http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/figureskatin ... -chan.htmlFriday, January 15, 2010 By Brandon Hicks, CBC SportsChan skates to big lead after men's shortPatrick Chan was well in the lead after the short routine on Friday, overcoming a couple of errors at the Canadian championships in London, Ont., to put himself in control of the men's competition going into the free skate.
Skating to Tango de Los Exilados, Chan scored 90.14 points, a personal best for the 19-year-old, giving him an 11-point lead on second place.
The Toronto native nailed his triple Axel, the element that he stumbled on at Skate Canada International in November, on the way through a solid performance that should give the two-time reigning Canadian champion some confidence heading into the free skate on Sunday (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 4 p.m. ET).
Chan's two mistakes came when he stumbled on the landing of his first triple flip, putting his hand on the ice to regain his balance, and doubled a planned triple-flip on the back end of a combination.
It was these mistakes that had people wondering if Chan's marks were inflated by the judges. Chan himself looked surprised at the score when he saw it.
"I think anyone would have it written on their face," Chan said. "I didn't have a triple-triple [combination] and that's kind of juniorish to do, so I was a little disappointed."
It's no secret that national championships normally have boosted marks. The 2006 Olympic gold medallist, Evgeni Plushenko, received extremely high marks at the 2009 Russian national championships despite several mistakes.
"For sure, I'll be honest, I think it was a bit like Plushenko, and I'm sure the other skaters are shaking their heads thinking the same thing," Chan said. "But points don't mean much to me, it's more how I felt going out and how I skated."
Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada's high performance director, defended the judges' scores for Chan.
"All the scores were within the range of what he did today and how the marking has been on the circuit this year," he said. "What he brings to footwork and step sequence and component marks and quality of spins, there are so many marks on those spots,
they're hidden marks that the public doesn't really see."
Vaughn Chipeur sits in second during a highly contested battle for Canada's second Olympic spot on the men's figure skating team.
The Lloydminster, Sask., native and defending Canadian silver medallist looks like he has bounced back after a disappointing start to the Grand Prix season, setting a personal best of his own with 78.87 points.
Right behind Chipeur is Joey Russell of Labrador City, N.L., with 74.04 points, and Shawn Sawyer of St-Julie, Que., in fourth with 72.93 points. Both also scored personal bests with their programs.
But all eyes at the John Labatt Centre were on Chan, who lost his coach, Don Laws, when he unexpectedly resigned last week.
Chan is also coming off his disappointing sixth-place finish at Skate Canada in November, the only Grand Prix event he competed in this season, as he had to recover from a torn calf muscle that set him back several weeks in the fall.
After the subpar result at Skate Canada, Chan left for Colorado to work with jumps specialist Christy Krall. He said that extra training really helped him Friday.
"The performance really helped and that was from being in Colorado," Chan said. "Hands down, after the last Lutz, I had tons of energy. I can really project my upper body, my face, everything due to that extra energy."
His new coach is his long-time choreographer, Lori Nichol.
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http://news.globaltv.com/sports/story.html?id=2447741Dan Barnes, Canwest News Service: Saturday, January 16, 2010Judges kind to two-time champion ChanLONDON, Ont. — When he’s good, he’s good, but when he’s champion, he’s better. Even when he’s bad.
That’s Toronto skater Patrick Chan, the two-time defending national gold medallist whose tires were pumped more than a little bit by the judging panel at the Canadian figure skating championships Friday. It was reminiscent of the job.
Russian judges did in propping up Evgeni Plushenko at their nationals recently, ensuring his comeback bid gets worldwide attention in time for the Olympics.
“I’ll be honest. It was a bit like Plushenko,” said Chan, who scored an unbelievable 90.14 points and is well clear of second-place Vaughn Chipeur, the Edmonton kid who wowed the crowd with a clean short skate and still drew only 78.87. “I’m sure the other skaters are shaking their heads, thinking the same thing.”
And why not? Chan landed a clean triple Axel, then put a hand down on a triple flip and had to abandon a planned triple toe on the back end. Instead, he put a triple Lutz into combination with a double toe and should have seen a far more serious downgrade in marks. The judges’ kindness surprised him and you could see it on his face as the numbers came up.
“Oh, of course. I think anyone would have it written on their face,” he said. “I didn’t have a triple-triple. That’s kind of juniorish. I was a bit disappointed (in himself).”
He whizzed through the rest of the program, his footwork crisp, his stamina aided by recent training at altitude in Colorado Springs. He had tired visibly halfway through his long program at Skate Canada in Kitchener, Ont., in November and he has obviously made serious strides forward.
“I had tons of energy,” he said. “I can really project my face and upper body due to that energy.”
He’ll need plenty on Sunday to finish up the nationals in style, a task made easier if the judges continue to hand out favours to him. _A series of circumstances and a poor showing at Skate Canada International, where he was sixth in a 12-man field, meant he was under the microscope this week. In fact, the lights have been on him through the past four months. He has had to endure illness and a calf muscle injury and then had to explain the adjustment made to his coaching staff just last week, a shocking move this close to nationals and the Vancouver Olympics. He parted ways with Don Laws and retains only choreographer Lori Nichol and Christy Krall, who were here with him.
But when he hit the ice Friday, he didn’t look like a kid who had shaken things up. The 19-year-old appeared calm and poised even after his mistake in the combination and said he was raring to go after the warmup, a time when he is often a little fatigued.
“I was like a race horse ready to go out,” he said. “I think that answers a lot of questions, too.”
Joey Russell of Labrador City, Nfld., rose up with a clean program to score 74.04 and make himself a contender in third spot. He’s ahead of Shawn Sawyer of Ste.-Julie, Que., at 72.93.
“I’m trying to get into the picture,” said Russell. “Knowing that I need to do everything to maybe get that second (Olympic) spot I’m happy it came together.”
Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was the only man to try a quad jump Friday. He landed it beautifully in combination with a triple, but fell on a triple Axel and again in footwork. He’s in fifth place at 67.39.
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http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom ... 442.story&Updated 1/16/2010 By Christine Brennan, USA TODAYLysacek's strong performance doesn't impress U.S. judgesSPOKANE, Wash. — A funny thing happened to the Americans in the women's skating competition at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville: there was no U.S. judge on the panel for that event.
What looked like a curse actually became a blessing, however, when the Americans —Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding— went 1-3-4.
The joke that made the rounds in skating circles back then was that the result was no coincidence, that U.S. judges can be so harsh on U.S. skaters that it's sometimes better to not have one of your judges on an international panel.
Evan Lysacek knows the feeling. The reigning world champion and current Grand Prix Final winner skated almost flawlessly in the men's short program at the U.S. figure skating Olympic trials Friday night, his only mistake a step-out on his triple axel, and yet he ended up with what he said were his lowest component (artistic) scores in almost two years.
While he has been getting mostly mid-to-high 8's all year (out of 10), his scores actually dipped into the 7's with some in the 6's here.
"You give the lowest marks of the year to your world champion who is the best hope to win the gold medal from the United States?" asked an incredulous Frank Carroll, Lysacek's coach. "Strange."
Lysacek ended up second with 83.69 total points to Jeremy Abbott, the winner of the short program with 87.85. (Abbott is certainly not chopped liver; he's the defending national champion, but doesn't have the international resume of Lysacek.)
Johnny Weir was third with 83.51 points. Baring a major collapse, those three, in some order, will make up the men's U.S. Olympic team for next month's Vancouver Olympics. And any of the three could win the national title here.
But skating is a numbers game nowadays, and a national championship is a way to lobby the international judges in the weeks before the Olympics. To that end, Lysacek's point total of 83.69 doesn't stack up particularly well against the heavily inflated scores of two of his top Olympic competitors, Russia's Evgeni Plushenko and Canada's Patrick Chan.
At Russia's recent national championships, Plushenko, the 2006 Olympic champion, received a whopping, and ridiculous, 100.09 points in the short program even though he stepped out of the landing of one of his triple jumps — similar to the mistake Lysacek made here.
And on this same day, at the Canadian national championships, Chan, the current world silver medalist, put his hand down while landing a triple flip and also turned a planned triple-triple into a triple-double.
How wonderful was the gift the Canadian judges gave him? A 90.14. And all of his program component scores were in the 8's and 9's, save one 7.75.
Does all of this matter? The skaters still have to perform when the pressure is on in Vancouver, but when the judges get a number in mind for a skater's component scores — the old second mark, the highly variable artistic scores — it can be hard to shake them of that later. If Lysacek gets stuck with some 7's here, he might end up with 7's in Vancouver."I was expecting 9's here," Lysacek said.
This is not sour grapes. It's called playing the game. Bottom line, does a country want to send off its skaters to the Olympics with a flourish, or not?
"What they're doing with Chan, they're pushing him with the highest possible score," Carroll said. "In the United States, we are honest to our own detriment sometimes." 
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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics ... hort_N.htmBy Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAYAbbott's 'Day in the Life' finds him first after short program SPOKANE, Wash. — Jeremy Abbott can't remember the last time he was this nervous. Competing against a preposterously deep field at the U.S. figure skating championships with three Olympic spots on the line was partly the reason for his jitters.
"It's not a cakewalk, knowing no spot is guaranteed," Abbott said. "It doesn't matter what you've done in previous competitions, you have to deliver when it counts."
On Friday, it counted. When the first few chords of his music started, the pressure became adrenaline. Once Abbott nailed the first two jumps of his short program, he found himself lost in Jeff Beck's version of the Beatles' A Day in the Life fueled by the rousing response from the crowd.
"This program is an extension of myself and is more than myself," he said after finishing first with a score of 87.85. Reigning world champion Evan Lysacek, who's expected to contend for the gold next month at the Vancouver Olympics, finished second at 83.69, followed by 2006 Olympian Johnny Weir in third with 83.51.
After Sunday's free skate, a committee will announce the Olympic team Monday. Selection is based on more than just these nationals. The committee will consider the results of six events from the last year. If Abbott, Lysacek and Weir finish in the top three, they should be headed to Vancouver. "It reflects our experience," Lysacek said of the top three.
The other expected contenders all made critical mistakes. Adam Rippon finished fourth, Ryan Bradley was sixth, and Brandon Mroz fell to tenth.
Lysacek stepped out of his triple axel, but was otherwise pleased with the changes he made to his program. He tweaked some steps and spins, viewing these nationals as a chance to fine-tune it all for the Olympics. "I don't feel I really need to prove myself over and over," he said. Later he said he was puzzled by his component score, his lowest in almost two years.
Lysacek said he faltered on his triple axel because he struggled all week with the width of the rink. "That happens," he said. "I'm big."
Going into the jump, he was too close to the boards. "One lady judge got a little scared, 'Don't fall into me please!,'" he said with a laugh.
A competition is never boring when Weir is on the ice. He started off in languid fashion, nailing his early jumps. "I was very relaxed going into these jumps and even if it was a bit slow I got them down," he said. "It's better than speedskating on the ice and splatting on the triple axel."
Then the fun began. Skating to I Love You, I Hate You by Argentinean pianist Raul DiBlasio wearing black and a flourish of fuchsia, Weir vamped as only he can. As he neared the boards, he threw back his head in dramatic fashion and then gave a few middle-aged ladies in the front row a smoldering look. "It's sexy, Latin music," he explained.
When it was over and the crowd was on its feet, Weir said a little prayer in Russia in keeping with his abiding love for all things Russian. "In no way am I disrespectful of my country, my mind everyday thinks in Russian because of my coaches," he said, adding that his prayer was "to God or whoever is up there looking down on me. I said thank you and thank you for protecting me and for giving me this day."
His performance was markedly different from last year's fifth place finish at nationals. After that desultory show, he was left off the U.S. team for the worlds for the first time since 2003. For the next few months, Weir felt lost and even contemplated quitting his sport. Only a talk with his mother changed his mind.
"She said, 'You're going to regret this. You're going to be my age one day and you're going to regret every second of sitting here feeling sorry for yourself,'" Weir recalled. "I said, 'I haven't worked this hard for this long to let myself crumble and kind of disappear.'"
Since then, Weir committed himself, physically and mentally, to his sport. "The world was absolutely falling down on me last year," he said. "Comparing tonight to last year, there's no comparison other than I was on the ice in a sparkly costume."
On Sunday, Weir hopes to continue his comeback. "I hope I'm centered. I hope my eyes are wide open and I can see everything I'm trying to accomplish," he said.
"It's when I get down on myself roll my shoulders (forward). You can't see when you're bent over like this," he said, hunching forward.
He said his coach, Galina Zmievskaya, often tells him, "To always walk like you're the king. Your shoulders are up, you don't see anyone, you just see an objective, you get to the end of the carpet that's been rolled out for you."
And hope that the carpet leads to Vancouver.
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