The raspberry twist is a signature move for Ilia Malinin. It is
a dramatic jump used as a connecting move in both the short
program and free skate. But what is it? So much is
happening, and is so unexpected, it is hard to say looking in
real time.
While included in both programs the executions differ slightly.
In the short program the pattern is counterclockwise and the
jump is exited with several turns and steps. In the free
skate the pattern is clockwise and the jump is exited with steps
into twizzles on the right foot. In both programs the jump is
executed in the same place on the ice.
The following YouTube slideshow provided stop motion images from
Malinin's two programs at 2024 Skate America.
The jump entry begins with steps and turns ending with a LFO to LBI
three turn. The skater then taps with the right foot and
pre-rotates a bit more than 1/3 of a rotation. As he is taking
off, the right leg kicks back and up. This propels the
skater into a lateral position nearly parallel to the ice.
There are then a bit more than 1 1/2 rotations in the air.
For this jump, the pre-rotation is not a part of cheating the
jump as pre-rotation is in other cases. Rather, the turn
to mostly forwards with the right leg back puts the skater into a position
that allows the right leg to be kicked back and up to change the
air orientation.
The jump lands on a LBI edge. The free foot
toe is quickly put
down on the ice. In the short program the exit consists of
double threes on the left foot, a step from LBI to RFI, a RFI to
RBO three turn, then a
hop and tap from RBO onto RFI.
In the free skate the exit instead has the free foot put down on
its edge and then the skater rotates one half rotation on widely
spaced two
feet. He then steps into twizzles on the right foot.
Putting the free foot down rather than gliding out of the
landing is driven by the fact the lateral air position causes
the weight of the skater to be forward of the left toe on the
landing. Putting the right foot down is necessary to
prevent the skater from falling forward on the landing.
So what does all that make this jump?
There is a LBI takeoff with right foot tap, two rotations from
the tap to landing and a LBI landing on one foot. This meets the
definition of a one foot double flip, with variations including a lateral air
orientation and loose air position. Another variation from
a standard flip is that in a standard flip the entry leg leaves
the ice first followed by the tapping leg. In this case
that is reversed, with the pre-rotation taking place on two
feet.
Since the rules allow
jumps to be landed on either foot, strictly speaking this
could be considered a listed jump with a 2F base value.
But since it is executed after all other jumps elements, whether
it is or is not is irrelevant to the scoring.
An alternate view, given the near forward position at takeoff
of the left leg, which leaves the ice last, and the 1 1/2 rotations in the air, this could be considered a
one foot single Axel with a unique entry and lateral air orientation. However, the
skater never really establishes a forward outside edge before
the takeoff, the usual takeoff skid is missing, the free leg is
not swung through on the takeoff, and the lift of the jump comes
from the use of both legs on the ice, which most importantly is never the case for an Axel
- thus our conclusion that dynamically the jump is a flip variation which is
purposely pre-rotated part of a turn to allow an alternate use
of the tapping leg in assisting the takeoff and changing the air
orientation, and not an Axel
variation. Note also, by the way, that a one foot Axel is
also a listed jump.
Whatever you call it, it is a spectacular moment in each
program.
2024 NHK Trophy
Tokyo, JPN
7 - 10 November 2024
Report
2024 Grand Prix de France
Angers, FRA
31 October - 3 November 2024
Report
2024 Skate Canada International
Halifax, NS, CAN
24-27 October 2024
Report
2024 Skate America
Allen, Texas, USA
17-20 October 2024
Preview
Report
Loena Hendrickx: “My love of the sport is just too big to quit”
by Tatjana Flade
Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx has made
history more than once and is the most successful skater from
her country. She is a European Champion, two-time World
medalist, Grand Prix Final medalist, Grand Prix event Champion …
However, there is more to her career than just medals. Loena had
to overcome many challenges on her way to the top and she is a
role model for young skaters from all over the world.
The off-season was busy for Loena with
shows for example in Japan, Canada and a visit in Paris during
the Olympic Games – including some roller skating around the
Eiffel Tower. Obviously, the preparation for the new season and
the work on new programs continued nevertheless. Hendrickx
revealed her new music in July: For the Short Program, she
picked the jazzy “Black and Gold” by Brenna Withaker and for the
Free “Believe” by Madilyn Bailey. Her long-time choreographer
Adam Solya once again created these programs for her.
The process of creating a new program
takes some time from the selection of the music to fine-tuning
every detail. “Jorik was already searching music before Worlds
and was putting on different kind of styles on the ice,” Loena
said about the Short Program. “We immediately liked the song,
the kind of style as well. It's also a style that I've never
done before, but it's also not as crazy as last year because
that was really a different style.”
The editing of the music plays an
important part as well, to enhance it and to make sure it
perfectly suits Loena’s skating. Hendrickx and her brother and
coach Jorik as well as Solya have been working together with
music designer Hugo Chouinard from Canada. It is not always easy
when everyone is in a different time zone like this April, when
Loena was in Europe, Jorik attended a camp in Australia and
Chouinard was at home in Canada.
For her Free Skating, the European
Champion was looking for a softer, more lyrical style this time.
“For the free now I want to put more attention on my skating
skills because the Vogue program was a lot with the arms and it
took away a bit of my skating skills,” she explained. “The
attention was really on the vogueing. In the free program we
want to show to everyone that I don't have to hide my skating
skills behind the choreography so that's something we want to
focus on.
“It's the feedback from the audience,
from skating people. They were telling me that I try to hide
myself behind the choreo because my programs are full of choreo.
However, that is what makes a program way harder to skate. If
you don't have so much choreo, a free program is easier to
skate. With a lot of choreo, it's harder for your condition, the
breathing. I think many people in the audience don't really know
this part because they think I try to hide my skating skills.
But that's not what it is, it's just to make my program even
harder. So now I just want to show them something else. This is
what I like to do from the beginning on - I just tried to go out
of my comfort zone, show them that I'm not only a skater who can
skate on one type of music.
I want to show as well that I'm very open for any style.”
Winning the European title was a big
goal that Hendrickx achieved last January. “I think I was living
towards this goal for two years now because last year Europeans
(2023) I didn't accomplish my goal,” the 24-year-old commented.
“So this year I really felt that I really had to go for it.
Living two years towards one goal is just very tiring for my
body. Also mentally it was very hard and I started the (past)
season with a lot of hesitations because the summer wasn't easy
for me. I lost a lot of jumps and I lost the confidence and I
was training and training and it didn't happen so there was a
few moments that I was hesitating if I ever could come back to
my level but because of the love of the sport I just never gave
up. I just continued and continued and then I had on my mind -
if the first competition didn't go as I was hoping then maybe
it's just over but then I did a very good first competition.
First Japan Open and then also Skate America so I was like, okay
I still got it.”
When there are problems and
difficulties, it is important to analyze what caused them in
order to avoid them in the future. Loena believes that she was
not used to do so many shows which eventually led to her
struggling in training.
“Now I know what I have to do when I'm at the shows. At that
moment I was like okay I'm doing shows and I will fully live my
life and enjoy everything. I will eat whatever I want and just
do whatever I want. No I just know that that it's not like that.
If you still want to be in shape the next year you have to pay
attention to everything even in the off –season,” the European
Champion noted.
“If I just train in the off –season, then I can eat whatever
I want but not when the training load is much less than
normally. It's not that I was gaining a lot of weight but my
muscles went down and the fat went up - so it was a bit the same
level of weight but it was in a different way. So I think that
was the thing when I started (full training) I gained muscles
again and then that's when I became heavier and I had to lose
weight again, lose the fat and it was hard but I I managed to do
it. I also heard a lot of people who were doing the shows that
they also struggled with this and that they now know how to deal
with it.”
“Then Europeans came and I accomplished
my goal,” Loena continued. There was a new challenge before the
World Championships as the skater suffered from a hip injury.
She won the Short Program and eventually finished fourth.
“Actually Worlds was beyond my
expectations because the week before I was hesitating to come
because I couldn't train,” Hendrickx noted. “I wasn't ready at
all for it but I just wanted to be there and enjoy the
competition and then I skated my short and didn't know what
happened at that moment. That was great, it was just mind
-blowing also for me because it was just not what I expected as
I really had a hard time going into Worlds. With the injury I
didn't have enough practice but I knew for a short program it's
still okay. I've had all the practices before so it's not that I
didn't work for it. However, if you didn't do run-throughs, the
short program is still easy to do clean. So I was sure that I
could do a good short program but I didn't expect it was that
good and then because of that I got a lot of hope. However, I
knew in the back of my head that it would be impossible to do a
good free program. I think after all I can be very happy and I'm
very proud of myself that I still accomplished to be fourth
because before I wasn't even sure if I could go.”
Even with all the success she had,
Hendrickx stays motivated to train hard and to continue to
compete at the highest level.
“I think my love of the sport is just too big to just quit
and I cannot imagine a life without skating, without training at
the moment”, she shared. “Sometimes it's hard because I'm
getting older, my body is getting older as well, everything is
harder. When I was much younger I didn't have to warm up and I
could do triples on the ice immediately but everything changed.
Now I really have to warm up to be able to do just double jumps.
That's just how it goes when you're getting older. Everything is
more sore and you don't feel your body if it's not warmed up.”
In the past few years figure skating
has started to change with more young women and less tiny
teenagers at the top. The ISU has gradually raised the minimum
age to 17 for senior-level competitions and Russia that used to
put out every year a new wunderkind has been banned since the
invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Among the top ten women at
the 2024 World Championships, seven were 18 years or older and
three of these seven (Kaori Sakamoto, Loena Hendrickx, Amber
Glenn) were over 20.
Hendrickx is happy about this development. “I think it's
nicer to watch it because they're real women and for me I also
admire them more because at the moment now I know how hard it
is,” she pointed out. “When I was young, I didn't realize it. It
didn't matter if there was a 16-year-old girl or a 24-year-old
girl, for me was the same. But now I'm getting older and I just
know and I also feel how hard it is and that's why I also admire
it more. I also think you can really see all the experience they
have and you can see the difference between a less experienced
skater and an experienced skater.”
Looking ahead, Loena has set new and
different goals for herself. “For me the main goal for next
season is that I just want to enjoy the competitions more,” she
said. “I want to try to put less pressure on myself because I
did accomplish almost everything I want and I think it's hard to
accomplish even more. Of course, I still want to be at the top,
but I think I've accomplished already so much that I just have
to enjoy the sport more. I want to be more like Jason (Brown).
He used to feel like ‘I have to be at the top of the US’ and ‘I
have to go to worlds and this and that’. And now he's open
-minded about it and just wants to enjoy and it works. So that's
what I want to do for next year and still get good results.”
For now, Loena Hendrickx has been
assigned to the ISU Grand Prix events in Angers, France and in
Helsinki, Finland.
U.S. Elite Set for Skate America
by Liz Leamy
Ilia Malinin
Ilia Malinin, the reigning World champion, 2023 World bronze
medalist, 2024 ISU Grand Prix Final victor, 2023 and 2024
U.S. titlist and 2022 U.S. silver medalist, is looking to
make a bold mark at the 2024 Skate America Championships
that will be held at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center
in Allen, Texas next week.
Malinin, in his characteristic golden style, is poised to
once again deliver the goods in the men’s showdown at this
celebrated annual event that will be held from October
18th through October 20th and represents the kick-off of six
Grand Prix competitions held all around the world from
October to November and concluding with a final in December
in Grenoble, France.
For this remarkable 19 year-old athlete who lives in Vienna,
Virginia and trains in Reston, Virginia with his parents,
Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina, both of who are
former World and Olympic contenders, the primary goal is to
do his best and continue evolving on all levels.
“The competition is between myself and I see it as I’m on my
own and not against anyone else,” said Malinin in a
pre-Skate America media teleconference. “I really try to
focus on myself and there’s always a lot more work to do in
everything and I always have that mindset where I try to be
better and better.”
Certainly, this mindset has been quite effective for Malinin
who, over the past few years, has racked up an incredible
list of world and national titles with his remarkable
library of explosive and lightning-quick quads, including a
quad Axel (of which he has made history with) as well as for
his electric skating style and compelling series of
programs.
“I always tell myself ‘you’ve got to trust the training’ and
then ‘you’ve have to trust what your coaches say and make
sure you attack everything 100 percent,’” said Malinin.
Malinin, meanwhile, said he is super excited to compete at
Skate America next week.
“I’m just very excited to be going to Skate America next
week,” said Malinin. “I’ve been training really hard and
working really hard on improving the programs and improving
all my abilities so I’m ready for the Grand Prix series.”
This season, Malinin plans to skate to ‘Running’ by NF for
his short and ‘I’m Not a Vampire’ by Falling in Reverse for
his free program, both of which were choreographed by Shae-Lynn
Bourne, the Canadian World dance champion and renowned ice
artisan and which is he amped about.
“I’m really satisfied with the programs and really enjoy
skating [them,” said Malinin.
Clearly, the creative connection between Malinin and Bourne
is an effective one.
“Working with Shae-Lynn, it’s pretty incredible,” said
Malinin. “From the first time I worked with her, it was
pretty obvious I really enjoyed the process and being able
to collaborate with her during the programs.”
Malinin further elaborated on their collaborative dynamic
when creating programs.
“I’ve always had ideas of my own and she has hers,” said
Malinin. “So when we do the program, we kind of play around
with things until they look cool and feel comfortable for
me.”
Notably this season, Malinin plans to feature a back flip in
his free skate, an element that was ratified by the ISU in a
recent ruling to be allowed in competition.
“It does add another big surprise to the program and gives
the same energy as if I were to add a quad jump,” said
Malinin. “When I first did it in Sun Valley [last summer],
it was pretty magical.”
Malinin, who had been involved in gymnastics from ages three
to eight, said he has been in the habit of doing back flips
for a while.
“When I was younger I first had gymnastics experience from
three to eight years old and it became muscle memory,” said
Malinin. “It’s definitely something that keeps me chasing.
It’s always on my mind to give ways to level it up in the
future, adding a twist or some crazy combination.”
Conclusively, Malinin talked about the inspiration he got
from having performed at the celebrated Dreams on Ice show
in Japan this past summer as he has a philosophy of
approaching each show and competition ‘one event at a time.’
“At the beginning of the summer, I went to Dreams on Ice
which was pretty cool,” said Malinin. “I’m just taking it
one event at a time.”
Chock and Bates
Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the 2023 and 2024 World
champions, three-time World medalists, five-time U.S.
titlists and 2022 Olympic gold medalists in the team event
are the lead U.S. dance couple entering Skate America.
“We’re extremely excited about kicking off our season at
Skate America,” said Chock. “It’s become somewhat of a
tradition of the season and we’ve been working really hard
on our new material, crafting it over the springtime amidst
all the travel and busy schedule.”
Clearly, Chock and Bates seem to be as masterful at managing
time as they are with their skating especially in
considering how effectively they have been navigating some
major events that have taken place in their lives over
recent months while also maintaining an intensive training
on-ice schedule.
Notably, two major life events Chock and Bates have
experienced over the past several months include their
dazzling wedding that was held in Hawaii in June and the
fact they were awarded the 2022 Olympic U.S. Figure Skating
Team gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games in July.
In tandem with these life-changing experiences, this
remarkable and radiant duo has all the while maintained a
steady training regimen in which they have been able to
continue to build, evolve and further raised their already
stellar skating standard.
Since winning a second consecutive World Championship title
in Montreal last March, Chock and Bates have been working as
hard as ever to keep raising their bar both technically and
artistically to further indicate why they have achieved such
astounding success in their competitive careers to date.
Essentially, for Chock and Bates, the primary goal is to
share the experience of their skating with others through
their programs, which always been consistently compelling,
fresh and innovative each season since they achieved premier
national and world status starting in the 2011, when they
first started skating together.
“We’re really excited about the programs we crafted that we
did with our team in Montreal and cannot wait to share them
with everyone,” said Chock. “We just feel like we’re so
inspired and just feel like we’re really finding new things
about our skating that we have been looking for and wanted
to work on. So, it feels really great to keep finding that
improvement and self growth, so that’s what’s keeping us
going.”
For the Rhythm Dance this season, the duo will be skating to
a lively music medley of selections from the 50s, 60s, and
70s such as the ‘Hawaii Five-O’ theme, ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by
the Bee Gees and ‘Last Dance’ by Donna Summer, among other
classic pieces.
“There’s so much music to choose from and so many different
ideas that we had. So we ended up doing a medley and really
trying to showcase the evolution of dance as we see it and
kind of touching the American culture aspect of where these
dances came from,” said Bates. “We’re trying to stay true to
this era and it has been really fun for us.”
Chock and Bates also gave big props to their music editor,
Hugo Chouinard, for formulating this program’s memorable
audio composition.
“We have to give a big shout out to the music maestro, Hugo,
because he’s created a really cool, fun and energetic mix of
tunes from those three decades,” said Bates.
For the free dance, Chock and Bates will be skating to
JuJu’s vocal version of the famous jazz classic, ‘Take Five’
by Dave Brubeck.
“It’s a very moody and jazz-inspired kind of theme,” said
Chock. “We were very inspired by the idea of Lady Luck and
making your own luck and how it kind of goes into this
American dream of your will of creating your own luck as
well. It’s kind of like using your luck to your own
benefit.”
In regard to costumes for the free dance, Chock and Bates
said they were inspired by the art deco design, structural
beauty and spirit of the Empire State Building and Statue of
Liberty.
“We were inspired by the idea of the American dream and what
could be more inspiring than the Empire State Building and
all of its art deco facets as well as the beauty of the
Statue of Liberty,” said Chock. “It’s really about the
seamlessness, spontaneity and creativity of jazz as music
and Lady Luck and that whole energy.”
For Chock and Bates, it’s all about expressing their love of
skating and also life itself through their on-ice
narratives, something they view as the heart and soul of all
that they do and that requires great dedication, energy and
work.
“We’ve been so fortunate to have longevity in our career,
but it also poses a challenge where you want to come out
with fresh material every year,” said Bates. “We take pride
and joy in crafting new elements year after year.”
Isabeau Levito
Isabeau Levito, is the 2024 World silver medalist, 2023 U.S.
Champion, two-time U.S. bronze medalist and 2022-2023 ISU Grand
Prix Final silver medalist.
Regarded to be one of the most balletic and enigmatic
skaters in the sport today, as well as one of its fiercest
and most formidable contenders, Levito has been steadfastly
preparing for the new season and has been especially amped
up ever since she scored silver at the 2024 World
Championships, that is for certain.
This talented and driven 17 year-old Mount Holly, New Jersey
native, in fact, has been as focused as ever since that
time, as she has been rigorously training all aspects of her
skating in terms of her technicality and artistry at the
Igloo Ice Rink in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, which is about a
15 minute drive from her home.
“I’m excited to start the season and I feel well trained,”
said Levito. “I feel very excited going into Skate America.”
Levito, who plans to skate to ‘Moon River’ the compelling
Henry Mancini piece from the ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’
classic film soundtrack for her short, and then to ‘Liebestraume’
by Franz Liszt for her free skate program this season, said
she is feeling as confident as ever due her stellar results
at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal last March.
“Being the World silver medalist definitely came with some
confidence,” said Levito. “I’m just excited to skate my
best.”
Levito further elaborated on each of her programs.
“I feel very classy and I really love it,” said Levito about
her short program.
Levito then spoke about the inspiration for her free skate.
“When we listened to the music, I thought of the Primavera
statue in Sanremo, Italy, and it’s very stirring,” said
Levito, referencing the breathtaking Primavera (spring)
symbol of liberty statue created by Tuscan artist Vincenzo
Pasquali in Sanremo between 1924 and 1926 that is located on
the famous seafront waterfront promenade of this famous
locale known as the ‘City of Flowers.’ “I really like the
concept of this program. The choreography is very statuesque
where I hit a lot of poses and it’s kind of like a statue
coming to life.”
Ultimately, for Levito, it’s all about building and moving
forward with all things related to skating.
“I want to just keep building up my accomplishments and live
up to what I did last season too,” said Levito.
Summer Sizzler Event a Golden Showcase Headlined by
America’s Premier Skaters
by Liz Leamy
(27 August 2024) America’s premier skaters, including Ilia Malinin, the
2024 World champion, 2023 World bronze medalist and two-time
U.S. titlist, Madison Chock & Evan Bates, the 2024 and
2023 World titlists, 2022 Olympic Team Event gold medalists
and five-time U.S. champion, Isabeau Levito, the 2024 World
silver medalist, 2023 U.S. titlist and two-time U.S. bronze
medalist, Jason Brown, the nine-time ISU Championship Grand
Prix medalist, 2015 U.S. champion, seven-time U.S. medalist
and 2014 Olympic Team Event bronze medalist and Amber Glenn,
the 2024 U.S. gold medalist and two-time ISU Championship
Grand Prix medalist, along with many more of the country’s
top contenders in singles, dance and pairs, all convened at
the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts this
August to participate in its first annual Summer Sizzler.
This unforgettable show was held Thursday August 15th as
part of the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Champs Camp at the
Skating Club of Boston and drew more than 2,000 spectators,
most of who had traveled amidst torrential rainy weather to
cheer on the remarkable work and skills of this incredible
group of athletes.
For U.S. Figure Skating, this event represented a
benchmark moment being that it marked the first time ever in
which participants of the Annual Champs Camp had performed
their programs and skills in front of a live audience in a
show format.
“I’m really excited to get to perform my program and have
some audience feedback,” said Brown, whose dramatic short
program to ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ which he plans to use for
the 2024/25 season was a big hit with the crowd. “We love
the sport, we love to perform.”
In addition to Chock & Bates, Malinin, Levito, Glenn
and Brown, this show’s roster also featured Alysa Liu, the
2022 World bronze medalist and two-time U.S. champion, Ellie
Kam and Danny O’Shea, the 2024 U.S. titlists, Maxim Naumov,
the 2020 U.S. junior champion and 2024 U.S. fourth-place
finisher, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, the
two-time U.S. Championship medalists, Starr Andrews, the
2022 Skate Canada silver medalist, Jimmy Ma, the nine-time
U.S. Championship contender, Logan Higase-Chen, the 2024
U.S. junior ladies champion, Josephine Lee, the 2024 U.S.
silver medalist and the Skating Club of Boston’s Theatre on
Ice Overture of Boston Team, among other notable performers.
Photo courtesy of Janet Liu and Skating Club of Boston
For the athletes, this event served as a vital part of
the whole week-long Champs Camp experience, in which they
had also participated in an extensive series of on and
off-ice training sessions and seminars with their coaches
and U.S. Figure Skating officials and committee members to
help further optimize their skating and programs going into
the 2024/25 competitive season.
“We’re all benefiting from the support we get at Champs
Camp,” said Chock, whose gorgeous 2024 gala program with
Bates to Melody Gardot’s ‘Once I Was Loved’ was also a
rousing hit with spectators. “It’s a great opportunity for
everyone to keep learning and growing.”
Bates echoed similar sentiments.
“I was certainly pretty excited yesterday when we got
here and saw the group of skaters and it’s really
inspiring,” said Bates. “I mean, maybe it is a touch of
nostalgia, just the fact that we’ve grown up with Champs
Camp every August. “There’s something about that, like you
know, back to school, feeling the end of the summer and
getting new programs vetted among all the other exciting
stuff.”
These athletes also expressed palpable excitement about
the fact that Champs Camp was held in Boston, the site of
the 2025 World Championships.
“I think it’s pretty cool to kind of feel the environment
here and really get to know the people here and see just how
[everything] might look in the bigger venues,” said Malinin,
who wowed the crowd with his dramatic 2024 season gala
program to NF’s ‘Hope.’
Note: Amber Glenn skated to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Vampire,’
her 2023/24 gala program, while Isabeau Levito performed her
2024/25 short program to ‘Swan Lake,’ both of which were
also memorable as well as terrific hits with the audience.
Performing at the 2024 Summer Sizzler were:
Patrick Blackwell
Sofia Jarmoc & Luke Witkowski
Jimmy Ma
Jinna Han
Annabelle Morozov & Jeffrey Chen
Sophie Jolie Von Felten
Skylar Lautowa Peguero
Eva Pate & Logan Bye
Josephine Lee
Ian Somerville
Logan HigaseChen
Starr Andrews
Theatre on Ice Overture of Boston Team
Ashley Cain
Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarkenko
Alysa Liu
Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov
Maxim Naumov
Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea
Amber Glenn
Jason Brown
Isabeau Levito
Ilia Malinin
Madison Chock & Evan Bates
Prior to the show several of the performers took
questions from the media on various topics.
On Champs Camp and the Summer
Sizzler Show
Brown: “It’s been so fun [Champs Camp]. The whole point
of it is to show our programs and get feedback from the
judges. It was a lot of different work with so many moving
parts. I’m really excited to get to perform my program and
have some audience feedback. I mean, we love the sport, we
love to perform.”
Chock: “We’re all benefiting from the support that we
get at Champs Camp. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to
keep learning and growing.”
Bates: “I was certainly pretty excited yesterday when we
got here and saw the group of skaters and it’s really
inspiring. I mean, maybe it is a touch of nostalgia, just
the fact that I mean, I can say we’ve almost grown up with
Champs Camp every August. There’s something about that, like
you know, back to school, feeling the end of summer and
getting the programs vetted amongst all the other exciting
stuff.”
Glenn: “Champs Camp is kind of the first time that all
of us come together and we only get a few opportunities a
year to do that, so it’s been great to see everyone.”
Levito: “I love seeing everyone, the athletes and U.S.
Figure Skating staff and all of the people. It’s great.”
Malinin: “I think it’s pretty cool to kind of feel the
environment here and really get to know the people here and
see just how [everything] might look in the bigger venues.”
On their skating, training and new programs as they head
into the 2024/25 season:
Malinin: “What’s motivating me this season is wanting to
kind of push my limit again and not only with technical
ability, but also in artistry and creativity and trying to
really go for all aspects of skating this year.”
“I think I’m just trying to explore all types of genres
and to try to go to somewhere outside to really just see
what I can accomplish and whichever ways fit me best and is
the most comfortable for me to perform.”
Chock: “We’ve just hit the running as soon as we got back
from the tour and started making new material, so I think
we’re in a very good place for this point in the season and
we’re really happy with the programs. I think we started a
little earlier knowing that we had something big on the
calendar for June.” (Chock and Bates got married in June.)
Bates: “We came right back (after the Worlds tour) and
tried to make the most of each day and get our choreography
done earlier in the spring knowing that we had the wedding.”
Chock: “For us, it’s the connection. We want to keep
fostering on the ice and optimizing our speed and the
efficiency of our movement.”
Bates: “I think we like to go to the drawing board and
try to pick the music and concept and try to just not
retrace our steps a little bit. So picking music this year
feels a lot different that what we’ve done at least in the
past year or two and was a big priority for us. So we feel
like the programs are fresh for us, which is really
something that we value a lot.”
Bates: “We’re really big on self improvement and just
trying to find every little iota of improvement that we can
find within ourselves.”
Glenn: “My short program (to Janet Jackson’s ‘This Time’)
is very fun. It’s very sassy. It’s something I’m absolutely
thrilled about. It’s very different from what you might
expect when you think of figure skating, especially in
women’s singles. And the free skate (to music by Sound
Machine) is something I’m really looking forward to. It’s a
beautiful, mesmerizing piece that starts off kind of quiet
and builds into this huge finish. I feel like it’s very
exciting and theatric. Our goal was to just be able to put
out a great performance in general, along with some very
difficult technical content.”
Levito: “[My programs this year] are both music that I
love very much and I just enjoy skating to these types of
music. I decided to skate to something I just l love very
much for this season.”
Brown: “I’m skating to ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ (for the
short). I competed it at two events last year and didn’t
give myself enough time to train it. So we decided to go a
different route for the (2024) U.S. Championships (with his
memorable ‘The Impossible Dream’ from ‘Man of La Mancha’
free skate), but it’s a piece of music that I still really
loved and I wanted to see if I could still use it and see it
through in a different way, so we kind of reimagined it as a
short program.”
Brown: “I’m still doing what I love and still getting to
perform in front of crowds and improving and chasing goals
and dreams. I keep wanting to explore different styles of
music. That’s a very big motivator. I always trying to
improve my lines and challenge myself and that’s really the
biggest factor now and then using this season almost as a
guide in some ways of how to manage next season.”
On the 2024 Summer Olympics
Malinin: “Watching the Olympics, it was a very cool
event. I was very inspired by a lot of the events, watching
gymnastics, it was a pretty amazing event and even
skateboarding. I like to ride around on my skateboard. I
wish I was as good as them, but it’s just very fun to watch
them, you know, do a lot of cool tricks. And of course, the
new addition of breakdancing. I really enjoyed it. I mean, a
lot of the competitors, I really like their own style and
they always have something unique they bring, which is kind
of why I take inspiration from breakdancing. They find their
own style and I try to incorporate that in my skating.”
Chock and Bates (who had received their gold medal for
the 2022 Winter Olympic Figure Skating Team event at the
2024 Paris Summer Olympics earlier in August.)
Bates: “We brought both sets of parents, aunts and uncles
on both sides, my brother and his family and my nieces. We
had a huge group and it was, I mean it was amazing and it
was better than we could have imagined. We were [part] of
the whole team, back together for the first time in two
years and just the whole atmosphere in Paris was
incredible.”
Chock: “We were also so inspired by the Summer Olympics,
just seeing all the athletes in different venues and being
at the Olympics fully in spirit was incredibly infectious.”
Glenn: “There was so much [with the] behind the scenes
and characteristics to different people and different
stories and I felt so much more invested than ever and it
made me excited. It made me just all the more motivated and
excited to try and make it to Italy.”
(The 2026 Winter
Olympics are slated to be held in Milano/Cortina, Italy.)
USA and Japan Received Olympic Team Medals for 2022
by Tatjana Flade
(8 August 2024) The end of an (almost) endless story.
Finally, on August 7, 2024 the time had
come at the Champions Park in Paris at the Summer Olympic Games:
Two and a half years after the Olympic figure skating team event
in Beijing the skaters from team USA received the gold medal and
the Japanese athletes were awarded the silver medal. The Russian
team, competing under the acronym of ROC (Russian Olympic
Committee), became the bronze medalists. However, the IOC did
not invite them to Paris citing organizational reasons and the
fact that the ROC has been suspended (because of the war of
aggression in Ukraine). This award ceremony in Paris is meant to
be the conclusion of the doping drama around former Russian
wunderkind Kamila Valieva that kept the figure skating world
busy for more than two years.
Photo courtesy of IOC
The final decision was made by the International Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, the highest and final
authority in sport.
The CAS had to rule several times on the appeals of several
parties in this case. These various appeals have protracted the
proceedings. The CAS rulings can only be appealed on the grounds
of formal errors, so the appeals are now exhausted and the
result will remain as it is.
The athletes from the USA and Japan were able to enjoy this
moment, for which they had to wait so long through no fault of
their own.
"We
all wished to be able to celebrate this medal together as a
team, so it was really great that we were all able to come here
and share this moment together,” the ISU press release quoted
Nathan Chen (USA), who now has two Olympic gold medals from the
individual and the team event.
“As
skaters we're all individual athletes, we skate alone, we do
medals alone, we do all this alone, so to be able to have a
moment like this where we're actually collectively together as a
team, we've been training and competing and knowing each other
so many years, so we're all family at this point in time,” he
continued.
"These last two and a half years have been very long,” said
Japan’s team captain, ice dancer Tim Koleto. “In the situation
in Beijing we were unable to have family and friends come in
person to watch us compete and celebrate this moment with us,
so it's such a super special moment to be able to celebrate
alongside family and friends and our other competitors. To do it
in front of the Eiffel Tower is something even in my wildest
dreams I didn't imagine."
Team USA consisted of Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, ice
dancers Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell/Zachary
Donohue and pair skaters Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier. They all
had come to Paris. Only Chock/Bates are currently still
competing.
Photo courtesy of IOC
Photo courtesy of IOC
Photo courtesy of Diane Eggert
Team Japan members were Kaori Sakamoto, Shoma Uno, Yuma Kagiyama,
Wakaba Higuchi, pair skaters Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara and ice
dancers Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto. All but Uno, who had
other commitments, were present in Paris.
Photo courtesy of IOC
Photo courtesy of IOC
Cause and Effect
Initially unnoticed, the saga began in December 2021. Kamila
Valieva, then 15 years old and the top favorite for Olympic
gold, had tested positive for the banned substance Trimatezidine
at the Russian Championships on December 25, 2021. The substance
is found in a heart medication. Doping athletes take the drug
primarily to be able to train longer and with greater endurance.
The testing laboratory in Stockholm, which was responsible for
the evaluation, delayed the analysis of the urine sample from
Russia due to a lack of personnel caused by the coronavirus
pandemic, as was later reported. In any case, the Russian
federation, Valieva, the ISU and the IOC only found out about
the positive test on the night of February 7-8, i.e. after the
end of the Olympic team event in Beijing. Valieva had already
competed in the short program and free skating events on
February 6 and 7 and had won first place for her team (a total
of 20 points).
Normally, the award ceremony would have taken place on February
7 in the evening on the so-called medal plaza near the main
press center in Beijing. However, as the competition continued
the next day with the men's short program, one of the
federations involved asked for the award ceremony to be moved to
the next day. The IOC complied with the request, but while
preparations were underway and the teams were about to set off
from the Olympic Village, it was suddenly announced that the
award ceremony would be postponed. Within a couple of days, it
leaked out that the reason for the delay was a case of doping
and that Kamila Valieva was involved. Due to her young age, the
name should not have been made public, but someone leaked it to
the media.
An unprecedented back and forth began. As is usual after a
positive test, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA suspended
the skater. Valieva appealed against this, as she still wanted
to compete in the individual event. RUSADA lifted the ban, the
World Anti-Doping Agency WADA, the IOC and the ISU appealed to
CAS, which allowed Valieva to compete. The skater argued that
the banned substance had entered her body unintentionally
through contamination, as her step-grandfather took the drug and
she had drunk from the same glass. In the short program, the
young Russian skated to first place with a flawless performance,
but in the free program she fell apart and came fourth. Every
training session and every walk through the interview zone
turned into a gauntlet in which some journalists threw
aggressive questions at the young girl. Valieva did not give any
comments.
The IOC did not want to hold the team victory ceremony until the
case had been resolved. The Americans appealed against this to
the CAS in Beijing, but the appeal was rejected. The 2022
Olympic Games ended without a medal ceremony for the teams and
the moment was irretrievably lost. Not only the Russians were
penalized, but also the teams from the USA and Japan, even
though they had nothing to do with the matter. It was a huge
disappointment. At least the Americans and Japanese could have
got silver and bronze - it wouldn't have been the first time
that medals had to be swapped after the results had been
changed.
The Valieva case went through all instances. The RUSADA
disciplinary commission initially acquitted the skater of the
accusation of deliberate doping and only stripped her of the
2022 Russian national title. WADA, the ISU and RUSADA itself (!)
lodged an appeal against this and the case was retried. CAS
finally ruled on January 29, 2024 that Valieva was guilty of an
anti-doping rule violation and imposed the maximum penalty - a
four-year ban with retroactive effect from December 25, 2021.
The defense had changed the "grandfather thesis", now it should
have been a dessert that the grandfather had prepared. But the
man refused to testify before the CAS and there was no evidence
that he had actually taken or even bought this prescription
drug. It is still not clear who administered the Trimatezidine
to Valieva and how it got into her system. The CAS even
considered the skater's statement that she had not deliberately
doped to be credible, but she could not conclusively prove what
had happened.
The New Result
Following the final CAS ruling, the ISU recalculated the results
of the team competition and deducted Valieva's 20 points. This
left the USA in first place with 65 points ahead of Japan with
63 and Russia (ROC) with 54 points (instead of the original 74).
There were protests against this not only from the Canadians,
who remained in fourth place with 53 points. Team Canada and
many others argued that the ISU could not simply deduct
Valieva's 20 points, but that the skaters behind her should each
move up one place and receive one more point. Canada's Madeline
Schizas, who was third in both the team short program and free
skating and had earned 16 points, should therefore receive 18
points. This would put Canada into the bronze medal position
with 56 points. In the individual competitions, in the event of
a disqualification, the athletes behind them all move up one
place. After Valieva's subsequent disqualification at the 2022
European Championships, for example, second-placed Anna
Shcherbakova was crowned European champion, Alexandra Trusova
took silver and Loena Hendrickx bronze.
However, the ISU argued that this rule (ISU Special Regulations
Rule 354, para 4) did not apply due to the special nature of the
Olympic team competition. The legal experts had established
this. So nobody moves up, only the accumulated ranking points
are lost and, according to the ISU, this is the only decision
that is compatible with the CAS ruling. A different calculation
could affect teams that were not involved in the case. More
detailed information on this could not be found. The rules of
the Olympic team competition published by the ISU do not mention
the case of disqualification of a participant. The obvious
explanation is that the team competition is about the overall
performance of the team and not the individual performances.
This means that Valieva's points are deducted in full, but the
other individual performances do not receive more points.
Both the Russian and Canadian teams appealed against the ISU's
recalculation to the CAS. While the Russians wanted to be placed
first again, the Canadians demanded the additional points and
thus bronze. CAS dismissed both appeals on July 25 and August 2,
2024 respectively and confirmed the ISU's final result. The
reasons for the ruling were not yet available.
The Americans and Japanese, who had already been confirmed as
gold and silver medal winners, reacted with joy and relief.
Skate Canada announced that it was disappointed with the CAS
ruling, stood by its own athletes and congratulated the teams
from the USA and Japan. The Russian federation thanked its
supporters and emphasized its opinion that the Russian team was
the strongest in Beijing. The Russian athletes are happy that
they retained bronze. "Yes, it's bronze, but with a golden
glow," wrote team captain Nikita Katsalapov. "Considering
everything that has happened, this is also a victory for us and
one that is important for all of us." The Russians' overall
performance was better than that of the Canadians, even without
a female competitor, you have to admit.
Nevertheless, a bitter aftertaste remains in the Valieva case
after the conclusion of all proceedings. The career of a young,
highly talented athlete has been destroyed and there are still
too many unanswered questions as to what really happened. Even
the CAS was unable to answer these questions. Maybe one day it
all will come to light.
