Delobel to become a mother

That's right, Isabelle Delobel is pregnant! She's due to give birth in September...and her and Olivier still plan to go to the Olympics in February.

"At first we were stunned," said Schoenfelder who is married and the father of an almost 3 year old son. "Of course I congratulated Isabelle and then we wondered how we could go on towards the Olympics."

"It is a matter of organization," Delobel added. "Obviously, as time goes by, it will be more and more difficult to train. But with the help of everyone, we will manage it."

They've already made preparations for next season:

They have already crafted next season’s original dance off the ice with choreographer Michel Durand and will adjust it on the ice in the coming weeks.

"In early June, we will work on the new free," Boucher-Zazoui (their coach) revealed. "Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon (2006 World silver medalists) will help us craft the program in Lyon. When Isabelle will be unable to perform the lifts for example, Marie-France will substitute."

Can Delobel be ready in time for the Olympic Games next February? She will miss the French Masters (scheduled for mid-September in Orléans) and the first ISU Grand Prix legs, including Trophée Eric Bompard in Paris (which will open the Grand Prix season in mid-October).

"During the ISU Grand Prix management group meeting in Vancouver at the end of May, we will ask for them (Delobel-Schoenfelder) to skate as late as possible for their assignments," Didier Gailhaguet, the president of the French federation, conceded. "If they are not fit enough, the following event on their agenda could be the French Nationals (mid-December in Marseille) and the Europeans in Tallin (Estonia) mid-January 2010."

Honestly? Medalling in Vancouver, or even getting to Vancouver, seems like a very long shot now. But congratulations to Isabelle! The entire article is also avaliable here.

Looking to next season already...

It might seem awfully soon, but the truth is that this season is over and every skater needs to start thinking about the next one. Through the fantastic medium that is the internet, I spoke to Natalie Pechalat whilst she was at the World Team Trophy. She and Bourzat have already decided what they are doing for their free dance next season; she says it's very different and she hopes that audiences will like it. I also mentioned the Grand Prix season next year, specifically Trophee Eric Bompard, and she said that she hopes to be going to Paris next year, as it's been a long time since they competed there. In light of this conversation, today's Program of the Day is Pechalat and Bourzat's FD from this season; an innovative, fun number which boasts elements reminiscent of Torvill and Dean's Barnum number.

In other news, the Cumberland News recently wrote an article on David King, who skates with Stacey Kemp in pairs for Great Britain. It highlighted a lot of facts which may have not previously been known by their fans;

David said: “I was never the best in my club, I just carried on putting quite a lot of hard work in and now I’m reaping the rewards.

“I think not being a stand-out star pushed me.”

But David needed more than perseverance to succeed, he needed sponsorship which proved impossible to find. Luckily, his own determination was matched by financial dedication from mum Angela and dad Michael.

“I couldn’t have done any of this without them. There’s no funding in the sport, I’m completely funded by my parents,” he said. “They’ve supported me every step.

“They’ve had to put their life on hold for years.”

The rest of the article can be found here.

Apologies and Updates

Apologies for the lack of recent updates; however much I try to ignore it, sometimes I am forced to give school priority over skating. In a few short weeks it'll all be over and I'll be back to giving you daily postings, even if there isn't any news because it's the off season. Speaking of which, the last competition of the season, the World Team Trophy, is about half way through, with both the mens and ice dance medals being decided.

In the mens division, the Worlds pretty much played out again as Brian Joubert took the lead over Evan Lysacek in the short, but Evan narrowly beat his in the long program. Patrick Chan didn't perform quite up to par, falling on the triple axel, yet still got very large scores. The final results looked as such:

1 Evan LYSACEK USA 238.56 2 1
2 Brian JOUBERT FRA 237.09 1 3
3 Nobunari ODA JPN 229.25 3 4
4 Patrick CHAN CAN 217.98 9 2
5 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 205.05 5 5
6 Vaughn CHIPEUR CAN 198.91 6 6
7 Sergei VORONOV RUS 196.70 4 8
8 Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 190.93 10 7
9 Jialiang WU CHN 183.86 8 10
10 Florent AMODIO FRA 182.32 7 11
11 Chao YANG CHN 177.94 11 9
12 Konstantin MENSHOV RUS 165.21 12 12

Here's hoping Kozuka and Abbott can pull it all together for next season; often it's all too easy to buckle under pressure, and if said pressure is taken off Jeremy next season then I'm sure he will perform a lot better than he has done in recent events.

In other events...in the ice dance, Belbin and Agosto win, with Virtue and Moir in second and a suprised Pechalat/Bourzat leagfrogging over a lacklustre Khokhlova/Novitski. Ever since their fantastic win at Worlds, they haven't quite managed to top that performance, which is a real shame as they have such talent and originality.

After the ladies SP, Mao Asada is in first with 13 points over Joannie Rochette, who double-footed a lutz in her usually stellar short program. Miki Ando is in third with exactly the same score as Rochette (62.08) with the two US ladies, Caroline Zhang and Rachael Flatt, in fourth and fifth respectively.
In pairs, Zhang/Zhang take first, with Kavaguti/Smirnov in second and the US newcomers Denney and Barrett in third. Dube and Davidson, the Canadians, are in fourth.

As for team standings currently:

1. United States of America
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. France
5. Russia
6. China

The pairs and ladies long programs are happening tomorrow; be sure to check in for the results. Alternatively, my Twitter account is updated far more regularly than the site, for obvious reasons, and can be subscribed to here.

In more celebrity-ish news, Nancy Kerrigan is going to be on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, whilst Johnny Weir's reality TV show, Be Good Johnny Weir, has been picked up by the Sundance Channel. If any skater would be entertaining enough to warrant a reality show, it's Johnny Weir, so I'm hopeful it'll make it's way to Youtube so the rest of the world can see Johnny in all his diva-ish glory. This'll obviously take a lot of the financial pressure that he must have on him, which cannot be a bad thing either.

Program of the Day

Today's program is the SP of a skater who isn't yet topping podiums, but definitely shows huge potential to be doing so in the future. Ana Cecilia Cantu is from Mexico, and has fantastic flexibility, great originality; check out her forward sit spin position! Her jumps aren't bad at all, and if she improves her speed across the ice she'll start moving up. The music is from the movie Beetlejuice, and her choreographer is David Wilson. Enjoy!

Maths to make your head hurt

Over at Ice Network, Sarah and Drew were looking at Yu-na Kim's fantasticly huge scores:

We were pondering Yu-Na Kim's exceptionally high, world record-breaking total score and wondering how she would have stacked up against the men. Since the men's components are multiplied by 2 in the free skate, and the ladies only by 1.6, and since men are allowed eight jumping passes instead of seven, we had to bust out the calculators!

If you multiply Yu-Na's components by 2 instead of 1.6, they would be 85.50, so her total score for the free skate, exactly as she performed it in L.A., would have been 148.69, and her overall score would have been 224.81. This would have earned her fifth place in the men's free skate, sixth overall. But since she would have been able to do an additional jumping pass, we'll give her a conservative 3.85 (the value for a double Axel in the second half). This is a guessing game, of course; who knows whether she could add another jump and land it. We think she could.

If she did, even with 0 GOE, she would have had 228.66 in total and finished fifth in the men's competition. Yet another very impressive statistic from Yu-Na.

That's how amazing Kim is. Watch her SP and LP below and judge for yourself.

Program of the Day

Program of the Day is my favorite performance from the whole of the World Championships. It moved me to tears, and that doesn't happen a huge amount with skating programs. It's Meryl Davis and Charlie White's free skate to "Sampson and Delilah"; absolutely, just perfect. It's an absolute travesty that they didn't make the podium!



Props to those performances that almost won; Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy - short and long programs, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's FS, Evan Lysacek's LP, Brian Joubert's SP and both Joannie Rochette's performances. There are so many more...what are your favourites?

Another Day, Another Bit of Joubert News

That was quick; after being dropped by Jean-Christophe Simond, Brian Joubert has found a temporary solution to being coachless.

"For next season, before the Olympics in Vancouver, I'm staying in Poitiers. I want Laurent Depouilly to remain at my side and Tatiana Tarasova to be my choreographer."

And there you have it. Depouilly is going to be temporary coach for Brian for the next two weeks, through the ISU World Team Trophy, which is April 16-19.

Depouilly coached Joubert in 2004 and 2005, during which time the Frenchman won his first European gold medal. In 2005, however, the duo split. Joubert thought Depouilly was not professional enough, and Depouilly argued that Joubert was not practicing hard enough.

Is it a good idea to go back to an old coach after that trust has been lost? It's been a long time, so obviously it must just all be forgotten, but there has to be better options for BriJou.

After this first two-week period, the French Federation has plans to ask several skating experts to coach Joubert in all aspects of his skating -- spins, steps, choreography and artistic impression. Their names remain unknown, though.

I guess we'll have to see how Joubert fares at the Team Trophy and wait in anticipation of these elusive coaches' names. One thing's for sure; they're going to have to be spectacular if they're going to get him back on course for Vancouver.

Despite these decisions having been made, Joubert and Simond are still snarking at each other. In this article, Joubert says that Simond was only around at his rink for 125 years, and Simond obviously thinks Brian is lying, and speaks out pretty strongly about it:

"To say that it had become unbearable and that I was only around for four months of the year is a gross lie," he said.

"You must think before saying such things. I really feel betrayed. I don't understand why you'd look to destroy someone rather than just saying that you want to change coach.

"It's really a rotten thing but I don't want to argue. He's probably been badly advised."

Enough already!

The full IceNetwork article quoted earlier can be read here.

Worlds Post Part Two + Some Brian News

Before I get started with the Mens Awards from the Worlds, I just have to mention that Jean-Christophe Simond has dropped Brian Joubert, and so Brian is looking for a new coach. Unfortunately, the relationship did not end on good terms; Brian said that Simond did not believe him when Brian had boot and blade problems earlier this season, and in response Simond said all sorts of horrible things...it's really quite messy. IceNetwork have posted a very long article about it and the possible options Brian will have for a future coach, which can be read here. It's really not a great time to change coach, especially with the Olympic season on the way, but there was definitely problems between Simond and Joubert so he had to leave. Brian has said that he does not want to leave Poitiers, calling it "treason", and this is obviously a big mistake. He needs a really great coach if he's going to get that elusive OGM, and no coach is going to move to Poitiers. Who do you think will be his new coach? Tarasova seems to be the most likely option and I think that'd be great; personally I think Orser would be fanatastic but unlikely, especially after Brian's relationship with Kurt Browning.

Anyway, on with the Mens Awards!

Best LP: It's got to be Evan Lysacek, hands down. To win the mens' world championship in his hometime after a dodgy Nationals must have been fantastic for him, and was definitely amazing for all those watching. The emotion on his face in the last minute, and the crowd rising to their feet during his last spin...what a memorable moment. Curse or no curse, he's going to be quite a force to be reckoned with in Vancover. And with the might of Coca-Cola behind him as his new sponsers, he's going to be pretty much unstopable.

Most Heartbreaking Moment: Brian Joubert's LP. The disappointment on his face after his hideous fall on a double axel, of all things, was just supremely depressing.

"One to Watch" for the Future: Denis Ten. Wow, wow and more wow.

Best Comeback: Nobunari Oda - after missing the last season, he came back with a great SP, despite his dive into the boards, and the emotion he showed after the LP reflected the great performance he gave.

Biggest Diva: Until this season, Patrick Chan had been the perfect gentleman. However, his comments to Brian Joubert regarding the quad, which included him branding Joubert "a sore loser", were unnecessary, and just made him look slightly childish in the face of Joubert's mature responses.

Biggest Meltdown: Okay, so it wasn't a fully-fledged meltdown. But everyone expected huge things from Jeremy Abbott, so it's still sad that he didn't perform to the best of his ability. Abbott is so talented, with a bit more experience he'll definitely be on the podium in the future.

Skater who was overlooked: Takahiko Kozuka. He's absolutely adorable, and so fantastic, but really, IMO, deserves better marks. Hopefully the judges will wake up soon!

Worlds Post Part One

Well, the skating season is basically over!. And what a season we've had. As you may have guessed from the title, this blog is dedicated to the Worlds. There's been so much drama this week that only a really long post can cover it all, so I've split it into each discipline.

I'm going to do "awards" for each discipline, starting with the Ladies

Most Unexpected Meltdown: This is the most obvious award - poor Carolina Kostner. After her fall at the Europeans, where she lost her title, everyone assumed that she would come back on fighting form and be in with a chance of a medal position. Having to skate straight after Kim's fanatastic performance can't have been easy, and she obviously was seriously lacking in confidence as she started to skate. Overall, her LP was absolutely heartbreaking; one landed jump, one fall, one hand down and the rest of her jumps were popped. Huth looked very dismissive of her as she sat in the Kiss and Cry and a 12th place finish was definitely not what she was looking for.

Most generously marked: Yu-Na Kim. Both her and Brian Orser's shock at both sets of he marks were adorable to watch but they were the only ones who it suprised. She was absolutely amazing, however, so perhaps only a slight overscoring. Also, Rachael Flatt's short program put her ahead of some much more deserving skaters; a bit of home bias, shall we say?

Best SP: For me, Joannie Rochette. Her short program is just so fantastic and she really deserved her silver medal.

Best FS: It's got to be Yu-Na Kim, there's no real way around it. Her performance was just magical, even with the screwed salchow.

Best Costumes: Joannie Rochette. Both her SP and LP dresses are classically beautiful yet simple enough that they don't detract from her performance.

Skater that "wuzrobbed": Mao Asada; yes, she had a fall, but to land one triple axel and attempt another and STILL not get on the World podium is pretty much a travesty.
Best Kiss and Cry Moment: It's a three-way tie of the emotion that Sarah Meier, Elene Gedevanishvili and Alena Leonova showed after their free skates.

Best Comeback: Elene Gedevanishvili! Who would have expected her to skate as cleanly as she did after her track record? She's a huge talent and so it's definitely onwards and upwards for her. An hourable mention goes to Miki Ando; after last year's mid-competition withdrawal, no-one expected her to get on the podium.

Best "Fighter": Candice Didier. She had a hideous fall and slammed into the barrier partway through her LP; she was almost carried off by the medics. Despite obviously being in seriously severe pain, she finished her program. What a star.

Mens' awards are coming next. If you disagree with what I said (and I'm sure some of you will!) then leave a comment.

Steadily improving Rochette a dark horse

Joannie Rochette was my prediction for a possible gold medal this week at Worlds and, apparently, someone over at The Globe and Mail feels the same.

It's been 21 years since a Canadian woman won a medal at the world figure skating championships.

Is it Joannie Rochette's time now? She is a dark horse for the women's title at this year's championships, which start tomorrow in Los Angeles at the Staples Center.

"I have yet to be on the world podium, and this is the first time in my life I've told myself I can really do this," Rochette says. "I feel like I belong out there this year."

The idea of Rochette standing atop the podium is definitely not fantasy, as her results so far this season have been fantastic.

At Skate Canada in Ottawa, Rochette defeated former world silver medalist Fumie Suguri of Japan by 25 points, rendering speechless Elizabeth Manley, the last Canadian woman to win a world medal (silver), in 1988.

Rochette went on to defeat reigning world champion Mao Asada of Japan by 13 points at the Trophée Eric Bompard in France in November. Asada wasn't perfect at that event, but neither was Rochette.

At the Four Continents championship in Vancouver in February, Rochette defeated Asada again in the short program. In the long program, Rochette defeated world bronze medalist Kim Yu-Na of South Korea, who is coached by Brian Orser in Toronto and reigns over the women's ranks this year.

When Rochette won the silver medal at Four Continents, behind Kim and ahead of Asada, she established herself as a major threat at the world championships. She's finished ahead of everybody who matters at various points of the season.

The article also touches on other possible contenders in the ladies division, highlighting the apparent weakness of the European contenders.

The Europeans did not participate in the Four Continents, but the women's event at the European championships was lacklustre. Laura Lepisto of Finland won the event with simple jump combinations over favourite Caroline Kostner of Italy, the world silver medalist from last year.

Kostner bombed in the short program and won the long program without getting credit for a spin. But Kostner's strong point is her speed, and she builds momentum over the season, usually peaking at a world championship. Judges seem to adore her.

Judges do see to award disproportionately high scores to Kostner, and I for one am not a fan of her skating.

The article also talks about Kim, the American representatives who'll be in LA and the contenders in the ice dance division. It can be found here.

Program of the Day is Rochette's LP from 4CC. If she can perform it as well as this at Worlds, Asada and maybe even Kim might want to watch out. It's suprememly graceful yet still retains the necessary power to do some fanatastic triples.



FYI, I will be posting about the World Championships, naturally, starting from tomorrow, but those posts will be brief as most of my free time will be taken up by watching it! In the next fortnight or so, however, there will be more detailed postings on all of the competition. I will also most likely be posting spoilers, so be prepared.

Predictions for Worlds - Ladies

Ladies is possibly the most mundane prediction to do, unfortunately. It's pretty much a guarantee that it'll be a Yu-Na/Mao showdown in LA, and I'm leaning towards it being Yu-na's year. Her performances have been getting huge scores all season (she set a new world record of 72.24 points in the short program at 4CC) and she's definitely proved she has the assured consistency for a win. However, Mao is almost as like to defend her title, so it'll definitely be a two-woman race for the gold. Joannie Rochette also could get gold; she did beat Mao Asada at Trophee Eric Bompard this season, and came 2nd at 4CC. The European contenders are Carolina Kostner, who'll be hoping to bounce back from her second place finish at Europeans, and Laura Lepisto, who should be flying high on her surprise win there; there's always a chance she could buckle under the pressure, however. Miki Ando and Fumie Suguri will also be competing for a long shot at the podium, though frankly it's unlikely it'll get anywhere.

Program of the Day is Mao Asada's winning FS from last year's World Championships. Her comeback after she face-plants on that triple axel is quite astounding, a definite winners performance. Could she repeat it this year? You can watch it here. I always aim to find a video that I can embed but there is not a single one of her FS which does not have "embedding disabled by request"!

Versus

Is anyone else gutted that there won't be a "Battle of the Great Gig(s) in the Sky" at Worlds? Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder has officially announced their withdrawal due to Isabelle's shoulder injury, which means that we won't be able to see how their FS shapes up against Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's. I've posted them both below so that you can compare which one you prefer. Personally? Much as I absolutely adore Tessa and Scott, I've got to go with Delobel/Schoenfelder on this one. I am, however, slightly biased as I did see D/S perform this live at Trophee Eric Bompard in November. I must prefer their cut of the music, their costumes and their cheoreography, though I have so much respect for Tessa and Scott for creating a routine which is so beautiful yet incredibly difficult technically.

The below performances should be a good comparison; D/S's performance isn't the best as Isabelle had a stomach bug, and V/M have little experience in performing this FS as Tessa's injury forced them to skip the whole Grand Prix season. Hopefully these two factors will cancel each other out.

Mens Worlds Predictions

That's right; it's Worlds predictions time! With the World Championships starting in less than a week, hopefully all the last-minute withdrawals are out of the way and we can get down to deciding who'll top the podium. They're coming at you in installments, starting today with the mens competition.

To get an indication of where each skater stand to place, first it's good to look at the ISU World Rankings, which can be found here. From these rankings, the top three skaters in the world are Tomas Verner, Kevin Van Der Perren and Brian Joubert. I think one of those skaters will almost definitely be on the podium - Joubert. He's has had quite a hit-and miss season, coming fourth at Trophee Eric Bompard but getting a triumphant gold at Cup of Russia. Despite being beaten in the free skate by fellow Frenchman Yannick Posero, he won back his European title from Verner and so looks in good shape to also gain his World title again. Rumours have be heard on the internet that Joubert is injured; however, nothing has been heard officially so he's definitely a contender. However, Joubert unfortunately lacks the necessary consistency to pull off an assured win in LA.

Of course, it is impossible to mention the mens division without mentioning Patrick Chan, who has been getting absolutely massive PCS all season and took home gold at the Four Continents Championship, so he's also a definite medal contender.

My third choice to get a medal is Jeremy Abbott, the US champion who won gold at the Grand Prix Final this season. He's such a huge talent that if he skates well, he's got a very good chance of doing well, again if he can keep it consistent and pull himself together if the program doesn't initially go his way.

After those top three, the other contenders could be Evan Lysacek,who'll probably come back with a vengance after his disappointing Nationals outing, Nobunari Oda, who's come first in four competitions this season so far and probably would have won more had he been eligible and Takahiko Kozuka, who won Skate America and was third at 4CC.

Think the podium's going to shape up completely differently? Leave a comment! Ladies prediction coming in the next couple of days.

Program of the Day is last year's gold medal winning performances from last year from
Jeffrey Buttle, who proved that no quad doesn't necessarily equal no win.

Colorado-trained athletes on edge of world success

The Denver Post just published an article about some of the biggest threats to veteran skaters; Jeremy Abbott, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker,Brandon Mroz and Rachael Flatt, who all train at the World Arena in Colorado. It must be a real fight for space on the ice with all five of them skating around, but imagine how amazing and motivating it must be for the other skaters!

"The atmosphere at the rink, I don't know if there's something in the water or what," Flatt said. "It's just great motivation for all of us to watch each other, push each other and do good programs."

As well as sharing ice space, many of them share a coach.

The coach who hit the mother lode is one Tom Zakrajsek, who coaches Abbott, Mroz and Flatt.

"In one respect it's not a surprise to have three skaters on the world team because they all work very hard," Zakrajsek said. "And we kind of plan for success, as crazy as that sounds."

The article also talks about McLaughlin and Brubaker specifically:

McLaughlin and Brubaker defended their national championship and won the 2007 world junior title. The difference this year is that McLaughlin, at 16, is finally old enough to attend senior worlds.

"And I'm getting my license next month!" said the Tarzana, Calif., native.

Brubaker is 22, and they've been together only three years, about half the time most teams take to reach the world championship level. They will be the youngest pairs team in L.A. yet have raised their components to fit the competition.

"It's been challenging," Brubaker said. "We've been learning so much, too. We're still considered the young kids."

The rest of the article can be read here.
Program of the Day is M/B's SP from Cup of China last season. They have some beautiful lifts and are showing definite improvement on their throw jumps; however, there is obvious development needed for their side-by-side jumps.

Evan Lysacek gets confidence boost in Toronto

After his disappointing performance in the US Nationals where he finished in third, Evan Lysacek has just one more chance to perform his program as well as he can. And where better than in his home town, LA? An article about Evan has just been published on the LA Times site about his

Lysacek, twice a world bronze medalist and twice a U.S. champion -- but a dispirited third at this year's national competition -- believes she [Lori Nichol] worked her magic again during their sessions.

"She said a big thing this season is freedom," he said Thursday after a practice session at the Toyota Center. "There are so many intricacies in the program now that there's really few people who go out like 'I'm free as a bird and so glad to be out here.' Because you're constantly thinking and nitpicking at each and every element as you're going through the routine.

"But she said that's really important, so that's what we worked on, pushing out everything and gaining speed whenever I can."

Their labor seems to have paid off.

His coach, Frank Carroll, said Lysacek's ice coverage is much better. So are his speed and footwork. Those upgrades could lift Lysacek's program component scores, the marks generally referred to as the artistic scores.

Hopefully this is the boost that Evan needs to get him back on the Worlds podium; he's such a great skater than it seems disappointing that he's currently not performing his best.Nichol, along with David Wilson, is one of the most talented and well-known choreographers out there and Evan has the technical ability, so hopefully this will pull up his PCS and get him the placement he deserves.

The rest of the article is available here.

Program of the Day is Evan's FS for this season, a Gershwin medley from the US Nationals. The music isn't the strongest piece he's ever picked, but the newer costume is definitely better than the sparkly penguin he wore at the beginning of the season. If Evan can nail that quad, and if he has really improved his PCS as the article claims, he'll have a good shot in LA.