Day 1 from NHK Trophy

The final event of the 2014 Grand Prix Series, NHK Trophy, is under way from Osaka, Japan. After the singles and pairs short programs, Gracie Gold has a slight lead over Russia’s Alena Leonova while Jeremy Abbott sits in second behind Takahito Mura of Japan. Singles and pairs free skates and the short dance are set for late Friday/early Saturday ET.

Ladies short program:

Results

Gracie Gold – 1st place (68.16)
Christina Gao – 6th place (54.86)
Polina Edmunds – 11th place (48.96)

Men’s short program:

Results

Jeremy Abbott – 2nd place (81.52)
Ross Miner – 10th place (63.36)
Joshua Farris – 11th place (58.35)

Pairs short program:

Results

DeeDee Leng & Simon Shnapir – 6th place (45.91)

Saturday’s schedule (all times ET):

10 p.m. — Short dance

10:39 p.m. – Hawayek & Baker

11:45 pm. — Pairs free skate

Midnight – Leng & Shnapir

1:50 a.m. — Ladies free skate

2:05 a.m. – Edmunds
2:52 a.m. – Gao
3:31 a.m. – Gold

5:40 am. — Men’s free skate

5:58 a.m. – Farris
6:06 a.m. – Miner
7:20 a.m. – Abbott

NHK Trophy Marks Grand Prix Series’ Sixth Stop

NHK Trophy 

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series makes its sixth and final stop before the Grand Prix Final this week with NHK Trophy, Nov. 27-Nov. 30 in Osaka, Japan.

NBC will air competition coverage from 4-6 p.m. (ET) Sunday, Nov. 30. In addition, Universal Sports will broadcast coverage throughout the weekend. Icenetwork Season Pass subscribers will have access to live video from all three days of competition. To become a Season Pass subscriber, please visit www.icenetwork.com.

Tweet @USFigureSkating and use the hashtag #NHKTrophy to join the conversation on social media.

Team USA will be represented by 10 athletes:

Ladies:

Polina Edmunds
Christina Gao
Gracie Gold

Men:

Jeremy Abbott
Joshua Farris
Ross Miner

Pairs:

DeeDee Leng & Simon Shnapir

Ice dance:

Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker

Event schedule (all times ET) | LIVE RESULTS

Friday, Nov. 28

12:45 a.m. — Pairs short program

12:52 a.m. – Leng & Shnapir

2:15 a.m.  — Ladies short program

2:55 a.m. – Edmunds
3:09 a.m. – Gao
3:41 p.m. – Gold

5 a.m. — Men’s short program

5:52 a.m. – Miner
5:59 a.m. – Farris
6:05 a.m. – Abbott

10 p.m. — Short dance

10:39 p.m. – Hawayek & Baker

Saturday, Nov. 29

11:45 p.m. — Pairs free skate
1:50 a.m. — Ladies free skate
4:40 a.m. — Men’s free skate
10 p.m. — Free dance

2014 NHK TROPHY TELEVISION BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(All times Eastern; subject to change; check local listings)

Broadcast Date	Event	Time (ET)	Network
Nov. 29	Men’s and ladies short programs	7:30-9:30 a.m.	Universal Sports
	Pairs free	11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.	Universal Sports
Nov. 30	Free dance	11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.	Universal Sports
	Competition highlights	4-6 p.m.	NBC
	NBC encore	7-9 p.m.	Universal Sports

2014 NHK TROPHY ICENETWORK BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(All times Eastern; subject to change; check local listings)

Broadcast Date	Event	Time
Friday, Nov. 28	Pairs short (LIVE)	12:45 a.m.
	Ladies short (LIVE)	2:15 a.m.
	Men’s short (LIVE)	5 a.m.
	Short dance (LIVE)	10 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 29	Pairs free (LIVE)	11:45 p.m.
	Ladies free (LIVE)	1:50 a.m.
	Men’s free (LIVE)	4:40 a.m.
	Free dance (LIVE)	10 p.m.

Detroit Skating Club presents “Crystal Anniversary, 15 Years of Talent”

The Detroit Skating Club is excited to announce the 15^th annual ice show, “Crystal Anniversary, 15 Years of Talent,” to be performed June 5-8 at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

The spectacular show will include skaters of all disciplines, from the littlest tot all the way to top international competitors. Skaters of all levels will perform singles, ice dance, pairs and synchronized skating in solo, group and feature performances.

Guest skaters will include 2014 Olympic silver medalist Patrick Chan, 2014 World Team member Elladj Balde, 2014 World Team members Alexandra Aldridge and Daniel Eaton, two-time U.S. champion Alissa Czisny, 2014 World Junior champions Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker and four-time Greek champion Georgia Glastris. Guest skaters will only be featured at select performances.

Performance Schedule:

Thursday, June 5: 7 p.m.

Friday, June 6: 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 7: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Sunday, June 8: 2 p.m.

Guest skater performance schedule:

Patrick Chan – June 8

Elladj Balde – June 6, June 7 (both shows)

Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton – all performances

Alissa Czisny – June 5-7 (both Saturday shows)

Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker – June 6, June 7 (7 p.m. show), June 8

Georgia Glastris – June 6, June 8

Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased for $17 to $27 at www.dscclub.com.

 

Alissa Czisny

Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker

2013 Grand Prix Final, Junior Grand Prix Final – Day 4 Recap

Useful Links

Twitter  #GPF13  |  Competition Notes (PDF)

Live Results/Starting Orders  |  icenetwork Event Page

Team USA closed a strong week at the Grand Prix Final and Junior Grand Prix Final by adding a pair of medals Sunday in the junior dance event. Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker earned silver as their training mate Kaitlyn Weaver cheered them from the stands. Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter took home the bronze.

Hawayek and Baker’s goal was to skate with as much heart and soul as possible, and that accomplishment was reflected Sunday in their PCS mark. The “second mark” totaled 44.86 of their 81.37 points. Their total score was 139.42.

Said Baker, “We try to put as much heart and soul into the programs as we can. It’s thrilling to know the hard work pays off and we are really happy to put out performances we are proud of.”

The couple acknowledged their levels were lower than they want them to be so that will be a point of emphasis going into their next events.

“We are happy with the scores for the levels we got this week,” Hawayek explained. “Levels are something we’re going to be pushing toward for our next competitions, nationals and hopefully junior worlds. We’re not going to give up the fight. We are going to really work on drilling those levels.”

McNamara and Carpenter delivered an intense and powerful program to the music of Sherlock Holmes and earned 80.75 points.

“I think we did a clean skate today,” Carpenter said. “Of course there are always little things. By the end we’re worn down a little. It’s a very intense program and sometimes it takes a minute to come out of character and back to ourselves.”

Their total score was 135.89 points. Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons finished sixth, while the gold medal went to Russia’s Anna Yanovskaya and Sergey Mozgov with 152.48 points.

In all, the Americans captured five medals including ice dance gold and ladies bronze. Meryl Davis and Charlie White extended their historical streak to five consecutive Grand Prix Final titles and they did so in world record fashion, setting world marks in short dance, free dance and overall. Capturing bronze, Ashley Wagner became the first U.S. lady to win medals at back-to-back Grand Prix Finals since Sasha Cohen did so in 2002 and ’03.

Nathan Chen won bronze in the junior men’s event, while Polina Edmunds and Angela Wang finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the junior ladies event.

We now look forward to the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, at the conclusion of which we will nominate the 2014 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team. The U.S. Championships are set for Jan. 5-12, in Boston, with the big announcement to be made Jan. 12. For more information, please visit www.boston2014.com.

2013 Grand Prix Final, Junior Grand Prix Final – Day 2 Recap

Useful Links

Twitter  #GPF13  |  Competition Notes (PDF)

Live Results/Starting Orders  |  icenetwork Event Page

Before Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the short dance by the narrowest of margins, Nathan Chen hauled in the junior men’s bronze medal and the junior ladies event concluded as the Grand Prix Final and Junior Grand Prix Final continued Friday from Marina Messe Arena in Fukuoka, Japan.

Davis and White set a world record short dance score of 77.66 and take a 0.07 point lead over Canadian rivals Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir into Saturday’s free dance. Davis and White, performing to My Fair Lady, achieved Level 4s on all five of their elements.

“It definitely felt like a season’s best in terms of performance and technically,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of room for growth in this program still which we are really excited about. It definitely feels like the best we have put out this season and it’s nice to see that on the scoreboard as well.”

The PCS mark proved to be the difference between first and second. Virtue and Moir held a 0.15 edge in the technical mark, but Davis and White’s second mark of 38.73 bested that of the Canadians by 0.22.

Following the performance, White acknowledged their competitors’ high score.

“There were a little bit of extra nerves on the bigger stage against the good ole Canadian rivals over here who we knew would put down a good score,” White explained. “It’s hard to block out a score like that before you skate. But we settled in quickly. Technically all level fours, we are really happy with that. It’s just a lot of hard work. We feel like there is room to grow still so that’s exciting. Overall, we are pleased with our performance.”

Tomorrow’s action will feature both the free dance and ladies free skate with Team USA is poised to medal in both events. First, we will watch as Davis and White skate to extend their historical Grand Prix Final win streak to five. Meanwhile, with a medal here, Wagner would be the first American woman to win medals at back-to-back finals since Sasha Cohen (gold 2002, silver 2003). She is in third place. The junior ice dancers will finally begin competition tomorrow. Team USA makes up half of the field in dance.

In the junior men’s competition, Chen maintained his third-place standing after performing a clean free skate, triple Axel and all.

“There is room for improvement always but overall I think I did very well. I got my triple Axel which is a big bonus for me.”

Chen earned 214.61 points overall and just four points separated the Southern California-based skater from the gold medalist Boyang Jin of China. Jin, in his second JGP Final, pulled off the upset moving up from fifth after the short program to take the title. Russia’s Adian Pitkeev  won silver.

Polina Edmunds skated her best free skate of the season, earning 113.51 points, a score that was second-highest among the ladies. She finished fourth overall with 161.71 points and was just two points out of medal contention. Her program, skated to music from Peer Gynt, featured a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and an additional triple flip-loop-triple Salchow sequence. All three spins were Level 4.

“I was happy that I fought through it,” Edmunds said of her free skate. “It was a good program and I’m glad I did it well. Today I really fought for anything and I didn’t want to let anything go after yesterday when I let a few moments slip. I’m happy I did that.”

The gold medal belonged to Maria Sotskova, who shared the podium with two teammates from Russia. Sotskova earned a total score of 176.75.

Angela Wang, competing in her second straight Junior Grand Prix Final, endured a few hiccups this week and finished sixth. Both American ladies will now train their senior programs in preparation for the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships next month.

The leaders/winners are as follows in the events where Team USA is not represented:
Junior pairs (final): Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jing (China) 163.52 points
Senior men (final): Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) 293.25 points
Senior pairs:  Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (Russia) 82.65

Saturday, Dec. 7
1 a.m. – Junior short dance (LIVE)
Parsons and Parsons – 1:06 a.m.
McNarara and Carpenter – 5:33 a.m.
Hawayek and Baker – 5:39 a.m.
2:15 a.m. – Senior pairs free (LIVE)
3:50 a.m. – Senior free dance (LIVE)
Davis and White – 4:42 a.m.
5:20 a.m. – Senior ladies free (LIVE)
Wagner – 5:51 a.m.
10:15 p.m. – Junior free dance (LIVE)

UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK 2013 GRAND PRIX FINAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(All times Eastern; subject to change)

Friday, Dec. 6
11 a.m. – Pairs short
6 p.m. – Short dance

Saturday, Dec. 7
11 a.m. – Pairs free
Noon – Free dance

2013 Grand Prix Final, Junior Grand Prix Final – Day 1 Recap

Useful Links

Twitter  #GPF13  |  Competition Notes (PDF)

Live Results/Starting Orders  |  icenetwork Event Page

The “Final” ISU event prior to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games got under way Thursday from Marina Messe Arena in Fukuoka, Japan. Team USA is represented in five events over the junior and senior ranks at the 2013 Grand Prix and Junior Grand finals.

Ashley Wagner is in position to win her second straight Grand Prix Final medal as she sits in a close third place after the short program. Wagner’s clean “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” performance featured her best triple flip-triple toe combination of the season – an element which accounted for 10.20 of her 68.14 points.

“It was awesome,” she said simply after the program. “I am so happy with the performance. The flip-toe felt great, the spins felt really great. I feel really good. I wish the score had been higher, we’ll see what happens in the protocol. But so far so good.”

Japan’s Mao Asada leads with 72.36 points. Wagner very narrowly trails Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova, who totaled 68.38 points.

Nathan Chen, who came into the event as the No. 1 seeded skater, sits in a close third place after the short program. Despite falling on the second half of his triple Lutz-triple toe combo, Chen is just two points behind the leader Keiji Tanaka from Japan. The aforementioned element still received 9.11 points and the program’s remaining six elements all received positive GOEs. Chen’s total score was 71.52 points. Tanaka earned a season-high of 73.63 points in front of the home crowd. Russia’s Adian Pitkeev is in second.

Thursday’s action began with the junior ladies short program, in which Team USA has a pair of entries. Polina Edmunds and Angela Wang, who is competing in here second JGP Final, are in fifth and sixth places, respectively. Both ladies struggled with their jumps and shared the sentiment of hoping for a stronger showing in Friday’s free skate.

Wang said simply, “I want to skate better and show what I have been doing in training.”

A quartet of Russian ladies make up the top four and is led by Maria Sotskova with 61.29 points.

The leaders are as follows in the events where Team USA is not represented:
Junior pairs: Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jing (China) 61.10 points
Senior men: Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) 99.84 points

Friday will be another busy day for the Americans with the conclusion of the junior ladies and men’s events and the senior short dance featuring four time reigning Grand Prix Final champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Davis and White are undefeated dating back to 2012 Skate America and have won three gold medals this season.

The junior ice dancers still have a day to wait. Their events are set for Saturday and Sunday.

Friday, Dec. 6
12:30 a.m. – Junior ladies free (LIVE)
Wang – 12:37 a.m.
Edmunds – 12:44 a.m.
1:40 a.m. – Junior men’s free (LIVE)
Chen – 2:11 a.m.
3 a.m. – Senior pairs short (LIVE)
4:15 a.m. – Senior short dance (LIVE)
Davis and White – 5:01 a.m.
5:30 a.m. – Senior men’s free (LIVE)
6:50 a.m. – Junior pairs short (LIVE)

Saturday, Dec. 7
1 a.m. – Junior short dance (LIVE)
Parsons and Parsons – 1:06 a.m.
McNarara and Carpenter – 5:33 a.m.
Hawayek and Baker – 5:39 a.m.
2:15 a.m. – Senior pairs free (LIVE)
3:50 a.m. – Senior free dance (LIVE)
5:20 a.m. – Senior ladies free (LIVE)
Wagner – 5:51 a.m.
10:15 p.m. – Junior free dance (LIVE)

UNIVERSAL SPORTS NETWORK 2013 GRAND PRIX FINAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(All times Eastern; subject to change)

Thursday, Dec. 5
6 p.m. – Men’s short
8 p.m. – Ladies short

Friday, Dec. 6
11 a.m. – Pairs short
6 p.m. – Short dance

Saturday, Dec. 7
11 a.m. – Pairs free
Noon – Free dance

Jason Brown Reflects on Experience at 2012 JGP Turkey

Hi Everyone! A few of the highlights from Team USA’s recent trip to Istanbul for 2012 JGP Turkey.

WOW! Not only was that the name of our hotel, but it is a word that captures my experience at JGP Turkey. The past week in Istanbul was unbelievable. From the moment I got off the plane, I felt something special about this city and event…the people, the culture, the rink, the sites to see, my unreal teammates, our spectacular team leaders and doctor, reuniting with friends from past events, making new  and taking away cherished memories. I was also fortunate that my mom, my amazing Aunt Gayle and cousin Lisa, and my mom’s best friend Sue all made the trip to Turkey to support Team USA and, of course,  tour this historic city.

THE WEEK:

The event as a whole was truly fantastic! The hotel was beautiful, and probably  because we were in a somewhat remote location, the LOC provided coaches, parents and skaters with all of their meals in a big open dining room during the week of the competition. What a treat to have authentic Turkish food with the whole team!

All the skaters did such a great job this week!! Because of how the schedule worked out, I only got to cheer on the ice dancers in the stands loud and proud during their short dance event!!  Both teams were incredible  and so much fun to watch. Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter ended up fourth overall and Kaitlyn Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker finished fifth. In singles, Leah Keiser, Nina Jiang, Shotaro Omori and I finished first, 11th, fourth and first, respectively! For some of us, myself included, this was our second and last event, and for others it was their first JGP event of the series.

Our outstanding team leaders, Kathy Slack and Rick Perez, and our remarkable doctor, Mahlon Bradley, were so supportive throughout the entire event and truly made the competition amazing for all of us!

THE RINK:

The rink was beautiful. The outside was made of marble and was a huge facility containing an awesome workout room, Pilates/ballet room,  a terrific rink with great ice and WIFI!  The volunteers at the event were so friendly and helpful, as were the people we met while touring parts of the city!

BOWLING:

On Saturday, after the exhibition, the entire team, including Rick and Kathy, went bowling across the street from the hotel. We split up in two lanes, and Quinn and Jean-Luc won in their lanes! It was a great way to wrap up such a great week! I’m pretty sure we all decided to join Team USA bowling.

THE INCREDIBLE SITES:

The sites to see in Istanbul were incredible. My family and I went to the famous Grand Bazaar. It was so cool! It’s an indoor labyrinth of small shops and bright colors, which sell almost anything you can imagine from clothing to the well known “Turkish carpets” to traditional and gorgeous handcrafted items! I stayed an extra day after the event was over, and my mom made sure that my coach, Kori Ade, and I saw and did as much as possible. We started our day with at the Blue Mosque named for the presence of blue mosaic tiles covering its interior walls and domes. The enormity and  design is indescribable. It was a  magnificent blend of ornate decoration and simple purity. Across from the Blue Mosque, is the Hagia Sophia, a huge beautiful structure which served as both a church and a Mosque throughout the centuries. Also nearby, we walked around the underground cisterns, which used to serve as a water source. What struck me most  was the complex engineering necessary to build this cistern in the sixth century. We ended our day by going to a Hamam, a Turkish bath. What a cool experience! It’s pretty much a soapy massage,  in an open marble room that is kind of like the temperature of a sauna, where you lie down on marble slabs and get scrubbed head to toe along with getting hot and cold water poured on you! A relaxing end to an unbelievable day and incredible trip!

Everyone on the team loved having the honor of representing our country! We are so thankful for the opportunity! I wish all the best to all the U.S. skaters who will compete in the last three JGP events! GO TEAM USA!

Team USA bowling outing in Istanbul. (l-r) Nina Jiang, Jason Brown, Kaitlin Hawayek, Jean-Luc Baker, Lorraine McNamara, Leah Keiser, Quinn Carpenter, Shotaro Omori (courtesy Kathy Slack)

Lineup Announced for 2012 JGP Turkey

The ISU announced today the full lineups for the fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) of Figure Skating Series event of the season to be held Sept. 19-23 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The eight-member Team USA will be led by reigning JGP Final champion Jason Brown. Competitors for the remaining events will be announced in the coming weeks.

Ladies

Leah Keiser

• 2010 U.S. novice champion
• 2008 U.S. juvenile champion

Nina Jiang

• 2008 U.S. intermediate champion
• 2007 U.S. juvenile champion

Men’s

Jason Brown

• 2012 World Junior bronze medalist
• 2011 JGP Final champion

Shotaro Omori

• 2011 Gardena Spring Trophy junior bronze medalist
• 2009 U.S. intermediate bronze medalist

Ice Dancing

Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter

• 2012 U.S. junior bronze medalists

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker

Click here to see the full list of entries.

Now in its 16th season, the JGP Series consists of seven international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the seven scheduled events (pairs can compete in two of four designated events). The top six point-earners in each discipline qualify for the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Dec. 6-9 in Sochi, Russia.

2012 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating schedule

• Courchevel, France (Aug. 22-26)
• Lake Placid, N.Y. (Aug. 29 – Sept. 2)
• Linz, Austria (Sept. 12 – 16)
• Istanbul (Sept. 19 – 23)
• Bled, Slovenia (Sept. 26 – 30)
• Zagreb, Croatia (Oct. 3 – 7)
• Dresden, Germany (Oct. 10 – 13)