Personal Plug: Skate Sale

As a former competitve skater every year at Christmas I get asked by friends and family what type of skates should they buy for their kids or girlfriends. While my taste and needs in skates are far more demanding than the occasional skater, I thought I'd jot down a couple rules in buying proper skates still apply and I thought I'd share them with everyone and give you a link to some great prices.

• In today's market a decent pair of beginner skates with good leather boots starts at $90-$100. Depending on your budget, buy the best skates you can afford.  If you can't spend the money-- put the kid in rentals until you can afford good skates, or investigate the used skates or special sales that are available at your local skating center. Because children grow so quickly, they rarely break down a boot before needing a new size. So don't be afraid of looking at good used skates. There are some great bargins out there today.
• Buy skates from skate shops with fitters. Do not waste your money by buying inferior quality skates at discount stores or sporting good stores. The price savings isn't worth all the pain and suffering of putting a kid into misfit skates. Skate shops will work with you to insure proper fit and sizing-- They are worth the couple extra bucks. 
• Do not ever buy boots with "room to grow into."  Boots that are too large or poorly made, do not support the foot and ankle properly and can cause serious foot problems down the road. Buy what fits with just a "scooch" of room to wiggle the toes.
• You can buy via mail order from good skate shops, if you send them tracing. Here's a tip from me the skating pro: Have the skater stand on a piece of 8.5 x 11" piece of typing paper for each foot with their weight centered over both feet. have the skater wear a light weight sock. Do not let them look down. (It changes the weight distribution.) Hold a pencil vertical and trace the outline of the foot. Mark each tracing for the right or left foot, and put their name, address, phone number, age, date, level of skating and shoe size on each page. You can take these tracing to a skate shop or fax them for mail order fittings.  90% of the time this method works well for most skaters including pros like me. You can also con a kid into thinking you're looking at how much their feet have grown so they are clueless about what you're up to.

Skate Sale: Right now my former skating partner Burt Powley has a sale on complete skate packages, clearance boots, as well as boots and blades for the holidays. Check out his prices if you need skates for Christmas. He's email friendly-- and tell him I sent you!

1:17:15 PM    

Why I Ended Up Being a Skater

John Robb has pointed to the NYT article about the elimination of walk-ons for college sports. 

What a shame, but this report points to a bigger problem with the entire system:  the US sports system from 9th grade on is much too elitist.  We restrict access to athletics like it was a scarce commodity, treating it different than any other basic education.

He goes on to comment about Intramural Sports and today's high school sports programs...

In contrast, the USAF Academy (my alma matter) had a strong three season intramural program.  They created this program because they felt that every graduate should graduate with some training in sports (and participate in its health benefits).  This great experience is why I am so disheartened at watching my son traverse his large and expensive high school sports program.  While I am confident he will make a team (basketball), he is unlikely to be able to participate in all the other sports he likes because the competition is too fierce for slots.  He is one of the lucky ones.  The overwhelming majority of other kids in school won't be able to play at all.  Given the huge numbers of participants in the jr leagues for almost all sports in my town, there is obviously huge demand for an aggressive intramural program and the support to make it happen. 

Unfortunately, it won't happen.  The entrenched interests of the minority of parents that support the semi-pro elitist culture of high school sports will ensure that all of the towns sports funds get spent on the few and not the many.  This elitism in high school and college sports is a hold over from the bad old days when only a very few were provided access to basic education and most were sent to trade schools (if at all).  The time is ripe for a change in mindset.  The first step is to change how sports are played in high school.  We need to press the point that we would never restrict access to education in math and english education in the same way we restrict access to sports.   We need to create an environment where sports education through three season intramurals is extended to all students as if it was a basic educational requirement.   If we can change the way high school sports are played, college is likely to follow. 

John, I couldn't agree with you more. However where I'm coming from is a little different, naturally. When I was in high school there was no competitive women's sports programs with the exception of Women's Golf. Yes, we had Intramurals but the Illinois High School Athletic Board thought competitive women's sports as "unlady-like" or some such hogwash.  Golf wasn't ever going to be my sport. Because... one look at me and you'll understand why I could never get a golf club past my chest without slicing the ball ala Jerry Ford.  Trust me. I tried.

My sport was skating. However my family demanded that if I skated, my grades in school A's and B's. My skating was never considered a career choice, it was a sport and nothing more.  My parents were deliberately removed from the elitist mentality of being "rink parents." But I shocked the hell out of my folks because I ended up by becoming a very good skater, despite their attempts to get me to stop skating several times. (Another day another story.)

However times have changed today... If you want to talk about expensive, time consuming and political-- put your daughter in Figure Skating, either Roller or Ice. If you are lucky enough to have a child that excels at the sport, you will find yourself looking for a second job or a second mortage real quick. (Ask Rod Kratochwill, who has TWO daughter skating. God bless him.) The average competitive skater who is past the beginner stage and training for the USFSA or Roller Skating USA Association events on a Regional or National level spends an average of $25,000 a year training. There are very few educational or college scholarships around to help pay the freight, so most of it is absorbed by the good olde' family.

Personally I wish schools would focus on EDUCATION. Especially when so many people today in the job market lack the basic skills of being able to write a complete sentence or do basic math. Intramurals and privately operated sports are in my opinion better getting on the hoop-dreams/pipe-dreams mentality where many parents are living their fantasies through their kids. In the end when the kid doesn't make the cut many parents become so alienated from their kids it starts an entire new set of problems.

2:31:29 PM    

Skating Diva Speaks: When Pigs Can Skate or Why I Quit Skating... Part 2

This week the International Skating Union pronounced judgement on Olympic Pairs Judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne of France and French Skating Federation President for Didier Gailhaguet. Le Gougne was found guilty of misconduct in fixing an Olympic event and Gailhaguet was found guilty of pressuring a judge (Le Gougne) to fix an Olympic event.

Now at this point you would think the ISU in the face of all the world attention would lower the boom and ban them for life-- right?

No! The ISU in the face of all this attention and enough evidence to convict another celebrity murder case handed down a mere 3 year ban to include the 2006 Olympics on Le Gougne and Gailhaguet.

Jeeze they have got to be kidding! This is insane!

If they play it right, this little slap on the wrists would leave Le Gougne back to judge the 2006 World Championships-- and Gailhaguet could continue his backroom dealings in exile, like he has in the past.

So, excuse me? Am I missing something? Were we not subjected to nearly a week of non-stop Olympic scandal and armchair judging by nearly everyone who has ever laced up a pair of skates, over the reasons why Sale and Pelletier should have placed first ahead of Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze of Russia or vice-versa? Did we not hear about the ISU's Executive Committee trying like hell to bury any hint of previous judging problems? Were we not subjected to the daily blow-by-blow details of ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta trying to blow off the media and their honest questions, or watch him try to upstage and overpower the IOC's President Jack Rogge when it was suggested the deal with "the matter" as quickly as possible? Amazing! I remember it as if it were yesterday!

As far as I am concerned at this point Le Gougne and Gailhaguet should be stripped from all credentials and barred from the Sport of Figure Skating for life. And from what I have heard from ISU Technical Committee members Sally Stapleford and Britta Lindgren, the judge Jon Jackson and Ron Pfenning, the referee of the Olympic pairs competition, all have said that they believed Le Gougne should have been barred for life. Other well known skaters and officials have expressed similar opinions.

The fact remains that Stapleford, Lindgren, Jackson and Pfenning heard Le Gougne confess in the Salt Lake City hotel that she had voted for the Russians because of outside pressures. That confession, which Le Gougne now denies making, was made in a hotel lobby on the night of the pairs final and confirmed at the post event judges meeting the next morning. Le Gougne signed a "confession of wrong-doing" inwhich she affirmed what the other officials has said.

Isn't this enough to get her booted for life? Afraid not.

Now is when we get to the interesting part...

The angry and over emotional Le Gougne has stated to the media that she has had her personal and skating reputation, as well as her honor and dignity tarnished for life. (Jeeze I wonder why?) She is now promising that she intends to "tell all" about the backroom dealings, lies and political interworkings of Figure Skating. "I will explain how it functions," she said. "It is a system that is extremely slanted, dictatorial and even corrupt."

Do I smell a book deal coming on? You bet ya!

Le Gougne and Gailhaguet are telling everyone they intend appeal the convictions with the IOC's Court of Sports Arbitration, which has the final say in these matters. They have 28 days to file their appeal.

In the opinion of Gailhaguet and Le Gougne, exonerating them of wrongdoing would have left the skating union no way of justifying the duplicate medals.

"Cinquanta never wanted to give two gold medals; he was forced to do it," Gailhaguet said. "And now he has to live with it."

Also they were upset about the ISU's failure to summon and pay the travel expenses of witnesses and the remaining Olympic Pairs Judges who might have been more favorable to their cause than the majority of the 13 men and women who testified during the hearing.

While personally I loath what Gailhaguet and Le Gougne did, there are points in their argument inwhich I have to agree with. ALL of the Olympic Pairs judges should have been called to the hearing. The reason they weren't was because Speedy Cinquanta never wanted to deal with the fact the pairs event might have been "fixed" from the start. It would create too much of a scandal on the ISU and the event. God knows the IOC was sitting right there in Salt Lake City, and Cinquanta and the ISU Executive Committee has no quick escape. They did escape the IOC's prying eyes at the 2002 World Championships one month after SLC, over a situation at Dance event. It is a well known fact Cinquanta handled the entire Salt Lake City Olympic Pairs situation poorly, and as the scandal went on-- it went from bad to worse and shows no sign of getting its creditability back soon.

The ISU's creditability is at stake. Even after the hearing, Cinquanta and other ISU council members have continued to declined to comment on what method they used to determine the length of the penalties the levied or even on whether they had voted unanimously or by a simple majority to determine guilt.

Again the ISU is hiding behind closed doors. This cloistered "closed club" mentality is killing the sport and if the ISU doesn't go public with the facts soon, the IOC will have no option but to take action against the ISU. The entire reputation of sport of Figure Skating is at stake.

From where I sit, it is long overdue but the International Skating Union must clean up its act from top to bottom.(I'm not the only figure skating alumni saying this.)  It is no longer acceptable for the International Skating Union or any national skating federation to hide their rules from the public. Everything must be out in the open and accessible to everyone for free. Use the www.isu.org site to post the rules publicly.

Furthermore the sport of Figure Skating needs to understand on a molecular level that it is no longer is it acceptable for any of the participating national skating federations to play footsies and politics, as well as swap votes or play favorites. The game of "I'll vote for your skaters, if you vote for mine" is no longer acceptable behavior.

And furthermore I still stand on my opinion that Cinquanta has to go. This man is completely Clueless.

The Canadian press has stated, "The pair brought shame and infamy not only on their own sport but on the whole Olympic movement, the organization's executive director, Jeremy Pope, said in a statement. For them to be merely slapped on the wrist is, frankly, absurd and exposes the Olympic movement to ridicule. Pope suggested the ISU should be suspended from the Olympics until it eliminates corruption in the sport."

If Figure Skating wants to remain an Olympic sport, it MUST clean up its act and skaters need to break their silence and speak up publicly about cleaning up the sport. Or we all lose.

Question: Does anyone have the transcripts of Marie's "60 Minutes" Interview with Ed Bradley? What was said?

3:08:55 AM    

[This was written this week while the Radio Userland Server was having problems. I'm posting it now after speaking with other skating friends about the ISU's Board of Inquiry over the Judging Problems at 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Pairs Event. Tomorrow I'll post my real opinion.]

And People Wonder Why I Quit Skating...

The Board of Inquiry, AKA the Kangaroo Court convened at the International Skating Union Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland on Monday and Tuesday this week to investigate the judging scandal involving judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and French Skating Association President Didier Gailhaguet and their conduct regarding the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Pairs Event.

Typical for the ISU, no media were invited. Neither were any other officials, skaters or coaches to represent the members of the sport. I'd say the ISU is a little gun shy considering how Christine Brennan of USA Today has been talking to other judges who have said Gailhaguet attempted to influence their votes at previous championships. But Brennan is not the only one putting the heat on the ISU to clean up its act. There are literally hundreds of skaters, past and present, who have voiced the concern this situation be corrected immediately in order to renew the public's faith in the sport.

However the closed door Board of Inquiry went on as scheduled, and people who have taken time out of their "normal lives" have testified and began to talk to other skaters about what took place, despite the ISU's stance such a hearing is "confidential."

At this point here is what we know...

The ISU heard testimony from 13 witnesses, nearly all made allegations against Le Gougne or Gailhaguet.

Prior to the Hearing attorneys for French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne released a letter they sent to the ISU attacking the decision to suspend Le Gougne and award the Canadian pair team a second Olympic gold medal. Arguments in the letter include statements such as the following: That Le Gougne was suspended without evidence. That even without Le Gougne's marks the panel still had the Russian pair first. That interviews during the ISU investigation were biased, and that the ISU refused to hear allegations that Sally Stapleford pressured Le Gougne to accuse Didier Gailhaguet of influencing her vote. The letter also said the decision of the ISU to award a second gold medal was made under pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and North American media.

Olympic pair referee Ron Pfenning and Jon Jackson, both testified at the hearing as witnesses to French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne confession of pressure by her federation, and requested that the ISU Council bar U.S. council member Claire Ferguson from the ISU hearing on Monday April 29th. The two claim that at last month's World Championships in Japan, Ferguson said that she had not seen all the evidence against Le Gougne and French federation chief Didier Gailhaguet, however she felt that Gailhaguet acted the same way as many other federation heads and should receive a light penalty.

Bruce Edwards, SLC volunteer driver for Gailhaguet during the Olympics, testified he heard Gailhaguet engage in a "suspicious"  conversation while talking with a Russian woman on his cell phone on Feb. 9. "I can't tell you exactly what he said. . . . It sounded like he was planning something,"

Letters were sent to the ISU Board of Inquiry from Swiss judge Christine Blanc saying that in November, at Skate Canada International, French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said she would vote for the Russian pair team over the Canadian pair team at the Olympic Games. She also testified.

Alain Miquel, another French judge has accused French Federation President Didier Gailhaguet of pressuring his vote. Miquel said Gailhaguet instructed him on how to mark the French, Russian and German pairs at the 1998 World Championships.

Other judges have written letters stating Le Gougne's behavior at other championships she has judged. None are very flattering and repeatedly express how Le Gougne says she is "under so much pressure."

The ISU council deliberated for five hours before coming to their decision and by late Tuesday handed out their judgement. Here is the direct text of their decision:

Decision of the Council of the International Skating Union in the disciplinary matter of Ms. Marie Reine Le Gougne and Mr. Didier Gailhaguet

On April 29 and 30, 2002 in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Council of the ISU, in continuation of the disciplinary enquiry commenced in Salt Lake City, held a hearing at which further evidence was heard and presented.

Following this hearing the Council has evaluated all the evidence and arrived at the following decision, in accordance with rule 104, paragraph 16 of the ISU General Regulations:

1. Ms. Marie Reine Le Gougne is suspended as ISU Referee and Judge and excluded from participation in any ISU event, e.g. ISU Championships, international competitions, exhibitions and all off-ice events, in any capacity for a period of 3 years, beginning on April 30, 2002:

for misconduct committed on February 11, 2002 in violation of ISU rule 426, paragraphs 4 and 5, by giving the pair Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze from Russia first place in the free program of the pairs event of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games upon the instruction of Mr. Didier Gailhaguet, the President of the Fédération Française des Sports de Glace, although in her own opinion the pair Sale/Pelletier from Canada presented a better performance, and

for violation of ISU rule 125, paragraph 3 by not reporting immediately and before the end of the pairs event of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games that Mr. Didier Gailhaguet, the President of the Fédération Française des Sports de Glace and an ISU Council member, had instructed her to give the first place in the pairs event of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to the pair Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze from Russia.

In addition, Ms. Marie Reine Le Gougne is excluded from participation in any capacity within the ISU in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

2. Mr. Didier Gailhaguet is suspended as an ISU Council member and excluded from participation in any ISU event, e.g. ISU Championships, international competitions, exhibitions and all off-ice events, in any capacity for a period of 3 years, beginning on April 30, 2002:

for misconduct committed by instructing Ms. Marie Reine Le Gougne in his capacity as the President of the Fédération Française des Sports de Glace, which nominated Ms. Marie Reine Le Gougne as judge for the pairs event of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, to give the first place in the pairs event of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to the pair Berezhnaya /Sikharulidze from Russia.

In addition, Mr. Didier Gailhaguet is excluded from participation in any capacity within the ISU in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

3. An appeal against this decision or any part thereof shall have no postponing effect. (Art.22, paragraph 10 of the ISU Constitution).

The period for filing an appeal shall commence after the reasons for this decision have been received in writing by the persons concerned.

[END]

French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne and French Federation President Didier Gailhaguet have each have been found guilty of misconduct and banned from the sport of figure skating for three years each. They are also banned from the 2006 Winter Olympic in Turin, Italy.

The suspensions are effective immediately and will last until April 30, 2005. It is still uncertain if Gailhaguet can remain in charge of the French Skating Federation.

Le Gougne and Gailhaguet plan to appeal the decision. Le Gougne and Gailhaguet both denied any wrongdoing and sought to clear their names. But they claimed they didn't get a fair hearing, maintaining the ISU (specifically ISU President Ottavio "Speedy" Cinquanta,) stacked the case against them to justify the decision to give second gold medals, which they say was done because of pressure from the International Olympic Committee and the American media.

Le Gougne and Gailhaguet have 28 days to file an appeal. They first have to go through the ISU's internal appeals process. Then the case could go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, where the two may not have such a sympathetic jury. 

The interesting part is coming... this story isn't over yet.

4:07:40 AM    

Skating Diva:  Women's Final Results - 2002 World Championships Nagano, Japan 
 

Final Standings
 1. Irina Slutskaya, Russia, 2.0 factored placing.
 2. Michelle Kwan, United States, 4.2.
 3. Fumie Suguri, Japan, 5.0.
 4. Sasha Cohen, United States, 7.8.
 5. Yoshie Onda, Japan, 8.6.
 6. Elena Liashenko, Ukraine, 11.2.
 7. Victoria Volchkova, Russia, 15.4.
 8. Julia Sebestyen, Hungary, 16.4.
 9. Jennifer Robinson, Canada, 18.4.
 10. Silvia Fontana, Italy, 18.6.
 11. Susanna Poykio, Finland, 19.2.
 12. Laetitia Hubert, France, 22.4.
 13. Zuzana Babiakova, Slovakia, 22.8.
 14. Idora Hegel, Croatia, 28.6.
 15. Tatiana Malinina, Uzbekistan, 29.6.
 16. Miriam Manzano, Australia, 32.0.
 17. Galina Maniachenko, Ukraine,32.4.
 18. Julia Soldatova, Belarus, 33.0.
 19. Marta Andrade, Spain, 33.0.
 20. Dan Fang, China, 35.2.
 21. Vanessa Giunchi, Italy, 37.6.
 22. Julia Lautowa, Austria, 38.2.
 23. Asa Persson, Sweden, 41.2.
 Jennifer Kirk, United States, Withdrawn - injury
 

Results by IceCalc.

5:28:20 PM    

Skating Diva: Slutskaya Wins 2002 Worlds, Kwan Silver, Suguri Bronze

After three silver medals in the past four years, Irina Slutskaya of Russia finally claimed her first World title with a determined effort. The Olympic silver medalist stepped out of Kwan's shadow by landing six triples in a clean performance that was awarded with six first place marks. Slutskaya, who is only the second Russian woman to win a World title, has now won five World medals including three silvers and one bronze since 1996.

"I am just happy," Slutskaya said. "This is my seventh World Championships and first gold medal so I am just happy."

Four-time World champion Michelle Kwan (Torrance, Calif.), was unable to defend her World title but added her name to the U.S. record books by winning the silver medal at the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships in Japan March 22.

The Olympic bronze medalist entered the free skate in third place and needed a great performance and some luck to win her third straight and fifth career World title on Saturday night. As she has done before, Kwan delivered a clean performance although she doubled the tail end of her planned triple toe-triple toe combination. Kwan received marks ranging from 5.7-5.8 for technical merit and 5.7-5.9 for presentation with only three judges awarding her first place marks.

"I am happy with what I have done," Kwan said. "The important thing is that I came out and skated well … the only thing I messed up was leaving out the triple-triple."

With her seventh World medal in nine appearances, Kwan now moves ahead of Dick Button, Carol Heiss, Hayes Jenkins and Todd Eldredge for the most World medals by a U.S. skater.

For Kwan, the World Championships ended a long and, at times, difficult season. In October, Kwan stunned the figure skating world when she announced that she had parted ways with longtime coach Frank Carroll. After a slow start by her standards, Kwan gained momentum throughout the season and captured her sixth career and fifth straight U.S. title. In February, Kwan again failed to realize her dream of Olympic gold but was successful in claiming her second straight medal.

"It has been a long season," added Kwan. "I had to take one thing after another after the Olympics. I know I love to compete. I know for sure I don't want to turn pro, but I don't know how much I want to do."

In second after the short program, Japan's Fumie Suguri was unable to hold on and claimed the bronze medal -- the first World medal by a Japanese woman since Yuka Sato won the World title in 1994.

In her first World Championship appearance, U.S. silver medalist Sasha Cohen (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) rebounded from a difficult short program to finish fourth overall. Cohen, who placed fourth at the Olympics, had another tough night as she missed the tail end of her opening combination -- triple lutz, triple toe -- and later fell on a triple loop. Cohen, who landed five triples, received marks of 5.2-5.5 for technical merit and 5.5-5.7 for presentation to overcome Japan's Yoshie Onda in the final standings.

"I am disappointed," Cohen said. "I was just trying to go for it. I really didn't have anything to lose. I would have like to medal here, but it doesn't always turn out how you want."

Jennifer Kirk (Newton, Mass.) withdrew prior to the free skate on Saturday night due to a muscle strain in her left hip. Kirk, who placed fifth in the 2002 U.S. Championships, was in 15th overall after the short program. Kirk had been bothered by the hip all week and the injury increased following the short program on Friday where she had difficulty landing jumps and missed two of the eight required elements.

Based on the results, the U.S. is eligible to enter three entries in the ladies competition at the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships in Washington, D.C. next March.

For complete Results Click here.

4:43:00 PM    

Skating Diva Speaks:  ISU President Cinquanta Says He Will Handover the Documents

AP's reporting that ISU President "Speedy" Cinquanta will turn over the documents, regarding the Olympic Pairs judging scandal before the Hearing set for April 29-30 at the ISU Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. However when Max Miller, attorney for suspended judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, will receive the documents was not given. Miller has filed a complaint regarding the matter, and his inability to defend his client because the evidence is being withheld.

Cinquanta is also plugging his plan to revise the judging system as to how events are judged. His new system is a reverse of the current system in which skaters will be given points for each element (jump, spin, footwork) is accomplished. He has also spoken of a "factoring" for the difficulty of the element done, similiar to gymnastics or diving. He has spoken little of the artistic score for performance, which is causing concern in the skating community.

The ISU President is hoping his new system will be in place within the next two years.  However many national skating unions, including the US Figure Skating Association are expressing their concerns and asking for public comments and suggestions. 

This is far from over.

1:22:56 AM    

Skating Diva: Report from World's Ladies Short - Dance

Four-time World champion Michelle Kwan (Torrance, Calif.), stumbled in the short program on Friday in her attempt to claim a fifth career and third straight World title at the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships in Japan.

The Olympic bronze medalist entered the short program in good position to defend her World title after winning her qualifying group on Wednesday. Kwan, skating to "Rachmaninoff," had difficulty on the first of the eight required elements when she fell out of the triple lutz. Kwan recovered quickly to complete a double toe, but the damage was done. Facing a mandatory deduction in the short program for the error, Kwan received marks of 5.2-5.4 for required elements and presentation marks of 5.7-5.9, to finish the day in third overall. Kwan must now win the free skate and have Irina Slutskaya finish no higher than third to claim her fifth World title.

"Going into the combination, I felt a little too fast – I think I just leaned back too much," said Kwan. "I'll just have to come back strong tomorrow. I have been in this position before (2000 World Championships in Nice, France), the difference is this time I am aware of it."

Three-time World silver medalist Irina Slutskaya of Russia received two 6.0s for presentation to take one step closer to an elusive World title that has eluded her in six previous attempts. Skating last in the final group, the Olympic silver medalist was clean on all eight elements and received unanimous first place marks from all nine judges. The perfect marks were the first of Slutskaya's career at a World Championships.

"It's the first time I have received a 6.0 for presentation in the short program at Worlds," said Slutskaya. "I skated well today but I will now forget this and focus on skating well again tomorrow."

Japan's Fumie Suguri capitalized on the mistakes of the day by skating a clean program to finish in second overall. Suguri, who received second place marks from eight of the nine judges, can claim her first World title and first ladies title for Japan since 1994 with a win in the free skate on Saturday.

Reigning U.S. silver medalist Sasha Cohen (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) suffered a similar fate shared by her U.S. teammates in the short program. After skating clean through the first five elements, Cohen fell on her double Axel attempt and fell to fifth overall. Cohen, who was second in her qualifying group, must now have a clean free skate and hope for help to have an opportunity to claim a medal at her first World Championships.

"I was disappointed by my performance today," said Cohen. "I really don't know what happened. I have been skating good programs all week and I felt prepared."

Jennifer Kirk (Newton, Mass.), had a difficult short program in which she fell on her first two jumps - a triple lutz and a triple flip. Kirk, who is in 15th overall, complained of a left hip injury that has been bothering her all week and presented itself again during the warm-up.

"My hip was hurting a little during warm-up," said Kirk. "The problem started this weekend, but it really hit me during the warm-up. Hopefully I will be able to forget about today's performance and finish strong on Saturday."

Note: 1999 World champion Maria Butyrskaya of Russia officially withdrew from the 2002 World Championships on Friday morning. According to an official communication from the event organizers, Butyrskaya withdrew from the event due to "physical and mental fatigue". Butyrskaya placed sixth in qualifying group A on Wednesday.

12:21:40 AM    

Skating Diva: Final Results Dance - 2002 World Championships Nagano, Japan

1, Irina LOBACHEVA / Ilia AVERBUKH , RUS (left)
2, Shae-Lynn BOURNE / Victor KRAATZ , CAN (right)
3, Galit CHAIT / Sergei SAKHNOVSKI , ISR (lower left)
4, Margarita DROBIAZKO / Povilas VANAGAS , LTU
5, Albena DENKOVA / Maxim STAVIYSKI , BUL
6, Elena GRUSHINA / Ruslan GONCHAROV , UKR
7, Kati WINKLER / Rene LOHSE , GER
8, Tatiana NAVKA / Roman KOSTOMAROV , RUS

9, Naomi LANG / Peter TCHERNYSHEV, USA
10, Marie-France DUBREUIL / Patrice LAUZON , CAN
11, Sylwia NOWAK / Sebastian KOLASINSKI , POL
12, Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER , FRA
13, Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO , USA
14, Marika HUMPHREYS / Vitali BARANOV , GBR
15, Kristin FRASER / Igor LUKANIN , AZE
16, Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI , ITA
17, Alia OUABDELSSELAM / Benjamin DELMAS , FRA
18, Veronika MORAVKOVA / Jiri PROCHAZKA , CZE
19, Stephanie RAUER / Thomas RAUER , GER
20, Weina ZHANG / Xianming CAO , CHN
21, Zita GEBORA / Andras VISONTAI , HUN
22, Valentina ANSELMI / Fabrizio PEDRAZZINI , ITA
23, Tae-Hwa YANG / Chuen-Gun LEE , KOR
24, Rie ARIKAWA / Kenji MIYAMOTO , JPN
25, Alla BEKNAZAROVA / Yuri KOCHERZHENKO , UKR
26, Jessica HUOT / Juha VALKAMA , FIN
27, Anna MOSENKOVA / Sergei SYCHYOV , EST
28, Natalie BUCK / Trent NELSON-BOND , AUS

11:55:34 PM    

Russian champions Lobacheva and Averbukh scored mostly 5.8s and 5.9s for presentation in a moving free program dedicated to the victims of the September 11 attacks on the U.S. to improve on their Olympic silver medal and became the 24th ice dance champions from Russia or the former Soviet Union since 1970.  For the results, click here.

As for the Women's short program: Irina Slutskaya is ahead, skating a clean program that earned her 2 - 6.0's  Michelle Kwan missed her triple lutz and did not skate well. Skaters have said, "You could count the clean ladies short programs on one hand at this World Championships, but by far the most heart warming moments of the event were the superb performances of the two Japanese ladies, Fumie Suguri and Yoshie Onda, who thrilled their countrymen here in Nagano. As they say, "that was worth its weight in gold."  For the results, click here.

**Note: The US Television Viewing Schedule for all Figure Skating is at http://www.usfsa.org/sponsors_tv/tv_sched.htm 

5:40:23 PM    

Skating Diva Report: 2002 World Pairs Finals

1 Xue SHEN/Hongbo ZHAO CHN (left)
2 Tatiana TOTMIANINA/Maxim MARININ RUS
3 Kyoko INA/John ZIMMERMAN USA (right) 
                  (AP did a nice story on Kyoko here)
4 Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV RUS
5 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN
6 Dorota ZAGORSKA / Mariusz SIUDEK POL
7 Tiffany SCOTT / Philip DULEBOHN USA
8 Jacinthe LARIVIERE / Lenny FAUSTINO CAN
9 Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG CHN
10 Anabelle LANGLOIS/Patrice ARCHETTO CAN
11 Katerina BERANKOVA / Otto DLABOLA CZE
12 Valerie MARCOUX / Bruno MARCOTTE CAN
13 Yuko KAWAGUCHI/Alexander MARKUNTSOV JPN
14 Mariana KAUTZ / Norman JESCHKE GER
15 Viktoria BORZENKOVA/Andrei CHUVILYAEV RUS
16 Tatiana CHUVAEVA / Dmitri PALAMARCHUK UKR
17 Viktoria SHKLOVER / Valdis MINTALS EST
18 Maria KRASILTSEVA / Artem ZNACHKOV ARM
19 Jelena SIROKHVATOVA / Jurijs SALMANOVS LAT
20 Marina AGANINA / Artem KNYAZEV UZB

Results by Icecalc

4:15:33 PM    

Skating Diva News: Yagudin Wins His Fourth World Title

AlexeiYagudin is the 2002 Men's World Champion, (Ctr), Timothy Goebel, (Lt) Silver and Takeshi Honda (Rt) Bronze show their medals during ceremonies at the M-Wave in Nagano, Japan.  (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
For complete results click here.

Ice Dancing: OSP Round Finished with Russians Lobacheva and Averbukh in the lead. Second were Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz. Third were Lithuanians Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas. The Free Dance Final round is Friday. For complete results click here

Maria Butyrskaya of Russia has withdrawn from the World Championships due to illness. Butyrskaya, a former World Champion, had a disasterous qualifying round when her coaches were unable to get the the M-Wave due to a traffic problems around the MWave and placed 6th in ladies qualifying group A and was tied for 11th overall.

2:56:01 PM    

Skating Diva News: Men's 2002 World Championships - Nagano, Japan
FINAL RESULTS

1 Alexei YAGUDIN RUS (left)
2 Timothy GOEBEL USA (right)
3 Takeshi HONDA JPN (lower left)
4 Alexander ABT RUS
5 Chengjiang LI CHN
6 Michael WEISS USA
7 Anthony LIU AUS
8 Jeffrey BUTTLE CAN

9 Min ZHANG CHN
10 Andrejs VLASCENKO GER
11 Frederic DAMBIER FRA
12 Matthew SAVOIE USA
13 Brian JOUBERT FRA
14 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL
15 Ben FERREIRA CAN
16 Song GAO CHN
17 Ivan DINEV BUL
18 Stephane LAMBIEL SUI
19 Roman SKORNIAKOV UZB
20 Vakhtang MURVANIDZE GEO
21 Markus LEMINEN FIN
22 Dmitri DMITRENKO UKR
23 Sergei RYLOV AZE
24 Sergei DAVYDOV BLR
25 Juraj SVIATKO SVK
26 Tomas VERNER CZE
27 Yosuke TAKEUCHI JPN
28 Gregor URBAS SLO
29 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE
30 Sergei KOTOV ISR
31 Yon GARCIA ESP
31 Zoltan TOTH HUN
33 Clemens JONAS AUT
33 Aidas REKLYS LTU
35 James BLACK GBR
35 Milos MILANOVIC YUG
37 Panagiotis MARKOUIZOS GRE
37 Dino QUATTROCECERE RSA

2:35:52 PM