Daisuke Takahashi

He accomplished his triple flip to triple toe loop combination of jumps gaining a more than satisfactory +1 Grade of Execution (GOE). But he fell on his second move, the triple Axel. That meant he received the lowest possible GOE, -3, and a deduction of 1.0 for the fall. However, he still gained 4.50 points because he completed three full revolutions. All of his other moves got slight positive GOE’s including his triple Lutz. All three of his spins received Level 3 but both footwork sequences were only Level 2.

Kevin van der Perren, who lies second, gained a marginal 0.34 more for his element score but Takahashi, who performed to the soundtrack from Moulin Rouge, was rewarded with the top component scores. Takahashi is from Kurashiki, a historical town in Okayama Prefecture which is in the west of Japan. He is trained in the city of Okayama by Utako Nagamitsu.

Asked how he came to take up skating, Takahashi explained through an interpreter, "I was always crying and my parents became very worried about me. They decided I should take up sports to toughen me up. I wanted to skate so I started when I was eight."

He won the world junior championship in 2002. However, after winning the bronze in the Four Continents Championships earlier this year, he had a setback dropping four places in Moscow to 15^th from his standing the previous year in his debut at worlds at senior level.

"Since then, I finished school. I have worked much harder (with his hopes fueled by the hopes of making the Olympic team) and I also have a new choreographer." And who would that be? Why Nikolai Morosov, of course.

Takahashi performed immediately following one of the favorites, Brian Joubert, who also wasn’t perfect and lies fourth. Evan Lysacek is third.

Van der Perren has kept his fun 2 minute 50 second routine to Computergame by Safri Duo. The 23 year old from Belgium wore a snazzy black and silver shiny outfit with Exit written in large silver letters on his back and a red bent arrow over his right shoulder. He also sports a diamond and a silver stud in this left ear plus two silver studs in his right eyebrow. On him, it looks effective.

Van der Perren first caught the attention of fans with a stunning combination of three triple jumps, which scores highly in the new system. Though he did not then have a quad, he beat others who did. A reverse situation occurred in Atlantic City where he began with a quad toe to triple toe. "I’m very happy to have landed my first quad ever in competition in the short program. Tomorrow, I hope it’s going to work again. I didn’t put the quad in before because I did not want to do that until my triple Axel was solid. I didn’t want to mess up two elements."

Although he also landed his triple Axel on Thursday, he lost his edge stumbling soon afterwards. The judges harshly gave him a -1.40 GOE, but his misstep was not classed as a fall and so he did not get a deduction. He said he would have to concentrate better in the future. "I must tell myself, ‘It’s not over after the first jump." He was so excited that the combination had gone well. "I only got the quad in August."

Van der Perren’s triple Lutz gained a slight positive GOE. BUT his only Level 3 was for his first spin, a flying sit. Though he received a Level 2 for his final move, a change foot combination spin, both his step sequences were only Level 1 as was his change foot sit spin. It was these low levels which kept him out of first place, which he lost by only 0.31. He is trained by Vera Vandecaveye in the Belgian cities of Leuven and Deurne. His choreographer is former American ice dancer, Diana Goolsbey.

Van der Perren has been Belgian champion since 2000 and has competed in the European and world championships for the past six years. "I didn’t really start skating till I was quite old. Skating is such an expensive sport. My parents said, ‘Go play soccer with your brother because professional players make good money.’ But I didn’t want to do that. A group of people now give me support and I train with only a few others on the ice. I get ice for four hours a day. When I was younger, I liked having others around to push me but now I’m fine. I don’t need others to spur me on."

When he was 19, Van der Perren won the silver at the 2002 at the junior world championships, becoming the first Belgian to medal in an ISU championship for 54 years. He was 12^th in the Salt Lake Games and is looking forward to Turin in February. "I wasn’t nervous at those Olympics because I had to do so much to get there. The Belgian Olympic Association said I had to medal at a Grand Prix event and also come in the top 12 in Europe. I had to meet so many goals to get to Salt Lake so that when I did, I just relaxed and enjoyed myself.

He said he did about 50 quads a day "because your body has to get used to them." He later amended that statement. "I don’t count the number but I do lots." Isn’t that hard on his body? Van der Perren shrugged off the fear of injury. "I’m already injured. On my right side, I have a knee problem and on the left I have a heel problem and I also have back problems.

By placing eighth in the last worlds, Van der Perren qualified his country to send two men to the upcoming Olympics. Unfortunately, his tiny country does not have a suitable second entry much to the joy of the man who finished seventh in Vienna last week. There were initially only six spots left on the Olympic team which were decided on the results of the Karl Schaefer Memorial competition. When the head of the Belgian Association gave back their unneeded second spot, Zoltan Toth of Hungary, got his chance for the Olympics.

Lysacek¸ who skated first of the 12 men from nine countries, performed to Vamos a Bailar by the Gypsy Kings in a red blousy V-necked top trimmed in silver and black pants. He put a lot of effort into the program but looked relieved at the end at having completed his eight elements. "Was I relieved? I suppose so. My warm-up wasn’t very good. I definitely wanted to stay on my feet and I did that but no, I don’t think the showing was enough to win the short." His score was only 1.35 behind first place.

"Today is the first time I’ve performed that short so I’m still learning. I think for this time out I felt pretty comfortable with it. My plan is not to be perfect at the beginning of the season, so hopefully things will keep improving and it will get better and better. I’m not anywhere near my peak. I want my peak form at nationals. My main focus now is staying healthy.

"I’m reading the book, What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, and it’s about positive affirmation. One of the stories in the book is about this person who had never bowled before. He wrote on his hand, ‘I bowl strikes.’ And just said it over and over and over again and he bowled a perfect game. So I wrote on my hand, ‘I skate clean programs’ and just kept saying it today and I think it helped me stand up on the triple Axel."

That sort of positive affirmation is more generally accepted on a visual level. Most coaches have their pupils mentally picture themselves going through a perfect program either while playing the music, or imagining the accompaniment.

However, the hand note obviously worked for Lysacek, who won the silver medal in the world junior championships a disappointing three times. In Atlantic City, his opening move, the triple Axel, was landed with the weight a little too forward and only held with a great deal of determination and muscle power, which resulted in a -1 GOE. His other elements, including the triple Lutz to triple toe loop and triple flip from footwork, were all accomplished well. Two of his three spins were Level 3 and the other a Level 2.

The 20 year old world championship bronze medalist, who is trained by Frank Carroll and Ken Congemi in El Segundo, CA, had a shaky outing two weeks ago at the Campbells Invitational event. He finished sixth in a field of six there after two footing his opening jump, the quad toe, and falling twice in St. Paul in the free skating only event. Paul.

"I feel a lot more pressure, even from myself, to succeed this year and surpass the results that I had from last year. I’ve been working hard but actually I’ve been getting a little bit nervous the last two competitions. I rose quickly to the elite group of skaters. It’s tough to stay up there and everyone kind of wants to knock you down. I didn’t deal with that last year because I had nothing to loose then."

Asked to evaluate his pupil, Carroll said, "It’s very hard for me to look at one of my own skaters. The triple Axel was not landed as well as he could but he had good energy. I’d like to see him do a quad in the short. He’s a little better than last year. He’s improving with time. He needs to learn to chill out and go for it. He’s got to get on the ice looking like a tiger. Figure skating is a big head game. He has to think, ‘I am the killer.’ He can do that when he feels totally confident.

"Now competition is more math than it is skating. Lots of aspects have been made better but you lose a little of the musicality. You are required to do all your turns in the first 30 percent of your foot work, but maybe the music doesn’t call for that. The girls are all doing the same spiral sequence in the short and the long because they’ve learned what gets the most points. That is less interesting for the public. And there are still some very strange values. For instance, an inside Axel is not given any value but a half loop is considered a jump. And it’s impossible to fully make sure the system is fair. Human beings are still pushing the pluses and minuses. There’s always going to be some error if humans are doing it."

Joubert, who was runner-up for the world title in 2004, was a substantial 6.22 points behind the leader. The Frenchman put his hand down on the quad toe loop and so was only able to get airborne for a double toe, and his triple Axel was low. Both moves got a -2.0 GOE. Then, in his Level 1 straight line step sequence, he fell.

Tim Goebel, skating to Sing, Sing, Sing in a blue sparkly top with black suspenders, untied tie, and black pants had a problem singling his triple Axel in the warm-up but managed this feat in the routine which began badly when he fell on his quad Salchow attempt which was downgraded to a triple. He lies sixth behind the second French entry, Yannick Ponsero who was last to skate.

Dennis Phan, a 20 year old, from Riverside, CA, who is trained by Tammy Gambill, lies seventh only one place but a large 4.80 points behind former US champion, Tim Goebel, who is sixth.