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
Showing posts with label Ryan Bradley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ryan Bradley. Show all posts
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Day Seven
10am: Arrived at the Arena. Late morning, but continuing difficulties with the internet connection in our hotel.
10:40am: Watched the women’s long program. Good for Kimmie Meissner! Too bad for Emily Hughes. Things were so close, there was less than one point separating them. And if it weren’t for Emily’s fall, she would’ve won by the slightest of margins. I guess it’s true what they say—skating a clean program often is what makes a difference. I’m happy for Kimmie, though; she needed this win after a so-so year after winning the World’s last year.
Oh, I found out my pressing question from this week. Peter Carruthers interviewed Kimmie after it was over, and she explained that it was her teammates from Delaware who were yelling it out. She said it was “our thing.” And it’s “Yeah, you’re hot!”
2pm: Late lunch at a trendy place called Twigs at the River Park Square. I was craving tuna, so I had their sashimi appetizer. Yum-o, as Rachael Ray would say.
7pm: Or there-abouts, since they started late. Watched the men’s long program. Man!
One of the best things about being here is that we’ve seen some amazing skating, live and in person. It’s been such an honor to be here for it. I can say that I saw history being made, and not just once. It’s been an incredible experience. Watching Evan Lysacek skate the program of his life was beyond description. Being so far away, I didn’t know until his interview that he had made a quad-triple combination! But the audience erupted afterwards, and was with him the entire time he was on the ice. I stood up with everyone else, and I’m sure that if I were alone, the tears in my eyes would’ve become weeping. Man!
And poor Johnny Weir, coming in mere third after three National titles. He fell once, and popped two jumps. I hate to say this, but I feel somewhat vindicated. All season, I’ve complained that Johnny hasn’t been true to himself. I believe that, along with the fact that he hasn’t trained like he should this season, is the reason he lost so badly. He even changed his costume to continue the change in his image he tried this season. It didn’t work. I continue to maintain that Johnny needs to be true to himself. This season, not being true to himself has been disastrous.
Yeah Ryan Bradley! He was over the top in his excitement about beating Weir, the National Champion, and coming in second. The audience loved it, though, and so did I. His program was very well choreographed, and loads of fun. He was sexy and charismatic and full of energy. It was a pleasure to watch him explode like he did. We’ve tended to ditch out before the awards, and Ryan was so fun, I felt that we had to stay for it.
I’m really glad we did, because Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano participated in the ceremony. It was great seeing them. I’m sure that there was a great party going on last night at the Davenport. We’re old ladies, so we went back to the hotel for bed.
So it’s over. All that’s left is the Exhibition. Part of me is sad about that, but I miss my kids and I’m looking forward to seeing them.
I was able to answer another pressing question that came up this week. Figure skating does have a patron saint—Saint Ludwina, who lived in Holland in the fourteenth century.
10:40am: Watched the women’s long program. Good for Kimmie Meissner! Too bad for Emily Hughes. Things were so close, there was less than one point separating them. And if it weren’t for Emily’s fall, she would’ve won by the slightest of margins. I guess it’s true what they say—skating a clean program often is what makes a difference. I’m happy for Kimmie, though; she needed this win after a so-so year after winning the World’s last year.
Oh, I found out my pressing question from this week. Peter Carruthers interviewed Kimmie after it was over, and she explained that it was her teammates from Delaware who were yelling it out. She said it was “our thing.” And it’s “Yeah, you’re hot!”
2pm: Late lunch at a trendy place called Twigs at the River Park Square. I was craving tuna, so I had their sashimi appetizer. Yum-o, as Rachael Ray would say.
7pm: Or there-abouts, since they started late. Watched the men’s long program. Man!
One of the best things about being here is that we’ve seen some amazing skating, live and in person. It’s been such an honor to be here for it. I can say that I saw history being made, and not just once. It’s been an incredible experience. Watching Evan Lysacek skate the program of his life was beyond description. Being so far away, I didn’t know until his interview that he had made a quad-triple combination! But the audience erupted afterwards, and was with him the entire time he was on the ice. I stood up with everyone else, and I’m sure that if I were alone, the tears in my eyes would’ve become weeping. Man!
And poor Johnny Weir, coming in mere third after three National titles. He fell once, and popped two jumps. I hate to say this, but I feel somewhat vindicated. All season, I’ve complained that Johnny hasn’t been true to himself. I believe that, along with the fact that he hasn’t trained like he should this season, is the reason he lost so badly. He even changed his costume to continue the change in his image he tried this season. It didn’t work. I continue to maintain that Johnny needs to be true to himself. This season, not being true to himself has been disastrous.
Yeah Ryan Bradley! He was over the top in his excitement about beating Weir, the National Champion, and coming in second. The audience loved it, though, and so did I. His program was very well choreographed, and loads of fun. He was sexy and charismatic and full of energy. It was a pleasure to watch him explode like he did. We’ve tended to ditch out before the awards, and Ryan was so fun, I felt that we had to stay for it.
I’m really glad we did, because Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano participated in the ceremony. It was great seeing them. I’m sure that there was a great party going on last night at the Davenport. We’re old ladies, so we went back to the hotel for bed.
So it’s over. All that’s left is the Exhibition. Part of me is sad about that, but I miss my kids and I’m looking forward to seeing them.
I was able to answer another pressing question that came up this week. Figure skating does have a patron saint—Saint Ludwina, who lived in Holland in the fourteenth century.
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