NEWSFLASH: ARMIN IS AMAZEBALLS & RYBRAD IS DETERMINED
Mahbanoozadeh proves he's latest U.S. sensation
It means “born from a lady as beautiful as the moon” in Persian. It is pronounced almost exactly as it is spelled: Mah-ba-noo-za-day. And figure skating fans better get used to saying it.
Armin (pronounced: Ar-meen) Mahbanoozadeh proved he is an international contender after earning bronze at Skate America this November, in only his second season as a senior.
Mahbanoozadeh set new personal best ISU scores at Skate America, with 67.61 points for his short program, 143.56 for his free skate and a combined total of 211.17. The Grand Prix event also marked the first time the 19-year-old received a standing ovation.
“When I finished I was more surprised than anything else that the audience was standing,” Mahbanoozadeh said. “I was very surprised and I was very thankful for the audience being so supportive through the program.”
Priscilla Hill, who has been coaching Mahbanoozadeh since the end of last season, said the goal was for him to skate two clean programs and focus on his skills rather than placement. Naturally, the results followed.
Last year, Mahbanoozadeh finished ninth and 11th at his Grand Prix assignments and eighth at the 2010 U.S. Championships. But as a junior, he had won two Junior Grand Prix events and finished second at the 2008 Junior Grand Prix Final. So why did he have such a poor senior debut?
“I was overcoming injuries almost all year,” Mahbanoozadeh said. “I was changing coaches and moving from home… Nothing was stable for me last year.
“This year everything’s more stable. I have a routine and I’m able to really make the most of my time on the ice and I think the training helped when it came time for the competition.”
Much of his improvement this season can be attributed to being coached by Hill. Before she
started working with him last year, she had been watching him for years because her other students competed against him nationally and internationally.
Hill had always admired Mahbanoozadeh’s skating from afar - she could tell he had the complete package.
“He’s very smart and he has a great natural ability in coverage of the ice,” Hill said. “He’s good at jumping, spinning and skating, which is a huge thing in our sport to be able to do all of it well and I think that he brings me back a little bit to when I worked with Johnny [Weir] and he was very good at many things in the sport, which is an advantage.”
In preparation for this season, Hill had Mahbanoozadeh focus on taking charge of his own skating and deciding what direction he wanted to go with it. She helped him mature on and off the ice - something that has shown in his performances this season.
His growth on the ice included the decision to cut his own music for both programs. His choice: short program to “Mario Takes a Walk Prelude” by Jesse Cook and free skate to music from the Avatar movie soundtrack, composed by James Horner.
“I wanted to have something a little more exotic this year, so that was the first idea that came into mind, because I felt like I’d been skating to a lot of classical music recently,” Mahbanoozadeh said. “After I saw Avatar, I was like, ‘The music is pretty cool, it’s new, everyone would know what it was,’ so I thought that would be a good choice.
“I’m really into the music selection process and I feel like when I cut my music I’m able to connect to it more.”
Mahbanoozadeh will now take both programs, as well as his Avatar-inspired costume, to his next competition: 2011 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, N.C., Jan. 22-30, with the goal of making the World Championship team.
Hill and Mahbanoozadeh are working on strengthening the end of the free skate program, upgrading the spins in both programs, adding a quadruple toe to the free skate and securing two clean, solid programs once again.
Medaling in Greensboro will be tough for Mahbanoozadeh, since he is one of four American men who medaled on the Grand Prix circuit this season. The others are Jeremy Abbott (silver at NHK Trophy, bronze at Cup of Russia), Brandon Mroz (silver at Cup of China, bronze at Trophée Eric Bompard) and Adam Rippon (bronze at Skate Canada).
“There’s a lot of good guys right now,” Hill said. “I think he’s definitely one of the top ones in our country, but there’s probably about six or so that are all within a certain range. It comes down to who does their job for short and for long. Two solid programs are going to be a big advantage at Nationals.”
Mahbanoozadeh believes it is definitely possible for him to top his Skate America scores at nationals and earn a spot at the Worlds.
“It’s gonna be tough but I think I have good programs this year, I believe in my programs this year and I think the judges like my programs so all I need to do is skate well and hopefully the placement will follow,” he said.
SAUCE
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Bradley back for the fans... and a win
The worst result for a figure skater is fourth. In most cases, it is more painful than finishing last - you are just off the podium, and for U.S. figure skater Ryan Bradley, off the Vancouver Olympic team.
He may not have overcome the disappointment of that missed opportunity, but after off-season surgery and a full show schedule in the fall, Bradley has decided to return to competition for Nationals later this month.
UniversalSports.com caught up with the 2007 U.S. silver medalist to see how he dealt with Olympic regrets why he is continuing on...
How did you overcome the disappointment of just missing the Olympic Team?
I don't know if I've overcome that. That was pretty devastating. I knew that there were three guys that were obviously the favorites and I wanted to do everything in my power to make it so that if I skated well I would be on the team. I dropped the ball in the short program on two jumps that I'm really confident with. I wanted to be on that Olympic Team and to know that at my age sticking around for another four years isn't very likely - it was a hard few months.
How can you explain what it's like to have a whole lifetime of training depend on a few minutes?
Everything that we get to perform and that were judged upon is kind of like that three-pointer at the buzzer -
there's not a lot of forgiveness in what we do. Last year was brutal for me. I was on the ice six, seven hours a day, in the gym two hours a day, in dance classes to help with skating, my days were wake-up, skate, train, go back to bed. I completely gave up everything just to have a shot. There's certainly a lot of pressure and you have to be on your game in that moment and unfortunately I was only on my game in one event.
Did you watch any of the Vancouver Games on TV?
I did watch it a little bit. I didn't intend to, but I was with some friends who wanted to. It was hard to watch for sure.
Has anyone in particular helped you move on?
I think it's a personal thing. You have to let other people help you and use their guidance, but in this situation, time passes, you move on, make other goals, and keep your mind occupied, but it's not easy.
You are a fan favorite and had full show schedule this fall. Has that helped?
I love performing period. I like seeing people smiling, laughing, seeing people standing up at the end of a performance.
It's that feeling that convinced Bradley to return to competition for the U.S. Championships.
At first, it was about skating for himself and the fans, but Bradley admits his goals started to change once he had the quad back under his belt.
"When I started this whole thing I just wanted to skate well and hear the crowd roar, but then I started training and now I want to win," he said. "I know Adam [Rippon], Jeremy [Abbott], and Brandon [Mroz] are all skating well, but I am competitive with those guys. When you have two quads in a program it puts you in the mix."
The 27-year-old took advantage of his time touring by gathering advice from some of the sports great champions, including long-time mentor Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Michael Weiss, and Todd Eldredge.
The biggest lesson from the champs - confidence, something he is working on each day in preparation for Nationals, where sister, Becky, will stand with him at the boards.
Bradley has been coached by Tom Zakrajsek for 22 years, but between his show schedule and Zakrajsek's busy Grand Prix season, it was difficult to schedule time. Bradley says he thinks his sister will be nervous, but they have spent the past several weeks going over competition strategy.
With his sister by his side this time, Bradley looks forward to returning to competition ice, where win or lose, he is sure to be a fan favorite once again.
SAUCE
The delightful bananrama informed me of the existence of these articles, thank you bb!