bucket list of ideas she wanted to explore. But as she wound her way through that list, she discovered nothing there that she could see herself doing for the rest of her life. Even though she was open to any and all opportunities that might come her way, Davis admitted she found the shift away from the competitive world to be somewhat challenging initially. Shortly after the 2014 Olympic triumph, Davis and White went head-to-head on the reality television show “Dancing with the Stars.” Davis skated away with the mirror ball trophy and the hearts of a global audience. It marked the beginning of a new chapter in her life. Throughout her competitive career, she had pursued an…

Han Yan made a successful return to competition on home soil at 2019 Cup of China in early November. After being absent from the scene for the past 18 months, his second-place finish in Chongqing was a pleasant surprise not only for his fans, but also for the skater himself. Happy to be back and skating well, winning a medal was the icing on the cake for the Harbin native. Tired and frustrated, Yan stepped away from competition after a disappointing 23rd-place finish at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. The 23-year-old said there were many reasons for his decision to quit skating, some of which were related to how he was being treated. “I felt like I didn’t receive a fair platform to train because I…

▶ PARISIAN PROPOSAL For Sasha Cohen, 2019 will mark a number of turning points in her life. On Oct. 19, she announced her engagement to Geoffrey Lieberthal and a couple of weeks later revealed she and Lieberthal are expecting their first child, a boy, in early January. Lieberthal, a partner in a New York City equities firm, popped the question during a visit to the Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Gardens) in Paris, France. ▶ ON THE MEND Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada underwent nasal surgery in late October to cure a sinusitis problem that had haunted him for more than a year. “According to the doctors, everything went well and I will still live,” Kolyada said. In mid-December it was announced that he is still recovering and would not compete at Russian…

Noted U.S. figure skating historian Benjamin Wright passed away on Nov. 30, 2019, at age 97. Wright became a national judge in 1950 and worked his way up to become a World ice dance referee in 1974. He was president of the USFS from 1973 to 1976. During his decades-long career, Wright authored three books: “Reader’s Guide to Figure Skating’s Hall of Fame” (1978); “Skating Around the World: International Skating Union, the One Hundredth Anniversary History 1892-1992;” and “Skating in America (1921-1996): The 75th Anniversary History of the United States Figure Skating Association” (1996). Wright was inducted into both the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1997.…

Kaitlyn Weaver and Sheldon Kennedy waltzed off with the “Battle of the Blades” crown at the end of October and $100,000 in prize money for their charity, JumpStart, which helps give children in need a chance to participate in sports. Fan favorites from the outset, Weaver and Kennedy were never one of the bottom two teams that faced elimination during the six-week competition, which paired figure skaters with former professional hockey players. For Kennedy, the experience was an all-encompassing one he said he would never forget. “I was in kindergarten going into this. I could not even count music when I started. I had such a fear of performing and just getting out of my comfort zone was a major fear for me. But I had to take that risk…

The legendary song-writing duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney most certainly did not have Nam Nguyen — or figure skating — in mind when they penned the words to “Get Back,” a 1969 hit song by The Beatles. But the catchy chorus line from that tune — “Get back. Get back to where you once belonged” — ever familiar to even the most casual fan of the British supergroup, might just serve as an appropriate mantra for Nguyen’s skating career at this point in time — even though he admits the thought never crossed his mind when picking the trio of Beatles tunes for his long program this season. “I saw someone post that on Instagram or Twitter, but I didn’t really think of that when I was choosing…

Ask Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson about their current direction in ice dance and they will take you back to a legendary former nightclub in New York City with an infamous past. Their free dance last season, which paid homage to Studio 54 and the disco era of the late 1970s, taught the British duo a thing or two about audience participation and their ability to make it all happen. It marked a turning point in how they are now approaching their still-burgeoning ice dance career. As much as they are all about improving their skills and their standing among the world’s top teams, Fear and Gibson have embraced the idea of being crowd pleasers as well, and it is now a big part of who they are and what…

New champions were crowned in two of the four disciplines contested at the 2019 Grand Prix Final in Italy, with four singles skaters and one pairs team landing on the podium in their senior debuts. The Russian ladies made history with the first ever sweep of a senior Grand Prix Final podium in their discipline, and three teams from Montréal dominated in ice dance. The showdown between Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu was the most anticipated event in Torino, but in the end it was no contest. There was a changing of the guard at the 2019 Grand Prix Final with a new generation of ladies announcing their arrival. The trio of Russian teenagers that dominated the junior ranks last season — Alena Kostornaia, Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova —…

A new radio documentary on figure skating is in the works, which is set to air on the ABC network in Australia in early 2020. Brisbane resident Nikola Van de Wetering is producing the documentary, tentatively called “Fanyuism,” in a nod towards two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu. It was the Hanyu angle that convinced the ABC to get on board with the project. “Initially, I showed them an image from the PyeongChang Olympics of the Pooh Bears raining down, and they just couldn’t wrap their heads around it. They were fascinated to know more. What they are particularly interested in is hearing about the sport in context with Australian athletes, but also the fans of the sport,” Van der Wetering explained. “Narrative driven features are becoming more popular in radio.…

When Elizaveta Tuktamysheva debuted on the senior Grand Prix circuit in the 2011-2012 season at age 14, she was the rising star of Russian figure skating. Her main rival at that time was Adelina Sotnikova and they, along with Alena Leonova, spearheaded the wave of young Russian ladies that now dominate the sport. Sotnikova won the 2014 Olympic title, while Tuktamysheva did not qualify for those Games, having been overtaken by the next up and coming star, Julia Lipnitskaia. While Sotnikova and Lipnitskaia have long since disappeared from the competitive scene, Tuktamysheva remains in the picture — despite having a career that has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. Tuktamysheva moved on from the disappointment of missing the 2014 Olympics to win almost every competition she entered the following season…

In a scenario similar to that of a year ago in Vancouver, the man who qualified sixth and last for the Junior Grand Prix Final ended up stealing the show. With a win and a third-place finish on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, Japan’s Shun Sato headed into the Final in sixth place in the Series standings. Despite executing a clean short program in Torino, Sato sat in third with a score of 77.25 — 5.20 points out of first place. Though he was satisfied with his performance, his goal was to win a medal. “But first, I need to do my best and stay calm and concentrated,” the 15-year-old Sendai native said. Skating second to last in the free, Sato followed his own advice, nailing all the elements in…

At a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Dec. 9, the executive committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) unanimously voted to ban Russia from all major sporting events for a four-year term. In a repeat of the sanction that was in place in 2018, the Russian flag and anthem will not be permitted at the 2020 Olympic Summer or 2022 Winter Games and the respective Paralympics. The agency also decided that Russia would lose the right to host major international sporting competitions or to apply for them during the four-year ban. Athletes who can prove they are untainted by the doping scandal will be able to compete under a neutral flag just as they did at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. According to WADA, as a condition of reinstatement after…

British pairs skater Christopher Boyadji has invented a new tool for skaters. The Elite Spinner, a product he believes will revolutionize the way figure skaters learn how to spin and jump, aims to help strengthen the body’s core and the skater’s body awareness, which can help improve spins and the rotation and speed of jumps. “You stand on the Elite Spinner and create the rotation by yourself,” he explained. “It is good for core balance and body awareness — you can do many, many things.” Boyadji said the Spinner also helps skaters learn how to use their bodies to assist with the rotation of jumps. “I saw an electric spinner online where a kid was put on the machine and they worked against the rotation. But I wondered about the…