Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2021 i International Figure Skating

Alexei Bychenko, 33, is on a mission to become the oldest man to compete at an Olympic Winter Games next year. But, the veteran competitor’s quest for this slice of history was almost lost in Stockholm. Though he landed all his jumps in the short program, Bychenko received predominantly zero or minus GOEs for all the elements and finished in 18th place with 78.05 points. He was satisfied with his performance and could not comprehend why the judges did not like it. “I did everything I had to do today and I don’t think it was a bad performance,” said Bychenko, who first represented Ukraine before switching to Israel in 2011. “I’m not saying I should have gotten 90 points but, objectively speaking, it should have been approximately 83. I…

When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck in early 2020, Shoma Uno left his Swiss training base and returned to Japan to wait out the storm. As the months rolled on, he became anxious to return to Switzerland to resume training with Stéphane Lambiel, but with many government offices closed or operating on a reduced schedule, it was not until late summer that he obtained the necessary visa to enter the country. Uno opted not to compete at NHK Trophy in November and his first and last competition of 2020 was the national championships in late December. With Four Continents cancelled, Uno returned to Switzerland in mid-January to prepare for the World Championships. This competition was a mixed bag for the Nagano native. In the two days of practice sessions leading…

“Honestly, I don’t know what to say. It is a huge honor for me to win here.”—Anna Shcherbakova AFTER A SEASON OF ENDLESS COMPETITION cancelations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 World Championships went ahead as scheduled in Stockholm, Sweden, in late March. Tight protocols were in place for those who attended, with skaters and their entourages, judges and officials secured in a bubble environment. Despite the restrictions, those who attended the competition said it was a huge success, and that all the skaters were excited to be able to finally contest a major international event. With the results of the 2021 World Championships determining Olympic berths for 2022, the competition was fierce in all disciplines. Only those nations whose skaters qualified for the long program or free dance claimed…

Japan’s Rika Kihira was expected to be one of the only ladies on the planet with the technical skills required to challenge the Russian skaters in Stockholm and bring home Japan’s first ladies World title in seven years. That seemed a real possibility after the short program, where—despite earning a q (landed on the quarter) for the triple Axel and the triple toe on the back end of the triple flip combination — Kihira sat in second, just 1.92 points behind Russia’s Anna Shcherbakova. “I really love this music (“The Fire Within” by Jennifer Thomas) and I wanted to express the beauty of life — the beauty and dignity of life being born — through this program. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to show that kind of expression today, and I’m…

When Skate Canada selected Madeline Schizas for its 2021 World team, some were skeptical. With only one small senior international competition under her belt (the 2020 Challenge Cup, where she placed third), it seemed a risky move to send an inexperienced skater to a Championship where Olympic berths were on the line. But Schizas had earned that right. Despite finishing third at the 2020 Canadian Championships, she was overlooked by Skate Canada for the subsequent World Junior Championships and the Youth Olympic Games. Undeterred, Schizas trained harder than ever before, mastering the triple Lutz during an off-season that was overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic. With all skating events cancelled in Canada in 2020, Schizas had just one opportunity to compete all year — virtually at the Skate Canada Challenge in…

Stockholm hosted the World Championships for the eighth time: 1897, 1901, 1905, 1909, 1922, 1934, 1947 and 2021 Gothenburg also hosted the Championships twice: 1976 and 2008 A total of 184 skaters from 33 ISU member nations were entered: 33 men, 39 ladies, 24 pairs and 32 ice dance teams Oldest competitors: Pairs skater Zoe Jones of Great Britain, aged 41 and Finland’s Valtter Virtanen, aged 33 Youngest competitors: Haein Lee of South Korea, 15, and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, 16 Five skaters celebrated their birthdays during the competition: French ice dancer Geoffrey Brissaud turned 23 on March 23 Satoko Miyahara of Japan turned on 23 on March 26 Ekaterina Ryabova of Azerbaijan celebrated her 18th birthday on March 27 Konstantin Milyukov of Belarus turned 27 on March 27 Russia’s Anna…

COMPETITION UPDATES Following the cancellation of the 2021 World Junior Championships, the ISU Council confirmed that allotments for the upcoming Junior Grand Prix season would be based upon the results of the 2020 Championships. The seven event Series is scheduled to open in Courchevel, France on Aug. 18. This competition will mark a milestone, as it was in this French town that the first ISU live stream of a Junior Grand Prix took place in 2011. The U.S., Russia and South Korea all earned the maximum 14 spots in ladies, which allows them to field two skaters at each of the seven competitions. Russia, Japan and Italy earned the maximum in the men’s line-ups and Russia, the U.S. and Georgia all have 14 places in ice dance. Pairs will be…

After a career that spanned two decades with three different partners, Chinese pairs skater Hao Zhang has officially retired. The native of Harbin first hit the competitive circuit with Dan Zhang (no relation). In their international debut in 1998, they won the first of three Junior Grand Prix competitions in China, and would go on to claim two World Junior titles (2001 and 2003) and two Junior Grand Prix Final crowns in 2001 and 2002. Zhang and Zhang had mixed success in the senior ranks. Though they won all six Grand Prix titles, they failed to stand atop the podium at any of the eight Grand Prix Final events they contested. The same scenario played out at nine consecutive World Championships where they had a trio of second-place finishes in…

For China’s Han Yan, competing at the 2021 World Championships was akin to making a comeback. The last time the popular skater contested a global event was in Boston in 2016, where he finished 26th in the short program and failed to make the cut for the free skate. Yan stepped away from the sport and at one point announced his retirement. He returned to competition at the Cup of China in November 2019. Expectations were not high for Yan in Stockholm, but the element of surprise at Worlds is never to be understated. Yan, one of two Chinese men competing, qualified 13th in the short ahead of teammate Boyang Jin, the 2016 and 2017 World bronze medalist, who finished in a distant 19th place. “I made a little mistake…

The American skating fraternity had high hopes for the trio of men chosen to represent the country at this year’s World Championships. Each of them entered the competition with the goal of earning three places for the U.S. at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. While that plan worked out for two of the skaters, Vincent Zhou found himself watching from the sidelines after a subpar short program performance left him in 25th place and out of the running to contest the free. Zhou made mistakes on all three jumping passes; falling on a downgraded quad Lutz attempt at the beginning of the program, under-rotating the quad Salchow; earning a q (landed on the quarter) for the second jump of the combination, and falling on a triple Axel, which also received…

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson gave the fans in Great Britain reason to cheer when they danced into seventh place at the World Championships, earning two berths for their nation at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games. Under the new rules for Olympic qualification, another team will have to earn the second spot at Nebelhorn Trophy in September and Fear is hoping that her sister Sasha Fear and partner George Waddell will be given that opportunity. Fear and Gibson, who train full-time in Montréal, finished in eighth place in the rhythm dance ahead of a number of teams that had beaten them in the past. “Before seeing any score or placement, we were just really proud of what we did. Based on how we trained we felt we represented that well,”…

The career of Czech star Michal Březina began at a small junior competition in Slovakia in 2003, but it will likely end on the biggest stage of them all at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. At age 31, the Brno native hopes to close out an 18-year career with strong performances at all his competitions next season and leave the sport on a high note. But whatever happens, Březina’s main desire is to feel a sense of personal satisfaction as he takes his final bow. Despite the coronavirus pandemic playing havoc with the skating schedule on both the domestic and international levels, Michal Březina found a lot of positives in the change of pace over the past 14 months. With limited competitions on the skating calendar in…

1961 DEDICATION Feb. 15 marked the 60th anniversary of the day Sabena Airlines Flight 548 crashed en route from New York City to Brussels killing all 72 people aboard and one person on the ground. The plane crashed in a field less than two miles (3 km) from the airport, taking the lives of the entire United States figure skating team who were on their way to compete at the 1961 World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Championships were subsequently cancelled. NEW COACH IN TOWN Two-time Olympic pairs champion Ekaterina Gordeeva has accepted a coaching position at the Ice Palace in Edmonton, Canada. The 49-year-old moved to Alberta in early 2020, and there are unconfirmed reports that Gordeeva and David Pelletier, the 2002 Olympic pairs champion, married last summer. CHANGE…