*Looks like Sarah Meier just withdrew?Becky Bereswill (USA) - Rough go for her here in Japan but some beautiful moments. I loved the spiral into the triple loop and also the fight she had on the second lutz.Shoko Ishikawa (Japan) - Like Bereswill, some nice moments but overall a rough go. She seemed nervous, understandably competing at home in her biggest competition ever.*What injury does Sarah Meier have?Cynthia Phaneuf (Canada) - No luck with the lutz but she completed everything else sh... Read Full Story
I did things a little different. I actually live tweeted during the short programs (yes between 2am and 6am). You can see my thoughts by checking out my twitter profile here.The Men's competition was amazing! Read Full Story
U.S. Figure Skating has just announced the host city for the 2012 U.S. National Championships: San Jose, California. San Jose last hosted the event in 1996.Kansas City was seen as the front runner in the race to host the 2012 event after failing to earn the bid in 2011 to Greensboro, North Carolina."We're thrilled to bring the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships to San Jose," U.S. Figure Skating President Patricia St. Peter said. "With the support of the figure skating fans and the commun... Read Full Story
100 Days to go until the Olympics Begin...can you believe it?The Grand Prix this season has proven that the figure skating competition in Vancouver will be fierce, unpredictable in some cases, and very entertaining. I'm so excited! I know Vancouver will be an awesome host city; as far as I'm concerned it's one of the best places on the Planet Earth and I'm excited to get this party started!Speaking of getting the party started. Today on...Today, the countdown will get a star filled kick of... Read Full Story
Jennifer Kirk wrote an Op-Ed at True/Slant that I think everyone must read. She managed to explain with such clarity why I'm having issues with the judging system.You can read her blog post here. Read Full Story
All of my Japanese blog readers will have to let me know if I got the title (Figure Skaters...Welcome to Japan) correct.Of course that means the Grand Prix makes it's first of two stops in Japan. The first stop this week is for NHK Trophy in Nagano. the second stop will be the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo in December.The pairs field at NHK is a rematch of sorts between Pang and Tong and Kavaguti and Smirnov. The Chinese duo bested the Russians at Rostelecom Cup and will hope to do the same in... Read Full Story
I just got an interesting e-mail. The main question basically was: What all is on your blog and where can you find it? I had never considered it but unless you've really looked my blog over top to bottom you may have missed some things. So, come with me, I'm taking you on a field trip of my blog. Axels, Loops, and Spins A-Z!At the very top is of course the title. However, every so often I change out the quote that's up there. It's always from a skater or someone talking directly about s... Read Full Story
First, blood. There was a lot of hand slicing in Beijing. The funny part is I never saw how it happened. I kept going..."Oh, where did they cut their hand?" I always wonder if there is some special cleaning trick when you get blood on your nice (read: expensive!) competition outfit. Ice Charades...any tricks?Sweat. A lot of skaters were working hard in Beijing. First, congrats to all the winners. Shen and Zhao skated great. Hongbo made me a little nervous on a couple of his side-by-s... Read Full Story
Diane Szmiett (Canada) - Lovely subdued performance.Beatrisa Liang (USA) - I love the second half of this program. She had good fight here. Despite her difficulties, she looks a bit more put together this season.Yan Liu (China) - Snoozefest. Joannie Rochette (Canada) - Still not her best but better. I wish the the first half of the program had some of the faster paced music in it. I suspect she'll gain some ground with this though.Fumie Suguri (Japan) - Rough around the edges. I miss th... Read Full Story
