Sparkassen Cup in Gelsenkirchen

CD/OD: In the CD nothing special happened, I would have put Romaniuta / Barantsev before Dubreuil / Lauzon, but otherwise it's also okay. Rauer / Rauer looked good in their quickstep, came into 7th place. Relativ low marks for Fusar-Poli / Margaglio.

OD: Everything looked similar to the practice, I still think that Fusar-Poli / Margaglios OD isn't technically very strong, but here they clearly took the lead. I was suprised that the judges seem to agree a little bit with my opinion, their marks again weren't very high. Their outfit was totaly spanish, she even made her hair dark.
Dubreuil / Lauzon looked to me again not that powerful, didn't have very much spanish flair. They came in second place, but this was okay I think, because Romaniuta / Barantsev are not so controlled, even if they skate with more power.
Fourth place went to Ouabdelsselam / Delmas, the decision was correct, the Italiens Anselmi / Pedrazzini were more powerful, but technically aren't so strong. Blazowska / Kozubek had a fall at the beginning of their step sequence and he didn't come back in the rythm during this sequence, but they lost only one place (6th behind Anselmi / Pedrazzini). Vernekohl / Kurakin moved up two places to overtake Rauer / Rauer and Watanabe / Kido. Rauer / Rauer had no powerful and "spanish" skate, their costumes also didn't look good. Watanabe / Kido had a lot of power, but I still don't like a Japanese couple to skate to spanish music. Mosenkova / Sychov were technically weak, marks about 3.9 showed this very good.

Pairs Short Programm: Hongbo Zhao again had problems with his toe, he fell, but nevertheless they got 6 first places and one third. Same problem with Ina / Zimmerman, he also fell and they got three second and four third places. Petrova / Tikhonov, who skated after these two other couples already were skated, had the chance to get in first postion, but he also struggled with the toe. They came in second place. I think even if their programm is not very interesting they should have won the short programm. Saurette Fecteau both had little problems on therír toes and came in fifth place. Marcoux / Marcotte finished ahead of them, but I think they should have been lower, they made no big mistake, that's true, but they seem to skate on a low level. Chuvaeva / Palamarchuk came in 6th place, she stood her triple toe on two feet, but I was glad not to see her fall as in the practice, their thrown salchow was not good again, she fell.
Behind them came Maxiuta / Dubina their mistake was a doubled thrown salchow. Berankova / Dlabola both fell on their triple toe and she had to put the hands down on the landing of the throw. Leray / Osseland had a good start with the triple toe, the double twist was not high, the thrown salchow was not clean, they finished their lift after about a meter and the death spiral also was not okay. So they look as if they are no pair skaters because the pair elements were a big problem for them (last place).

Ladies Short Programm: Maria Butyrskaya skated a clean programm, but she was a little bit skaky. She got 6 first and 1 second place. Technical marks went up to 5.8 and presentation marks to 5.9. Nice to see her skating well again.
Angela Nikodinov also skated a clean programm, she looked more secure than Maria, but got only 1 first 5 second and 1 third place. I cannot say that the decision wasn't right, but I think it should have been closer. The third place went to Yoshie Onda, I didn't like her programm, but her jumps looked great. Jenny Kirk came on the 4th place with a fall on the lutz, I cannot agree with that, but the judges gave her places fom 4 to 7. Kristina Oblasova struggled with her lutz but put the toe behind it and the rest was okay, her spins were fine. She got places from 4 to 8. Tatyana Malinina had problems with her lutz and doubled her flip, she got places from 4 to 9. Silvia Fontana only tried the toe as single jump and she struggled with it (places 4 to 8). Susanna Pöykiö had a mistake on her axel which wasn't clean lutz and flip looked good (places 4 to 8). Anne-Sophie Calvez fell on her axel the other jumps were a lutz combination and the flip. Marianne Dubuc had problems on her lutz combination which she overrotated and she fell on the flip. Andrea Diewald looked bad, she did 2luz-2toe, fell on the flip and did an axel. In comparison with Marianne it was obvious that Andrea doesn't enjoy her skating.

Short Programm Men: Evgeny Plushenko did a quad toe in combination with the triple toe, a triple axel (a little bit overrotated) and a triple lutz. I personally don't like his new programm to Michael Jackson music very much, but his elements were strong, he has no weak point in his skating, jumps, steps and spins are very good and he is present on the ice. Second behind Plushenko was Timothy Goebel, he did a quad salchow in combination with the triple toe, but he put a hand down after the salchow, a triple axel and a triple lutz. His presentation seems improved, but still he is better concerning the technical marks. Chengjiang Li skated a strong short programm to finish 3rd, but he did not show a quad - triple combination (his elements were quad toe, triple axel - triple toe, double axel). Takeshi Honda put down the hand on his quad toe and combined it with a single toe, the rest looked very good (4th). Alexander Abt did triple axel - double toe, quad toe on two feet and a double axel (5th). Elvis Stoiko had problems with the quadruple - triple combination which he only executed quad toe (overrotated) ... -double loop, his axel was also only doubled. Michael Weiss overrotated both jumps of his quadruple toe - triple toe combination and finished 7th. Stefan Lindemann did triple axel - triple toe (overrotated), triple lutz and double axel to finish 8th.

Free Programm Pairs: While the first 6 couples didn't convince too much, they all had several mistakes, were the three pairs of the last group on a top level. In a usual grand prix event all three would have gotten the gold medal, but only one could get it. Petrova / Tikhonov skated a good and clean free programm (triple toe, double axel.... double toe, triple twist, triple thrown salchow and triple thrown toe). This was enough to get the bronze medal here, after all it was the right decision, because the other two couples had more difficult programms. Ina / Zimmerman skated a great programm with beautiful lifts and steps. (triple toe, double axel, triple twist, double axel ... double toe, triple thrown loop, triple thrown salchow) They took the lead from Petrova / Tikhonov, three judges put them in second place at this moment. Last to skate were Shen / Zhao and they convinced with great elements (double axel ... triple toe, triple thrown salchow, triple twist, another double axel out of the moon and again into a moon and a thrown triple loop) All their throws were really high and looked brilliant, but in their spin she didn't get the rotation and couldn't complete the spin as she should have done. Nevertheless all judges put them in first place, because their presentation improved a lot in comparison with the past.

Free Programm Ladies: Maria Butyrskaya won with 6 : 1 votes. She skated again her old LP, but not everything went well. Her elements were triple flip, triple lutz (maybe on two feet), double toe - triple salchow, triple lutz - double toe, double loop, triple loop and double axel. It was no really bad skate from her, but also nothing really good. She seemed to be satisfied with her free programm and it was enough to win here, her marks were from 5.2 - 5.7 and 5.6 - 5.9. Yoshie Onda tried her triple axel and fell, after that she made no more mistakes but also didn't have a triple - triple combination. Because of her presentation she had no chance to beat Maria Butyrskaya. Angela Nikodinov started strong with triple lutz - double toe, triple toe - double toe and the triple flip, but then she popped two times the loop and double two times her toe. She finished 3rd with places from 1 to 6. Jenny Kirk was the only one who had an triple - triple combination (salchow - toeloop), but she does a flutz and cheats most of her jumps, so the fourth place was alright. Kristina Oblasova had some mistakes as for example a singled axel (later she repeated the axel double), on her first lutz she put the hand down, the flip was on two feet and the salchow was only double. Tatyana Malinina who was last to skate had good chaces to take the 5th place from Oblasova, but she fell on her second lutz (the first was only doubled) and on her first double axel. Silvia Fontana got the seventh place behind Malinina, also with some mistakes.

Free Dance: Even if the porgramm of Fusar-Poli / Margaglio is not the most difficult, they won easily, there was no other top couple in the competition. Technically this programm is not very demanding, he stands the most time on two feet and beside the required step sequences there are not many difficult steps and their lifts also aren't that great, but the presentation and the power is very nice to watch. Their marks also stayed relatif low and especially Barbara was disappointed about these marks. The second place went clearly to Dubreuil / Lauzon, who simply were the second best couple in Gelsenkirchen. Romaniuta / Barantsev are a couple for the future, they have demanding programms and are really present on the ice, but they sometimes seem to have not too much controll on their elements. They were surely the third best team followed by Ouabdelsselam / Delmas, who are also on a good way. The Italiens Anselmi / Pedrazzini and the Polish Blazowska / Kozubek are again on lower level. Rauer / Rauer regain her 7th place of the CD after they have been 9th after the OD. They skated a lovely programm to Grease.

Free Programm Men: Evgeny Plushenko skated a clean programm with only one quadruple jump (quad toe - triple toe - double loop). He skated his old programm and again it was good to see that he has the allround package, solid jumps, good spins and steps and good presentation. All judges gave him first places. Second was Timothy Goebel, who tried a lot. He planned three quads and successfully landed a quad salchow - triple toe and a quad toe, but then he fell on the second quad salchow. He also did a triple axel - double toe combination out of a moon and the entry of the loop was difficult. He had 6 clean triples and two clean quads. His presentation was improved, but still the judges gave him lower marks for presentation then for the technic. Chengjiang Li had two clean quads, but two footed the lutz and singled his second triple axel attempt. He is still not an artistic skater and it'll be difficult for him to medal at the Olympics. Alexander Abt skated a nice programm with a beautiful triple axel - triple toe combination, his quad toe was on two feet. The audience liked his programm very much, he skates really with emotions. Takeshi Honda who counts for the artistic skaters for some time now, fell two time (quad toe and triple (f)lutz, but he did a nice triple axel - triple toe combination out of a moon. He fell back behind Abt. Elvis Stoiko had no clean quad and no triple - triple combination and finished 6th. Stefan Lindemann was able to overtake Michael Weiss who had a bad day, because many things went wrong.

Exhibition: The exhibition was nothing special, so I only write about it in a short way. Evgeny Plushenko did his Sex Bomb programm, Fusar - Poli / Margaglio showed a Tango and a part of their free programm, Maria Butyrskaya showed her Chicago / Cabaret - programm, but not even one jumps was well done she singled a jump (I don't remember which one), fell or made other mistakes, she was also slow. When the audience wanted to get an encore Daniel Weiss who led through the programm showed that we should calm down and he explained that Maria said when she went off the ice that she can't do any more. She was really exhausted, but as far as heard there was nothing more wrong with her than that she was tired. Shen / Zhao showed a nice and funny piece as also did Petrova / Tikhonov. Timothy Goebel skated a nice programm to the music American Pie. Angela Nikodinov looked good in the exhibition, but I don't remember which music she used. Some of the others used old gala programms or competitive programms.

Trophée Lalique

First of all I have to say, that I didn't watch the whole competition, so I can only talk about the skaters who were shown on TV.

Free Programm Men: Alexej Yagudin was first after his short programm and also won the free. He tried two quad toes, the first on ein combination with the triple toe was fine, but the second wasn't clean. He also executed two triple axels, one in combination with the triple toe. His first flip was doubled, but he was able to repeat it triple, he also doubled the lutz and had a triple loop. After his performance he looked exhausted. Concerning the programm, I personally prefered the Gladiator programm. Todd Eldredge had no quad jump and his first triple axel wasn't clean. He had no triple - triple combination and no triple toe if I remember right. Andrej Vlashenko had no quad and no clean triple axel, his triple salchow - triple toe combo was on two feet. Nevertheless this was enough to get the bronze medal and for him it was the first international medal after a long time. It was the first time that I've seen Johnny Weir, he's really a great talent, but he didn't try too many jumps. He started with a solid triple lutz - triple toe combo, singled the axel, but later he was able to show it again. I think there was no triple salchow in this programm. Other jumps were triple flip and triple loop.

Short Programm Ladies: Maria Butyrskaya won the short programm with a solid performance, her elements were triple flip, triple lutz - double toe, double axel (perhaps a little bit too much forward). Viktoria Vochkova came in second place, but I didn't get the chance to see her. Sasha Cohen did the same elements as Maria Butyrskaya and finished third. Sarah Hughes had a good double axel, a triple (f)lutz - double loop combination and her flip wasn't clean, so she finished 4th.

Short Programm Pairs: I only saw Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze, they skated clean, their jump was the triple toe, their throw the triple loop.

Free Programm Pairs: Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze skated their Chaplin programm, they started with a good triple toe, then she fell on her axel, the twist was on two feet, the thrown salchow and loop were okay. Ina / Zimmerman skated as in Germany a good programm, with triple toe, double axel, a triple twist (not that good), double axel ... double toe, thrown loop and salchow. To my mind they could have been placed ahead of Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze, but only the Lithuanian judge gave them the first place. Abitbol / Bernadis have an interesting programm to the music of "the Addams Family". It was obvious that their programm is new, the other two top pairs, had old programm, which worked already good, Abitbol / Bernadis had not yet the flow. They did a solid triple toe, a great thrown double axel, then both had little problems with their double axel, she stepped out and he landed too far forward. Later they did a triple twist, the best of the top three on this day and a triple thrown loop. They were placed third, but their programm has a lot of potential. In the free programm they overtook Totmianina / Marinin who were third in the short programm.

Free Programm Ladies: Sarah Hughes won the free programm, but because of her 4th place of the short programm she wasn't able to overtake Maria Butyrskaya. Sarah started with a double axel, then she fell on her triple salchow - triple loop combination, her triple (f)lutz wasn't completely rotated both times when she did it, as was also her triple flip. She also showed a triple toe - double loop combination and her final triple toe wasn't clean. Maria Butyrskaya had a strong start with a triple flip and a triple lutz - double toe combination, but then her salchow in the combination triple toe - triple toe had only 2 and a half turn and she stepped out of it. Then she fell on her second lutz and tried to repeat the salchow with a toe before it and also fell. Triple loop and double axel were okay. Sasha Cohen did a double axel, fell on her triple (f)lutz, executed a triple flip and a triple toe, on her second axel she was maybe down with her hand. Then she did a triple salchow, a triple loop and two feetet and overrotated her second (f)lutz. Nearly at the end of her programm she fell while she skated backwards. In a weak ladies event these three ladies got the three medals.

Free Dance: Anissina / Peizerat won with their new programm to Cyrano de Bergerac. The programm includes some good lifts and a few nice step sequences, all in all it's good, but not perfect... Bourne / Kraatz got the siler medal with their Michael Jackson medley. During their skate she lost something of her dress and the referree stopped the music, they had to go on later from this point. Drobiazko / Vanagas skated a technically good programm, they had the best spins of all the couples, but even if they interpretate their Hallyday song very good, it seems not to be the best programm, it has not many new aspects. Fourth place went to Denkova / Staviyski who skated an interesting programm, but he fell in the end.

European Championships

I was in Lausanne from Tuesday on and the first thing I watched there was the men's short programm. I didn't write down any mistakes the skaters made, so I only write a review which is somehow also my personal impression.

Men's short programm: Alexej Yagudin skated his "Winter"-programm perfectly (4toe-3toe, 3axel, 3lutz) and finished first. Alexander Abt also skated a clean programm with the same elements and finished second. Both were really impressive and got standing ovations.
Brian Joubert wanted to do the same elements but his combo turned into 4-2, he has not (yet) the expression of the others, but did quite good to finish third. Ilja Klimkin had a mistake but finished ahead of a clean Vlashenko who did not try the quad, but did 3axel-3toe, 3lutz, 2axel, he could also have been third or at least fourth in the short. Stéphane Lambiel had no quad or a triple axel, but skated clean with a 3-3 combo, he finished ahead of Sergej Davydov who sakated a clean programm with the same elements as Vlashenko.

Men's free programm: Alexej Yagudin had a big mistake on his first quad attempt, but tried it again. In his programm he had no triple loop, he tried it two times, but always turned it into a double loop. His programm is artistically very good, but to my mind there are too many choreographical elements and it does not start to live. Alexander Abt skated the best programm I've ever seen him skate, the quad was there only the triple axel in the 3-3 combo was on two feet. His programm is not filled with too much choreography and he had an expressive skate. Only three judges put him in first place, most of the other gave him higher technical marks but gave the first place to Yagudin because of the presentation scores. In the short programm Yagudin was better, but in the free Abt should have won. I read in a Russian newspaper that some judges said, yes, Abt was better, but I liked Yagudin's programm more. The decision should be who was better this time and not which programm do I prefer, shouldn't it be so?
Brian Joubert skated only the 6th free programm, but he still got the bronze medal ahead of Lambiel who got the 4th free programm score. Lambiel again skated clean, but I don't remember whether he showed all the triples he can do or not.
Frederic Dambier skated a really impressive programm, he only doubled a salchow and was 3rd in the free, but could only move up to the 5th place.
Most of the following skaters had a lot of mistakes and were disappointing.

Pair's free programm: Totmianina / Marinin won with a technically good, but boring performance, Tatiana was ill and they did not skate to their full potential. Abitbol / Bernadis skated an entertaining programm with many nice ideas, but unfortunately Sarah singled her axel. But I think even without this mistake they would not have gotten the first place. I prefered them nevertheless.
Petrova / Tikhonov had, if I remember right, two mistakes and as Totmianina / Marinin they had no interesting choreography, they could have been behind Zagorska / Siudek who skated clean, but even with the third place there were not satisfied. Berankova / Dlabola skated better than I've ever seen them skate before. A surprise after the short programm were Borzenkova / Chuvilyaev, they were only 11th, but skated really good in the free, only Totmianina / Marinin also included two different triple jumps. Kautz / Jeschke reached the qualifying for the Olympics with their eighth place.

Original dance: There was only one original dance which I really liked, I think that Anissina / Peizerat skated really well to the rythm of the music, they showed the spanish character and they had difficult steps. The others were similar and had no special ideas. Fusar-Poli / Margaglio did not really improve much in comparison to the beginning of this season, but of course they have a lot of temperament. Lobacheva / Averbukh and Drobiazko / Vanagas skated both good, but not at all really good.

Free dance: No dance couple was that outstanding, that I would have said there was a team which could be called "the best". Anissina / Peizerat skated a good free programm which to my mind is somehow not that entertaining, it seems to be too slow and quiet music. Nevertheless they had interesting elements and no big mistakes. Fusar-Poli / Margaglio improved their free dance, but still it's not a real competition programm, but in comparison with the French, their music was entertaining and they skate powerfull. Lobacheva / Averbukh had a powefull and innovative programm which I liked a lot, but I cannot write about it without a "but" too, they had so strong choreographic elements which have to have a meaning and that was not obvious. Drobiazko / Vanagas skated a good programm with nice innovations, but it was not outstanding, too and they didn't do so much more than the others. I liked Denkova / Staviyski who really bring new aspects in the ice dance and include difficult elements.

Qualification ladies: In group A Slutskaya won even if she had two falls and popped one jump, that was not justified, because Volchkova had only the second lutz double. Fontana came into the third place, I don't remember what all the ladies did, but Fontana did not deserve that place at all.
In group B Butyrskaya came ahead of Maniachenko, both had smaller mistakes and the result is allright. Butyrskaya had problems with her 3toe-3salchow combo and doubled the second lutz, the rest was fine. Third was Susanna Pöykiö who really impressed through the competition.

Short programm ladies: Butyrskaya skated a clean programm (3lutz-2toe, 3flip, 2axel) and took the lead ahead of Volchkova with the same elements, but even if her lutz combo is higher, she has still no good choreography. Slutskaya became third even if she had a fall on the flip (other elements were 3lutz-2loop, 2axel). She could have also been behind Maniachenko who touched down with her hand on the axel, but had a brilliant step sequence. Fontana included for the first time a flip instead of a toe and skated clean, but again she should have been lower, because she has a horrible jump technic. Pöykiö was also clean and I would have put her higher.

Ladies' free programm: Butyrskaya skated alright, but not good, she fell on the second lutz and the second toe was not clean, the axel also not looked good. Nevertheless she had all triples and her new programm is a lot better than the old one. For me she skated the best free programm in a low field, but she only good the second behind Slutskaya. Slutskaya again didn't fullfill her potential, she fell on her combo and had problems with her flip. I don't remember if she had other mistakes, but even if there is now choreography, I think it's not very good. Volchkova had the great chance to win, but as in the past years she was too nervous and made too many mistakes. Maniachenko skated good, but also had a fall and another mistake. The only really clean programm was the one of Kettunen, she moved up to the fifth place and overtook the other finish girl Pöykiö, who skated good, but a mistake in a relatif easy programm was too much.

Olympic Games

Pairs' short programm:
Berezhnaya / Sikharulidzewho were already third to skate, showed a great programm including a triple toe and a thrown triple loop. Their skate was dynamic and expressive. Second after the short programm were Sale / Pelletier who had the same elements but fell in their final pose. I don't think that this fall was the reason for their second place, because it was nearly after their programm when the music stopped. In third place were once more Shen / Zhao, they, too, skated clean, but in comparison with the two couples ahead of them they are not so polished. Totmianina / Marinin were also clean as were also Ina / Zimmerman and Petrova / Tikhonov, these couples took the places 4 to 6. All of these three had fourth, fifth and sixth places, so it was close there. A surprise were Berankova / Dlabola who could repeat the good skate from Europeans to finish ahead of Zagorska / Siudek. The Polish couple unfortunately had two mistakes, both had difficulties with the triple toe (he fell, she did it double) and she twofeeted the thrown triple salchow. Their places reached from seventh to eleventh. Another positive surprise were the young chinese skaters Zhang / Zhang. They showed a great thrown salchow and added nearly directly the triple toe. Their double twist also looked fantastic and they had a lot of speed. They came ahead of their teammates Pang / Tong who had a mistake on their toe. Nevertheless the chinese couples have to improve their presentation and choreography. Scott / Dulebohn had two big mistakes but a luck with their marks, after a fall from her on the triple toe, she fell again on the thrown salchow. The German couple Kautz / Jeschke could have been ahead of them, because they completed successfully the triple toe and the thrown toe. Their only little mistake was that their spin was not synchronous right from the beginning. The two Canadien couples Larivière / Faustino and Langlois / Archetto came in 13th and 14th place. Larivière / Faustino both fell on their triple toes and Langlois / Archetto had also both problems with their toes (she doubled it and he twofeeted). Behind them followed the two Ukrainian couples. Chuvaeva / Palamarchuk had problems on their thrown triple salchow (15th) and Savchenko / Morozov had only a singled thrown salchow and their twist was not so good. Behind them followed Bestandigova / Bestandig (17th), Ponomareva / Sviridov (18th), Cobisi / de Pra (19th) and Krasiltseva / Znachkov (20th).

Pairs' free programm:
Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze skated to "Meditation" a nearly clean performance. Their only real mistake was when he stepped out of the double axel. They skated emotionally but not sp powerful. Their technical marks were 5.7 to 5.8 the marks for presentation were a little bit higher. Right after their performance it was Salé / Peletier who took the ice. They skated a completely clean programm to "Love Story" (This music they already used in 2000). They had good speed and seemed convinced of their programm. After the finish of their music they reacted with extreme emotions. The judges gave them in the average higher technical marks, but only 4 out of 5 judges put them in first place. Last year at worlds I thought Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze should have won, but this time I felt Salé / Pelletier were a little better. Nevertheless the decision was close and so I won't say anything more about it.

Some days after the decision the ISU decided to award another gold medal to Salé / Pelletier, because the French judges Marie Reine le Gougne said that she was set under pressure to vote for the Russian couple and that then the Russian judge would vote for Anissina / Peizerat in the dance competition.
The whole decision was called a scandal by the media and the audience felt that the decision wasn't right, either. Now only 8 judges' voices counted and so it was a 4:4 split. In that case both Salé / Pelletier and Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze would get 1 point for the free programm, that makes 1.5 for the Russians and 2.0 for the Canadians. So nevertheless Berezhnaya / Sikharulidze should have got the gold medals and Salé / Pelletier would have stayed second. The ISU was now under pressure of the IOC, the media and the audience to solve the problem of the scandal, so they gave out a second gold medal and ssaid, that they cannot take the gold medal away from the Russians which would have been more than unfair. Is that what Salé / Pelletier wanted? Now we have two Olympic gold pairs and none of them really won this medal. Even without the French judge the Canadians didn't win the free skate...

The third place went as expected to the Chinese couple Shen / Zhao. They even tried a quadruple thrown salchow, which only in the end of the landing turned into a fall when she came to far on the outside edge. Later Hongbo's toe was not perfectly landed and in their parallel spin they were far away from each other. Their thrown loop and the double axel out of the spread eaggle into a spread eaggle were perfectly done and their presentation improved a lot. That was enough to get third places from all judges. The European champions Totmianina / Marinin showed a clean programm with triple salchow and triple toe to the music of "West Side Story" which they already used last year. Their presentation is not so outstanding, they don't know how to show emotions, but they got in a 5:4 split the fourth place ahead of Ina / Zimmerman who skated a good programm including interesting lifts and good presentation. Maybe their disadvantage was that they were first to skate of the last but one group while Totmianina / Marinin were in the last group. As at the Europeans Petrova / Tikhonov were again upset with the marks which they got after a strong and clean performance. They even made their programm more difficult by including a second triple toe, but they seem too "normal" and don't bring many new aspects. Zagorska / Siudek were able to overtake Berankova / Dlabola, both couples had two mistakes and because of the better lifts and the sovereign style of Zagorska / Siudek brought them even four times the sixth place. Ninth were Pang / Tong who again were solid in their elements, but still have to improve their presentation even if this time I liked them better than in the short programm. The tenth place went to Larivière / Faustino who were able to move up from the 13th place. Exept of the double axel where she had difficulties they skated clean. The 11th place went to the young couple Zhang / Zhang who started with great elements but weren't able to go on this way to the end. In the free skate they only got the 12th place behind Langlois / Archetto. The third Canadien team tried two different triple jumps but didn't succeed with the salchow. Also their thrown triple toe wasn't fine. Scott / Dulebohn lost two places, they again didn't succeed with their throws and had big problems with their jumps. The German pair Kautz / Jeschke lost in the free skate three places to move from 12th to 14th they had several mistakes and even fell out of the lift when he struggled. Behind them were Savchenko / Morozov who skated a better programm, to my mind they should have also overtaken Scott / Dulebohn in the free skate ranking, but unfortunately they didn't. They tried to jumps two triple toes in a sequence but the second one was not okay (she doubled it and he touched the ice with his hand) and later he singles the double axel and the thrown axel was not so good.

Men's short programm:
Alexej Yagudin skated his "winter"-programm clean and clearly took the lead. Surprisingly on the second place came Takeshi Honda, he did again his "Don Quixote"-programm and completed the same jump elements as Yagudin (quad toe - triple toe, triple axel and triple lutz). Five judges gave him the second place and four gave them to Timothy Goebel (3rd), he also skated clean, but did the quad salchow instead of the toe which most of the others use. His jumps were great, but the step sequences lack difficulty and dynamics, but Honda also could improve his steps. In fact there are not many skaters who show really brilliant step sequences... Goebel's artistical expression has improved, but could still be better. I think that the first three are where they belong. Evgeny Plushenko (4th) fell on his quad toe which made him loose a top position, the other elements as triple axel, triple lutz, spins and steps were okay and his technical marks were between 5.3 and 5.5, the marks for presentation went up to 5.9. From this position Plushenko is not able to win without Yagudin finishing lower than 2nd in the free programm. Alexander Abt (5th) was able to skate again as well as at the European championships, but even if I like his programm very much I have to admit that his cirkular steps are mostly on two feet and he needs a long preparation for the first two jump elements. His triple axel was tight and the lutz was a little bit underrotated. He could have been ahead of Plushenko, but the 5th place is also okay. Chengjiang Li (6th) was another skater who was clean, but didn't reach the top positions. He did a combination of triple axel - triple toe and the quad as a single jump, so he only was allowed to show the double axel as third jump element. His presentation improved, but as Goebel there are still possibilities to get better. Elvis Stoiko (7th) stepped out of the quad toe but added a triple toe behind it, the other elements were good, especially the step sequences which were dynamic and demanding. Michael Weiss (8th) was first to compete in this short programm, his elements were quad toe (on two feet) in combination with a double toe, triple axel and triple lutz. Todd Eldredge (9th) had two bigger mistakes, he tried the quad toe, but twofeeted it and added an untidy double toe, then he fell on the axel and completed a good triple lutz. Anthony Liu (10th)skated a clean programm to "Pearl Harbour", but his combo was only quad toe - double toe and he did a double axel. Dambier (11th) and Dinev (12th) had both big problems with their quadruple toes and one other jump was tight. Kevin van der Perren (13th) was another surprise and got too low marks to my mind, he skated a clean and choreographically nice programm to "Tango lesson" which included a triple axel - triple toe combo, a triple lutz and a double axel.

Men's free programm:
Alexej Yagudin (1st) had the best starting number which he could get after the situation in the short programm. He was last to go and knew how much he had to do to win the free skate. So he didn't have to show too much, he started with the combo quad toe-triple toe-double loop followed by another quad toe and a triple axel. Then he added the other four jumps in their triple version. His programm was a complete package of technical strength and choreographical beauty. Everything went for him and his marks showed that he became a sovereign Olympic champion. He got 9 times the 5.9 in the first mark and even 4 times the 6.0 for presentation. It was really a moving moment when he finished the free programm and let the emotions out. His coach Tatyana Tarassova said "thank you" to him when he came off the ice. The second best free programm scores went to Evgeny Plushenko. His new programm to Bizet's "Carmen" is a lot better than his old one and he risked a lot. His elements were quad toe-triple toe-triple loop (the loop wasn't clean), quad toe, a sensational combo of triple axel-triple flip (I've never seen that before, but even if it's similar to combo's with the salchow as second jump it looks better), triple axel, triple lutz, double axel and double salchow. Third and lucky winner of the bronze medal was Timothy Goebel who skated a good programm including two times the quad salchow (once in combination with the triple toe) and a quad toe. His triple axel out spread eaggle was only combined with a double toe and he stepped out of his second triple axel. Nevertheless I think he should have gotten higher technic marks than Plushenko, but the final result is as it has to be. Takeshi Honda (4) only had problems with his quad toe, he didn't risk a quad salchow and his combo with the axel was only triple-double, so he had no chance to win a medal. Alexander Abt (5th) wasn't as good as at the European championships, but after a fall on the quad toe he was able to do all his triples including triple axel-triple toe, only the triple lutz was overrotated. Todd Eldredge showed a good performance in his final free programm and moved up from 9th to the 6th rank, after he fell on the quad toe, he fullfilled all the triples including two triple-triple combos. Michael Weiss (7th) tried the combo as Yagudin (4toe-3toe-2loop), but the landing of the triple toe was twofeeted. His first axel wasn't clean as also the flip and the loop was doubled. Elvis Stoiko also risked a lot and did two times the quad toe-double toe combo and once he also added a double loop, his axel combo was not clean and also only with a double toe at the end. But he had a powerful skate and the skating scene will miss him when he turns pro after this season. Chengjiang Li popped three jumps and fell back to the 9th place. Anthony Liu also had three mistakes and stayed on his 10th position. Frédéric Dambier tried two quads (toe and salchow). He fell on the salchow and later on the triple flip, his spins were weak and also his presentation was somehow uninteresting. Again without mistake was Kevin van der Perren (12th) who only skates for 6 years now, he showed everything he is able to do and was the 5th best of the European skaters. His elements were triple axel-triple toe, triple lutz-triple toe and four other triples. Ivan Dinev had several problems with his jumps and his spins sometimes did not have the complete number of rotations. Brian Joubert (14th) got the 12th best free programm score. He had four mistakes. Stéphane Lambiel (15th) risked for the first time an element which he does not securely jump (thr triple axel) and fell. Right before and after that element he seemed insecurer but improved to the end of the programm. Min Zhang who had a bad skate in the short programm and was in the first warm up group showed that he can do better and received the 15th place. Vakhtang Murvanidze completed a clean triple axel-triple toe combo and was finally many places ahead of Sergej Davydov, both train with Tchaikovskaya and Kotin and usually Davydov finishes higher. This time Davydov did not only succeed in doing one clean triple jump... Dmitry Dmitrenko did not skate bad, but his jumps don't have such a high quality and he did not convince that much that he could move up many places, so he came from the 20th to the 19th place. Yunfei Li 6th of the last world championships had a comparable bad skate as Davydov and received the 23rd place in the free, finally he was 20th. Skorniakov, Takeuchi, Chiper and Rylov didn't show great things, but also didn't have a really extremely bad day.

Compulsory and Original Dance:
Anissina / Peizerat took the lead, after the controversy of the pairs' competition they can be glad not to suffer from that. Their OD was as strong as in Lausanne and they got 9 times the 5.9 for presentation. Surprisingly second after the CDs and with a 6.0 from the Polish judge were Lobacheva / Averbukh, they are now the only couple who could still beat the French in the free. Fusar-Poli / Margaglio didn't convince again, but even if they nearly fell in their OD where she stepped on her dress they stayed ahead of Bourne / Kraatz who weren't as close behind them as I expected. Drobiazko / Vanagas skated as well as always, but the 5th place in the CDs and the OD does not reflect their performances. They even got some 4th places in the OD, but not enough to move up. Chait / Sakhnovsky will get the 6th place after all, because they seem to skate at an own level. Denkova / Staviyski came on a good 7th place ahead of Winkler / Lohse, who skate their first seasonal competition here in SLC. Navka / Kostomarov were 9th ahead of Grushina / Gonsharov who now can't be overtaken by the US team Lang / Tchernyshev, because the Americans shared the 11th place with Dubreuil / Lauzon after the CDs and now they need more than one free skate better to defeat the Ukrainians.

Free Dance:
Anissina / Peizerat won in a 5:4 split the Olympic gold medal. Their free skate was technically well performed and well presentated, but they were first to go in the last group and didn't get very high marks, there was still space to set someone ahead of them. Lobacheva / Averbukh have to my mind the best programm. They skated at least as strong as the French, but in the end it was a matter of taste who wins. Their marks were similar to those of Anissina / Peizerat and the total score of their marks were 104.5 points for both couples. Anissina / Peizerat won because of the higher marks for presentation. The bronze medal went to Fusar-Poli / Margaglio. Maurizio Margaglio fell in the middle of the programm, but still their marks went up to 5.7 for the technical merit. They had made changes on their free skate since Europeans, they put in another piece of music than only "I will survive" and improved his footwork. The programm really got a lot better, but with that mistake they were placed a little bit too high. Bourne Kraatz skated right after the Italiens and knew about their chance to overtake them. To me they seemed a little bit slower than at other competitions, but maybe I'm wrong. At the end of their programm, short before the music ended they fell out of a lift. It was somehow strange, but there were three couples who fell during their free dance... (Delobel / Schoenfelder had after their fall during their OD another one during a lift of their free skate). These two couples who made the third and fourth place in the end should have been behind the Lithuanians, who again skated great, they interpretated their music emotionally and were technically demanding. I also liked their new costumes which suit them very well. In my ranking they got the third free skate ahead of the Italiens and the Canadiens, but I'm unfortunately no judge... The Lithuanian Federation wants to fight against the result.
Behind the first five it was not that interesting, Chait / Sakhnovsky, Denkova / Staviyski and Winkler / Lohse stayed were they were after compulsories and OD. The Bulgarians had again an interesting programmand got marks up to 5.7 for presentation. The new programm of the Germans looked good, but they skated very carefully and had not so much speed. Grushina / Gonsharov were able to overtake Navka / Kostomarov, but both couples got places from 8 to 11 (the Ukrainians to 12). Lang / Tchernyshev also got many different places as also Dubreuil / Lauzon. The Americans looked much better in their free skate than in the CDs adn OD.The Canadians had problems with their costumes and interrupted their free skate. After some little corrections they went on.

Ladies' short programm:
With a 5:4 split Michelle Kwan took the lead after s strong ladies' short competition. Michelle skated the programm she already used at the past Olympics. Her triple lutz was not completly rotated, but the judges want her to win, so she was placed ahead of a very strong Irina Slutskaya. Irina stayed without a mistake, had very solid jumps (the lutz in combination with the loop), beautiful spins and her footwork was very good. There is no question about where I had put her. Third was Sasha Cohen who did a clean programm including the usual elements all ladies of the top used (lutz combo, flip and axel), her spirals were great as always. I would have put her in second place. Sarah Hughes (4th)had to skate in the first group and even her triple lutz-double loop combo didn't help her much because of her bad jump technic, she didn't fullfil the complete rotations in the air and like the others ahead she jumps the lutz from the wrong edge. In my personal ranking Maria Butyrskaya would have been fourth or even third, but because of her a little bit shaky programm the judges marked her down to 5th. She is one of the top 5 skaters who does not flutz, the four ladies ahead of her always flutz, but there seems to be no deduction for that. Maria's axel was very good, the other jumps she did too carefully and her spirals were shaky. Julia Sebestyen showed after some bad performances her great potential in finishing 6th with a clean and powerful skate. Fumie Suguri (7th) skated in the first group and did well, but perhaps her combo was not secure enough. Jennifer Robinson (8th) profited of her relatif late start place and she skated clean and so she got the chance to get a top ten position. Sarah Meier was last to go and also profited of this start place, she skaed clean and her marks for technic went up to 5.6 (this judge gave her the 5th place). Vanessa Gusmeroli (10th) skated clean, but because of so many clean performances she ended up far away from a medal position. Silvia Fontana (11th) was very satisfied with her clean performance, not long ago she included for the first time the triple flip as a solo jump and now after the Europeans she again completed her programm without mistake. It's really nice to watch her skate, because it is obvious how much she enjoys her skating. Viktoria Volchkova (12th) had a bad day, she made a turn before she completed her combo and the flip was only singled. In comparison with last years worlds she now seems not to have a chance for a top six and maybe even not for a top ten position. Tatiana Malinina skated very carefully, she seemed not to be confident and after her clean triple lutz she seemed to be surprised that it went well and added her double toe a little bit late. Laetitia Hubert had problems with her triple lutz but the rest went well (13th). Galina Maniachenko like Volchkova another competitor for the top 6 had problems on her lutz and fell on her flip (14th). The other Ukrainian Elena Liashenko had also problems with her combo and singled the flip (15th).Yoshie Onda had a mistake on her lutz and in her extraordinary programm this was a bad thing (16th). Elina Kettunen, 5th of the last Europeans didn't get her combo and doubled her solo jump the loop (17th). The folowing skaters were not so interesting. Stephanie Zhang, Bit Na Park and Julia Lebedeva didn't reach the free programm. I really felt sorry for Julia Soldatova, she once was 2nd of Europeans and 3rd of worlds (in 1999) and now she became only 22nd.
After all I have to say there were more clean programms I've ever expected and so it was extremly difficult to judge this event. Many skaters got places which had a difference from 8 ranks from different judges.
My personal top ten ranking would have been: 1. Slutskaya, 2. Cohen, 3./4. Butyrskaya / Kwan, 5. Hughes, 6. Sebestyen, 7. Suguri, 8. Gusmeroli, 9. Fontana, 10. Robinson. That's just my opinion...

Ladies' free programm:
In another 5:4 split Sarah Hughes won the gold medal and moved up from the 4th to the first place. This was only possible because Irina Slutskaya finished ahead of Michelle Kwan in the free to give her the distance in the total score. Sarah skated a good programm with two triple - triple combos (salchow / toe + both times the loop). As always her jumps were not technically perfect, but she made no obvious mistakes and the audience carried her till the end. Irina Slutskaya (2nd) skated last and thought she would have won, she also skated clean, but she did not execute any triple - triple combo which had surely brought her the success. The Russian Federation protests against the result because of biased judging, but this time I think it wa okay... Michelle Kwan (3rd) who was suposed to win showed that she is vulnerable, her combo of two toes was twofooted and only triple - double, her double axel looked twofooted again and then she fell on the triple flip. She got the most second places, but because the other two got 5 / 4 first places she finished with the third free skate. Maybe the seventeen year old Sasha Cohen (4th) could have finished ahead of the star of the US-figure skating team, but she also had a fall (when she tried a combo of triple lutz triple toe) and twofooted the flip. From seventh to 5th place came Fumie Suguri who had only the loop doubled and did not try any triple - triple combo. She has good choreography, but I still think that her presentation is not so great. Maria Butyrskaya (6th) was very insecure in her skating, maybe three of her jumps (flip, lutz and axel) were twofooted but I'm not sure about the flip and the axel. Her second lutz wasn't clean but she was with Sarah Hughes the only one who did a clean triple - triple combo. Her expectations seemed to be too high to fullfil them, she didn't attend her second set of marks. Jennifer Robinson (7th) has as Hughes not a perfect technic, one jump was surely twofooted and she fell on the second lutz. In comparison with her fresh short programm her free programm is a little bit boring. Julia Sebestyen (8th) lost two places after her good short programm, she made several mistakes. Viktoria Volchkova (9th) had bad skate which nevertheless brought her the 10th place in the free. The biggest mistakes were the singled loop and a lutz which she didn't really jump, she didn't get the take-off. Silvia Fontana (10th) also made several mistakes and didn't show the joy she usually does. The ninth free skate went to Elina Kettunen who was 5th of the Europeans and who finished now 11th. Her only missing element was the triple toe, the other jumps which weren't okay at the beginning were repeated later. Galina Maniachenko moved also up, but she, too, had several mistakes. In comparison with the good overall impression of the short programm the free skate was weak, many many skaters had mistakes. Yoshie Onda was the only one who risked something which is not usual in women's figure skating - the triple axel, but she didn't get the complete rotation in the air and fell, later the flip was singled and she became 17th with the 14th free skate. Idora Hegel (19th) skated better than I've ever seen her skate before, she had a nice sequence of double axel and triple loop.

World Championships

Pairs' short programm:
After a clean performance including a side by side triple toe and a triple thrown loop, Shen / Zhao took the lead and got marks which they never got when other favourites were there. Maybe their side by side spin wasn't that great, but after all they were the most powerful and their programm seemed polished. In second place came Totmianina / Marinin who also had no mistakes, but their skating seems less polished and it was close between them and Ina / Zimmerman who also skated clean. I would have voted for the US-team, because their programm was more interesting and it was something special, too. Behind these three came Petrova / Tikhonov, the former world champions also skated clean, only their side by side spin wasn't perfect, but they seem too conservative this season and also their costumes seem to be not the best choice. They were disappointed and it doesn't seem likely that they can get a medal here if the three pairs ahead skate good free programms. Surprisingly in fifth place came Pang / Tong who also skated clean and made a good overall impression. A mistake on the triple toe of Dorota made the Polish team Zagorska / Siudek finish only 6th. It's a pitty for these two because this year's short programm suits them well and at these worlds the two couples who were Olympic champions aren't there, so it was a good chance to get a good position. Scott / Dulebohn skated a lot better than at the Olympics, they were clean and finished ahead of Canada's Larivière / Faustino who only had little problems during their side by side spin. Berankova / Dlabola finished 9th, Otto doubled his toe and then the side by side spin was not goot, either. In 10th place came the young Chinese couple Zhang / Zhang who have good elements but who could improve artistically. Langlois / Archetto stayed without any major mistake and finished 11th ahead of the third Canadian pair Marcoux / Marcotte. Kawaguchi / Markuntsov were not so polished, but most of their elements went well. A little bit undermarked were Kautz / Jeschke, they completed a clean programm, but maybe the lack of speed and power costs them again a better place. Chuvaeva / Palamarchuk placed 15th with a mistake on the triple toe of Dmitry. The third Russian couple Borzenkova / Chuvilyaev doubled the toe and because they skated already in the first group they had no chance to place higher (16th). Shklover / Mintals had a bad day, Viktoria fell on the toe and the thrown salchow so they placed 17th. The last three couples were on a technical low level, they planned easier elements than the others and had some mistakes. Sirokhvatova / Salmanovs tried the double axel side by side, but she didn't complete it clean and also their thrown salchow was on two feet. Krasiltseva / Znachkov both had problems with their toe, she doubled it and he fell. Then she fell on the thrown salchow and their spins were both bad. Aganina / Knyazev had only a doubled throw, she did the planned double axel only simple and their lift didn't work.

Men's short programm:
The best six skaters of the qualification proved their quality in the short programm where all six skaters stayed clean. Outstanding was Alexej Yagudin, he was last to go and he was put under an enormous pressure. He skated a very good short programm with a great quadruple-triple combo and an high triple axel, only the lutz was not so fantastic. His "winter"programm is without any doubt the strongest short programm of all the competitors and he earned marks from 5.8 to 6.0 (one) for his technical elements and 5.9 to 6.0 (five times) for presentation. This performance put him in first place followed by Alexander Abt who skated more secure as at the Olympics and again clean, he came in a close decision ahead of Takeshi Honda who was not worse than Alexander. When I watched these two skaters today I told to myself I don't want to be judge, because somehow both deserved the same place and the following skaters also were not worse. Timothy Goebel skated also clean with quad salchow - triple toe, triple axel and triple flip, the two mentioned above had quad toe- triple toe, triple axel and triple lutz. Concerning the jumps there was no real difference between them, but Timothy's steps are not so perfect and even if he improved he's still not an artictic skater.He dropped from 1st in the qualification to the 4th in the short and 3rd place after the first two competition parts. He was followed by Michael Weiss, who completed also a clean programm. Chengjiang Li, the sixth member of this last group did the quad as single jumps and a triple axel - triple toe combo. With these tactics he was only allowed to do a double axel as third jump element and so he was only placed 6th. Jeffrey Buttle skated a clean programm with triple flip - triple toe, triple axel and triple lutz to finish 7th. Brian Joubert risked a quad toe in combination with only a double toe and overrotated the triple axel to finish 8th. Kevin van der Perren proved again his great talent a few days ago he finished second at junior worlds where he won the free programm and now he completed again as at the Olympic games a clean short programm with triple axel - triple toe, triple lutz and double axel. He finished 10th in the short programm, but 9th overall. With the 12th short programm Frédéric Dambier finished 10th, he had a mistake on the triple axel and the planned quadruple salchow - triple toe combo turned into quadruple - double. Anthony Liu skated the eleventh short programm his quadruple - triple combo was a little bit overrotated and the double axel a little bit shaky (he doesn't do the triple axel in the short programm, because it's too insecure). The 9th short programm went o Andrej Vlashenko who skated clean with triple axel - double toe, triple lutz and double axel. He was only able to move up to the 12th place because of his bad qualification. Min Zhang lost many places after the 4th place in his qualifying group he finished 15th in the short programm because of a untidy landing of the quad toe(13th after both parts). Matthew Savoie fell on his lutz and fell back to the 14th place. Ivan Dinev skated clean with triple axel - double toe, triple flip and double axel and got the 13th short programm, 15th place. Song Gao got low marks bewcause he's not yet polished, but he completed a triple axel - triple toe combo, triple lutz and double axel (16th). Stéphane Lambiel who at the Europeans could convince with a clean skate with a triple - triple combo, but without a triple axel or a quad struggled today and fell back to the 17th place (18th short programm). The 17th short programm went to Ben Ferreira who skated clean with a triple axel - double toe combo, he is placed 18th now. Vakhtang Murvanidze struggled with his triple axel, his programm was nice nvertheless, but he got the 19th place. Roman Skorniakov also struggled on his axel to finish 20th with the 21st short programm. Markus Leminen was in the first skating group where those skaters were who were placed 13th to 15th in the qualification, so those were the skaters who were expected not to qualify for the free skate, but Markus moved up with a solid perfomance. Sergej Rylov fell back many places, he did not risk a triple axel and even doubled his lutz. He got the 24th short programm and the 22nd place in the standings. Sergej Davydov had a fall on the triple lutz, but had the luck not fall out of the group of the qualified skaters for the free skate. Dmitry Dmitrenko had the same luck after his combo of triple axel and double toe wasn't clean. Juraj Sviatko didn't qualify for the free even if he skated nearly clean. Thomas Verner skated clean, but his programm is not that difficult and he was only 15th in his qualification group. Yosuke Takeuchi fell on his triple axel, but his programm was nice to watch and I hope he'll get more consistant in the next time. Gregor Urbas did a triple flip - double toe combo, triple loop and double axel (that's more like in a ladies' short programm....) Kristoffer Berntsson had mistakes on two jump elements to finishe last but one. Sergej Kotov, also with two mistakes, finished last.

Pairs' free programm:
Shen / Zhao were suposed to win, but after they skated the door was left open for the Russian and US couples. The Chinese didn't risk the quadruple throw, she fell on the triple toe and he singled the axel out of the spread eaggle. Their programm was great to watch everything fits together and the lack of artistry which was once there ist no more visible, they skated with emotions. Their marks went up to 5.8 for technic and their presentation scores looked similar. Totmianina / Marinin had the chance to win, but he fell on the triple toe which she showed in combination with the double toe. Later Maxims sleeve got caught on Tatianas blade and it took them a few second to get it off. Their other elements looked good and they even had two different triples planned in this programm. I don't know if they made changes on the programm, but today I liked it better than before. After both favourites made mistakes, Ina / Zimmerman even had the chance to move up from their third short programm place, but he had problems with his toe, she put down her had in the landing of the double axel and in the end she fell on the triple thrown salchow. Petrova / Tikhonov begann with a sequence of double axel - triple toe, both put down their hand on the landing, later they did another clean triple toe. Their other elements looked fine. After the past results they changed their costumes, but after all it didn't change much. Nevertheless this time they should have come ahead of Ina / Zimmerman, but in a 4:5 split they lost. On the fifth place stayed Pang / Tong, their only mistake was that he doulbed the toe. Their programm was harmonic, but also a little bit boring. Zagorska / Siudek made mistakes on both of their single jumps and they didn't follow the trend to include more than two side by side jump elements, also they still show a thrown double axel, which looks great but this doesn't change the fact that it's a double throw. Scott / Dulebohn had mistakes on both throws and the double axel, I also didn't like their programm. Larivière / Faustino finished 8th, Lenny singled his axel and she put down her hand on the landing of the thrown loop. Zhang / Zhang the youngest competitors here with 16 and 17 years showed their class in the free skate. They completed a quad thrown lutz and beautiful throws. They even did two different triples. Their only mistake was that she put down her hand on the salchow. Langlois / Archetto only doubled the thrown toe, to finish 10th. Berankova / Dlabola had bad luck to finish their good season with a poor performance. She doubled the toe, the twist didn't look good in the landing, on the thrown salchow she put down a hand , their thrown toe was singled and they nearly fell out of a lift. After both competition parts they finished 11th. Marcoux / Marcotte completed the good result for the Canadian pairs with a 12th place and a solid performance, the triple toe wasn't clean and the side by side spin not synchronized, but the rest was fine. One of the technical best performances was the skate of Kawaguchi / Markuntsov who completed a clean programm including two different triple jumps, a sequence of triple thrown salchow and double axel and nice connecting moves. Their free programm is more polished than the short, but they didn't moe up from their 13th place. They have a lot of potential and I'm sure we'll see them move up in the future. Kautz / Jeschke stayed in 14th place, but in comparison with the Japanese their free programm has a lower level and they even made mistakes, so even if they look better as a pair, they had no chance to overtake them. Surprisingly behind the Germans stayed Borzenkova / Chuvilyaev, who began well with a thrown triple loop followed by a triple toe. Their twist was only double and when she fell on the triple salchow and he singled it they seemed to have problems to find back in the programm. Chuvaeva / Palamarchuk who had a good skate at Europeans had nearly no clean jump or throw. To my mind they should have fallen back behind Shklover / Mintals whose programm was a little bit easier but also somehow cleaner. Their skating abilities aren't bad, but they really lack polish. Krasiltseva / Znachkov moved up one place to overtake Sirokhvatova / Salmanovs, both couples do not seem to have the potential to finish much higher one day, especially the girls had many problems but also the guys showed that the lifts and other pair elements are not secure. Aganina / Knyazev skated on a extreme low level, no triple throw or jump was in this programm and they had many mistakes already on these easy elements.

Men's free programm:
Alexej Yagudin won clearly his fourth world title after a clean performance where he didn't even risk everything. His programm included two quads, one in combination with triple toe and double loop, a triple axel and four more triples. He didn't skate that powerful after this long season nevertheless he was outstanding and got twice the 6.0 for presentation which was to high. Timothy Goebel did his three quads but in the combo with the quad salchow the toe was only double and he stepped out of his triple axel out of the spread eaggle. Later he repeated the axel in combination again only with the double toe. After all he had four clean triples and three clean quads. In a field which was weak in comparison with the short programm this was enough to win the silver medal. Takeshi Honda first to go of the last group must have thought that the medal was gone for him, because he fell on his second quad attempt and showed the planned quad salchow triple, his lutz, the last jump, was not clean. But one clean quad and five clean triples brought him the bronze medal. He was followed by the second after the short programm Alexander Abt who unfotunately did not have a clean quad and who twofooted his first triple axel, he had seven clean triples. Chengjian Li was able to move up one place to fifth after he completed a programm with two quads (salchow and toe) and four clean triples, he didn't succeed with his triple axel. Michael Weiss took a big risk to start with a quad lutz attempt, but he fell and only in the second try his toe was quadruple but he touched the ice with his hand. He had five triples but no triple loop and the salchow was overrotated. His whole programm lost its quality because he had to change many things after he did the quad lutz and twice the toe. Anthony Liu skated good enough to move up from 11th to 7th place, he completed one clean quad toe in combination with the double toe, a triple lutz - triple toe combo and even his feared triple axel worked, he had no mistake. Min Zhang got the 8th free programm to finish 9th. He had three quads (slachow and toe (2x)) and three triples. The 9th free programm went to Andrej Vlashenko who finished 10th. He completed seven clean triples but did not even attempt a quad. Frédéric Dambier got the 10th free programm and the 11th place with five clean triples and an overrotated quad salchow. A beautiful programm was skated by Matthew Savoie who finished 12th with the 11th free programm. His programm includes 7 triples and some of them had nice entries. Jeffrey Buttle who was so great in qualification and free programm got only the 12th free programm to finish 8th after all. He had five clean triples, but no triple axel. The other Canadian Ben Ferreira got the 13th free programm to finish 15th (five clean triples). With seven clean triples but no triple axel Kevin van der Perren finished 14th. Brian Joubert got the 15th free skate and the 13th place overall with four clean triples and an overrotated quad toe. Song Gao presented a clean programm without a quad but with eight clean triples to finish 16th. Stéphane Lambiel wasn't able to complete a programm as at the Europeans where he was close to medal and became 17th in the free programm and 18th after all. Ivan Dinev fell back to the 17th place with the 18th free programm, he risked the quad toe and a triple axel - triple toe combo but all these major elements weren't clean. Roman Skorniakov completed six triples to overtake Vakhtang Murvanidze who had five clean triples ( 19th and 20th) Both had some silly errors which left them without a chance to overtake someone of the following skaters. Vakhtangs free programm seemed to be reduced in comparison to earlier events, his steps were less difficult. Dmitry Dmitrenko had an interesting choreography but he had only about 5 clean triples and some mistakes (21st free programm, 22nd place overall). Markus Leminen had problrams with the triple axel and the flip (22nd free programm, 21st overall). Sergej Rylov didn't risk a triple axel and had some mistakes, nevertheless he placed ahead of Sergej Davydov who has had some problems to show his programms clean this season.

Free dance:
Lobacheva / Averbukh won, they had two forbidden jump elements in their free programm, but they didn't get deductions for that. Bourne / Kraatz were not worse than the Russians, but also not much better, so they stayed in second position. Chait / Sakhnovsky got the third place and the bronze medal in a 5:4 split with Drobiazko / Vanagas. After watching the programms I cannot find an explanation for that, I would have given the medal to Drobiazko / Vanagas, but I agree that they maybe skated more carefully than at other competitions. BTW those two were the only pairs in the top ten who had new costumes. The new ones from Chait / Sakhnovsky looked better than the old ones. Dorbiazko / Vanagas who already had changed their costumes before Olympics had also a good choice, but I also liked the Olympic costumes a lot. Nevertheless I think the decision for bronze was not correct, Drobiazko / Vanagas had no mistake and in the OD when Margarita struggled they stayed third. Their free skate is emotional and technically demanding. Denkova / Staviyski finished 5th with their interesting free skate. To my mind Grushina / Gonsharov were not worse than Denkova / Staviyski and also the following top ten couples did not seem to be worse, either. Ice dance is still a matter of taste even after the ISU included elements which must be shown like a circular step sequence, spins, etc to compare the couples better.From place 5th to 10th for me there was no big difference between the pairs, but my order would have been another than the order of the judges. Delobel / Schoenfelder skated their old free programm once again after the Olympics, they came back to France to practice again with Murielle Boucher-Zazoui. Unfortunately for France they didn't reach the top ten, so next year there'll be only one French couple at worlds. Belbin / Agosto overtook with a great skate Humphreys / Baranov who were placed ahead before the free. The US pair skated a tribute to Sarajevo which was choreographically nice and also included technical demanding elements. Faiella / Scali stayed in 16th position with a good programm in which was unfortunately a mistake which cost them a better position. Even with the mistake of Faiella / Scali Ouabdelsselam / Delmas stayed behind them, their choice of music was perhaps not so good and technically this programm was not as good as the one of the Italians. Anselmi / Pedrazzini the second Italian couple could have moved up, too, but they had a fall during their circular step sequence and stayed where they were before.

Ladies short programm:
Irina Slutskaya skated clean (triple lutz - double loop, triple flip, double axel) to finish first after qualification and short programm, she even received two 6.0 for presentation which were perhaps to high and only seemed to be an excuse for the lost Olympic title. She was the outstanding skater in a weak ladies' field with many mistakes. Fumie Suguri skated also clean and was able to get the second place which gives her the chance to win with the best free skate. Michelle Kwan stepped out of her triple lutz to finish third. Now Michelle has no chance to win with the best free programm if Irina finishes second. Maybe Onda could have also placed ahead of Michelle, but she certainly does not have such a good presentation so she finished 4th. Sasha Cohen fell on the axel after her major difficulties worked well for her, she's now in 5th place and her chances of a medal became low. Elena Liashenko overrotated her triple flip, but that mistake was small enough to move up to 6th place. Julia Sebestyen fell on her triple lutz and finished 7th. Viktoria Volchkova had a fall on the flip to finish 8th. Zuzanna Babiakova skated clean which brought her the 9th short programm, but finished only 11th because of her qualification. 10th became Silvia Fontana with afall on the flip. Tayana Malinina stayed in the top ten (9th) after she did not add the double toe directly after the lutz and fell on the flip (11th short programm). Susanna Pöykiö fell on her lutz (13th short programm, 12th after the first two competition parts). Laetitia Hubert singled her flip which brought her the 12th short programm and 13th place. Jennifer Robinson two footed the flip and didn't get the take off of the axel,s o she finished after about one turn in the air (14th). Jennifer Kirk fell on the lutz and the flip to finish 15th. Idora Hegel fell on the lutz and got the 16th place. Marta Andrade has her best season this year, she skated a clean programm with double axel, triple flip - double toe and triple toe to finish17th. Miriam Manzano was the first skater to perform the short programm and she tried a lutz - toe combo and the flip. She overrotated both elements, but she was able to move up from 13th place in the qualification to the 18th place. Julia Soldatova was surely glad that she had a good qualification because no jump element was clean (two falls and a singles axel) with the 22nd short programm she fell back to 19th place. Julia Lautowa fell back to the 21st place after two falls on lutz and flip, she was very upset because of her performance. Maria Butyrskaya withdrew and flow back to Russia after a bad skate in the qualification to which her coaches came too late.

Ladies' free programm:
Irina Slutskaya didn't take any risk and did only triple lutz - double loop and triple salchow - double toe as combos. She completed a clean programm and received good marks. Michelle Kwan skated later on, she was not able to win with the best free skate if Irina was placed second. But Michelle also didn't take any risk, she completed a programm very similar to the one of Irina, the only difference was the second combo where she used triple toe - double toe instead of a salchow. Both were clean, so it was interesting to see who wins the free. With 6:3 judges the first place went to Irina. Finally Irina gets higher presentation marks than Michelle... To my mind both skaters are different in their kind of skating so that it is difficult to choose the winner. Fumie Suguri completed a nice free programm like the two leading skaters without a triple - triple combo and with only a double loop. She got 8 third places to finish these world championships with the bronze medal. Sasha Cohen risked a triple lutz - triple toe combo but fell on the toe, later on she fell again on the loop, her second lutz may be twofooted. Because of her high presentation scores up to 5.7 she came in fourth ahead of Yoshie Onda. Yoshie fell on her triple axel attempt which looked already better than at the Olympics, she overrotated her first lutz and her first double axel. Late in her programm she did a sequence of triple toe - triple toe. Her technical marks were a lot higher than Sashas, but she lost it with the presentation marks. Elena Liashenko had her best competition of the season here in Nagano, as always her loop wasn't clean, her toe was twofooted and her first axel was simple, but she held her 6th place. Viktoria Volchkova got the 7th free programm and I don't have an explanation for that, because she had many mistakes and other skaters nearly skated clean. Two times she doubled the flip, her second toe was also only double and her axel was simple. Behind her in the free programm result came Jennifer Robinson who skated a clean (maybe her triple toe was twofooted, I don't know) programm to end up in 9th position. The 9th free skate went to Susanna Pöykiö who skated beautifully but fell on her last jump the triple salchow. She didn't try her triple toe - triple toe combo which she is practicing. Unfortunately this 9th free skate didn't bring her in the top ten, so next year there will again only be one Finish lady and there are two of them at a similar level of skating... (Pöykiö and Kettunen) Silvia Fontana had some mistakes but got the 10th free skate to finish also 10th in the end. In her skate were missing the triple flip and loop and her secon lutz was simple. Julia Sebestyen had no triple loop, triple salchow and double axel, her second lutz was doubled. She got the 11th free skate but finished a lot higher on the 8th place. Laetitia Hubert had a good skate in which only the triple flip didn't work in two tries, but she stayed in 12th position with the 12th free programm. Zuzanna Babiakova completed her best worlds with the 13th place (13th free). Her first lutz didn't work, the flip was twofooted and the loop wasn't clean. Jennifer Kirk withdrew after her short programm. Unfortunately I didn't see more ladies so my comments have to finish with the 13th place.