Reports and photos by Kelly Behning.
Kelly next to her Stefan Lindemann photo,
which was a finalist at Skatefest
Reports and photos by Kelly Behning.
Kelly next to her Stefan Lindemann photo,
which was a finalist at Skatefest
Even though Worlds are over, I'll try to write this as though I'm writing it on the day/night the events took place.
a=axel s=salchow L=lutz l=loop t=toe loop f=flip RT=run-through
Day 1: Sunday, March 18
I arrived late last night. I'm staying at the Hyatt Regency, which
is the skaters' official hotel. Sale, Pelletier, Sandhu, Bourne, and
probably all the other Canadians are on my floor, the 23rd. Looking
out my hotel window for the first time startles me, since I'm not used
to seeing the street 23 floors below me and to seeing birds flying beneath
me! :) The hotel is very nice, and it is pretty good at protecting the
skaters' privacy, too - no one can use the elevators without having a room
key, so outsiders can't access anything other than the lobby and 2nd floor.
Breakfast here is free - good deal! (Well, the buffet costs guests
$2.00CAN - big whoop.)
Went to a few practices today. In the ladies' groups, Fumie Suguri landed a 3L3t. Tamara Dorofejev landed a 3t3l but fell several times on lutzes and flips. Jennifer Robinson actually walked up into the stands after her practice to sign autographs and take pictures. Laetitia Hubert was FLYING across the ice but was popping most jumps. Mikkeline Kierkgaard couldn't land a 2a today.
In pairs, Elena Bereznaya slid into the boards pretty hard on a throw, but she was all right. Xue Shen smiled throughout the practice and seemed to be in a great mood. Jamie Sale and David Pelletier practically had a standing ovation, and it was only practice! Kawaguchi and Markuntsov, who represent Japan (he is from Russia) landed almost everything; she is extremely tiny and flexible. She's another one who I could probably pick up with one hand.
Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko treated this practice as a contest. One would do a jump; the other would equal or top it. Both landed 4t3t2l combos; Plush landed a 4t3t3l and Yagudin landed a 3a-1/2l-3s-2l. Yagudin signed autographs for a long time, until the announcer said, "we know it's your birthday, Alexei, but you have to leave the ice!...BeFORE the zamboni comes around the corner!" The zamboni came around, and he grabbed the end of it and did a spiral as it dragged him along - very cute! Todd's 3a's were perfect; Tim couldn't land a jump for the life of him in his RT, but was doing okay otherwise. Roman Skornyakov had an awesome RT, landing a 3a3t, 3a, and 3f3t.
Day 2: Monday, March 19
Men's Qualifying Round, Group B
Here are notes on a select few.
Stefan Lindemann: 3a(hand)2t, 3L, 3a, 2l, 3f, 3t, 3s. He's very happy,
pumping his fists at the end of the program. Good for him!
Yamato Tamura: 2t, 4t3t, 1s; no 3a
Emmanuel Sandhu: 4t, 3a3t, 3a, 2l, 3l, 3f(fall), 3t(fall); messed up a spin
Elvis Stojko: guess I didn't take detailed notes on him, but he fell out of both
quads and the 3a.
Stannick Jeannette: 3t, 3a, 3f(fall), 3a2t, 2L, 2l, 3s, 3t
Roman Skornyakov: 3a3t, 3f3t, 3a, 3L, 3l, 2s, 2s, 2a(step out). Marks too low!
Chengjiang Li: 2t2t, 4s3t, 1a2t, 3L, 3a2t, 3l, 2t. Crowd booed marks.
Sergei Rylov: 3a, 3L, 3a(turn out)2t, 3l-1/2l-hop-3t, 3f, 3L2t, 3s, 2a
Anthony Liu: 4t(fall), 3a(step out), 3L3t, 2t, 3l, 3s, 3f(hand)
Takeshi Honda: 1a, 4t(step out), 4s(fall), 3a2t, 3l, 3L, 3f, some other double
Men's Qualifying Round, Group A
Todd Eldredge: 3t, 3f, 3a3t, 3L, 3l, 3a, 3s. Standing ovation.
Tim Goebel: 3L, 4s3t, 3a2t, 4t, 3a, 3s, 3f, 3l. Standing ovation, yay for him!
Alexei Yagudin: Yikes! 4t(fall), 2t, 1a, splat on death drop, 3a1t, 3f, 2l, 3a, 2L. He didn't
bother sitting in the Kiss n' Cry. Marks were very generous. Later, I saw his post-skate
interview on CTV. He said his foot was bothering him and he was going to the hospital for an
x-ray, but that it wasn't an excuse for his terrible skating. He said he just wants to
compete; it doesn't matter where he ends up. He ended by saying that the man who wins Worlds
the year before the Olympics never wins the Olympics, so maybe this is a good thing.
Patrick Meier: 3a, 3L, 2l, 2a, 3f(fall), 3s, 3t2t. Nice program; I was very surprised by
his performance. When I skated at his rink in Switzerland for 6 weeks last summer, he couldn't
even pull off a 3t! So good for him.
Neil Wilson: only clean triples were a 3l and 3t2t, but he did a nice layback and a fast,
awesome final spin. Great crowd response.
Alexander Abt: 4t(2ft), 3a2t, 2L, 3a, 3f, 3l, 3s, 3t
Evgeni Plushenko: 4t(fall), 3a, 3a3t, 3L3t, 3f, 3s, 3l. Partial standing ovation.
I think Madonna's "Music" was the only song the organizers had today - it was played during just about every warm-up and zamboni time!
I didn't take notes on the pairs' short program; I concentrated more on taking pictures.
Day 3: Tuesday, March 20
I think this was the day that I first ran into Sarah Hughes at the hotel. She
was very bubbly and chatty. One of the first things she asked me was "hey, are
you doing your Worlds web site this year?" LOL I was pretty amused and impressed by that,
since I don't think I realized she actually read it! Cool. If
you're reading this, Sarah, hi!!! You were fabulous! ;o)
I didn't go to the compulsory dances; I never do. Did some downtown sightseeing instead, and went to a few men's and ladies' practices at PNE (which is terribly inconvenient to get to - this is the only day I went there).
In practice, Chengjiang Li landed some great 4t3ts and 4s3ts; he looked very confident. Lindemann had some 3a troubles. Meier landed some 3Ls and just 2footed a 3a. His hair, which he has dyed almost black, looks very cool. Tamura landed a 4t2t in his RT. Sandhu chickened out on most 3as, but landed a quad. Yagudin looked good. Abt landed a clean 4t. Honda and Eldredge both landed 4t3ts; I think that was the first one I'd seen Todd do. Goebel looked great- beautiful 3as and 4s3ts.
Plushenko and Mishin stood at the far end of the rink to watch ladies group 5 until some people discovered them and started asking for autographs. Shirene Human attempted some 3fs. Meier's lutzes were fine, but she was having some problems with the flip. Liashenko still cannot land a clean 3loop for the life of her; I don't know what her problem is with that jump.
Men's Short Program
JUMP CHART
| Robert Kazimir | 3a(2ft), 3L3t, 3f(fall) |
| Vincent Restencourt | 3a2t, 3f, 2a |
| Roman Skornyakov | 3a3t, 3L, 2a |
| Gregory Urbas | 3a(2ft)2t, 2L, 2a |
| Neil Wilson | 3f(turn out), 3a(2ft)2t, 2a |
| Markus Leminen | 3L, 3a(hand)1t, 2a |
| Vakhtang Murvanidze | 3a2t, 3L(fall out), 2a |
| Anthony Liu | 4t2t, 2a, 3L |
| Sergei Davydov | 2a3t(step out), 2L, 2a |
| Gheorghe Chiper | 3a(step out), 3f3t, 3L |
| Dmitry Dmitrenko | 3a(turn out)2t, 3L, 2a |
| Angelo Dolfini | 3t3t(kind of), 3s, 2a |
| Chengjiang Li | 4t, 3a3t, 2a |
| Ivan Dinev | 3a2t(turn out), 3f, 2a |
| Sergei Rylov | 3a2t, 3L, 2a |
| Patrick Meier | 3a2t, 3L(barely), 2a |
| Stefan Lindemann | 3a(hand)2t, 3L, 2a |
| Vitaly Danilchenko | 3a1t, 3L(barely), 2a |
| Yunfei Li | 4t3t, 3a, 3L |
| Yamato Tamura | 3t(2ft), 2a, fall on death drop, 3L3t(fall) |
| Emmanuel Sandhu | 4t(fall out), 1a, 2a |
| Min Zhang | 2a(step out), 4t3t, 3L |
| Alexei Yagudin | 4t3t, 3a, 3L |
| Alexander Abt | 3a3t, 4t(2ft), 2a |
| Evgeni Plushenko | 4t3t, 3a, 3L |
| Tim Goebel | 4s3t, 3a, 3f |
| Takeshi Honda | 4t(fall), 3a(fall out), 3L |
| Elvis Stojko | 3a(fall), 4t(fall), 3L |
| Todd Eldredge | 3f3t, 3a, 3L |
| Stannick Jeannette | 3a2t, 2L, 2a |
Other notes: Vincent Restencourt's music was called "Clubbed to Death."
Skornyakov's marks were way too low, IMO. Murvanidze had
great facial expressions, but looked as though he wanted to
cry in the Kiss n' Cry. Chiper was absolutely ecstatic!
Dolfini couldn't quite hold the landing of his 3t3t, and it
turned into an impromptu/accidental back sit spin, LOL.
Yagudin just looked thrilled after his skate; great to see.
Stojko mouthed "sorry" after his skate. Yagudin, Plushenko,
Goebel, and Eldredge all got standing ovations.