Style On Ice Exclusive Interview: Oksana Grishuk

In the prime of her illustrious ice dance career,  Oksana Grishuk with partner Evgeni Platov won 20 consecutive competitions.  The duo claimed two Olympic gold medals, 4 World titles and 3 European Championships before retiring in 1998.  After forging a solo career for a few years, Grishuk has dropped off the American radar almost completely.  Style On Ice had a chance to catch up with the skater recently and here's what she had to say.

SOI:  We haven’t seen you on the ice in the U.S. for awhile, what have you been doing?

OG:  I have been teaching private lessons, choreography, and master classes, primarily in Anaheim, California at KHS Ice Arena. I also spend so much time with my 8 year old daughter, Skyler Marie Grace. There is school work ( where she is doing amazing and getting all A's), tennis (she just recently won a first place trophy for her first tournament in her age group) , Russian language and art.  When my daughter and I have free time we love to ride horses or play golf. Sometimes we just to have a tea party with friends. I love being a mom and always thank God for letting me have such a precious girl in my life.

SOI:  How was the Russian Dancing On Ice experience for you?

OG:  I did the Russian Dancing on Ice project a few times.  I won first season in 2006 and got third in 2007.  It was an amazing experience which made me enjoy performing once again.  I also met and worked with so many wonderful and talented people there and learned so many new things for myself.  Being back in my country and seeing everything from a different angle was incredible, because it brought some emotional memories that made me appreciate where I came from even more.  I love Russia and always will, even though I have been living in USA and loving it too, for almost 17 years.

SOI:  Any regrets looking back on your amateur career?

OG: I might have some regrets from my amateur career but I prefer not to hold on to the past.  I always reinvent myself and be positive and optimistic.  I believe that the best things are happening in front of you.  I just know one thing when something goes wrong learn a good lesson from your mistakes or experiences and move forward even stronger and wiser than before.  Think positive and positive will be next to you all the way.

SOI:  What would you like to say to the longtime fans that still support you?

OG: I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart ALL of the people who were and still are being very kind and supportive. I love them all very much and wish them the most wonderful and beautiful things in life and God Bless them all.

SOI:  What would you tell the young skaters with elite aspirations?

OG: I would like to tell all the younger skaters to NEVER give up on their dreams.  Dream big.  Whatever it is always believe in yourself and you will be surprised that you can actually do much more than you think you can.  Be yourself and bring your own personality out because I believe every skater has their own style and unique thing that can be incredibly beautiful.

Vintage Video: Rodnina and Zaitsev

In pre-school years Irina Rodnina suffered from pneumonia eleven times, and in 1954 her parents brought her to her first skating rink, in the Pryamikov Children Park in Moscow. Since the sixth form of the secondary school, age 13, she trained at Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA on Leningradsky Prospekt.

Throughout her career she competed internationally for the Soviet Union. At the national level she represented the Armed Forces sports society.

Rodnina graduated from the Central Institute of Physical Culture. She won 10 World Championships and three consecutive Olympic gold medals in pairs competition between 1971 and 1980 with her partners Alexei Ulanov and Alexander Zaitsev. She also won 11 European pairs championships, making her the most successful pair skater in history.


Rodnina with Alexei Ulanov in 1970.She began her career with Alexei Ulanov. They won four consecutive World and European titles beginning in 1969. Their main rivals were Lyudmila Smirnova and Andrei Suraikin who regularly finished second behind them. Ulanov fell in love with Smirnova, and prior to the 1972 Olympics, the couple made the decision to skate together the following season. Rodnina and Ulanov went on to compete at the 1972 Olympics where they captured the gold. They then prepared for their last competition together, the 1972 World Championships. While practicing together a day before the start of the competition, the pair had an accident on a lift and Rodnina ended up in hospital with a concussion and an intracranial hematoma. Despite the accident, they skated in the short program cleanly and received some 6.0s. Rodnina became faint and dizzy in the long program but it was enough for their fourth World title. Ulanov continued his career with Smirnova, while Rodnina considered retirement.

In April 1972, her coach Stanislav Zhuk suggested she team up with the young Leningrad skater Alexander Zaitsev, who had good jumping technique and quickly learned the elements. At the 1973 World Championships, their music stopped during their performance. Known for intense concentration, they finished the routine in silence, earning a standing ovation and a gold medal upon completion, ahead of Ulanov and Smirnova, who they again defeated in 1974. They won six consecutive World titles together, as well as seven European gold medals, and became Olympic Champions in 1976. Rodnina and Zaitsev did not compete during the 1978-79 season and had a son together. They returned in 1980 to capture their second Olympic title together and Rodnina's third. They then retired from competitive skating.

Rodnina was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (in 1972) and the Order of Lenin (in 1976). Since 2005 Rodnina is a member of the Public Chamber of Russia.

Rodnina coached numerous elite Soviet skaters and taught at the University of Moscow, and later coached in the United States and led the Czech team of Radka Kovaříková and René Novotný to a world title.

Alexander Gennadiyevich Zaitsev is a World and Olympic figure skating champion from the former Soviet Union. He is now a figure skating coach. His hometown is Saint Petersburg.

Zaitsev is best remembered for his successful partnership with Irina Rodnina. From 1973 to 1980 they won every event they entered, including the 1976 and 1980 Olympic games. They were coached by Stanislav Zhuk and trained in Moscow.

Rodnina and Zaitsev were married in April 1975. They took a break from competing in 1979 when their son, Sasha Jr., was born.

After retiring from competition, he became a coach and for a time was involved in the administration of the sport.

The Kerrs Announce Retirement

Scotland's greatest ice dancers announce their retirement through injury after a glittering career that dazzled fans across the world.

They announced their retirement after a shoulder injury ruled Sinead out of next month's World Championships in Moscow.
The Livingston-born pair's dynamic routines and tartan costumes made them crowd favourites across the world,
And their seven British titles was matched only by England's Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, even if the Kerrs never reached the same level of fame.

Continue Reading...

Style On Ice Exclusive Interview: Elvis Stojko

On April 16, 2011 in Moncton, N.B.  Elvis Stojko will be inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.  The Three-time World Champion, Two-time Olympic Silver Medalist and Seven-Time Canadian Champion recently took a few minutes to discuss this honor (among other things) with Style On Ice.

ES: I’m pretty excited about it!  I didn’t expect it so it totally caught me off guard.  I was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame a few years back and that was exciting as well.  The Olympic Hall of Fame is great because it sort of caps off my career in regards to everything I’ve done.  Being recognized by the Olympic Association for Canada is amazing.  There are some pretty great athletes, coaches and builders that have been recognized.  It’s so amazing to be among them.  It has been almost 9 years since I’ve retired so being inducted now is nice.  It has made me kind of go back and really think about my career. It’s funny because I had already been rehashing some of the great memories and all of a sudden I get a call that the President of the Olympic Association wants to talk to me personally.  The timing is kind of ironic and pretty cool.

SOI: What are some of the memories that you were already thinking of?

ES: There are a lot of different moments that stand out, it was never just one big thing.  Not letting the system itself change who I was or change the direction that I wanted to go in was an important thing.  There are a lot of people that you can follow that believe they can (and that they really want) to help you.  I stuck to my guns all the way through.  I stayed on the path that I wanted to be on stylistically and I skated the way that I wanted to skate.

When it comes to particular achievements there’s quite a few that really stick in my mind.  One is when I made the world team for the first time in 1990.  In 1988 I was junior champion and then in 1989,  I didn’t even make it to Canadian Nationals.  I had grown, my body had changed and I was still really young.  I worked so hard that year (1990), come hell or high water I was going to make it to Nationals.  I jumped over that goal and kind of exceeded it, by making the world team.  That was a breakthrough year for me and I started pushing Kurt Browning right away.  It let people know that I was a contender. Kurt and I had some great battles in the early 90’s.

{Tom Hanson}

In 1994, I came out with my Bruce Lee program and skated a little bit different then everyone else thought skating should be.  A lot of people said that if I’d skated to something different I’d have won the Olympics (rather than come in second).  It was very close anyway, a 5/4 split and to me it’s about being yourself out there.  Just the way I competed and how I did it made me happy. Winning Nationals in 94, then a silver at Olympics and winning worlds after that- it was a huge, huge year.

Everyone says that I gave a really gutsy performance in 1998 at the Olympics, but for me it was such a rough time, with the injury to my groin.  I was trying to balance my injury, my brain and the media.  I needed to keep my focus so that I could just try to skate my best.  I didn’t know if I was going to compete another four years so I didn’t want to just give up.  I pushed myself through it and may have caused some damage, not just on a physical level, but on an emotional and spiritual level as well.  I fought through that injury but never quite got my form back after that, not like I wanted.  I was still competitive but not quite as crisp as I wanted to be.  I was disappointed in 98’ because my body failed me but that performance did inspire a lot of people.

{Getty}

 It was a character building experience for me that’s for sure.  There was a moment in the program where I was going into my second triple Axel and I was skating down the boards in front of the judges and my body wanted to stop.  I wanted to quit. Then I had this thought if I did stop, in two hours I’d be wondering why I didn’t just push myself through it and at least try.  I had to know if I could do it or not so I continued and truly muscle memory kicked in and got me through the rest of the program.  About 3 months later, as I was healing, I realized I had been so busy that I never gave myself time to reflect.  I had been in high gear with the injury, the media, figuring out if I even could compete at worlds-  I needed to just put it in park and shut it all off.  I realized I needed to decompress from that Olympic experience and so I shut the car off.  I had pushed  to a point where something broke within myself and it took a few years to fully put it back together again.

SOI: Now that you’ve stepped away from eligible skating and see it with fresh eyes, who do you enjoy watching?

ES:  Takahashi Daisuke, for me his edges are the best and I could watch him for hours.  He has an incredible, natural skating ability that isn’t forced or overworked.  Great jumps, great spins and he kind of goes to the beat of his own drum. He has a cool attitude.  He knows he’s good, but he’s respectful and not cocky about it.  He’s a breathe of fresh air in a sport that has some very flamboyant, ‘Look at me!’ types of skating on display.  I see guys skating now and I think, ‘ Don’t worry about what we’re thinking,  just let us take it in.’.  I like all three Japanese guys but he is my favorite. 

There comes a point where as a skater you have to make a choice.  That choice is to go with how I feel or to at take the package they’re giving me.  Do I take the music, take the costume, take the look because I know this is the packaged deal that will sell? 

{Rossano}

The package may last for a few years and then you realize it’s a fad and fads go away.  Then there’s the ones with longevity that went their own way.  They didn’t follow the status quo and just threw away their inhibitions.  They are who they are, because they are unique and different.  They give themselves honestly to the sport, to the fans and that is what this sport is all about. Champions come and go.  Some train for one reason only. They train to win, they DO win and then they leave.  Then there’s people that didn’t win but they really stick in your mind and they make a difference.  Those are the people I appreciate.

SOI: Are you hitting the ice again soon?

ES: There’s a carnival show in the northern part of Quebec this weekend.  A small club invited me to skate so I’m doing two shows,  April 2nd-3rd in St Romuald.  I haven’t been to Quebec in awhile so I think it’ll be really nice to skate there.  There are possibly some shows coming to Western Canada at the end of the summer.  If the shows happen, I’ll be there.  I can’t say much more than that about those for now.  I may be teaching a seminar in June but that’s not completely solid yet either.  I’m doing things here and there but I’m trying to pace myself.  I do have something in the works that is very, very personal.  I’ll be able to share with people soon but I can’t let that out of the bag just yet.  I’ll have to keep everyone in mystery about that for a few more months.

Over the years I’ve had a lot of really great fans who have supported me and I want to thank them for being so strong.  They’ve defended my points and are really fantastic.  You can’t be liked by everyone and there will always be people that choose to go in the other direction.  I have to say, those that have supported me have just been amazing.

****************************************

Keep updated on when Elvis will be performing:

http://www.elvisstojko.net/
Elvis on Facebook
Follow Elvis on Twitter

Vintage Video: Linda Fratianne

Linda Fratianne's father was the former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Fratianne (died 2002). Her mother was Virginia Fratianne. Her parents were divorced.

Throughout her figure skating career, she was coached by Frank Carroll.

Fratianne was particularly known for her ability to complete difficult triple jumps with ease and beauty. She became the first female skater to land two different types of triple jumps (toe loop and salchow) in her free skating programs in 1976 at the U.S. National Championships. Her strong free skating technique complemented her elegant style, which made her the best overall American skater of the period.

At the World Figure Skating Championship in Tokyo, Japan in 1977, she won her first world title by upsetting the favorite going into the Championship: East Germany's Anett Pötzsch. This victory was attributed to the combination of solid jumping skills, strong basic skating skills, and exceptional artistry. In fact, Fratianne fell on her triple salchow jump in her free skating routine, but these positive qualities were significant enough to prompt the judges to place her above Pötzsch.

In 1979, Linda Fratianne was able to regain her world title, which she had lost to Pötzsch in 1978 in Ottawa, Canada.

Her chief rivals were Anett Pötzsch (East Germany), Emi Watanabe (Japan), and Dagmar Lurz (West Germany). Like Watanabe, her compulsory figures were significantly weaker than her free skating; consequently, she frequently placed well below Pötzsch and Lurz in the compulsories, forcing her to attempt to overcome her deficiencies through strong short and free programs. In fact, Fratianne never placed lower than Pötzsch or Lurz between 1977 and 1980 in short or free programs at any of the competitions, yet she was only able to win the major competitions twice. This is largely because the rules then placed much weight on compulsory figures.

In addition to her skating skills, Fratianne was also known for her costumes throughout her career. Many believe that Fratianne has been responsible for setting the current fashion trend for female skaters, dripping with beads, sequins, and chiffon.

After the 1980 season, Linda Fratianne turned professional and enjoyed a long career performing as the lead skater of Disney on Ice (for 10 years) and other touring ice shows. In 1993 Linda Fratianne was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

From 1988 to 2001 she was married to ski racer Nick Maricich. They have a daughter, Ali (b. 1991).

Linda Fratianne currently lives and coaches in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Quick Links

-  Reynolds named to world team.
-  Moscow to splurge on worlds.
-  Dungjen headed to worlds with his students.

Vintage Video: Ronnie Robertson

Ronald "Ronnie" Robertson (born September 25, 1937 in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania; died February 4, 2000 in Fountain Valley, California) was an American figure skater who was best known for his spinning ability. He won the silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics and twice won the silver at the World Figure Skating Championships. He retired from skating after the 1956 U.S. Championships, where he was nearly disqualified after he was accused by the German Figure Skating Federation for excessive expenses on a European tour. His father, Albert Robertson, a naval architect, accused Hayes Jenkins for trying to disqualify his son. After a huge fight with the U.S. Figure Skating Federation, Robertson was not disqualified after he lost to Jenkins and retired from competitive figure skating and signed a two-year contract with the Ice Capades for $100,000.

In the 1950s, he had a close personal and sexual relationship with Tab Hunter[3][4], who also helped fund his amateur career. Robertson was coached by Gustave Lussi.

Robertson's skating career was also well known on television. He appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1957, and his fast forward upright spin was described as being "faster than an electric fan." He also appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club that year

Russia To Expedite Visas For Figure Skating Worlds

Russia To Expedite Visas For Figure Skating Worlds

By The Associated Press

 

Russian authorities will expedite the visa process for the world figure skating championships that Moscow has taken over from earthquake-ravaged Japan, Russia's top Olympic official said Friday.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, who heads the Russian Olympic Committee, told The Associated Press that officials will provide easier access to visas often difficult to obtain for the athletes, coaches, officials and fans going to next month's rescheduled event.

"For major sports events, we have had a special procedure for the visa process," Zhukov said in a telephone interview from Sochi, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. "We're going to make it much easier, not just for the Olympics Games in Sochi, but also for the world championships."

He said the process will be similar to that used when Moscow hosted the 2008 Champions League football final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

"We had a very good experience for the final with 50,000 English fans in Moscow," Zhukov said.

The figure skating worlds initially were scheduled to be held this week in Tokyo, but Japanese officials said they could no longer serve as host following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis.

On Thursday, the International Skating Union said the championships would be switched to Moscow's Megasport arena from April 24 to May 1.

"We are very proud to have been selected the host," Zhukov said. "We are deeply saddened by the events that led to this decision."

The Russian and Japanese Olympic committees signed a cooperation agreement earlier this week.

"There is enormous support and solidarity between our two nations," Zhukov said. "We will help Japan to have the figure skating world championships next year."

France, which is scheduled to hold the 2012 championships in Nice, has offered to give the event to Japan as a sign of solidarity.

"We will support our Japanese friends," Zhukov said.

He cited the influence of Vladimir Putin in bringing the 2010 championships to Russia. The prime minister publicly threw his sport behind the bid, saying "this is not a very expensive event and we are capable of taking care of all the expenses."

"I think it was very important for the decision of ISU," Zhukov said. "Of course, it's important that the Russian government is supporting this event. This was a very important detail in this decision."

Zhukov said Russia will have no problem organizing the championships on short notice, noting that Moscow hosted the same event in 2005.

Officials announced Friday that Moscow will also host this year's modern pentathlon world championships after Cairo dropped out because of the recent political instability in Egypt.

The international federation, UIPM, said the championships will be held in the Russian capital from Sept. 1-7. The event had originally been scheduled for Cairo from Sept. 16-14.

"There is absolutely no problem for Russia to host all these sports events," Zhukov said. "We have very good experience." Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Quick Links

- Should worlds have been cancelled?
- Kim Yuna will compete in Moscow.
- Scheduling conflicts for Czisny's coach

2011 World Championships Awarded to Moscow

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 201124 Mar 2011 11:48

In its statement of March 21, 2011 the ISU communicated the decision of the Japan Skating Federation (JSF) to decline holding the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011, initially allotted to the JSF and scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan this week.

In the meantime, the ISU has received applications to hold the Event during the months of April or May of this year from its Member federations in Austria (Graz), Canada (Vancouver), Croatia (Zagreb), Finland (Turku), Russia (Moscow) and USA (Colorado Springs or Lake Placid).

The ISU thanks those Member federations for their spontaneous reaction during these truly dramatic and exceptional circumstances emanating from the crisis in Japan and highly appreciates their efforts for having prepared an application on such short notice. The ISU reiterates that in the light of the dramatic situation in Japan the staging of sporting events becomes relatively secondary and a solution satisfying all involved is extremely difficult. Nevertheless, it is in the best interest of the ISU and its Members to hold the Championships as soon as possible.

The ISU has reviewed all applications received and after careful evaluation the ISU Council decided to allot the Championships to the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, to be held in the Megasport Arena in Moscow/Russia, on April 24-May 1, 2011.

The organization of this major Event with little time to prepare will require a high level effort from the Figure Skating Federation of Russia which has assured the ISU of its full cooperation including in areas such as easy access to entry visas and security. The preparation for the updating of all relevant details (time schedule, Announcement, entry confirmations etc) have already begun and the ISU will revert as soon as possible with the necessary information.  

Under these extraordinary circumstances the ISU asks for the full cooperation and understanding of the skating community and all involved entities in making this a successful Event. The full cooperation of all participating ISU Member federations hopefully attending in full strength will be of utmost importance.

Finally, the ISU is convinced that the Japanese delegation coming to Moscow deserves and will receive special attention and respect. At a time like this, words cannot express feelings but the ISU wants to let the skating friends of the Japan Skating Federation and the people of Japan know that the thoughts and wishes of the Skating family continue to remain with them.

Ottavio Cinquanta                                         Fredi Schmid

President                                                     Director General

In The World's Loop

Phil Hersh's latest...

Six Countries Submit Bids to ISU for Worlds

Six countries have put in bids to replace Japan as host of the world figure skating championships, which were postponed this week because of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear threat there. The International Skating Union said the bids were from the United States (Colorado Springs, or Lake Placid, N.Y.), Russia, Canada, Finland, Croatia and Austria.

ISU Letter Recieved by Federations

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We refer to our Statement released today advising that the 2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships cannot be held in Japan.

Some Figure Skating Members have spontaneously informed us that they would be available to host this Championships if not held in Japan. Some other Members may now also be interested and available to host this Event.

Attached please find the Questionnaire for applications for ISU Championships that we ask the interested Members to submit to the ISU Secretariat by e-mail or fax latest by Tuesday evening (Swiss time), March 22, 2011.

Some details might not yet be available so we ask you to complete the questionnaire with all information available at this time. If necessary, it can then subsequently be completed as soon as possible.

However, when returning the questionnaire we kindly ask you to confirm in your cover note that you would be able to comply with the following key conditions:

1. Available dates during April/May starting, if possible, with the week of April 18, 2011 onwards

2. Availability of an ice rink/arena with a minimum spectators capacity of 8000 seats.  The arena must be available from the Thursday early morning through Sunday late evening of the following week.

3. Availability of a practice rink from Friday early morning through Friday late evening of the following week.

4. Availability of about 700 hotel rooms.

5. A TV production for the entire Event and availability of the signal free of charge to the ISU and its TV right holders.

Depending on the applications received, the ISU will be in touch with the Members concerned for all necessary follow-up questions and clarifications and the ISU Council is expected to take a decision a few days after March 22, 2011.

We thank you for your cooperation.

With kind regards

Fredi Schmid 

ISU Director General

No Worlds In Japan, ISU Now Seeks A New Venue

Here's the latest on the ISU's site.

ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2011 – ISU World Team Trophy 201121 Mar 2011 07:04

Since the outbreak of the crisis, the ISU was and remains in close contact with the Japan Skating Federation (JSF) who in turn did likewise with the competent Japanese authorities. After having explored all possible options to maintain the 2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Japan, the JSF has now informed the ISU that regretfully and reluctantly they must decline hosting the Championships in Japan. Also, the JSF agreed to the postponement of the ISU World Team Trophy initially scheduled to be held in April 2011 to be held instead in April 2012 in Japan at a place and exact dates to be agreed upon. The ISU agrees with this conclusion.
While the ISU gave priority to find a solution to keep the 2011 ISU World Figure Skating Championship in Japan, the ISU fully understands the JSF decision. As we all struggle to come to terms with the unimaginable tragedies following the monstrous earthquake of March 11, the ISU reiterates its expressions of grief and sympathy to all those affected by loss of life, injury and loss of homes. The ISU admires the resilience, strength of character and faith of the Japanese people in recovering from this tragedy.
In light of this catastrophe, the consequences on sports events and in particular the ISU World Figure Skating Championships and ISU World Team Trophy become relatively secondary. Nevertheless, it is the ISU’s duty to find the best possible solution for a possible rescheduling and relocation of the Events taking into account all points of view.
Based on spontaneous proposals from ISU Member federations received to host the Championships and possibly additional Members who might be interested and available, the ISU Council is evaluating the different options taking into account all relevant aspects and points of view. This primarily involves the tremendous logistical challenge to organize and conduct such major Event on short notice. Also, the Council cannot ignore legal and contractual constraints as well as timing conflicts with other skating or sporting events.
Considering the scope and complexity of the situation, quick evaluations and decisions were and remain extremely difficult to make and the ISU counts on the understanding of the Figure Skating community for taking a minimum but reasonable amount of time to reach conclusions in cooperation with the concerned ISU Members and entities. 
The ISU Council is conscious that a solution satisfying all points of view is probably difficult to be achieved and begs all involved for their understanding and cooperation in these truly exceptional circumstances. 
An update of the situation will be communicated in the coming days.

Thought On Worlds

Perhaps one of the best posts regarding the World Championship situation comes this week from ice-dance.com

While it may be tempting to "save" Worlds for Japan and hold the event later in the year, this would throw a huge kink into the skating season. Athletes depend on the off-season, when they have time to regroup and prepare for a new season. Without that time off, skaters won’t be able to focus on the improvements they want to make for the next year. They won’t be able to devote time for the crafting of new programs if they have to keep their old programs in top form, and most importantly, their bodies will not have time to rest.

Continue Reading...

ISU Hopes to Decide By Friday or Monday

Read here...

Quick Links

Phil Hersh's take on cancelling worlds vs. moving it to October.

PJ Kwong's latest thoughts on the subject.

Join the discussion (very heated at times) over at FSU.

A Few Tweets and Links

Skaters begin to weigh in on the postponement of worlds via Twitter and Facebook:

rossminer Ross Miner
I REALLY hope they hold worlds.

PechalatBourzat Pechalat & Bourzat
ISU postpones World Skating Championship in Japan | Reuters http://t.co/65Ap5Dl via @reuters World Championships in Tokyo cancelled :(

JohnnyGWeir Johnny Weir

I am heartbroken to postpone my trip to Japan this week. I pray every day for my fans and friends around the country to be strong and fight.

Naomi Lang

sorry for the athletes training hard everyday for words. I truly believe everything happens for a reason..so it will end up the way it's suppose to..

*******************************

A few links:

Dunjen and Sato deal with their skaters' uncertainty

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/blogs/pjkwong/2011/03/switching-skating-venues-not-a-likely-option.html

ISU Must Decide Quickly

Phil Hersh spoke with Cinquanta this morning...

Style On Ice Exclusive Interview: Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat

{Florence Lécrivain Photographe}


SOI: How does it feel to be European Champions?

NP: It's definitely a great feeling to be rewarded after 2 times being 4th at Europeans.
It was an amazing moment in Berne to earn this first medal in a championships- the most beautiful one ! We celebrated with our families, friends, team mates, and federation. I feel relieved and from now on everything that will happen will be a bonus. We are back to work, so we stop thinking everyday about this medal, instead we think about winning some others ones.

SOI: What does a typical day of training look like for you?

NP: We train almost 6 hours during the summer camp, plus physical training and ballet, but just before competition we spend only 2 hours on the ice. Not as long but more intense.

SOI: Why do you think training with Sasha has helped you pick up momentum?

NP: We wanted to work with Sasha because we were looking for another way to practice, to imagine and work ice dancing. He helps us a lot with all the skating skills, like the basics for example. The Russian mentality made us grow up. We are more strong and more confident on the ice, so we are able to put more feelings and expression in our routines.

{Ingrid Alcazar}


SOI: How do you like Moscow now that you've been there a few years? Are you speaking Russian now?

NP: We are very bad students about the Russian language. We can just say a few sentences. To excuse us our coaches, team-mates and friends speak always English or French with us. We appreciate Moscow especially because we know very nice people, but it's so cold !

SOI: What do you miss about not living in France?

NP: Food and warmer weather.

SOI: What do you think makes your partnership work so well?

NP: We know each other very well and we are very complementary, but above that, we want the same goal. We see ice dancing with only one point of view, but different ideas to achieve our goal so, it's a rich partnership. We insist on building our programs with our personalities and our choices. Even if we open our ears to someone else’s idea we participate 100%.

{Vandystadt}


SOI: What traits or qualities do you both bring to the partnership that makes you stand out from other dancers?

NP: I am very organized and always want to work more and I anticipate a lot.
Fabian is very creative, he just has so many ideas. What we love the most in this sport is the "art" dimension, and I think the audience can see it.

SOI: What skaters have inspired you, both past and present?

NP: The Duchesnay, no hesitation! Generally every Russian skaters in 1990's. Today, we prefer to enjoy one quality in a couple and then another one in somebody else. We create our perfect couple !

SOI: How do you spend your off-ice time?

NP: I’m almost finished with my master’s degree (I only have to make a internship during 6 months), and Fabian passed every theory exam in physiotherapy (he can't do more in distance). We just use all our time to enjoy our skater life, and believe me it's take a lot of time.

SOI: What do you see yourselves doing in ten years time?

NP: Fabian doesn't know right now. He is living in the present moment.

I imagine myself keeping a foot in the ice dancing world, like being judge or specialist. I would like also, to be living in Europe and having kind of a normal life.

SOI: What would you tell young skaters that view you both as role models?

NP: Fabian- Ice dancing is one of the most difficult sports because it's a very complete sport, it's between sport and art. You can perform, but you can also express yourself and become what you want to be!

Nathalie- Don't let down anything- never, because with passion and work you can go wherever you want. Plus, in this sport even if you don't win, you can always bring some joy to the audience.

SOI: What would you like to say to the growing number of fans that have fallen in love with your skating?

NP: Thank you so much for appreciating our work ! We are glad to bring you emotion on the ice and surprises too. The firsts reason we skate is because we love it and we love to see some smiles on faces in the audience ! You are a part to our inspiration, you give us the strength to go further. Enjoy ice dancing !