Final Winter Olympic Qualifications to be Decided at 2021 Nebelhorn Trophy

by Klaus-Reinhold Kany

A bit more than three quarters of the country spots for the Olympic Winter Games 2022 were decided at the World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden in March 2021. But the last spots will be decided at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, like in 2009, 2013 and 2017. This traditional early fall competition has existed for more than 50 years. It is named after a mountain near the rink.

There is a rule change since the last Olympic qualification competition in 2017. This time, a country at first only has as many spots as there were skaters in the final at Worlds. If this one skater has been in the top ten or the two best skaters together have not more than 13 placing points together (for example finishing 5th and 8th), the country has the right to send a different skater from those in the final to Nebelhorn to get one more spot. The goal of this rule change is to avoid a country to get two or even three spots although it has only one good skater in this category. Some additional skaters will compete at Nebelhorn Trophy without any Olympic qualification.

In the women‘s competition, six Olympic spots out of 34 competitors will be decided. If a country gives back its spot, it might be seven. The USA has two guaranteed women’s spots because Karen Chen and Bradie Tennell were 4th and 9th at Worlds. This is not more than 13, therefore they will send Alysa Liu to be among the top seven of those who try to qualify for the Olympics at Nebelhorn and to win a third spot for the USA. Other strong women who have a good chance to win a spot for their country are Ekaterina Kurakova for Poland, Lara Naki Gutman for Italy and Alexia Paganini for Switzerland.

In the men’s competition, there are seven spots for 25 competitors trying to qualify. The USA has only two up to now because Nathan Chen was first and Jason Brown seventh, together less than 14. Therefore the USA will send Vincent Zhou to win a third Olympic spot because he had not reached the final in Stockholm. The strongest other men are Mark Kondratiuk for Russia, Brendan Kerry for Australia, Vladimir Litvintsev for Azerbaijan, Roman Sadovsky for Canada, Adam Siao Him Fa for France and Paul Fentz for Germany.

In ice dance, only four Olympic spots are open for 16 countries because only 23 couples will compete at the Olympic Games, instead of 24 in 2018. The USA has three spots guaranteed because their three ice dance couples were 2nd, 4th and 9th at Worlds. The best couples for the Olympic spots are Tina Garabedian & Simon Proulx Senecal for Armenia, Natalie Taschlerova & Filip Taschler for the Czech Republic, Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis for Finland, Maria Kazakova & Georgy Reviya for Georgia and Yura Min & Daniel Eaton for South Korea.

For the 13 pairs, there are only three spots because 19 will compete at the Games instead of 20 in 2018. The USA have two Olympic spots guaranteed but cannot win a second spot because Knierim & Frazier were 7th and Cain-Gribble & Leduc 9th, which is 16 together, more than 13. The best pairs might be Yuchen Wang & Yihang Huang for China, Laura Barquero & Marco Zandron for Spain and Coline Keriven & Noel-Antoine Pierre for France.

Bradley Lord’s 1961 U.S. Gold-Medal Winning Performance

A template for the ages

by Liz Leamy

(7 May 2021)  In light of the fact that this past winter marks the 60-year anniversary of the 1961 U.S. World figure skating team who tragically lost their lives on the Sabena Flight 548 crash near Brussels, Belgium on route to the World Figure Skating Championships that February, it is enlightening, inspirational and gratifying to learn about the incredible depth and talent, as well as the touching personal stories of those individuals who had been on that flight.

Bradley Lord, in particular, was a driven and talented 21 year-old top American contender who represented the Skating Club of Boston at the 1961 U.S. Championships in Colorado Springs where he famously clinched his first U.S. title with a remarkable free skate that still stands in terms of its choreography, execution and overall layout.

Lord, who had been second in the figure portion of that competition, held at the original Broadmoor World Arena, triumphantly pulled up to the first place overall with his electric program, edging out his talented rival, Gregory Kelley, a 16 year-old Newton, Massachusetts native who was the 1959 U.S. junior champion who wound up claiming silver at the 1961 U.S. Championships to earn a spot on that U.S. World team.

Skating to an operatic medley of Pagliacci, La Taviata and Sleeping Beauty, with visible determination, command and strength, Lord, who came from a family of Italian descent and lived in Swampscott, a North Shore coastline town nearly 15 miles north of Boston, demonstrated astonishing technical and artistic aptitude as well as notable speed and energy throughout his entire program, performing every primary turn and step including rockers, counters, loops, Mohawks and Choctaws performed in both directions, among other notable things.

At the same time, Lord does some show stopping moves, including a back-to-front pivot with a complete change of direction, clockwise-direction split jump (he is a counter-clockwise jumper and spinner) and double loop landed on a left-back inside edge, all of which generated thunderous applause from the packed crowd at the Broadmoor arena.

For Lord, it was all about doing his best.

“After I had skated, I felt I did the best I could,” said Lord, who attended Boston University and had wanted to eventually pursue a career in commercial art. “As long as I had done [my] best, I was happy. I knew Greg [Kelley] was a strong free skater and it all depended on how I did.”

Although this program dates all the way back from 1961, and Lord’s technical content consisted of double jumps (all of which were high, fast and technically solid), his components were dazzling on all counts and could still stand in competition today.

Specifically, his connecting steps were rich and complex, his skating skills were superior and his choreography and presentation is intriguing, full of depth and clear, powerful and effective in terms of its narrative and messaging, rendering this program as a true template for much of what the International Judging System stands for today.

Lord, who had placed fourth at the 1960 U.S. Championships and sixth at that year’s World Championships, was coached by Montgomery ‘Bud’ Wilson, a Canadian Olympic bronze medalist (who was awarded the Bronze Star for heroic military efforts as an artillery officer during World War II) at the Skating Club of Boston, who also did the choreography for this program as well.

Known as a ‘great guy and friend’ among his peers at the storied Skating Club of Boston venue where he trained all the way from the group lesson level up through the National and World Championship level, Lord had faced some struggles throughout his competitive career.

For one, he was said to have worked extremely hard to pay for his skating expenses, and had taken several aside jobs to help cover costs.

Further, Lord labored extremely hard to get through the challenging eight U.S. Figure Skating school figure tests, most of which did not come easy to him (or most anyone else, for that matter).

At the same time, Lord worked dogmatically to prepare to face off against Gregory Kelley, the formidable young American international contender who was fifth at the 1960 U.S. Championships and ninth at the1960 Worlds.

Known for his terrific speed and high jumps, Kelley, like Lord, had worked with Montgomery Wilson for many years at the Skating Club of Boston, but had made a coaching change several years prior to the 1961 U.S. Championships so he could train with Eduard ‘Edi’ Scholdan, an Austrian figure skater and coach at the Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs.

Somehow, all of these challenges only seemed to motivate Lord in his pursuit of winning the 1961 U.S. title, something that was evident in his victorious free skate performance.

Ultimately, his impact among those who knew him, just as like his skating, was potent and still resonates to this day.

“Bradley was so nice. He would always come by to chat to see how we were all doing,” said Nancy Madden Leamy, a U.S. national coach based in Greenwich, Connecticut who trained with Lord at the Skating Club of Boston growing up. (She was also coached by Montgomery Wilson.) “We all worked hard at the club and then many of us would then go out to eat afterward and would sit together and just talk and laugh. It was a lot of fun and we had a good time.”

Certainly, the legacy of all the talented and fascinating members of the 1961 U.S. World team, as illustrated in the work and story of Bradley Lord, has had a great effect on so many and continues to serve as a powerful prototype and means of inspiration today for those who comprise the domestic and global skating world in terms of their skating, determination and perhaps more than anything, heart.

Last Day of the World Team Trophy; Russia Becomes World Team Trophy Champion for the First Time

by Maria-Laura Mitsuoka

World Team Trophy, Final Standings

Each team has two entries in Ladies and Men, and one entry in Pairs and Dance. Matteo Rizzo of Italy had to withdraw due to being Covid positive.

Points are awarded for each placement, 12 for first place through 1 for 12th place.

Three exciting days come to an end

Today, the third day of the World Team Trophy, the tournament came to an end, pleasing judges and the audience with a weekend of magnificent performances. The six best nations according to the ISU calendar were invited to compete for the gold medal in Osaka. It is a team event where two athletes from each nation aim for the highest score in their disciplines to bring their team to the top of the podium. Only China was not able to attend the World Team Trophy this year due to the Corona restrictions. After the first two days, Team Russia led with 91 points, followed by Team USA and Japan in third place.

Russia rules the figure skating world in 2021

Despite a large number of very talented athletes, Team Russia had not managed to take first place at the World Team Trophy in previous years. Team Captain Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and her members finally made Team Russia’s dreams come true by claiming the gold medal. Not only in the World Championship Russian athletes dominated the rink, but also on the World Team Trophy, they took the lead by a large margin. “It was a great moment for our team when we heard the Russian song. We were so happy because we had the Russian flag here and that means a lot,” Elizaveta commented on their victory.

World Champion Anna Shcherbakova, only 17 years old, continued to defend her top title pulling off a great performance. The 4F at the beginning of the program earned her small minus points, but the rest of her free skate was flawless as usual. “I felt the cheering of the audience and the team spirit so strongly, we really supported each other. After the World Championships, the season wasn’t over for me, so the tension continued, but this is the end of the season, so I’m happy and I finally can relax.”

Team leader Elizaveta Tuktamysheva took third place right after Kaori Sakamoto. She did not make any big mistakes, only small erros influenced the total score of her performance. Elizaveta has big plans for the coming season, “I’m working on my quads right now, but they are not stable and consistent yet. In the next season, however, I think I can put them into my program.”

Anastasia Mishina & Aleksandr Galliamov also led the way in the pair dance. Their free program was more than convincing, suitably performed to the chosen music. Although the Russian Federation made an effort to keep the athletes in shape through many national events, it was difficult for the pair to get ready for the World Championships and the WTT that followed. Mishina said, "There were fewer international competitions than the previous years, so it was difficult to adjust. The season's start was late, there was a lot of quarantine and a lot of difficult times, but the Russian Federation prepared many competitions and we are very thankful.

Team USA takes the silver medal

The USA remained stubbornly in second place, led today by the outstanding performance of Pair Dancers Alexa Knierim & Brandon Frazier, who earned a full eleven points for their team. However, the triple Salchow left much to be desired this time. Although Alexa did not fall, she, unfortunately, could not perform the jump synchronously with her partner and thus gave away some points. Although the pair has not been training together for too long and has only had a few opportunities to put their skills to the test, their confidence in each other's abilities is unshakable. “Before we took the ice today, Brandon brought me to the side and he was like 'You know, one year ago we were doing lifts on parking lots, just trying to learn each other further.  It’s incredible, we’re here after one year, so let just everything go! Stop trying to prove or to be perfect. Of course fight, but let‘s just do this for each other," said Alexa.

Unfortunately, it was not enough for third place in the women's free skate. Bradie Tennell did not land cleanly after her first triple-triple combination and jumped some under-rotated combinations in the second half of her program. This unfortunately gave her only fourth place behind Elizaveta. Nevertheless, she enjoyed her stay in Osaka very much! “It feels amazing to come here and to put on a program like that. I’ve been training every day for the last months, especially after Worlds with my boot breaking. I skated well, it was so much fun to skate with fans again. I’m so grateful for all of their support and I could definitely feel that through my performance.”

Team Captain Jason Brown cheered on the ladies and couples with the utmost vigour and commented at the end of the event, “I think one of the biggest takeaways from this event is how much strength we pulled from each other and how much we learned this week and just built up this great comradery. It’s only been positive! I think the louder we cheer, the more our teammates feel that they have our support on the ice and that pushes them to work harder and to fight harder also.”

Bronze for Japan

At the top of Team Japan was Kaori Sakamoto, who even outshone Elizaveta with her free skate. At the triple Lutz the edge was not clear and also the landing at the Salchow was rather unclean, but the second half went flawlessly. With 150.29 points Kaori set a new high score for the season. Now it's time to say goodbye to Matrix and move on to preparations for the Olympics, “For the Olympic season, I want to be on the offensive and be very aggressive. At the Worlds, I prioritized stability, so I only practiced the jumps in the program, and for a month I haven’t practiced the quad. During the weeks of quarantine, I practiced some quads with Yuma and he made me feel that I could do it.”

Although Rika Kihira suffered back pain two days before her arrival in Osaka, she fought her way through the event very bravely. There were inconsistencies throughout the program and she fell after her triple flip - double toe loop, but she still mustered enough strength to finish the routine and grab fifth place.

The World Team Trophy was gratifying for Pair Dancers Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara. Although Riku landed the Throw Triple Loop on rather shaky legs, their performance was still enough to overtake top Italian contenders Nicole Della Monica & Matteo Guarise in the rankings. Riku stated, “The second half my legs weren’t moving and he was supporting me and kept me going. I must make sure I put not too much burden on my partner, so I need to brush up and also work harder.” The couple was clearly surprised by the result and even cried tears of joy because getting into the top three was their goal. “Yesterday after the short program I said that I had no concerns, but when I came into the competition, fatigue hit me and it worked on my stamina, but we could perform with full power until the very end,” so Ryuichi.

Italy overtakes Team France, Canada still in the last place

Today there was movement in the lower half of the ranking list. Although Team Italy had to lament the absence of single skater Matteo Rizzo, the Ladies and Pair Dancers put up a valiant fight to overtake their French rivals, who were only three points ahead a day earlier.

Team Canada, unfortunately, was unable to catch up on the final day, even though Canadian skaters Alison Schumacher and Gabrielle Daleman held their own against the French. Nicole Della Monica & Matteo Guarise scored nine whole points for Team Italy and looked in good spirits despite the point deductions for the first 3S, that Matteo didn’t land cleanly, and the triple toe loop - double toe loop combination, which unfortunately fell out of sync. “We are happy about the outcome of our performance. It wasn’t clean, but we made all elements we intended to do and the most important point is to enjoy the competition. We felt all the people in the crowd support us. That is the point, have fun, enjoy and let people enjoy.”

Nevertheless, regardless of the results, all the teams agree that the World Team Trophy was a huge enrichment! Many athletes were able to beat their World Championship scores and earn a new record score for the season, plus all Team Captains saw it as good preparation for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Despite the Corona pandemic, all athletes felt comfortable in the "bubble" and enjoyed their stay in Osaka. Let's wish them all a good rest in the off-season and enough strength to start the Olympic Games season healthy!

Team Russia Maintains Commanding Lead in World Team Trophy after Day Two

by Maria-Laura Mitsuoka

© International Skating Union (ISU)

Jason Brown (USA), team captain for Team USA

Results After Day 2

Each team has two entries in Ladies and Men, and one entry in Pairs and Dance. Matteo Rizzo of Italy had to withdraw due to being Covid positive.

Points are awarded for each placement, 12 for first place through 1 for 12th place.

The fight goes on!

After an exciting first day with many breathtaking programs and magnificent shows, the World Team Trophy continued with the performances of the Pair Short Program, Free Dance and Men's Free Skating. Russia had secured the leader position on the first day with a total of 49 points, closely followed by Team USA, who earned a very well-deserved high score through World Champion Nathan Chen’s and Team Captain Jason Brown’s spectacular achievements. Team Japan had won third place, for France, Italy and Canada, however, the first day ended rather disappointingly.

Russia still in the lead

Team Russia was able to hold its ground against the other teams with a big score difference. Especially pairs and ice dancers lead their team very far ahead, bringing Russia's first victory in the history of the WTT within reach.

In the short program of the pair, world champion Anastasia Mishina & Aleksandr Galliamov shone with a wonderful interpretation of the piece Esmeralda.  Only the triple Salchow was not up to scratch, as it ended in a double one. Although many National competitions were held in Russia this season to keep the athletes motivated, this year was not easy for the pair. Mishina explained that "A lot of things were going on. We changed our coach and with covid, we had to stop training, but we kept on moving forward and worked hard."

For Victoria Sinitsina  & Nikita Katsalapov, the WTT ended with a very satisfying result. After struggling with illnesses and injuries, the couple had been able to claim victory at the Rostelecom Cup and World Championships, and now triumphed in the WTT. The program was flawless and the couple in top form, real role models for their discipline. Sinitsina gave the following tip for other teams on the way, “What I propose it so to put your soul into it and open your heart to it. And when you're performing the program, you have to really feel the joy of skating! Feel your body!” For the coming season, they are aiming for a victory at the Olympics.

In the men's free skate, Mikhail Kolyada made it to the top three for his team. Although the planned triple Axel and triple loop only became double jumps, his program was still convincing overall. Team captain Elizaveta Tuktamysheva could not be prouder of Team Russia’s achievements, “Today when I looked at the result after the boys, I could not be happier, because I don't think we've seen such a score after the second day in a long time. I hope everything will go tomorrow as we plan and we remain in this place. It would be great for me if Russia wins the Team Trophy for the first time with me as captain.”

Nathan Chen unstoppable

Team America continued to take second place today, shining especially with Nathan Chen's free skate. Although there were point deductions after his quad toe loop - triple toe loop combination because he landed uncleanly, he was still unbeatable and was ten whole points ahead of his biggest rival Yuzuru Hanyu. Since 2018, Nathan has been the undefeated World Champion, as well as the USA National Champion. His secret tip is not to worry too much about winning, “For me, focusing on it entirely doesn’t help me to perform better, if anything, it maybe makes me even perform worse. Now, when I compete in these competitions, I’m actually happy to win in a flow, but inevitably it’s going to end. This competition, the next or the following competition, these guys are really really good and these guys are always becoming stronger and stronger, especially coming into the Olympic season.”

For Jason Brown, unfortunately, the free skate didn't go quite as smoothly. The very first quad Salchow was underrotated, the entire program was mixed with many small mistakes, and after the triple Lutz he fell. This was unfortunately only enough for the eighth place still behind Daniel Grassl and Shoma Uno, who had performed a weaker short program the day before. Nevertheless, Jason did not lose his smile and emphasized how much he was looking forward to the last day of the event. "You know all we can do is try and our teammates, they work so hard and are so trained. And I have faith in them and I trust them and they are gonna go out and do their thing and that's all I can ask as a team captain. So, as long as they go up there and fight, I'll be cheering all the way."

In ice dance, Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker placed third with a decent performance. For the upcoming season, they plan to return to their drawing boards and brainstorm creative ideas for a new program.

Big disappointment for Shoma Uno

Japan's third-place also remained untouched, although not everyone was convinced of their own abilities. Yuzuru Hanyu made second place behind Nathan Chen, just like the day before, after not everything in his free skate went as planned. Point deductions were made for the quad Salchow, which was only performed in one rotation, plus minor mistakes continued throughout the rest of the program. Still, it meant a lot for Yuzuru to participate in the WTT and give light to his numerous and loyal fans in Japan during the Corona crisis. But he wasn’t the only one shining, and explained, “I think everybody was a light here. When I looked at the scores, I knew that everybody was going through a really tough battle, but they did their best. I felt that and it was a guiding light for me, that actually empowered me. Maybe because I‘m  a few years ahead of them and a senior to them, I knew that I had to really do well. That was really encouraging.”

Shoma Uno was very disappointed with his performance today and showed a lot of remorse. After trying to salvage the failed short program of the previous day with atriple Axel - quad toe loop combination to start the free skate, he crashed after his under-rotated quad toe loop. Bad luck followed him beyond the first jump, however, as he also crashed after his second quad toe loop and the three jump combination ended with only one flip. "There are so many talented skaters in Japan, somebody else might have done better and brought us on the top of the podium."

Pair dancers Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara had reason to celebrate because although they had never competed together at a WTT before, they placed third after their short program. Points were deducted for the under-rotated triple toe loop, which unfortunately ended in a fall, but they fought their way through the second half of the program with brave soul. Since their career together, the pair has improved from competition to competition, although the Corona pandemic made it impossible for them to travel back to Japan. Kihara commented, "We had the judges to level check before we went to the Worlds, but we never had actual competitions till the Worlds, so at the Worlds, we realized that we were not giving what we intended to score, so I think we made the right adjustments and improvements coming into the competition.”

No movement in the lower rankings

For Team Canada, Italy and France, the second day also ended in the lower half of the rankings. Italian pair dancers Nicole Della Monica & Matteo Guarise, as well as ice dancers Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri scored high points through second-place finishes, but could not compensate for the missing athlete Matteo Rizzo despite strong performances. The latter had to withdraw from the event after testing positive for COVID-19. Nevertheless, Matteo saw the participation in the WTT as a good enrichment for Team Italy, "We show to the young how to handle the competition, how to skate, to enjoy, to be friends with everybody. This is one chance every two years, and if you have the possibility to live it, you have to live it 100 per cent."

Team France's achievements were unfortunately not enough to place in the top three. In the men's free skate, Kevin Aymoz was far behind Kolyada after making several mistakes and only finished fourth. Adelina Galyavieva & Louis Tauro also had to be satisfied with fourth place. Overall they are only three points ahead of Italy at the moment, so tomorrow's ladies performance might decide the final ranking.

Team Canada is way down with 42 points. None of the disciplines worked out for the Canadians today and they all took last place. However, many stepped onto the ice in front of an audience after a very long period. In addition, team captain Nam Nguyen is the only member so far who has ever participated in a WTT. Surely, despite a defeat, the team will have taken many good experiences from this event.

Team Russia Leads World Team Trophy after Day One

by Maria-Laura Mitsuoka

© International Skating Union (ISU)

Anna Scherbakova (RUS), winner of the Ladies Short Program

Results After Day 1

Each team has two entries in Ladies and Men, and one entry in Pairs and Dance. Matteo Rizzo of Italy had to withdraw due to being Covid positive.

Points are awarded for each placement, 12 for first place through 1 for 12th place.

Spectators return to skating

After a long Corona break with many cancellations and restrictions, this season ends with the ISU World Team Trophy in Osaka. About two weeks after the World Championships, top skaters from France, Italy, Canada, the United States, Russia and Japan were invited to join forces and bring the gold medal into their country. To ensure the safety of all athletes, as well as the organizers and the public, the number of participants was reduced and the stay was limited to moving within a so-called “bubble”. Although the arena contains 12000 seats, only 3000 spectators were admitted in total. Understandably, the tickets were already sold out within just a few minutes.

Unlike the World Championships, where athletes compete individually against each other, the World Team Trophy is about teamwork. Athletes can earn a maximum of twelve points per discipline, influencing their score by their performance and ranking. The team that achieves the highest total number of points is crowned the winner.

Team Russia on top

In the short program the Russian ladies once again showed fantastic performances and took the first two places. World Champion Anna Shcherbakova enchanted the jury with her program "O doux printemps d'autrefois" and landed almost all jumps flawlessly. Only the triple flip was a little bit wobbly at the landing, but her lightness and elegance quickly made up for this little "uncleanliness". For the upcoming free skate she wants to deliver a very clean performance, "I want to land all my jumps cleanly, and feel I did a good job. I want to do everything as well as possible, and also do well not just for me but for my team." After last season, Shcherbakova's performance has improved so much that she could easily be called a shooting star of figure skating, "This year I trained a lot, and I think I grew. I am happy you think I have improved artistically. I wanted to put a lot of emotion in my performance and focus on everything, not just one thing."

Also this time silver medalist of this year's World Championships Elizaveta Tuktamysheva secured herself the second place and thus brought her team 11 points. For her, today was especially joyful, as she showed a flawless performance of her program and even achieved her personal best score this season. "I am happy with the performance. I was relaxed and felt strong support from the audience, they gave me energy." In addition, this year she gets to prove herself as the Team Leader of the Russian athletes for the first time. "I was very honored and surprised when I found out that I was going to be the captain of the Russian team. It was a bit nerve-wracking at first as I did not quite know what I had to do, but when I came here I learned about my obligations and it is not that difficult. It is indeed fun, we have a great, strong team here, therefore it is all going very well so far."

Judging by the performances of the Russian athletes, Tuktamysheva is doing a really good job as team captain, as Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov also took first place for Russia. The European and World champions were not able to beat their personal best, but they stood at the top with 86.66 points. After only about 30 percent of the spectators had been admitted for safety reasons during the Rostelecom Cup, the positive energy of the audience in Osaka had a good effect on the two ice dancers. Everything was right, the atmosphere, the music and the choreography!

The performances of the men were not enough to make it into the first three places, nevertheless Kolyada and Semenenko finished their performances with smiles on their faces as soon as they saw the ladies’ results.

“We are strong, we are healthy and we are trained”

                               Nathan Chen (USA)

After a rather stressful World Championships, the American athletes approached the Word Team Trophy with one thing in mind: "We are strong, we are healthy and we are trained." Sunshine Jason Brown completely blossomed not only on the ice but also as a team leader, talking about how much he enjoyed taking the lead.

"You know, I just love representing The USA, the event and the fact that we all get dressed up in our countries' colors and cheer each other up. So, it's one of my favorite things to do and to be there to support my teammates."  After finishing seventh in the World Championship, he fought his way to third place today just behind Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu. Even after his performance, he kept up the happy mood in the Kiss and Cry, scoring a miraculous 94.86 points.

For World Champion Nathan Chen, who had a rather unsatisfactory result in Stockholm in his short program, it couldn't have gone better today either. This time, the Yale student landed all jumps with flying colors and thus took the well-deserved first place. Compared to the World Championships, he was very relaxed about the WTT, enjoying competing together with his friends: " The Worlds take a lot of energy, so I'm a little bit more refreshed  coming here. For the free program I try to skate as clean as I can and enjoy the music."

The ladies were not quite as convincing this time, but were still happy to finally be able to perform in front of an assembled audience. Ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker took third place in Rhythm Dance.

Third place with some hurdles

With figure skating legend Yuzuru Hanyu on the team, Team Japan put up a valiant fight for third place. His short program "Let me entertain you" really heated up the audience and despite small point deductions for his 3A, he was able to achieve second place after Nathan Chen. For Yuzuru, this season was fraught with extra difficulties as the Corona crisis separated him from his coach Brian Orser for a long time. In addition, just before the World Championships, in which he took bronze, a major earthquake again sought his hometown.  "Fortunately my home was not damaged, but the ice rink Sendai did have a wall crack similar to 2011. However, I was able to participate in practicing after just one day," he said.

Shoma Uno, who trains under Stepahne Lambiel in Switzerland, has not been particularly lucky this season. A One fall, a landing on the quarter in his 4T combo and other small mistakes were only enough for ninth place.  Rika Kihira was also not satisfied with her result, fell right after the first under-rotated jump, and  landed the following 3-3 combination uncleanly. "For the 3A I felt my body axis was leaning backwards. Hopefully I can get a better understanding of that before my free program. The other jumps I was able to do pretty relaxed, but my goal was to do a clean program, so I definitely want to do my free program cleanly."

Kaori Sakamoto achieved a pretty satisfying result for the ladies. However, she also knows that she will have to dare new challenges if she wants to continue to be at the top of Japanese female athletes in the future, "The quadruple jump is starting to become a must for ladies as well, starting the Holiday Week, the Golden Week in May, we'll be able to train for the next season, so I'll start thinking about putting quadruples into my program and also training."

For husband and wife Misato Komatsubara & Tim Koleto, who received 19th place in the World Championships, their best placing so far, it was a very good start. However, unlike the Canadian athletes, who were denied training on the ice for a long time, they were lucky to test their program in various ice shows.

Disappointment for Canada, France and Italy

Major and minor mishaps in the last-placed teams caused long faces and partly even tears. While Kevin Aymoz achieved fourth place in the men's short program with a clean performance, things did not go well at all for the ladies. Lea Serna fell after her triple flip and could not convince with her step sequences in the second half, so that she only made it last. Maia Mazzara’s program was also not perfect, landing on the wrong edge after her  triple Lutz and not jumping the triple-triple combination cleanly.

Ice dancers Adelina Galyavieva & Louis Thauron were satisfied with their program, because apart from an interruption of less than 4 beats right at the beginning of their performance, the athlete from Moscow and her partner seemed to enjoy their dance.

Among the Italians, ice dancers Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri took the lead and won second place after their Russian rivals. However, the eleven points were unfortunately not enough to take the team to the top. To make matters worse, Matteo Rizzo had to withdraw from the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. So only Daniel Grassl could fight for Italy in the men’s short program, for the missing athlete the team received zero points.

It did not go well at all for Team Canada today. In none of the disciplines could they make it among the first five, so unfortunately they ended the day in last place. However, the WTT was the first real event on the ice for many Canadian athletes after a long time. Nam Ngyuen explained, “For us Skate Canada athletes, we really had the minimum of times participating in competitions, so to make up for that our federation did the best to keep us motivated for the season since we were not knowing what’s gonna happen. They set up multiple monitoring sessions for all of us to check on our condition, it’s been an interesting season.” After Canadians rinks were closed and many events fell into the water, they considered themselves lucky to finally be in front of an audience again.

How Many Entries Did the U.S. Earn for the Men's Olympic Competition?  Three Like for Worlds?  If Only it Were That Simple.

With Nathan Chen and Jason Brown delivering first and seventh place results at the 2021 World Championships, their combined placement of 8 was far better than the 13 needed to earn three entries at the 2022 World Championships.

But if you though that also means the U.S. earned three entries for the Men's event at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, you underestimate the Byzantine complexity of ISU rules.

While the World Championships determines the full allocation of entries for the next World Championships, only part of the Olympic entries are determined at Worlds.  A number of entries are left unallocated, and these unallocated entries are filled at the Nebelhorn Trophy which is held in September and acts as a qualifying competition.

For the Olympic Winter Games there are a maximum of 30 entries for Ladies and Men, nineteen 19 for Pair Skating and 23 for Ice Dance.  Up to 24 entries for Ladies and Men, 16 for Pair Skating event and up to 19 for Ice Dance are determined at Worlds.  The remainder will be determined at Nebelhorn.

So what does that have to do with the U.S. men?

There is, it turns out, an additional detail when it comes to qualifying for three entries for the Olympics.  If a country has two or three entries in the World Championships not only must the combined placement of their top two skaters be 13 or less, three competitors must reach the free skate (or free dance).  Since Vincent Zhou placed 25th in the short program and did not reach the free skate, the U.S. only earned two entries for the 2022 Olympics for certain.  The third potential U.S. spot is added to the entries up for grabs at Nebelhorn, and the U.S. must sends a skater who must earn the third U.S. Olympic entry there.

The U.S. Ladies are in a similar situation.  Karen Chen and Bradie Tennell had a cumulative placement total of 13, but there were only two U.S. ladies in the free skate.  So the ladies must also contest for the third Olympic entry at Nebelhorn.

Bottom Line

Men:  Twenty-three entries were allocated at Worlds.  Seven entries are to be contested at Nebelhorn.  The U.S. (currently with two entries) can contest for one of the seven.

Ladies:  Twenty-four entries were allocated at Worlds.  Six entries are to be contested at Nebelhorn.  The U.S. (currently with two entries) can contest for one of the six.

Pairs:  Sixteen entries were allocated at Worlds.  Three entries are to be contested at Nebelhorn.  The U.S. (currently with two entries) did not earn the right to contest for one of the three.

Dance:  Nineteen entries were allocated at Worlds.  Four entries are to be contested at Nebelhorn.  The U.S. (currently with the maximum allowed three entries) cannot contest for additional entries.

2021 World Figure Skating Championships

Competition Coverage

Stockholm, Sweden
24-28 March 2021

© International Skating Union (ISU)

How the Pandemic Affects Figure Skating in Europe

by Tatjana Flade

While Russia managed to hold all their major planned skating events this season so far such as the test skates, the national Russian Cup series, the Grand Prix and Nationals, skaters in the rest of Europe had much less opportunities to compete at high level.

In spring most countries in Europe went into the first lockdown and ice rinks closed for weeks. In Germany (and other countries) National team members were then slowly allowed to start on-ice training again, but training was limited and depending on the region, there were many restrictions. In Bavaria, for example, ice dancers and pair skaters at first were not allowed to train elements where they are touching each other, while couples in Berlin were able to practice together. On ice training resumed in May in most places.

Germany then was the first country worldwide to hold an international and “real” (not virtual) figure skating competition, the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, in September. That was encouraging and optimism grew. However, infection numbers started to rise all over Europe again in September and the situation is now dire in most countries. Germany and others are back to strict lockdowns.

Nevertheless, some European countries organized not only their National Championships, but even smaller international competitions. Hungary hosted two international events in the fall and the National Championships on December 18 and 19. Following the success of Nebelhorn Trophy, Germany held the NRW Autumn Trophy in November in order to provide domestic and international skaters with an opportunity to compete. Belarus, although shaken by political unrest, had the Ice Star Minsk end of October and then, with the blessing of the ISU, turned their National Championship into an open competition, Minsk Winter Star, with international competitors in December.

Germany moved its Nationals from Hamburg, which was unable to organize an event under the Corona conditions, to Dortmund on December 18 and 19. However, the fields were very small as some skaters were sick (Covid-19 and other illnesses) or injured. Plus, the Berlin Skating Federation withdrew all their skaters saying it was too dangerous to travel to Dortmund and to compete.

Italy organized a national “Grand Prix of Italy” series consisting of three events leading up to their Nationals in December.  Poland, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have been holding their Nationals together in the past years and did so again in Poland this year. Usually Hungary is part of this event as well, but due to the circumstances they chose to stay home this time.

Austria cancelled the international events they had planned, but at least had Nationals in December. Sweden cancelled their Nationals that were scheduled for December 10-13 but is preparing for the World Championships in March. Estonia has moved their Championships from December to the end of January. Switzerland and Finland for now have postponed their National Championships and no new date has been announced yet. France has cancelled everything so far, first the Grand Prix, then Nationals. Great Britain opened their rinks very late after the first lockdown and closed them again in the fall. British Ice Skating was one of the first countries to cancel their Championships. Their problem is that in Great Britain, ice rinks have been classified not as sports venues but as entertainment venues. The English Ice Hockey Association, British Ice Skating and the Ice Rink Managers Association have written a letter to the Prime Minister in the beginning of December asking him to classify ice rinks as sports venues.

So we have seen not many European skaters in action this season. A few got the chance to compete at Rostelecom Cup – Eva-Lotta Kiibus from Estonia and the Lithuanian ice dancers Allison Reed/Saulius Ambruvelicius. Kiibus also used her chance and went to Oberstdorf and Budapest. A few French skaters including Kevin Aymoz competed at the Minsk Winter Star. Latvia’s Deniss Vasiljevs, who trains in Switzerland, and Swiss Champion Alexia Paganini as well as Matteo Rizzo of Italy were at Nebelhorn Trophy as were most of the top German skaters.

The options for European skaters to compete were and are very limited. At least National team members can train in most areas as they are considered professional athletes and figure skating is an Olympic sport. However, in many places the younger skaters and children cannot train and in a worst case scenario many of them will quit the sport as a result. The danger is big that European figure skating except for Russia will feel the effects of the pandemic for many years to come.

The Strength of Russian Figure Skating in the Crazy Corona Season

Figure skating in Russia has been affected by the pandemic as sports have been worldwide. However, Russian skaters get more opportunities to compete at high level as national events are held and they might come out of the crisis even stronger than before. While many international and national competitions have been cancelled, Russia managed to conduct the traditional test skates in September as well as the five events of the national Cup of Russia series and the Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup. All this gives a good overview of Russian skating before the Russian Championships December 24-27 in Tcheliabinsk in the Ural mountains.  <more>

Building a Simple Backyard Ice Rink

The Autumn surge in Covid cases has recently resulted in the closure or severe cutback of hours for ice arenas.  Many skaters are without access to ice completely, or can book only very limited hours in those rinks that are still operating.  These conditions are likely to be in place throughout the winter.  One solution to the problem of skaters not being able to get to arena ice, is to bring ice to the skaters, by building a backyard ice rink. <more>

A Year of Challenges for French Figure Skating

Former French ice dancer Nathalie Pechalat, bronze medalist at Worlds in 2012 and 2014, gold medalists at Europeans 2011 and 2012 and fourth at the Olympic Games of 2014, all with dance partner Fabian Bourzat, was elected president of the French Ice Sport Federation in March 2020. This organization covers not only figure skating, ice dance and synchronized skating, but also speed skating, short track, sledding and bobsledding. She was elected the successor of Didier Gailhaguet who retired in February 2020 under pressure from different sources, including the French minister of sports, who accused him of knowing about but not stopping several scandals during his presidency, an accusation he denies.  <more>

A Not So Grand Prix

Details are finally emerging for the organization of the 2020/21 ISU Grand Prix Competitions.  About all that can be said of this year's series is, It's better than nothing, but not much better.

The Next Olympic Ladies Champion Revealed

The next Olympic Winter Games are about two years away, but already the writing is on the wall for who will be the next Olympic Ladies Champion.

The Axel is the Only Jump that Takes Off Backwards

In Search of the Quad Axel

What will it take to complete a quad Axel?

Current Replay Systems Not Up To Task of Insuring Accurate Calls