2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Senior Ladies

Standings

Notes after the long program.

For the novice and junior event, the best skating of this Nationals was seen in the men's event.  At the senior level, however, it was the ladies that stole the spotlight.  The six ladies in the last warmup group put on a display whose overall quality surpassed anything seen at Nationals in the last decade.  Among the six skaters, the top three ladies skated in order of their placement in the short program - Kwan, Hughes, and finally Nikodinov.

Kwan skated to the same music she used during the Grand Prix, "Song of the Black Swan", with essentially the same elements as before but with vastly improved choreography.  During the Grand Prix, Kwan's long program was a dreadfully constructed, dreary creation.  Since then, however, it has undergone a major transformation and is now far more interesting and satisfying.  She landed six different triple jumps, but missed her attempt at triple toe loop - triple toe loop, executing a double-double instead.  To compensate for the error, she modified the last sequence of moves in the program to insert a triple toe loop which otherwise would have ended up being omitted from the program.  She received marks of 5.7 and 5.8 for the first mark and 5.9 and 6.0 for the second mark.  Her two 6.0s in the free skate brought her total of 6.0s for this competition to nine, second to her record in 1998 where she earned 15 marks of 6.0 at Nationals that year.  She was unanimously placed first by the judges to capture her fifth U.S. National title.  In addition, she is the first skate since Linda Fratiane to win four National titles in a row.

Sarah Hughes attempted a program with seven triple jumps, as did Kwan, including the difficult triple Salchow - triple loop combination.  She completed six of the seven, two-footing the loop in the triple-triple combination.  In addition that error, she also cheated three of the six triples she landed.  Her two Lutz jumps were both slight "flutzed" and the double toe loop in her triple Lutz combination was toe axeled on the takeoff.  Nevertheless, it was a strong performance marked just a tenth below Kwan in each mark.  The program nicely presented and enthusiastically received by the audience with seven of the nine judges marking her higher in the second mark than in the first.

Angela Nikodinov was last to skate in the event.  Given her past record of being unable to skate two good performances back-to-back in competition, and with Jennifer Kirk breathing down her neck having already turned in a decent performance, one could not help but wonder if Nikodinov would be able to sustain the level from the short program, where she skated so well, and hold on to third place.  Skating to music from Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" ballet, she cleanly landed triple Lutz - double toe loop, triple flip, and triple loop in the opening section of the program.  In the middle section she was relaxed and elegant in her spins and connecting moves, and in the final section she landed triple Salchow, triple Lutz, and a triple toe loop (in a failed combination with double toe loop) for a total of six triples. Her only error was a step out of the double toe loop in her final combination.  As she skated, the audience was not at first overly demonstrative, as though collectively apprehensive she would seize the moment, but by the middle of the program they began to sense that she was "in the zone." From that point on, as she successfully completed each element, the crowd became more and more revved up, and before her final spin was completed the audience responded with a huge ovation.  As in the short program, she skated with a previously unseen confidence and enthusiasm.   Not only did she hold third place, two of the judges placed her second, and she received the highest marks of her career, with two 5.9s in the second mark.

Notes after the short program.

Michelle Kwan unveiled an new short program set to music from the suite "East of Eden" and choreographed by Lori Nichol.  She has used this music before in an exhibition program but this is the first time she has skated to it in competition.   It was an inspiring performance to inspiring music that lifted Kwan's skating to the height it achieved in 1998 at the Philadelphia Nationals; and like her short program in 1998 she received seven marks of 6.0 for the second mark.  Her program consisted of double Axel, triple Lutz - double toe loop, a death drop spin, triple flip, circular footwork, her trademark combination spin, layback spin, and signature spiral sequence.   She made no errors of note and her performance was without question her best short program skate in three years.

This new short program replaces the Christopher Dean choreographed short program she used during the Grand Prix series.  Following the Grand Prix the buzz had it that the program was too intricate for Kwan and that the judges and others just didn't like it.   When asked here why she had changed programs Kwan was unenlightening, saying only that she had two great program to choose from and decided to try this one out at Nationals.  Given that decisions as fundamental as program content and choreography are never decided so cavalierly and that new programs are not choreographed on a whim, it appears that Kwan's answer was phrased to avoid voicing criticism of Dean's program.   It is said by some observers that Christopher Dean only choreographs for Christopher Dean instead of for the skater.  The program presented here, however, was clearly choreographed for Kwan.  It is the right music, with the right style, for the right skater.  Afterwards a reliable anonymous source in the Kwan camp confirmed dislike of the previous program was the reason to try another.

Sarah Hughes was in the unenviable position of having to skate after Kwan's performance, having seen the marks and hearing the crowd's tumultuous applause before she took to the ice.  Hughes skated a program with content similar to Kwan's, executing a flying camel instead of a deathdrop and performing a slightly different combination spin.   Hughes stayed focused and skated a clean program which received marks of 5.7 though 5.9.  She was marked nearly equal to Kwan on technical merit, with five judges giving Hughes first marks equal to or higher than Kwan.  She gave a strong performance but it was no match to the performance given by the leader, with all nine judges ranking Hughes one to two tenths below Kwan in presentation.

Third place was taken by Angela Nikodinov, skating "Serenity" by new age composer Giovanni.  Her program content was nearly identical to Hughes' and technically was well skated, with only a minor change of edge on the takeoff of her triple Lutz - double toe loop combination.  The program was skated with an ease, confidence, and joy of skating that she has rarely, if ever, shown. It was a lovely performance which the audience responded to warmly with a huge ovation.

Fourth in the short program was hometown favorite Jennifer Kirk.  Except for the details of her combination spin her, program also consisted of the same elements skated by Hughes and Nikodinov.  She skated a clean program and her presentation was well done, but lacked the polish and sophistication of the top three ladies.

Free Skating

Short Program

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