My, what a difference 24 hours can make.
Just yesterday, Canadians were cheering the performances of the country's three men's entries at the Tokyo worlds. Jeff Buttle seemed like a sure medal bet. His training mate, worlds newbie Christopher Mabee, was on the fringe of podium contention. Even Emanuel Sandhu, just five points back, had to rank as an outside threat.
Then came today.
Splat. Splat. And splat.
Just like that, no medals for Canada. And one less men's berth for the red and white at next year's worlds in Sweden.
Ouch, indeed.
Let's start with some happier stuff. France's Brian Joubert, twice a world silver medallist, finally claimed the world crown, even though he placed third in today's free skate.
The story of the night was Daisuke Takahashi, who enthralled his home country fans with a marvelous free skate that included eight triple jumps and a quad. It was almost enough to push Takahashi to the top of the podium, but he fell a few points shy.
The final scoring: Joubert, 240.85 points; Takahashi, 237.95.
Two-time defending champ Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland, who looked rather ordinary during the short program (he placed sixth), rebounded in a big way in the free skate. The Little Zebra totalled 233.35 points to claim the bronze medal.
The top three all landed quads in their free skates.
Now, about those Canadians ...
Buttle appeared to be an absolute medal lock with the impressive form he showed in the short program. But it all unravelled in the free and, two falls later (on a quad and triple Axel), the three-time Canadian champion had tumbled to sixth, matching his finish at the 2006 Calgary worlds.
Mabee, who looked so relaxed during his career-best short program, crumbled under the spotlight today. He wound up 13th.
Sandhu's slide was even more disastrous. He also tumbled to the ice twice and generally struggled through a free skate. He skidded all the way to 16th place — his worst finish at a worlds since 1999, when he placed 18th in Helsinki.
While Sandhu bravely spoke yesterday of still making a run at the 2010 Olympics in his adopted home town of Vancouver, it appears his career is about to hit a crossroads. If he can't land a spot on the world team next year — and there are only two of them now — it'll truly be decision time.
Maybe he can summon some of that old magic in Vancouver, where the Canadian championships will be held next year. And the same city where, a decade ago, Sandhu first really flashed some of his immense promise by winning the national junior title.
Seems like such a long time ago now, though, doesn't it?
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Silver Lining
Canada's wait for a men's gold medallist at the world junior figure skating championships has been extended by another year.
But Ottawa-born Patrick Chan's silver medal — the first medal of any colour won by a Canadian man at this global event in 23 years — is still a positive sign. For Chan's future and that of men's skating in this country.
While Chan had his wobbly moments in today's free skate final in Oberstdorf, Germany, he didn't exactly crumble under the pressure of being the leader after the short program. And that's the one thing that has dogged many of the 'next great things' in Canadian skater too many times in recent years (I'll leave it to you to supply any names you want).
Internationally, at least, Chan has never found himself in this position before. And he simply got outskated by the brilliant Stephen Carriere of the U.S., who landed seven clean triples in his free program to soar from sixth after the short to the gold.
Carriere finished with 188.87 points; Chan 184.55.
Chan is a bright young kid (just turned 16) who will take this experience back to his current home in Toronto and learn from it. Just the way his mentor, the late, great Osborne Colson, would have taught him to over their years together at the Granite Club.
A Canadian champion three times over already (pre-novice, novice and junior), Chan remains perhaps the name to watch in the runup to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. By then, he should have the triple Axel and a quad or two in his arsenal. And the experience necessary to stare down any of the world's best on the biggest stages of them all.
It'll be fun watching as young guns like Chan, Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C. (5th at these world juniors) and Joey Russell of Labrador City, NL (11th) contend for spots on that Vancouver team.
But Ottawa-born Patrick Chan's silver medal — the first medal of any colour won by a Canadian man at this global event in 23 years — is still a positive sign. For Chan's future and that of men's skating in this country.
While Chan had his wobbly moments in today's free skate final in Oberstdorf, Germany, he didn't exactly crumble under the pressure of being the leader after the short program. And that's the one thing that has dogged many of the 'next great things' in Canadian skater too many times in recent years (I'll leave it to you to supply any names you want).
Internationally, at least, Chan has never found himself in this position before. And he simply got outskated by the brilliant Stephen Carriere of the U.S., who landed seven clean triples in his free program to soar from sixth after the short to the gold.
Carriere finished with 188.87 points; Chan 184.55.
Chan is a bright young kid (just turned 16) who will take this experience back to his current home in Toronto and learn from it. Just the way his mentor, the late, great Osborne Colson, would have taught him to over their years together at the Granite Club.
A Canadian champion three times over already (pre-novice, novice and junior), Chan remains perhaps the name to watch in the runup to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. By then, he should have the triple Axel and a quad or two in his arsenal. And the experience necessary to stare down any of the world's best on the biggest stages of them all.
It'll be fun watching as young guns like Chan, Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C. (5th at these world juniors) and Joey Russell of Labrador City, NL (11th) contend for spots on that Vancouver team.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Vancouver Calling ...
If you've been waiting to line up tickets for the 2008 BMO Financial Group Canadian championships in Vancouver ... well, your wait is about to end.
All-event packages for the event go on sale Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. ET.
Prices are $175 and $150 for the week, and can be purchased over the phone (604-280-4444) or online from TicketMaster (www.ticketmaster.ca).
The 2008 nationals run Jan. 16-20 at Pacific National Exhibition, which will also be the figure skating venue for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
Call this your opportunity for a sneak peek.
For Vancouver, it's the fifth opportunity to host Canadians. The last was in 1997. The city also held the world championships in 2001.
Also worth noting: It's gone back to being a five-day nationals with the elimination of the senior qualifying rounds (which will now be a part of the East/West Challenge. We're hearing that event is likely headed back to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ont., in December).
All-event packages for the event go on sale Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. ET.
Prices are $175 and $150 for the week, and can be purchased over the phone (604-280-4444) or online from TicketMaster (www.ticketmaster.ca).
The 2008 nationals run Jan. 16-20 at Pacific National Exhibition, which will also be the figure skating venue for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
Call this your opportunity for a sneak peek.
For Vancouver, it's the fifth opportunity to host Canadians. The last was in 1997. The city also held the world championships in 2001.
Also worth noting: It's gone back to being a five-day nationals with the elimination of the senior qualifying rounds (which will now be a part of the East/West Challenge. We're hearing that event is likely headed back to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ont., in December).
Friday, February 09, 2007
A Pair With Heart
Sometime very soon, we’re thinking, the fates of figure skating just have to leave Jessica Dube alone.
Seems like the poor girl’s run of bad luck is never ending.
The latest — and perhaps scariest — evidence of that came Thursday night at the Four Continents Championship in Colorado Springs. The petite (she’s 4-foot-11) and sweet 19-year-old from St. Cyrille de Wendover, Que., was cut badly when the skate blade of her partner, Bryce Davison, smacked her in the face (just below the eye) during side-by-side camel spins.
If you’ve seen the photos of Dube lying on the ice with a trail of blood beside her, you also no doubt noted the look of horror in Davison’s face.
Yes, it was that bad.
Dube was kept in local hospital overnight after undergoing surgery for the gash across her left cheek and nose. International Skating Union medical advisor Jane Moran called it a “significant laceration.”
Now the question becomes whether Dube and Davison, the newly crowned Canadian pairs champions, can recover physically and — perhaps more important — mentally in time to skate at the world championships in Tokyo next month.
Given their recent past, don’t bet against it.
Last season, Dube was involved in a serious car accident about six weeks before the Canadian championships in Ottawa. She suffered a sprained wrist that had the couple wondering whether they’d be able to be ready to skate at the Civic Centre (Dube’s knee injury had wrecked their chances at Canadians the season before. They withdrew after the short program).
But not only did they show up in the nation’s capital, they skated well enough to land Canada’s second pairs berth for the Turin Olympics. Then went out and posted the country’s top pairs finish (10th) in Italy.
Fast forward to the current season. Dube needed knee surgery back in September, which kept the couple off the ice for about a month and forced them to play catchup (again) for most of the fall.
Somehow, Dube and Davison got it together in time to go out and win their first Canadian senior title in Halifax.
The lesson in all of this: If you wager against these two, you’ll lose.
Big time.
Nothing, it would appear, can keep them down for long.
Seems like the poor girl’s run of bad luck is never ending.
The latest — and perhaps scariest — evidence of that came Thursday night at the Four Continents Championship in Colorado Springs. The petite (she’s 4-foot-11) and sweet 19-year-old from St. Cyrille de Wendover, Que., was cut badly when the skate blade of her partner, Bryce Davison, smacked her in the face (just below the eye) during side-by-side camel spins.
If you’ve seen the photos of Dube lying on the ice with a trail of blood beside her, you also no doubt noted the look of horror in Davison’s face.
Yes, it was that bad.
Dube was kept in local hospital overnight after undergoing surgery for the gash across her left cheek and nose. International Skating Union medical advisor Jane Moran called it a “significant laceration.”
Now the question becomes whether Dube and Davison, the newly crowned Canadian pairs champions, can recover physically and — perhaps more important — mentally in time to skate at the world championships in Tokyo next month.
Given their recent past, don’t bet against it.
Last season, Dube was involved in a serious car accident about six weeks before the Canadian championships in Ottawa. She suffered a sprained wrist that had the couple wondering whether they’d be able to be ready to skate at the Civic Centre (Dube’s knee injury had wrecked their chances at Canadians the season before. They withdrew after the short program).
But not only did they show up in the nation’s capital, they skated well enough to land Canada’s second pairs berth for the Turin Olympics. Then went out and posted the country’s top pairs finish (10th) in Italy.
Fast forward to the current season. Dube needed knee surgery back in September, which kept the couple off the ice for about a month and forced them to play catchup (again) for most of the fall.
Somehow, Dube and Davison got it together in time to go out and win their first Canadian senior title in Halifax.
The lesson in all of this: If you wager against these two, you’ll lose.
Big time.
Nothing, it would appear, can keep them down for long.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Taking A Bow
Spotted at the Ottawa Sports Awards dinner on Thursday night — ice dancers Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno.
The reason? Hann-McCurdy, who spent five years training at the Gloucester Skating Club and still represents them, was on hand to receive the sport award for figure skating for 2006. The 19-year-old from Orleans earned the honour — which included a medal and certificate — in great part because of their efforts at last year’s Canadian championships in Ottawa (Coreno made the long drive from his home town of Delhi, Ont., to share the happy moment with his partner).
In only their second year together, Hann-McCurdy and Coreno won the junior ice dance crown (they’d been silver medallists the year before in London, Ont., the same season they reached the Junior Grand Prix final).
The awards circuit isn’t done yet for the promising duo, which finished eighth in their senior debut at the just-completed 2007 nationals in Halifax. On Feb.12, both will receive the B.C. Premier’s Athletic Award for their accomplishments during the 2005-06 season. Then they’ll be special guests at the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Countdown to 2010 luncheon.
Both skaters returned to their home towns — Hann-McCurdy to Ottawa, Coreno to Delhi — for some down time after the Halifax nationals. They tell me they’re headed back to Vancouver next week to begin planning for next season (they train at the B.C. Centre of Excellence in Burnaby under the tutelage of former world champ Victor Kraatz and his wife, Maikki Uotila Kraatz), when their goal will be a top-five finish (and national team berth) at the 2008 Canadians. No road trip necessary for them: It’s right in Vancouver at Pacific National Exhibition, which will be the venue for the Olympic figure skating competition in 2010.
A stage, Hann-McCurdy and Coreno will tell you, they’d dearly love to dance upon in three years time.
The reason? Hann-McCurdy, who spent five years training at the Gloucester Skating Club and still represents them, was on hand to receive the sport award for figure skating for 2006. The 19-year-old from Orleans earned the honour — which included a medal and certificate — in great part because of their efforts at last year’s Canadian championships in Ottawa (Coreno made the long drive from his home town of Delhi, Ont., to share the happy moment with his partner).
In only their second year together, Hann-McCurdy and Coreno won the junior ice dance crown (they’d been silver medallists the year before in London, Ont., the same season they reached the Junior Grand Prix final).
The awards circuit isn’t done yet for the promising duo, which finished eighth in their senior debut at the just-completed 2007 nationals in Halifax. On Feb.12, both will receive the B.C. Premier’s Athletic Award for their accomplishments during the 2005-06 season. Then they’ll be special guests at the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Countdown to 2010 luncheon.
Both skaters returned to their home towns — Hann-McCurdy to Ottawa, Coreno to Delhi — for some down time after the Halifax nationals. They tell me they’re headed back to Vancouver next week to begin planning for next season (they train at the B.C. Centre of Excellence in Burnaby under the tutelage of former world champ Victor Kraatz and his wife, Maikki Uotila Kraatz), when their goal will be a top-five finish (and national team berth) at the 2008 Canadians. No road trip necessary for them: It’s right in Vancouver at Pacific National Exhibition, which will be the venue for the Olympic figure skating competition in 2010.
A stage, Hann-McCurdy and Coreno will tell you, they’d dearly love to dance upon in three years time.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
She's Still A Champion
The folks at IMG got the ball rolling this week for Stars On Ice Canada with the news that Canadian champions Joannie Rochette, Jeffrey Buttle, and Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon will all participate in the 13-city tour, which begins March 29 in Halifax.
For Dubreuil and Lauzon, the five-time Canadian ice dance champs, it's their SOI debut.
The 2007 extravaganza almost marks the national tour farewell for Brian Orser, who's immersed himself into coaching big-time at the Toronto Cricket Curling and Skating Club.
Long-time Canadian favourite Kurt Browning (skating's Mr. Entertainment) and Olympic pairs champs Jamie Sale and David Pelletier are also on board again.
The theme this year is Double Exposure: The Many Lives of Figure Skaters. My pal (and aspiring journalist) Jennifer Robinson, who's currently with the tour south of the border, tells me it's definitely worth a look.
(Jen's again penning a journal about the 'behind the scenes' stuff that goes on with SOI. It's on the U.S. tour website, which you'll find under our 'skating links.').
Conspicuous by her absence this year is former world champion ice dancer Shae-Lynn Bourne, who has lent her talents to SOI Canada the past few years as a solo dancer.
Shed no tears for Shae, though. She'll be plenty busy soon enough: She tells me she's signed a two-year contract with Tom Collins' Tour of Champions.
“I wasn't asked (to join SOI),” Bourne said recently in Halifax after she and partner Victor Kraatz were inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame. “So I thought, okay, Champions (tour) ... I'm going to be doing that through the summer.”
Hey, once a champion, always a champion, right?
For Dubreuil and Lauzon, the five-time Canadian ice dance champs, it's their SOI debut.
The 2007 extravaganza almost marks the national tour farewell for Brian Orser, who's immersed himself into coaching big-time at the Toronto Cricket Curling and Skating Club.
Long-time Canadian favourite Kurt Browning (skating's Mr. Entertainment) and Olympic pairs champs Jamie Sale and David Pelletier are also on board again.
The theme this year is Double Exposure: The Many Lives of Figure Skaters. My pal (and aspiring journalist) Jennifer Robinson, who's currently with the tour south of the border, tells me it's definitely worth a look.
(Jen's again penning a journal about the 'behind the scenes' stuff that goes on with SOI. It's on the U.S. tour website, which you'll find under our 'skating links.').
Conspicuous by her absence this year is former world champion ice dancer Shae-Lynn Bourne, who has lent her talents to SOI Canada the past few years as a solo dancer.
Shed no tears for Shae, though. She'll be plenty busy soon enough: She tells me she's signed a two-year contract with Tom Collins' Tour of Champions.
“I wasn't asked (to join SOI),” Bourne said recently in Halifax after she and partner Victor Kraatz were inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame. “So I thought, okay, Champions (tour) ... I'm going to be doing that through the summer.”
Hey, once a champion, always a champion, right?
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