Ladies

Starting Order - Short Program

Short Program

Notes:

There were several strong performances in the ladies short program, with Michelle Kwan leading the way.

Skating to an instrumental version of the Beatles's "A Day in the Life" which had a welcome bit of an edge to it, Kwan gave a nice upbeat performance which was a nice break from her tendency to pick heavy, safe pieces of music.  She landed triple Lutz - double toe loop, and a solo triple toe loop.  She received one mark of 6.0 in the second mark from the Russian judge.  Her costume was a vivid red with a design made of flesh colored cutouts.

Sarah Hughes gave strong performance also landing triple Lutz - double toe loop and triple flip.  It was a very pretty program, well presented.  Her combination spin of camel - sit - layback into camel - Baiul - half Biellmann was outstanding as was her circular step sequence.  On the technical side, her jumps seem a little stronger than at U.S. Nationals and her wrap is not quite as bad as it was then.    At this rate Hughes looks to be a strong medal contender at U.S. Nationals this year.

Elena Sokolova turned in a decent performance landing triple Lutz - double toe loop and triple loop.  Her main technical problem is a lack of flow out of her jumps which was most noticeable on both jumps in the combination.

Skating in a pale lavender dress Angela Nikodinov faded into the ice both visually and artistically.  She landed an opening triple Lutz - double toe loop and a triple flip only to then single the double Axel.  It was a costly and unnecessary error that cost her a place.

Starting Order - Free Skating

Final Results

Notes:

After debuting a new short program on Friday, Michelle Kwan presented a new free skating program, skating to "The Red Violin".  She landed six triple including triple toe loop - triple toe loop, a tool which has been absent from her arsenal for a long time.  The only technical error in her program was a fall on triple flip.   The flip has become a problem for her, which may account why she and coach Frank Carroll are resistant to including it in the short program.  (In the exhibition on Sunday she missed the triple flip again.)  The program was beautifully presented with an unusual vertical split sliding into the closing pose.  Like so many of her routines now, this is a heavy, serious piece of music - one that can be difficult to follow or enjoy for four minutes.  Nevertheless one cannot deny the skill with which it is brought to the ice regardless of how one feels about the concept of the program.   She received technical marks of 5.7 to 5.9 and presentation marks of 5.8 to 6.0 with the 6.0 coming from the Austrian judge - despite the fall.

Elena Sokolova moved up to second place in a program with four triples including triple Lutz - double toe loop, and triple loop - double toe loop.  She singles another Lutz attempt and landed two double Salchows and a double Axel.  Singling the Lutz was her only error and she skated with good speed and enthusiasm.

Julia Soldatova held third place.  She landed triple Salchow - double toe loop, triple Lutz - double toe loop, and a triple flip.  On a triple loop attempt she stepped out and then put her foot down.  Her program was fairly pretty and was fairly well sustained, and has more potential than what we saw here.  The margin of victory between the two Russian teammates came down to one triple and Sokolova's more complete presentation.

Sarah Hughs succumbed to the pressure and dropped to fourth place.  After placing an unexpected second in the short program in her first major senior competition she struggled with her jumps.  She fell on double Axel, triple flip, and triple Salchow.   She landed three triples (Lutz, loop, and a flip in combination) but even the jumps she landed suffered from timid landing edges.  She had very nice spins and good connecting elements and this is potentially a super program that could put her on the U.S. World Team.  Having experienced the "lesson"  a tougher competitor should emerge from this.

Angela Nikodinov gave a lackluster performance, doubling every jump but an opening triple flutz.  With a program that was boring and devoid of presence, Nikodinov has become the "poster-skater" for squandered talent.  At this rate she is likely to be bypassed this year by several younger skaters coming up in the U.S. ranks if some solution is not found for the malaise that inhabits her skating.

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