2008 U.S. NationalsSenior Men
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Photos copyright 2008 by George S. Rossano |
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2008 U.S. NationalsSenior Men
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Photos copyright 2008 by George S. Rossano |
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By Minnie Sanderson Well, it looks to be Johnny Weir, at least at this point. The talented Pennsylvania-based skater, who last year was dethroned in the men’s competition by Evan Lysacek, came out on top in the short program tonite, scoring a high mark of 83.40, and proved that he is well on his way to claiming the title once again. This was Weir’s highest short program score to date. Weir looked solid throughout his “Russian Rock Opera” program and skated with his usual characteristic drama and sophistication. His jumps were sound. He did a huge triple Axel, triple Lutz-t toe loop and a triple flip from footwork. He earned a 45.55 on technical elements and a 37.85 for his program component scores. Prior to the start of the event, there was some buzz going around that he was going to do a quad, but instead he elected to do a triple-triple at the last minute. Said Weir, "I was the performance I put out today. I just floated through my program today and was happy." Weir’s program components were excellent. In particular, his footwork sequence and spins were exceptional as were his edges both going in and out of his jumps. Evan Lysacek had a good, but slightly flawed short program to “Malaguena,” for which he scored a point total of 82.05. Although he looked strong, there were some glitches. He two-footed the quad in his opening quad-triple toe loop combination, and then had a slightly pulled landing coming out of his triple Axel. As always, his triple Lutz was spot on and his spins were full of speed and energy. "I struggled with my quad today but I'm happy it went smoothly," he said. "It was more difficult than I had anticipated coming in as the reigning champion." Stephen Carriere of the SC of Boston scored a 76.66 with is instrumental take to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Although he turned out on the landing of his opening triple Axel, he ricocheted back with a long and high triple flip-triple toe loop and triple Lutz from excellent introductory steps. “I was really happy to do the triple-triple felt relaxed out there once I got into the program,” said Carriere, adding that his triple Axel “is something to work on for Sunday.” Ryan Bradley and Jeremy Abbott, both of the Broadmoor SC, were fourth and fifth respectively. Bradley knocked out a clean program to “The Godfather,” for which he earned a 74.20. He did a good triple Axel, triple flip-triple toe loop and a triple Lutz. All of these jumps looked easy for Bradley, who has been training intensively for this event. “I’m pretty jacked that I did so well. I saw a lot of big marks and happy faces and to do a good program was something I feel happy about,” he said. Jeremy Abbott from the Broadmoor SC was awarded a 73.28 for his short program to “Treat” by Santana. Although he fell out of his opening quad toe and triple Axel, he rebounded with a nice triple Lutz-triple toe loop. He was awarded a 73.28 for his short program. He also did some exceptional spins and footwork, for which he earned plus Grades of Execution marks. “I have worked really hard since the NHK Trophy and was very happy with how I did tonite. This is the best short I’ve done so far this season,” said Abbott. |
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Skating to "Tosca," Lysacek landed a quad and eight triple jumps, including a quad-triple toe loop combination and a triple flip - triple toe loop combination. Of the eight jump elements, four were scored negative in GoEs. Despite these problems, Lysacek skated with speed and energy, and his now signature "taser" footwork at the end of his program brought the audience of 7,000 to it's feet. The element was called level 4 and was marked plus three by six judges and plus two by the remainder. In Program Components he received marks from the mid sevens to the low eights. The second of two Toscas in this event, this routine (and the one before it) showed yet again, that virtually no one in skating knows what Tosca is about -- at least based on what one sees on the ice. Nevertheless, as one judge in the audience not associated with the competition said to me afterwards, the routine compels one's attention, which is a great deal of what presentation is about. Skating last, just after Lysacek, Weir stepped up to the challenge and gave his best performance of the season. He landed an opening quad toe loop that looked effortless, but had a poor landing that was scored negative. He also had a step out of a triple flip that was scored negative. He attempted a total of one quad and eight triples, including a well executed triple Axel - triple toe loop combination. In Program Components Weir bested Lysacek in PCS by 0.42 points, skating to "Love is War." It was an artful performance that also brought the audience to its feet, but it was not artful enough to take the gold. In comparing the style and finesse of the two performances back to back, Lysacek's program was like butchering hogs, while Weir's was neurosurgery. The program, however, is slow to draw one in, and is also hampered by insufficient connecting steps and turns. With so many small errors from both skaters it is impossible to point to any one thing that was the deciding factor. Change any one thing, any one mark, for either skater and the point totals change. Change any one level, any one feature, and the point totals change. For example, Weir left a planned change of foot out of one spin. Had it been included, the results change. Stephen Carriere held third place to win the bronze medal. Carriere moved up from a ninth place finish at the 2007 Championships. Skating to "Zoot Suite," Carriere landed eight triple, but no quad or triple-triple combination. On a solo triple Lutz he had a poor landing that cost him 0.43 points, and on a solo triple Axel he stepped out and two footed (?) the jump for a loss of 2 points. His Program Coponents were generally in the low to mid sevens. Jeremy Abbott moved up one place to win the pewter medal, slipping ahead of Ryan Bradley by 0.54 points. He stepped out of an opening quad toe loop that was scored negative and then singled a planned triple Axel, combined with a triple too loop. On the third element, triple flip, he had a break on the landing that resulted in that element being scored negative. At that point he settled down and executed the remaining 11 elements with zero or positive GoEs. Skating to a medley of waltzes, his program components were in the mid sevens, with his PCS third best. Reprising his Chaplin routine, Bradley dropped to fifth in the Free Skate and fell out of the medals. He fell on the opening quad toe loop but then followed with a huge triple Axel. He had a near fall on triple Salchow and for two triple Lutz combinations the quality of the landings were poor. For one of these he miraculously pulled off a triple Lutz - triple toe loop - double toe loop from a virtual standstill. It was scored negative, with GoEs of minus one and minus two. In Program Components he was mainly scored in the mid sevens, except for the Transitions mark which fell below seven. |
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2008 Senior Men Medalists |
