by Sonia Bianchetti Garbato
The ISU Grand Prix Trophee Eric Bompard, held in Paris
on the 14th and 15th of November, was one of the worst figure skating events I
can remember.
Except for the top three finishers in men and ladies, and not even those in
pairs, the skating was just depressing, unwatchable according to some friends,
in both the short and free programs. Very few programs were clean and a lot were
marred with big falls.
No surprise, however. Only more and more depressing. Flawless, or even
relatively clean, is impossible nowadays. The sport has turned into a
combination of acrobatic movements more suitable to a circus than a skating
arena. The poor skaters are just rushing from one place to
another, their main objective being to stay upright, while repeating the same
few contortions required by the new judging system.
In all this mess, luckily, there were some bright spots that made my trip to
Paris worthwhile.
Joannie Rochette, Canada, who placed first, skated a beautiful and well
choreographed program, with elegance and flow. All her body and arms
movements are moderate to perfectly suit the music chosen, the Concierto de
Aranjuez by J.Rodrigo, which she expresses with feeling and heart. This is a
rare quality nowadays when most of the skaters, in all disciplines, just throw
their arms up and down like windmills to get more points. It is a real joy
watch her skate.
Mao Asada,Japan, did not skate at her best. She touched down in the triple Axel,
doubled a planned triple Loop and fell down in the trlple Salchow. She has a marvelous
straight line step sequence and excellent spins. Her program is
beautiful and well choreographed to her music, the Masquerade Waltz by
Khatchaturian, with the magic touch of Tatiana Tarasova. She really is a
great and talented skater.
Caroline Zhang, USA, skated very well, but not flawlessly. Some of her
jumps were considered not clean by the technical panel. Her spins are wonderful
and the flexibility of her spine is just amazing.
Patrick Chan, Canada, won the men's event. Although he made a few
errors, he was just marvelous. The way he moves his body and his arms is
outstanding. He has beautiful deep running edges in and out of all his
jumps, which are technically of high quality. He really lives the music. Each
movement has an exact meaning and perfectly expresses the character of the
beautiful selection of music by Sergei Rachmaninov he has chosen. In my opinion
Patrick Chan is a real natural talent with a bright future in front of him.
The silver medal went to Takahiko Kozuka, Japan. Except for a fall in his
opening quad toe-loop, he skated an excellent program filled with triple jumps
and jump combinations, good spins and step sequences, with excellent technique
and great speed. He is a very young talented and promising skater, with
consistency as well.
The third place went to Alban Preaubert, France. He was the only skater to
execute a quad toe-loop. In my opinion, his skating in general and
especially his choreography have much improved since last year.
Brian Joubert, France, placed only fourth. His skating was most disappointing,
both in short and free , with many errors and a fall in a triple/triple jump
combination. Definitely the Bompard Trophy is not a lucky event for him!
In the pairs, unfortunately, the skating was rather disappointing even among the
top three.
Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, Germany, did not skate as they can and
usually do. She badly fell on the throw triple Flip and singled the throw triple
Salchow. They both looked rather nervous.
The second place went to Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, Russia. They had
many failures and she fell in the triple Salchow. Their program, in my
opinion, has nothing to do with the music chosen and it is difficult to
understand what they want to express. Not to speak of her costume which I
would define as grotesque, to say the least. Perhaps somebody should
remind their coach, Oleg Vassiliev, who is also the appointed coach to the ISU
Figure Skating Committee, of Rule 500 of the ISU Special Regulations which reads
that "the clothing of the competitors, must be modest, dignified and
appropriate for athletic competition - not garish or theatrical in design."
The third place went to the Canadian couple Megan Duhamel and Craig Buntin, who,
in spite of a very bad accident, were brave enough to complete their free
program, and skated well. Their courage and determination deserves great
respect and appreciation.