Magic of the Men

So...we have a new mens world champion! I'm going to forget about the OD for a bit and instead talk about the mens because it was eventful!

The Highs

Adam Rippon - Can you believe he is the FIFTH ranked American man? Apart from a bobble on the landing of the first triple axel, Adam put down such a good performance. I'd never really been sure about this long program music but thought he pulled it off really nicely last night. To finish sixth in his World debut is very impressive.

Kevin VDP - I was sending Kevin good vibes before he started; it was probably his last ever competitive performance and I really wanted him to go out with a bang. Seemed to work; that quad-triple-triple was astonishing. Is that the highest ever tariff combination? The look of joy at the end of his program was just so adorable to see!

Adrian Schultheiss - He never really gets mentioned as part of the twenty-fourteenies but I think that might change after that performance. The Eurosport commentators said that his program "really suited him" but is that a good thing when you're portraying a mental patient, complete with screams and a straitjacket? Anyway, it was stellar.

Daisuke Takahashi - The gold was his to lose, after some disappointing skates in the final group, and so you have to really respect him for trying a quad flip, and landing it; he really didn't need to take that risk. It might have been downgraded, but the rest of the performance was perfect, and so much fun! He absolutely deserved that gold medal, and I'm so glad he managed to get his head together!.

Brian Joubert - So Brian's skate could have come in the misses - after all, he fell on a triple lutz and had some very questionable jumps landings. However, landing a quad and a quad-double in the same program after his terrible Olympics is something he should be so proud of; I was afraid of a Verner-esque meltdown. But he managed to podium, for the fifth year in a row, which is some record and he'll probably surpass that, given that he's said he'll stay on until 2012 Worlds in Nice.

Patrick Chan - So, it wasn't perfect, and I'll be honest, I'm not a Chan fan. But he got the silver medal, so good on him.

Michal Brezina - One of my favourite performances of the night. His jumps are absolutely out of this world, the speed on the landing and height and flow...incredible! He's also been really consistant this season, which hopefully will continue. In a couple of seasons, once he gets better performance skills, spins and maybe choreo, he'll be unstoppable.

The Misses

Jeremy Abbott - I feel pretty harsh putting Jeremy in the misses, to be honest. In his post-skate interview, he said he was proud of his performance because he didn't pop a single jump and fought until the end of the program. He also ended up 5th, which is a great improvement on his two elevenths. But he did fall twice, which was a real shame, especially as he was completely screwed over with the points for his exquisite short program.

Denis Ten - I didn't see Ten, the Eurosport broadcast missed him off, but it seems he didn't do so great; his country now only have one spot for 2011 Worlds. But he's got a long career ahead of him, so it shouldn't faze him too much.

Takahiko Kozuka - I absolutely adore him, and his jump problems broke my heart, because he's such a talent...but again, he's young.

Nobunari Oda - Because we didn't even get to see him! Too sad - I bet he'll be making some big changes before the start of next season.

And that's the mens event; congratulations to Takahashi, Chan and Joubert! Some of the judging though was very questionable for this event, I thought; leave your comments on that below!

Day Two of Worlds

The pairs event is just starting, so thought I'd comment on the mens event.

Firstly, has there ever been such a deep competition at a post-Olympic Worlds? Jeremy Abbott managed to get his act together and skate a fantastic short program (the Eurosport commentators adored it, and rightly so!) but is down in sixth, showing just how great this competition is, even without Lysacek, Weir, Lambiel or Plushenko.

Speaking of getting your act together, I have two words; Brian Joubert. To come back and skate like that after the agony of bombing in Vancouver was just amazing - he also got the highest technical score of the night with his quad-triple combo. His fist-pumping after his jumps and roaring at the end shows how much that must have meant to him, and even a Joubert hater couldn't fail to have enjoyed that.

I've always maintained that the pattern when you have three skaters in an event will be that two will nail their program, and one will meltdown, and this event managed to prove this right. Jeremy Abbott and Adam Rippon both skated great, whilst Ryan Bradley had such a heartbreaking short (though not unexpected, given his injury issues). In the same way, Daisuke Takahashi and Takahiko Kozuka skated fantastically, whilst Nobunari Oda's meltdown (he popped every jump) means he doesn't even qualify for the long! Who'd have thought? Ice is slippery, after all.

So questions for the long prgram; how much will the top ten move around? Can any of the twenty-fourteenies sneak up in the rankings - after all, Brezina, Ten and Rippon all seem to want to make 2010 their year, judging by their skates! Can Joubert pull out a clean long program? Who'll be the next World Gold medalist?

I can't wait for tomorrow: comments on the event below!

No more Weir

Despite his promises of being in Torino, Johnny Weir joins his teammates Lysacek and Belbin/Agosto in skipping Worlds. Not really a suprise, judging by how many TV appearances and interviews he's been doing; no time for training when you've got Oscar parties to go to. Adam Rippon takes his place - who else is excited to see the Rippon Lutz once more this season?

Olympic Fever!

Now, if you're like me, you're totally excited for the events in Vancouver to start and are itching to see some skating! But to keep you going until the first event (the Pairs Short Program, on Valentines Day!) I've compiled some links/sites/videos to keep you going!

Twitter

Twitter is an invaluable tool for any skating fan. There are a number of skaters who tweet, especially the American ones; my favourites are @jeremyabbottpcf, @EvanLysacek, @JohnnyGWeir, @Adaripp (Adam Rippon, in case you couldn't tell), @AshWagner2010 and @charlieawhite. There are so many more figure skaters out there in the Twitter world, so have a look at Aaron's site Axels, Loops and Spins for a full list.

There are also so many people who tweet skating news, and who, along with me, will be tweeting the Olympic results. The best, I think, are @SarahandDrew (off of Ice Network), @skating102 (Aaron from the aformentioned Axels, Loops and Spins) @blazingblades and @NBCOlympicZone. Don't forget about @Ice_Addiction either!

TV

Skaters seem to be popping up on TV all over the place. Jeremy Abbott, who has traditionally flown under the radar in terms of promotion, was actually on the Today Show and skated a flawless program. Evan Lysacek is also going to be on the Today Show on February 10th, so look out for that. Evan was on Jay Leno (with Kristi Yamaguchi and Mirai Nagasu in the audience!). Also, the latest in the Cutting Edge franchise is going to be shown on March 14th. It's called Fire and Ice; taking inspiration from Brian Joubert/Sasha Cohen's autiobiographies?

Other Stuff

And finally, to keep you going, here are some interviews with skaters which might be interesting. There's an interview with Abbott, and then a little news piece on Nathan Chen, America's hopes for 2018 (!) There are also a few clips on Delobel and Schoenfelder from recent training!







Oh and last bit of skating news; the compulsory dance at the Olympics is going to be the Tango Romantica! Do you like this decision? Personally I was hoping for the Golden Waltz but you might disagree - comment below.

Skate America

The results from Cancer.net Skate America 2009 so far are here. Shocker for the mens podium; who'd have thought? I'm really glad though, as I love all three of the medallists, especially Ryan Bradley, who blew me away in his short program in Paris. Pairs wasn't really a suprise, but how great were Shen and Zhao (in the short!)? They're looking like the front-runners for the gold medal in Vancouver, which is understandably worrying Savchenko and Szolkowy, who are apparently crafting a new LP - their current one to "You'll Never Walk Alone" hasn't been well received. That'll be something to look forward to at Skate Canada next weekend.

On another note, my newest poll closed yesterday, and the results were...interesting. I asked about Plushenko's return, and the answer was that people were pleased about it, but only just! It was a closer result than I thought it would be. My new poll is looking past Vancouver and on to Sochi in 2014; who do you think will be the most successful skater in the next four year cycle; Adam Rippon, Florent Amodio and Michal Brezina? All three have only just left the junior ranks, and yet they've all beaten skaters with far more experience and expectation than them; Rippon leapfrogged over Joubert, Preaubert and Ponsero, Brezina managed to place in front of Kozuka and Takahashi, and Amodio surpassed Verner. I appreciate that these results only happened due to errors or meltdowns by the other skaters, but it is still an achievement, and I predict that some of them could beat the old guys when they're all on their game. So what do you think?

NHK so far

So, I watched the mens short program from Japan....and here's what I thought. Apologies to Aaron from Axels, Loops and Spins for the blantant rip-off of his "flash" posts!

Mens Results

1. Brian JOUBERT FRA 85.35

Overscored? I'm the only one who seems to think he wasn't! Joubert got a new, less revealing outfit and managed to nail his quad combination. However, his lutz had a turnout and his choreography is not as sophisticated as most of the men who skated before him. I thought, however, it was worthy of first place (though as a very vocal Joubert fan I would say that!) It was dynamic, exciting and a total crowd pleaser.

2. Jeremy ABBOTT USA 83.00

This had to be my favourite program of the event though. Great music, great choreo, great jumps, great new haircut! I reckon Jeremy could win if his LP is as solid as his SP was, especially as Joubert isn't known for having consistant long programs. I'm sure Jeremy has won over A LOT of new fans with that performance; he completely owned the ice.

3. Johnny WEIR USA 78.35

I've heard mixed opinions of Weir's new programs but I really liked it; the music started classic and morphed in guitars. Jumps looked pretty solid, though I felt his spins were a little slow. It was a really excellent performance though, especially after the disappointment of CoR.

4. Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 78.18

Oh, Daisuke. Just when I thought your comeback was going alright, that step sequence just came and tripped you up. Hope the long goes a bit better. Good scores, considering.

5. Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 74.05

Another guitar solo piece of music, courtesy of Jimi Hendrix. The music might have been rocking, but I'm afraid the program wasn't. A fall on the triple axel pulled him down, though he did have the highest PCS scores of the event.

6. Michal BREZINA CZE 70.80

I've been a fan of Brezina for a while; whilst technically his program was pretty good, it lacked the spark found necessary for the swing music he was skating to. I think this'll come, though - along with Rippon I think Brezina is a future champion.

7. Artem BORODULIN RUS 69.49

The feed I was watching went down during Borodulin!

8. Adam RIPPON USA 67.15

I thought it was a really nice performance, minus the fall on the triple axel. His face when he received the scores was absolutely heartbreaking; he turned to Orser and said "Why are they so low?" Orser speculated that the lutz was downgraded, but we'll have to see. Honestly? I think he was undermarked, but again, this is coming from a largely Rippon biased viewpoint. I mean, who couldn't be impressed by that "Rippon Lutz"?

9. Daisuke MURAKAMI JPN 66.78

The only Japanese man to skate clean! Nice, but not especially memorable. The "West Side Story" music was fun.

10. Vaughn CHIPEUR CAN 66.55

Love, love, love his "Cliffs of Dover" music"! So fast and enjoyable.

11. Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE 64.64

Berntsson is fantastic because he always has so much fun with his programs! He might not have nailed the jumps but it was great for the audience.

12. Jeremy TEN CAN 61.69

I know I watched this, but I can't remember anything about it, so I'm afraid it's going to have to go down as a "not very memorable performance." Sorry Jeremy!

The ladies, pairs and compulsory dance have also taken place; see the results here. Pairs was exciting, with Kavaguti and Smirnov giving a great performance. Ladies was, according to those who saw it, underwhelming as a whole, unfortunately. And the compulsory dance was not broadcast, but Davis and White are in first, with John and Sinead Kerr in second.

Program of the Day

Program of the Day is a spoiler for the Mens event at Junior Worlds, so look away now if you don't want to know.

It's Adam Rippon! Congratulations; he had a stunning free skate and won by a huge lead of around 18 points over the Czech Republic's Michal Brezina, who also skated great. Props to Adam for defending his title so well.