2001 Four Continents Championships

Pairs

Standings

Notes after the long program.

Sale & Pelletier were the clear favorites of the judges in the long program, and were placed first by eight of the nine judges.  Only judge five (from Yugoslavia) saw things differently as he did in the short program also.  Overall, the judges rated the Canadians equal to Shen & Zhao in technical merit, but in presentation eight of the judges placed Sale & Pelletier above the Chinese team and the ninth had them equal.  In addition, they received a mark of 6.0 from judge no.1 in presentation, the second of their career.

The Canadians opened with a nice throw triple loop and clean triple toe loops.   Their triple twist lift twist had a poor catch, which was the only technical weakness in their program.  They also landed throw triple Salchow and side-by-side double Axels with steps into double toe loops.  In addition to the twist they completed three other lifts and two death spirals - the relatively simpler back inside and forward outside.  Their presentation to a modern arrangement of music from Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" was well done, though in the heavier sections some felt the program tended to drag.

The Chinese team of Shen & Zhao had skated two teams before the Canadians- second in the warmup group.  It was a dynamic, strongly skated routine to music called "Spirit of Spring" by Du Ming Xin.  They opened with side-by-side double Axels with steps into triple toe loops, and then solo side-by-side triple toe loops.   The opening section was then completed with a fine triple twist, throw triple loops, and a lasso to star combination lift with a twist out.  In the remainder of the program they completed throw triple Salchow, two additional lifts, and a forward inside death spiral.

Third place in the long, and also overall, was taken by Ina & Zimmerman.  They skated first in the last warmup and had a generally good skate.  Their difficulty, however, did not match the top two teams and they had problems with their triple toe loops, two sets of which were scheduled in the routine.  They opened with triple toe loops, but Zimmerman stepped out and then went to his knee to avoid falling.  They followed with successful double Axels and then a triple twist with a shoulder bump on the catch.  On a planned triple toe loop - double toe loop sequence they instead completed a double-double sequence.  Both throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow were successful, and they also completed two overhead lifts and their now signature carry with Ina in inverted position of Zimmerman's shoulders.  Their only death spiral was the simple forward inside.

The Chinese team of Pang & Tong moved up from sixth in the short program to fourth in the long and fourth overall.  They displayed strong elements and improved choreography over the past year, though still with some weaknesses.  They began with the best triple twist of the group and then followed with triple toe loops, throw triple Salchow and back outside death spiral.  In addition to the twist lift they executed three other lifts, but all three were lasso lifts and two of the three were identical.   In addition, their two pair spins were nearly identical differing in only one position between the two.  They completed throw triple loops but on double Axels Pang stepped out and a planned double Axel - double toe loops sequence was executed as a single-double.

Canadians Sargeant-Wirtz & Wirtz faded badly in the long program, dropping to seventh.  It was a sloppy program with errors on nearly all the major elements.   The only difficult elements they completed successfully were a throw triple Salchow and two overhead lifts.

Americans Scott & Duhlebohn had a mediocre skate with Scott missing both jumps on a double Axel - triple toe loop sequence.  Their triple twist had no catch and they both singles a second attempt at double Axels.  Throw triple Salchow and throw double Axel were successful as were three overhead lifts and a back outside death spiral.

The third U.S. team, Hartsell & Hartsell, also dropped in the long program, ending up in ninth place.  They had a shoulder bump on their triple twist and Steve fell on triple toe loop and stepped out of a double Axel.  On a double Axel - double toe loop sequence they both executed single Axel - double toe loop.  Throw triple Salchow was successful but in throw triple loop Danielle put her hand down.  They completed three lifts including their spectacular inverted "heart attack" lift, and also two death spirals (back outside and back inside).  In addition to the specific errors, the entire program seemed labored, with every element an effort to complete.  With Steve's injury at U.S. Nationals and their third place finish there, and their struggling here, the last few weeks have been difficult for the 1999 U.S. Champions who now must go home and try and regroup for next season.

Notes after the short program.

After coming so close in Nice, Canadians Jamie Sale & David Pelletier are aiming to break into the medals at Worlds this year.  This competition affords a good chance to gauge their chances as they are going up against the two time silver medalists from China, Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao.  Shen & Zhao were scheduled to skate last in the first warmup, but the team before them, Canadians Annabelle Langlois & Patrice Archetto, experienced a sequins explosion.  After a futile attempt by an army of flower girls to clean up the damage the referee ordered an ice cut.  Shen & Zhao were given a six minute warmup and then presented their program.  They skated a strong clean program with triple toe loops and throw triple loop.  On the throw Shen dragged the toe of the free leg on the check out, but it was not a deductible error.   Their presentation to music by Tomaso Albinoni (the DeBeers diamond commercial) was well done.

In the second warmup group, Sale & Pelletier were second to skate using music from the "Forget Paris" soundtrack.  They also landed triple toe loops and throw triple loop.  Technically, the Canadian and Chinese teams were fairly comparable.   Three judges gave the Canadians higher first marks, while the remaining six had them equal.  The big difference was in the second mark.  All nine judges placed Sale & Turner ahead of Shen & Zhao in the second mark, two by as much as three tenths of a point.

Also skating in the second warmup were Tiffany Scott & Philip Dulebohn.  Their program was decently presented despite three technical errors, hands to the shoulder touch on the twist lift, Scott falling on triple toe loop, and again on throw triple Salchow.

In the last warmup group Danielle & Steve Hartsell skated second.  Their skating was sluggish with both skaters had minor problems.  On triple toe loops Danielle did a double and Steve stepped out of the jump.  Their twist was of poor quality with little height.

Next to skate were Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman who are using their "Truman Show" routine again this year, but with new costumes ( the "lizard" suites are out and new grey and black costumes are in).  They skated well with a good presentation and only minor technical problems.  They both landed triple toe loops but Zimmerman had a reach for the ice.  Their double twist was well done,  The throw triple Salchow was also completed successfully with Ina having a small break on the landing.  One judge placed them first, but the majority of the panel had them third.

Last to skate were Kristy Sargeant-Wirtz & Kris Wirtz.  They had a decent skate with triple toe loops and throw triple Salchow.  Their double twist, however, was poor with little height and a poor catch.  Overall, however, the quality was good enough for a fourth place finish in the short program.

Short Program

Free Skating

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