Figure skating world championships are wide-open
U.S. figure skaters had their time clocks broken, not to mention their hearts, when the tsunami hit Japan last month, then forced the World Championships from Tokyo to Moscow.
Now imagine the poleax effect on the Japanese skaters, those who are major medal favorites. That makes this week's competition wide open, and a couple of Colorado Springs skaters feel they have shots at their first worlds podium.
"Our bodies are all a little bit more tired," said Rachael Flatt, who skates her short program Thursday. "This season's longer than expected. It's anyone's game at this point."
Flatt and Ryan Bradley are going to their third worlds, and the pairs team of Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin is going to its first. Of all the Springs skaters, Flatt has come closest to medaling.
Her back is much better than it was at the Olympics, when she finished seventh, then followed with a ninth at worlds.
"I have a lot more experience," said Flatt, a 2010 Cheyenne Mountain High School graduate. "Those competitions were incredibly stressful but exciting and an experience of a lifetime."
Taking a year off before enrolling at Stanford has apparently paid off. After finishing second at nationals in January, she went to Four Continents in February in Taiwan. She came away with a fourth and, more important, comments from judges saying she had the best short program in the world.
"I thank (choreographer) Lori Nichols for the amount of work she's put into this," Flatt said. "It's a special moment when you've finished a program and look at how great it is."
She'll go up against the usual suspects, such as South Korea's Yu-Na Kim, the defending Olympic champion; Japan's Mao Asada, the defending world champion; and Japan's Miki Ando, the 2007 world champion.
In the men's competition, Bradley finished 15th and 18th in his first two worlds, but this time he won't be in awe, won't be injured and won't be wondering whether he belongs.
He enters with his first national title, and his coach, Tom Zakrajsek, said he has never trained better. Bradley arguably has the best crowd connection in skating, and his grinning theatrics could be a hit with the rabid Russian crowd.
"I'm just so much more confident than I've ever been," said Bradley, who skates his short program Wednesday and then will appear with Showtime on Ice from May 6-8 at the South Suburban Ice Arena in Littleton. "I've kept a real good balance between being trained and being happy and enjoying my life instead of rejecting the fact that I give everything up to skate."
Also aiding his cause: Olympic gold and silver medalists Evan Lysacek and Evan Plushenko, not to mention American veteran Johnny Weir, are taking the year off.
"I feel if I go out and perform my programs the best that I can," Bradley said, "I feel I have a legitimate shot at being on that podium."
This is not only Yankowskas' and Coughlin's first trip to worlds, it's their first trip to Europe for a seniors competition. A U.S. team has not medaled at worlds since Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman took third in 2002, and Yankowskas-Coughlin are just hoping for good scores.
The delay won't help their inexperience.
"It definitely wasn't the way we pictured going to our first World Championships," said Coughlin, who competes Wednesday. "We are, even more than some other figure skaters, creatures of habit because (coach) Delilah (Sappenfield) is very schedule- oriented."
Elsewhere, Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of Canton, Mich., are favored to give the U.S. its first world or Olympic gold medal in ice dance.
Source
Now imagine the poleax effect on the Japanese skaters, those who are major medal favorites. That makes this week's competition wide open, and a couple of Colorado Springs skaters feel they have shots at their first worlds podium.
"Our bodies are all a little bit more tired," said Rachael Flatt, who skates her short program Thursday. "This season's longer than expected. It's anyone's game at this point."
Flatt and Ryan Bradley are going to their third worlds, and the pairs team of Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin is going to its first. Of all the Springs skaters, Flatt has come closest to medaling.
Her back is much better than it was at the Olympics, when she finished seventh, then followed with a ninth at worlds.
"I have a lot more experience," said Flatt, a 2010 Cheyenne Mountain High School graduate. "Those competitions were incredibly stressful but exciting and an experience of a lifetime."
Taking a year off before enrolling at Stanford has apparently paid off. After finishing second at nationals in January, she went to Four Continents in February in Taiwan. She came away with a fourth and, more important, comments from judges saying she had the best short program in the world.
"I thank (choreographer) Lori Nichols for the amount of work she's put into this," Flatt said. "It's a special moment when you've finished a program and look at how great it is."
She'll go up against the usual suspects, such as South Korea's Yu-Na Kim, the defending Olympic champion; Japan's Mao Asada, the defending world champion; and Japan's Miki Ando, the 2007 world champion.
In the men's competition, Bradley finished 15th and 18th in his first two worlds, but this time he won't be in awe, won't be injured and won't be wondering whether he belongs.
He enters with his first national title, and his coach, Tom Zakrajsek, said he has never trained better. Bradley arguably has the best crowd connection in skating, and his grinning theatrics could be a hit with the rabid Russian crowd.
"I'm just so much more confident than I've ever been," said Bradley, who skates his short program Wednesday and then will appear with Showtime on Ice from May 6-8 at the South Suburban Ice Arena in Littleton. "I've kept a real good balance between being trained and being happy and enjoying my life instead of rejecting the fact that I give everything up to skate."
Also aiding his cause: Olympic gold and silver medalists Evan Lysacek and Evan Plushenko, not to mention American veteran Johnny Weir, are taking the year off.
"I feel if I go out and perform my programs the best that I can," Bradley said, "I feel I have a legitimate shot at being on that podium."
This is not only Yankowskas' and Coughlin's first trip to worlds, it's their first trip to Europe for a seniors competition. A U.S. team has not medaled at worlds since Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman took third in 2002, and Yankowskas-Coughlin are just hoping for good scores.
The delay won't help their inexperience.
"It definitely wasn't the way we pictured going to our first World Championships," said Coughlin, who competes Wednesday. "We are, even more than some other figure skaters, creatures of habit because (coach) Delilah (Sappenfield) is very schedule- oriented."
Elsewhere, Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of Canton, Mich., are favored to give the U.S. its first world or Olympic gold medal in ice dance.
Source