2010 Skate Canada

Ladies Event

by

Alexandra Stevenson

CYNTHIA PHANEUF ENTERTAINS AUDIENCE AND JUDGES ALIKE

Establishes a smidgen of a lead (0.34) over American-Russian Ksenia Makarova

Newcomer Agnes Zawadski delighted to lie third

1.Total Points 58.24 (Element Score 29.98 + Components 28.26) Skating in the prime position of last as the "top ranking competitor", Cynthia PHANEUF delighted the home crowd dressed in a sophisticated gold, one-sleeved creation held in place with entwined tantalizing netting. "If it were long, it would be the perfect red carpet attire," said one observer.

The 22-year-old, performing to Spanish Guitar, Bordaco en Oro, and Afternoon at Satie’s by Jesse Cook, soared through a double Axel, the first of her seven required elements, which earned +0.64 over its base value of 3.30 and then tossed off a +0.50 triple Lutz to double toe loop.

Surprisingly, her solo triple was "merely" a triple toe loop, although it was rewarded with +0.60 over its base value (4.10). Only Phaneuf, fellow Canadian Lacoste, and the very experienced Suguri, earned Level 3 for their step sequence. The rest of the field received the lower Level 2 except Samson, the remaining Canadian, who made an obvious mistake and was saddled with Level 1.

Phaneuf said, "There may be one less element than last season (now seven; last season it was eight) but it still feels as if I’m running after my music. I don’t think it would be possible to fit in the spirals like last year. They’ve changed the requirements for the spins so it takes longer to do them." One requirement to get an extra "bullet" point towards a higher level, is eight rotations in the same position.

Phaneuf won the Short Program section of last two Canadian championships although Joannie Rochette was able to overtake her and successfully defend her title. Way back in 2004, Phaneuf won the Canadian title and Skate Canada International, but then suffered from injury and a growth spurt. She persevered and has been the runner-up to Joannie Rochette in three Canadian championships (’05 & ’09 and ’10). One of her best performances came in March when she finished fifth at worlds. With just 1.09 points more, she would have claimed the bronze.

She seemed very relaxed after her performance. "I’m having so much fun with this routine. I’m very comfortable with it. I love the music. When I first heard it, I just couldn’t wait to skate to it. I’m in a good position now. I’m just hoping to go home with a medal around my neck."

2.57.90 (31.44+26.46) Ksenia MAKAROVA, the17-year old (born in St. Petersburg, December 20, 1992) Russian champion, who has lived in the US since she was eight, skated tenth, dressed in a black with a red skirt and a red rose in her blonde hair, to a Flamenco played by the very famous guitarist, Didula.

She opened with a combination of two triple toe loops, which earned +0.70 over the move’s base value of 8.20. She had initially planned to do a triple flip as her second element but changed it to a triple loop, which got a GoE of +0.50. Her coach, 1992 Olympic champion, Victor Petrenko, explained, "They’ve changed the values of the jumps and the (triple) flip has a base value of only about 0.2 above the loop. So it’s better for her to do a loop and get a better Grade of Execution. It’s less risky for her."

Is it just a coincidence that the Makarova, the third-placed Zawadzki, the sixth placed Imai, and the unfortunate Gilles, none of whom are over 18, were the only competitors to get the maximum Level 4 for all three of their spins? Or is it just that their coaches (Petrenko, Zakrajsek and Hiroshi Nagakubo) pay attention to the rules for what their pupils must to do to reach this goal?

Makarova began attracting attention when she finished seventh in the 2007 US Novice championships. Her parents, Larisa Selezneva & Oleg Makarov, who teach at Ice Time Sports Complex in Newburgh, NY, began investigating the possibility she could compete for the country in which she was born. They had won the 1984 Olympic bronze for the Soviet Union, plus a silver in the 1985 worlds and two golds in the European championships 1987 & 1989. Makarova was soon swept up on a fairytale experience which culminated last season when she started out on the Junior Grand Prix circuit.

In the fall of 2009, she gained fourth place in the Junior Grand Prix Final. Just a few weeks later, she won the Russian senior title, in her first entry at that level, although she was only second in the SP and third in the FS. That earned her a berth on the European, Olympic and World team, where she finished an impressive 9^th, 10^th and 8^th.

Now she has to live up to that elite status. She did not have a great outing in her first competition of the season, the Finlandia Trophy, three weeks before Skate Canada, where she finished fourth, behind her main rival in Russia, Alena Leonova, who won the bronze. At that point, Makarova said, "I have to stop being so easy on myself. That was a wake-up call. " She said since then, "I had to forget about Finland. I beat myself, my prior showing today, and I’m pleased about that. I’m very excited to be in Canada. I love Canada."

3.56.29 (32.14+24.15) Agnes ZAWADZKI, the 2010 U.S. junior champion from the Broadmoor Skating Club, who turned 16 on July 31, was delighted with her showing in this her senior international debut, and only her second international ever. She was last on the ranking list for this event and so skated first. "That didn’t bother me," she said. "I’m pretty happy with how I skated." She performed to Gopher Mambo by Conrad Gozzo and Concierto para Bongo by Perez Prado, in a black sleeveless outfit with neck and wrist bands.

The youngster set a great standard, earning the top elements score, with Makarova second in this sub-division and Phaneuf third. Zawadzki flew through her combination of two triple toe loops which drew by far the top GoE of +1.20 from the judging panel, which included American Todd Bromley. Five of the judges punched in +2 and the other four +1 which left no doubt both jumps were both superior.

Last March, Zawadzki impressively won silver in the World Junior championships, in her first international competition ever. The ISU has a ruling that medalists in both the World Junior Championships and the Grand Prix Final are automatically eligible for two Senior Grand Prix assignments. Zawadzki and her coach, Tom Zakrajsek, made the decision to take advantage of this and move into the senior ranks instead of staying at the junior level. Zakrajsek said part of the decision was that that she is tall (5’6") and already has the look of a "Senior" woman.

4.55.95 (28.37+27.58) Alissa CZISNY is a prime example of how unforgiving the new system is. The 23-year-old is a mesmerizingly beautiful skater but, although she won the US title in 2009, she was only tenth last season. Such a severe reversal in form has never happened before. It is a tribute to her consummate grace and quick thinking that, even though she messed up her first element in her routine set to Romance from Erich W. Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D, Opus 35, she is still lying only 2.29 points behind the leader.

Czisny was forced to step out of her first jump, a triple Lutz, and was not able to combine it with the planned second jump. However, she went to Plan B, and tagged that missing item onto her second element, a triple flip. Her final element, her layback spin, pushed the judges into such euphoria, two punched their votes for the maximum GoE of +3. Five others awarded +2 while two merely gave +1 which is for a "superior" move.

Czisny says she considers Canada her lucky country. She first competed in Skate Canada in 2005, when she claimed the gold when it was in St. John’s, Newfoundland. In 2008, she won bronze and in 2009 silver. She is trained by Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen at the Detroit SC in Bloomfield Hills, "So," she said, "We certainly didn’t have far to come. No jet-lag problems, at all!!" Czisny gained the highest component score

5.55.30 (29.96+25.34) Amélie LACOSTE, 21, who is from Montreal, skated fifth, which was last in the first group of competitors, to a Tango, Ojos Negros (Dark Eyes). She opened with an excellent double Axel and then attempted a combination of two triple loops, which would have been the most difficult combination in the event. However, the second jump was saddled with one but not two "arrows", which means it was under-rotated but not enough to be downgraded to a double.

Trick List

Czisny Dazzling in Free Skate

1 Total 172.32; FS 1. 116.42 (Elements 55.95 + Components 61.47 -1.0) Alisa Czisny surprisingly claimed gold, springing up from fourth place after the SP, eliminating the opposition with a very impressive overall lead of 7.37. "I love skating in Canada," she has said repeatedly. "The crowds are so supportive." She last won this event back in 2005 and has claimed bronze and silver medals in the last two seasons.

She has always been a dazzling beauty on the ice, though her jumping technique has given her grief in this era where the tiny jumping beans have a distinctly unfair major advantage. Early this summer, Czisny made a coaching change and now trains at the Detroit SC with Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen which has given her a fresh approach.

"Every day, I go home thankful that I’m working with Yuka and Jason. They make me feel like I can forget the past and make a name for myself again. They believe in me and believed I could start over again. The biggest priority has been changing my jump technique." She was always slim but now appears to have a slightly different figure which has come from a change in what she eats. "I feel reinvigorated," she said.

Her Free dress is a chiffon-y free-form outfit which, Czisny explained, "is an old one of Yuka’s. It’s got quite a long skirt. It was hand-painted by my mom to ressemble the sky. She didn’t want me to tell you that but she did such a good job, she should get the credit. The music is from Winter and Spring by George Winston. Pasquale Camerlengo did the choreography. It took us almost a week to figure out which parts of the music to use where."

Czisny opened with a triple Lutz and triple flip, both combined with a double toe loop (which earned +0.20 and +0.40 above their base values). That was followed by a +0.80 triple toe and a Level 4 Flying camel spin had such quality that all but one of the judges punched in +2. (One was out-of-line merely giving a +1.)

Czisny and her twin, Amber, who competed up to national junior level, always loved to spin. They would have daily competitions to see who could manage the most number of revolutions, and devise the most number of positions. It was an excellent foundation which serves her well in these days when such things are finally being appreciated.

After a +0.10 triple loop, her gorgeous split spiral gained two +3s and the rest of the judges gave +2. It was clearly the best in the competition and it earned her 4.29 points. (The next best spirals were presented by Zawadzki and Phaneuf, who were tied with 3.43 points. Competitors no longer do a spiral "sequence" but they do a "choreographic" spiral. Although it is not given a Level, the judges award a Grade of Execution added to or subtracted from its base value of 2 points.)

Czisny’s triple flip and double Axel earned +0.60 and +0.21. Then she committed her one mistake. She fell on a triple toe loop which was meant to be combined with a double toe and double loop. After her Level 3 +0.64 change foot combination spin and Level 2 +0.64, circular steps, she left the audience cheering her final element, an incomparable layback spin. It drew +3 GoEs from eight of nine judges. Who was Mr./Mrs Stingey who only gave +2? Own up and be slaughtered!

2 Total 165.00; FS 2. 107.10 (55.33+51.77) Ksenia Makarova was one of the only two competitors who did not fall. Skating to music from Evita, in a purple, one-sleeved outfit which was created by Johnny Weir’s dress maker, she earned the silver by a margin of 7.74 points, despite holding on to several landing with sheer brute force. "I have to have very dramatic eye make-up because I have to be very sexy and South American. But I’m only acting! And I have to suffer in my long. I like that. Last year I suffered in my Short Program. This year, I’m suffering in my Free. Of course, Evita died young. I don’t die. The ISU doesn’t like dying on the ice so I have a happy ending. My marks made me happy.

"I didn’t skate well in the Finlandia Trophy (three weeks prior to this event) but I just had to put that behind me and forget about it. The routine, which begins with the well known song Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, opened with a combination of two triple toe loops which earned +0.60 over its base value of 8.20. Then came a triple flip with a step out and a triple Lutz which got an "e" for wrong edge take-off.

Her layback spin was a good +0.64 Level 3. She skidded on the landing of the triple loop, set when the bonus marks click in, but held on although she was saddled with -0.90 off the base value. Then came her +0.30 three-jump combo of triple Salchow to double toe to double loop followed by a second triple Salchow to double toe which earned its base value but nothing extra and a +0.14 double Axel. Her last three elements were a Level 4 +0.29 change foot combination spin, Level 2 circular steps, and Level 3 flying sit spin which both earned +0.14.

3 Total 157.26; FS 4.101.96 (49.43+53.53 -1.0) Amélie Lacoste was delighted with her bronze up from sixth in this international last year. She has never before medaled in a Grand Prix event, junior or senior. Her Free routine, choreographed to four pieces from Rimski-Korsakoff’s Sheherezade (The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship; The Story of the Kalendar Prince; The Young Prince and Princess; and Festival at Baghdad) and created by Jeff Buttle, was judged only fifth best, but it was enough to pull her above Agnes Zawadski and onto the rostrum. "I’m so excited. It’s a big surprise," Lacoste said. "My goal coming here was the top five. It will build my confidence through the year. My performance was good. It’s a good start to the season."

Lacoste opened with two double Axels gaining +0.50 over this sequence’s 5.28 base value. The following move was meant to be a combination of two triple loops, but she put her hand down on the first jump and so couldn’t get airborne again. A good triple Lutz was up next and elicited an extra +0.40. Her flying sit spin was Level 4 and +0.57. She fell on a triple flip but the next five moves (Level 3 layback spin; triple toe to double toe, the choreo spiral, her second triple toe loop and Level 3 straight line steps) all went well with above zero GoEs. But she doubled her last jump, a Salchow. She rebounded with a Level 4 +0.43 change foot combination spin. Her next competition is Skate America.

4 Total 156.24; FS 7. 98.00 (42.96 + 57.04 -2.0) Even if you hadn’t witnessed the two falls, one look at Cynthia Phaneuf tense face at the of her four minutes made it obvious she was not pleased with her performance. "What can I say?" she asked the awaiting reporters. "I’m just so mad that I couldn’t put it all together. Even the jumps I landed, I wasn’t really feeling great. At the end, I told myself, ‘This is over.’ I knew others had skated well. I’m very disappointed in myself. I wasn’t on top of my legs for the entire program. Even in the warmup, I wasn’t feeling great. But that’s no excuse."

Having taken the lead after the SP, she skated last, interpreting Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, in a white sleeveless dress. There was no problem with her first move, a combination of triple toe loop to double toe loop to double loop, which earned +0.90 over its base value of 7.30. But then she fell on her triple Lutz, in which her landing foot seemed to miss the ice. The elements sheet listed her next move as a double Axel, but she did a triple loop to double toe loop which gained the base value without anything extra. A Level 3 change foot upright spin got an extra +0.57. But then she doubled a Salchow.

After her choreo spiral, she fell on her second triple Lutz Her next element was a single loop and the following double Axel got a negative -0.14. Her last three elements, a Level 3 flying sit spin, Level 2 straight line steps and Level 4 change foot combination spin all received positive GoEs but the ax had fallen. She was seventh in this section which brought her down to fourth overall, over a point behind Lacoste, her team mate. Summing up her disappointment, Phaneuf said, "I don’t think I will be doing Skate Canada next year."

5 Total 154.54; FS 3. 102.02 (55.71+47.31 -1.0) The 17-year old Haruka Imai from Tokyo, who had never competed in a Senior Grand Prix before, came out with no cares and obviously enjoyed herself performing to Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances to take third place in the Free and climb one place to fifth overall. She opened with a +0.40 double Axel to triple toe loop but the following triple Lutz received an "e" call for wrong edge take-off. A triple flip earned +0.50 over its base value but after a +0.43 Level 3 flying change foot combination spin, she collapsed and sat on the landing of her triple loop.

Bouncing right back up, after her choreo spiral, she executed a strained triple Salchow to double toe to double loop, which had -0.40 taken off its base value but had 10% added since this was after the half way mark. She added a double toe to the next jump, a triple loop, to make up for the one she couldn’t do after her fall. She was obviously tiring and rushing. A triple Salchow looked strained and got -0.40 subtracted. The Level 3 flying camel spin earned an extra 0.14 over its base. Her Level 2 steps got only their base value. And her concluding change foot combination spin earned an extra +0.36.

6 Total 154.35; FS 6. 98.06 (46.26+52.80 -1.0) Agnes Zawadzki presented a program which began and ended with Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate, with David Popper’s Hungarian Rhapsody in the middle. The routine didn’t go quite as planned. Zawadzki admitted, "I have to work on getting the elements more consistent. I feel ready to compete against the best. I just have to work harder.

Her coach, Tom Zakrajsek, was obviously disappointed with her showing. He said dryly, "Experience is often what you get only after you need it. She had a lot of adrenaline today, and she doesn’t know how to handle it quite yet. An experienced competitor knows and reacts to their body. Agnes’ showing was way below what she does in training every day."

Zawadzki dropped from third to sixth with a FS which was ranked sixth best. She started badly falling on a double Axel which was meant to be combined with a triple toe. Sensibly she added a double toe to her second jump, a triple flip, to make up a little of the lost points, although it would have been better if she’d done a triple. That, and the following Level 4 flying sit spin both earned half a point over their respective base values. However, then she did a double (instead of triple) Lutz to double toe. A Level 4 layback spin earned +0.86 over its base value.

Unfortunately, she then did a second double instead of triple Lutz. Back on track, her triple Loop had an extra 0.50 added to the base and a triple Salchow earned an extra +0.60. But then she couldn’t hold the landing of a triple toe which was to be the start of a 3-jump combination. She stepped forward which meant she couldn’t do the two double jumps. That resulted in the loss of a lot of points. Her final two moves were good, Level 2 + 0.43 straight line steps and Level 3 +0.79 change foot combination spin.

7 Total 152.05; FS 5. 100.43 (51.36+50.07) Myriane Samson, skating to Bohemian Rhapsody, who was 12^th in the 2008 Skate Canada, improved five places this time. She began with a +0.40 triple loop but then had a bad fall on a triple flip. She brought off a base value triple loop combined with two other double loops but her triple Lutz got an edge call and her remaining triples, a triple flip to double toe and a triple Salchow were flawed. Although her final spin was Level 4 and +0.29, her straight line steps were only Level 1.

8 Total 137.78; FS 8. 92.21 (45.30+46.91)Valentina Marchei, Italy, was one of only two competitors (along with Makarova) not to fall in this section. She skated to Johann Strauss’ music for Die Fledermaus.

9 Total 132.84; FS 10. 84.67 (38.54 + 47.13 -1.0) Fumie Suguri, who has been Japanese champion four times, ’97, ’01, ’02, ’03 & ’04, interpreted music by David Arkenstone, Song of Sheherezade, and Bagoa’s Dance from the soundtrack of Alexander played by Vangelis in deep blue baggy "harem" pants. She got "e" calls for her first triple Lutz which was combined with a double toe, and for her second Lutz attempt which turned into a single. A Salchow was doubled and her second triple flip was downgraded.

She said, in her soft voice, slowly contemplating how to best present her point of view, "This is my first competition of the season. I had hoped to skate in the Japan Open but I had a throat problem. I now have an idea of what I must work on and I look forward to my next competition."

10 Total 131.20; FS 9. 88.44 (47.08+42.36 -1.0) Sonia Fuente, skating to The Last Temptation of Christ by Peter Gabriel, completed a triple flip, triple loop, and triple toe to double toe, but she fell on her triple Salchow and two of her spins were only Level 1. She was ninth in the Free but was unable to advance from 10^th.

11 Total 125.64; FS 11. 84.62 (45.71+40.91 -2.0) Alexe Gilles skated to Tolga Kashif’s Adagio from The Queen Symphony and Nocturne from Bohemian Rhapsody by Paul Schwartz and Freddie Mercury, opening with a+0.60 triple Lutz to double toe. Last place is always a disappointing experience but it is an incredible achievement just to reach this level of competition. She is a lovely skater to watch although she didn’t fulfill her obvious potential in this performance, which must have been extremely frustrating for her coach, Tom Zakrajsek. The routine was packed with difficulty but there were three major flaws: a single instead of double Axel to triple toe and two falls, the first on a "one arrow" triple loop and the other on a two arrow triple Lutz .

The first fall was on a triple loop, which was given one arrow from the Technical Specialist, Lisa Ervin-Baudo, her assistant, Gilberto Viadana, who were supervised by the Australian Controller, Susan Lynch. The second was on a down-graded [two arrows] triple Lutz. (Ervin-Baudo, a vivacious blond 33 year-old, who was second in the US championships in 1993, made national news when she went on television to reveal her terrible eating problems as a competitor. "I was binging and throwing up or just not eating at all. The reason was simple. How quickly you turn in the air is a factor of size. So, you try to become like a pencil, with virtually no body at all."

2010 Skate Canada Ladies Medalists