ISU Statement on Japan

ISU says Tokyo world figure skating venue intact

The International Skating Union says it has no plans to cancel the figure skating world championships in Tokyo, which is scheduled to begin on March 21.

Posted: Mar 11, 9:44a ET | Updated: Mar 11, 9:44a ET

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - The International Skating Union says it has no plans to cancel the figure skating world championships in Tokyo, which is scheduled to begin on March 21.
ISU spokeswoman Selina Vanier tells The Associated Press that the Yoyogi National Stadium appears to be unscathed by an earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday.
Vanier says Japanese Skating Federation officials have made "an initial assessment and there is no damage."
The stadium was built 50 years ago in the Shibuya district as a venue for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Vanier says the ISU would be in contact with Japanese officials before changing plans for the weeklong event.

Japan Devestation

Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone living and training in Japan.  Also to all of you with friends and family affected by today's devestation.  Many are wondering what will happen to Worlds' which are scheduled to begin in Japan in about ten days.  Follow the live discussion over at FSU

Vintage Video: Laurence Owen

Laurence (pronounced /lɔr'ɔːns/) Owen was born in Oakland and for the first eight years grew up in Berkeley, California. She was the second child of Guy Owen and Maribel Vinson and the younger sister of Maribel Owen. In 1952, shortly after the death of her father, her mother moved back to her girlhood home at 195 High Street in Winchester, Massachusetts with Laurie and her sister Maribel. Laurie went to Winchester Junior High School and then attended Winchester High School where she was an honor student and participated in several sports.^[1]
In 1956, Laurie won the Eastern Junior Ladies title and was unable to participate in the United States Championships that year because of a broken wrist. In 1958, she placed 3rd in the United States Figure Skating Championship Junior Ladies Division. In 1959, Laurie won the United States Figure Skating Championship Junior Ladies Division.^[2]
In January 1960, Laurie placed 3rd in the 1960 United States Figure Skating Championships and qualified for the 1960 Winter Olympics where she placed 6th. Her mother, the 1932 Winter Olympics Bronze Medalist and nine times US Singles Champion Maribel Vinson-Owen was her coach.
On January 29, 1961, Laurie won the 1961 United States Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs and won the 1961 North American Figure Skating Championships on February 12, 1961 in Philadelphia.^[3] After her victory at the US Nationals, she became a media sensation and was nicknamed "The Winchester Pixie".^[4] On February 13, 1961 she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine with a feature story that called her "America's most exciting girl skater."^[5]
On January 28, 2011 Laurence Owen was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame along with the entire 1961 World Team. Her sister Maribel Owen also was inducted and her mother Maribel Vinson Owen was inducted for a third time in 2011; in her capacity as a 1961 World Team Coach. Previously, her mother has been inducted in the inaugural Class of 1976 as a singles skater and for a second time in 1994 as a pairs skater.^[6]
On February 17, 2011 the U.S. Figure Skating Association released the documentary film entitled "Rise 1961". The movie chronicled the relationship between Laurence and her mother, the tragedy in the skies over Belgium and the rebirth of the United States Figure Skating Team from the ashes of Sabena Flight 548.

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Style On Ice Skater of the Day: Kurt Browning

Born in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta and raised in Caroline, Alberta, Browning is a four-time Canadian figure skating champion and four-time World Champion. He represented Canada in three Winter Olympics, 1988 (finishing 8th overall), 1992 (6th) and 1994 (5th), and was given the privilege of carrying the Canadian flag during the opening ceremonies of the 1994 games in Lillehammer, Norway. Browning's other achievements are numerous, including three Canadian Professional Championships, three World Professional Championships, a Lou Marsh Trophy for top Canadian Athlete (in 1990), Lionel Conacher Award winner (1990 and 1991), Order of Canada recipient (in 1990), an American Skating World Professional Skater of the Year Award (in 1998), and a Gustav Lussi Award from the Professional Skaters' Association (in 2001).
On March 25, 1988, at the 1988 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Browning landed the first quadruple jump ever in competition.^[1] This accomplishment is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Browning is also known for his footwork.
He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and Canada's Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000. He was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2001. He also appeared in the 2006 Fox television program Skating with Celebrities. Starting in 2009, he is the co-host of Battle of the Blades.

As a professional skater, Browning has had a long rivalry with Brian Boitano. At the 2006 Ice Wars competition, Browning narrowly defeated Boitano.

Browning married Sonia Rodriguez, a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, on June 30, 1996. Their first son, Gabriel, was born on July 12, 2003 and their second son, Dillon, was born on August 14, 2007.

* More Wiki info  here

* For all things Kurt head over to The Kurt Files.

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Vintage Video: Ron and Nancy Ludington

1960 Olympic Bronze Medalists.

Rosalynn Sumners Making A Go Of Her Shops Despite Economy

SITTING DOWN with Rosalynn Sumners in her cozy shop on downtown Kirkland's Lake Street, you quickly get a sense for the energy and commitment that propelled her to a silver medal in the 1984 Winter Olympics figure skating competition.
A vision with her long, slightly wavy blond locks and wearing a gray sweater, blue jeans and boots, she looks thinner than when she was competing, but still comes across as forceful – and absolutely driven.
“I was never in it for the bright lights,” says Sumners, who grew up in Edmonds. “Sometimes I miss the entertaining. I lived that life from 7 to 40 – I have no regrets, not at all. I never loved it for the spotlight. I just loved what I did.

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Figure Skating Pioneer Maribel Vinson-Owen Spotlighted In New Documentary

It wouldn’t be completely accurate to call Maribel Vinson-Owen the Bob Knight of figure skating. But it wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate either. After all, she was a successful coach with a fiery disposition, and she did famously throw a chair at one of her students. This was more than 50 years ago. The student was Ron Ludington, who became the bronze medalist in the pair event at the 1960 Olympics. He went on to coach many skaters to the Olympics himself.
Owen also trained Frank Carroll, who in this analogy would be Mike Krzyzewski. He coached Michelle Kwan and 2010 gold medalist Evan Lysacek. Speaking of Owen, Carroll has admitted on numerous occasions, “I was scared to death of her.”

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Broadway on ice: E. Iowa club pairs stage stars with local, national figure skaters

By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group
Don’t be surprised if the ice starts melting when the Eastern Iowa Figure Skating Club presents “My Favorite Things.”
Organizers are cranking up the heat with plenty of star power for matinee and evening ice shows March 19, 2011, at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.
Taking a cue from “the latest thing” in ice shows, Broadway stars and local favorites will add their voices to the smooth leaps, spins and triple jumps from local, regional and national skating champs.
Cedar Rapids native Timothy LeDuc and his partner, Cassie Andrews, will be in the spotlight, fresh off their competitions last week at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Gangneung, South Korea.
“Coming home is such a very special experience for me,” LeDuc, 20, says by phone from his training home in Indianapolis the day before leaving for South Korea. “To be able to see and spend a lot of time with skaters I grew up with and where I got started is very special.”

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Vintage Video: Sonja Heine

Sonja Henie (April 8, 1912 - October 12, 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931–1936). Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. At the height of her acting career she was one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood.

Sonja Henie was born in Kristiania, current Oslo, the only daughter of Wilhelm Henie, a prosperous Norwegian furrier and his wife Selma Lochmann-Nielsen (1888–1961). In addition to the income from the fur business, both of Henie's parents had inherited wealth. Wilhelm Henie had been a one-time World Cycling Champion and the Henie children were encouraged to take up a variety of sports at a young age. Henie initially showed talent at skiing, and then followed her older brother Leif to take up figure skating. As a girl, Henie was also a nationally ranked tennis player and a skilled swimmer and equestrienne. Once Henie began serious training as a figure skater, her formal schooling ended.

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Tanith Belbin: Starting A New Chapter

　
Life After Competitive Skating

The very first thing that I did after ending my competitive career was to sign up for University courses online. After I graduated from high school I concentrated ONLY on the last two Olympic Games and on being a fulltime athlete. I had promised myself that I would immediately dive into my studies once I stopped training every day. I’m only taking a few classes online because I still travel so much, but it’s a start and I feel really good about that.
This past fall I began doing Ice Dance commentary for NBC Sports. I’m also co hosting and doing color commentary for Skating With The Stars. It’s definitely not as easy as I thought it would be but I enjoy the challenge of doing commentary. It’s interesting to see the sport that I know so well and have dedicated my life to, from the other side of the boards. It’s an entirely different perspective. They keep telling me that I need to be more critical but I feel so much for all these people who are giving their best. I know how hard it is for them so I try to bring that element to my work.

Was It Really Time To Retire?

We absolutely felt like it was the right time and it’s so weird in a long skating career to just know that it’s time to end that year. So many times injuries push you out sooner than you’d like or before you’re emotionally ready to go. We’re so fortunate that we really felt it should be our last year. Let’s top it off with the Olympics and we really couldn’t have skated better. We really left competitive skating on our terms and that has allowed us to make the most of professional opportunities now. Ben and I are in the frame of mind where we still love skating, we don’t necessarily want to compete, but we do want to skate. In terms of the longevity of our partnership there has never been an end in sight. We still love skating together and the skating fans are also a huge reason for us to continue. We’ve received so much support from people that enjoy and appreciate what we bring to professional skating. We usually do show programs that tell a story because we enjoy the performance aspect of it. It’s a very natural segue for us and an opportunity that we can’t just let pass us by.

{Michelle Harvath}

Personal Inspiration

I grew up in Canada and we had ten-time National Champions Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz. Shae-Lynn still skates by herself in shows which for a dancer is extremely rare. She is just a phenomenal dancer but also one of the most poised and respectable people I’ve ever met. I always admired her relationship with colleagues and I always sort of wanted to mold myself after her. Not so much in the details of her skating but in the way that she carried herself. She has had such success and I think a lot of it is attributable to her likeability. Anyone that can do a performance without any tricks or jumps and still entertain a crowd is my role model!

Stars On Ice

{Paul Harvath}

Last year was the first year that we were able to be a part of rehearsals from the very beginning and we really enjoyed it. It’s great to be able to be a part of it again this year from the foundation up. It has been a lot of fun for Ben and I. Since last summer we have moved to different cities and we don’t get to practice together very much. Spending these last two weeks in rehearsals together has been amazing because we get to enjoy skating all over again. We’re playing with lifts, working out our new programs and sort of getting into a skating mindset again.
One of our solos we’ve already done in a few places. It’s to Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody. it’s one of our softer programs. Our second number is a Flamenco program and we kept it at a more competitive level. It’s 4 minutes long, fast and has a lot of the footwork and skills of competitive skating. We won’t resign ourselves to a simpler level of skating just because we’re professionals. We wanted to challenge ourselves and I think this will also be crowd-pleasing.
The good thing about Stars On Ice is that you don’t need to be familiar with skating to enjoy this show. There’s so much pure entertainment value that you don’t really need to know who is who beforehand. It’s a collaborative effort amongst the entire cast. Smucker’s Stars On Ice challenges us as skaters because of the group numbers. We get to create new dynamics, more tricks, etc. Then you add in modern music, cool lighting, no boards and it just takes skating to a new level. It’s cool to see skating just cut loose.
The tour has so many dimensions, from comedy to drama that it’s hard not to enjoy it.

Thankful

I want the skating fans to know how grateful I am. Skating as a sport has obviously given me a great athletic career. It has also given me the confidence to take on new challenges and to believe that I can achieve success in new chapters of my life. I want to thank everyone for supporting Ben and I. Standing at center ice and having a standing ovation- that’s a feeling that doesn’t come along often. You carry that feeling with you forever.

A Bit of Advice

I’ve taken my responsibility as a role model very seriously. I want kids coming up in the skating or dance world to have perspective. Remember, this is just one part of what you do. It’s not who you are, don’t get to caught up. It’s not the only way to achieve success. The key to success is to stay balanced and to remember who you are off the ice too.