Worlds Men’s Short Program

It seems that every male skater in the world loves to skate in Asia, except for Asian skaters.

The pressure seemed to get to most of the male figure skaters who competed at the 2007 Worlds Championships in Tokyo last month, especially the Asian skaters. This was apparent in the short program.

When all was said and done, it wasn’t an Asian skater that won the gold medal; it was France’s Brian Joubert. Joubert also came on top after the short program, hitting his opening quadruple-triple toeloop and triple Axel, showing good footwork, and making his personal best (83.64).

It wasn’t the clean program he wanted, though. The European champ put his hand down on the triple flip, but he earned a level four for his three spins and a level three for both his circular and straight-line step sequences. “I’m very happy with my performance,” the Frenchman said. “I beat my personal best. I did one small mistake on the triple flip, and I’m a little disappointed about that.”

Joubert was the only male skater who was able to make his quad-combination. Only one other skater made the attempt, American champ Evan Lysacek. He put his hand on the ice on his quad and lost points for the combination when he waited too long for the second jump. He ended up in the fifth place, but eleven points behind Joubert.

“What I feel proud of is that I put the quad out there under the pressure of the world championships,” Lysacek said. “I knew I had to take the risk.”

Other skaters were plagued by mistakes as well. Ryan Bradley, who surprised everyone with his skill and enthusiasm at the U.S. Nationals by winning the bronze medal, came in a disappointing 19th after falling on a triple axel jump.

"It just wasn't in the cards today,” he said. “It’s my first worlds, and I guess it happens.”

Johnny Weir, who has had a less than stellar season, wanted to please his Japanese fans. He blamed his weak performance on weariness. He started with a smooth triple axel and a triple-triple combination but then stumbled on a triple flip and finished fourth.

“I gave it maybe 65 percent tonight,” Weir said with his characteristic wry sense of humor. “I’ve been having some trouble adjusting here. My costume is even tired.”

Jeffrey Buttle from Canada did well, however, coming in second after the short program. He was excited about the competition upon his arrival in Tokyo; “I love competing in Asia,” he said.

For good reason, since Buttle has done well in Asia of late: second in the Grand Prix Final and first in the Japan International Challenge, both in 2005 in Tokyo, and second in the Grand Prix Final and first in the Cup of China, both in 2004 in Beijing.

In Buttle’s short program at World’s, in spite of a back injury that kept him out of the Grand Prix this year, he landed a solid triple flip-triple toe, a triple Axel, and a triple Lutz. His three spins were all level fours, and he set a new personal best (79.90 points).

So it was the Asian skaters that felt the pressure of skating at home the most. Japan’s Nobunari Oda, one of the most talented and promising young skaters in the world, had a disappointing short program. He missed his first triple axle and had points off his score for other badly executed jumps.

It seemed that his style, which usually serves him well, hurt him this time. Oda tends to skate with “deep knees,” meaning that he bends his knees before and after making his jumps, but his weight has to be placed in just the right way. The pressure seemed to get the best of him at home, and he missed his first triple axle and had several points taken off for other badly executed jumps (including some popped jumps). He placed a dismal 14th.

Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi did the best of the Asian men, coming in third after the short program. He opened his program with a triple flip-triple toe combination, but the second jump was under-rotated. He then went on to produce a triple Axel, a triple Lutz, and a level-four combination spin.

“It was my worst performance in this season,” Takahashi said afterwards. “I was not able to show what I can do. I am very lucky to end up in third place.” He admitted to feeling pressure. “We are the host country, and the crowd had very high expectations and I tried to respond to it. This made me very nervous.”

Figure skating is huge in Asia, so the crowds at Worlds were enthusiastic. It had to be difficult for the skaters from Asia, and as it turned out, it was.

References:
Associated Press. Americans stumble at skating worlds. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_498942.html

Associated Press. Lambiel says pressure is off, but defending figure skating crown will be tall order. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/19/sports/AS-SPT-FIG-Worlds-Lambiel.php

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2007 - Tokyo, Japan - Day 2. http://217.158.112.238/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,4844-131973-133281-18886-268020-news-item,00.html

Stevens, N. Canada has a strong presence at figure skating worlds. http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/565473.html

Stevens, N. Joubert leads heading into men's free program at figure skating worlds. http://www.cbc.ca/cp/sports/070321/s032155A.html