Pairs Free Skate, Worlds 2007

Instead of writing an "article" on the pairs free skate, I'm going to give some "random" musings about it. Why? At this late date, I was only able to find two articles about this part of the competition, and my thoughts aren't organized enough for something more formal.

The articles mentioned above do an adequate job at reporting what happened. Here they are:
ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2007 - Day 2. http://www.isu.org/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,4844-131973-133281-18886-268020-news-item,00.html

Kaye, R. 2007 World Figure Skating Championships: Pairs' Free Skate Highlights. http://goldenskate.com/articles/2006/032207_pl.shtml

One of the things I love about figure skating is its bittersweet nature. As a fan, I experience happiness and sadness, often to their extremes. The highs are high and the lows are low. That seemed to be the case for the pairs free skate at Worlds.

For example, two couples had to bow out at the competition due to injury, and they were due to retire after this season. Petrova and Tikhonov of Russia had to withdraw before the long program after Tikhonov injured his right leg during practice. And the inspirational Dorota Siudek and Mariusz Siudek from Poland had to withdraw after Mariusz re-injured his back. What a sad way to end a career, especially for the Siudeks. Plus, it made the field a bit tougher for the Russians, who failed to medal in any of the disciplines, something that hasn't happened since 1960.

A highlight of this competition was the gold-winning performance of China's Shen and Zhao. Their skate was flawless. They personified another reason I adore this sport so much--they were able to transport me somewhere else as I watched them. They were emotional as well--hugging and kissing as they ended their program and Zhao touching the ice as they left it "to thank the ice in Tokyo." They earned their standing ovation, and the gold as well.

It was great to see my favorite program (of all the disciplines) of the season one last time: Germans Savchenko and Szolkowy's long program. It unfortunately wasn't their best free skate of the season, but it was good enough to earn them a bronze here. I've talked about this program before--it's choreographed to one of my favorite pieces of music; the costumes fit the choreography and their personalities; it's almost an ice dance. Great stuff.



One final comment before I close and go work on my final Worlds article. Dick Button, in his commentary on Pang and Tong, called Qing Pang "frail." For the life of me, I don't understand that comment. If I were to ever meet Mr. Button, I would like to ask him about it. I wonder, though, if he says it because of her fall at the Olympics, in which she fell after attempting a throw quadruple Salchow and had to stop for several minutes. Please, how is that "frail"? The only other explanation I have is Qing's appearance. It's true that she doesn't look as muscular as other female skaters, but anyone who can get through a five-minute skating routine has to be somewhat robust!

Day Six

Man, there was some good figure skating today! When I have more time, I intend to verify it (yet another item on my expanding to-research list), but I suspect that most skaters this week have made their personal bests. Like I said yesterday, there must be something in the water here in Spokane. It’s like this little town has spurred the skaters onto excellence. I know this sounds hokey, but I’m honored to have helped out in just a little way.

10am: Arrived at the Arena for the junior men’s free skate. To be honest, I wasn’t as impressed with these guys. Perhaps my expectation of the skating is higher now than it was earlier in the week. I’ll look up their scores later, probably after I get home.

12:50pm: Things were pushed together this week, and the arena is starting to get really crowded. I was barely even able to grab lunch! The pairs free skate was worth the price of admission for the entire week. I’m still amazed at the outcome—these skaters from Michigan that no one has heard of, Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, actually won the whole thing, by the slimmest of margins (.25 of a point). They competed in sectionals this season, and didn’t even win them. And they came in eighth at last year’s Nationals. Absolutely amazing.

I feel bad for Inoue and Baldwin. They fell twice; I thought that one of the falls was during one of their attempted throw quads (which they missed in their short program), but the newspaper stories (“The Spokesman Review”) I read this morning didn’t report that. They did report on something I missed, though, because we hadn’t gotten back in time for it. Vise and Trent, during their warm-up earlier in the evening, successfully accomplished a quad throw Salchow, something that’s never been done before in competition. They attempted it during their long program, but unfortunately wasn’t able to do it. Something in the water!

In between groups, we were treated to the induction of Charles Schultz to the Figure Skating Hall of Fame. (He was a huge supporter of the sport.) Scott Hamilton gave the award to Schultz’s widow. The audience gave him a standing ovation. Man, I love that guy. He’s so brave, and talented, and still cute as heck.

5:30pm: Dinner at the Sawtooth Grille in the mall in downtown Spokane. Adequate food; their calamari was a little rubbery. The fun part about out break was the shuttle trip to and from. We were lucky enough to sit next to a novice pair skater, Casey Sullivan, from Oregon. I think I’ll write it up as an interview at a later time. It was like sitting through a mini-lecture on what it’s like to be a young skater, given by a very articulate young man. On the shuttle trip back, we were entertained by the bus driver. Here’s the joke she told over the intercom:

“If ya get thirsty over there at the Arena, you should be fine; I hear there’s lots of ice.” The entire shuttle groaned, and then, in the spirit of Johnny Carson, she made us laugh, anyway.

7:50pm: Well, that’s not entirely true. For some reason, they started late. But it was worth the wait, and we have some really fun seatmates.

Ice dancing! Great, great skating. Of course, there was no question who’d end up winning. Belbin and Agosto changed their long program! I’m glad, because the long program they’ve been performing all season just wasn’t doing it for them. They got it together in mere weeks, and it was great. I laughed as the scores were read, they were so high. At any rate, I think this program will suit them well as they go into World’s.

As I end, I have a request to ask my readers, if there are any out there. The phrase I heard for the first time on Thursday was used again yesterday. Is it “Dang, you’re hot!” or “Damn, you’re hot!” or “Yeah, you’re hot!” I must know!

I can’t believe that today’s the last two competitions, men and women’s long programs. Man, it should be good!