Posted in Figure Skating

This past week has seen new world champions in the sport of figure skating which have taken place in Sweden.  I didn't get to see much of it since most of the competition is shown on the US ESPN which is not the version we get here.  However, I did get to settle in this afternoon and see the Ladies Free Skate. That's always my favorite venue anyway. It was most enjoyable to watch and, as always, there are new "favorites" to enjoy.

This year my favorites were the Japanese and Korean skaters. I had read about them but hadn't seen them skate. Japan has an amazing pool of ladies' figure skaters. They are beautiful to watch.

This year the US team had only one member to stand on the podium. Johnny Weir won the bronze medal in the men's category after the withdrawal from the competition by US champion, Evan Lysacek due to injury.  After a rare fall, the US Ice Dance team of Belbin and Agosto fell out of reach of the podium. They were the favorites to win the gold and I'm sorry they didn't make it. They are really good. Kimmie Meissner skated much better than she did at the US Nationals but was unable to land in the top five.  In spite of that, the little I did get to see was delightful.

Posted in Figure Skating

This past week was the annual Figure Skating Championship. I was able, for the first time in a long while, to actually watch some of the live coverage. I so enjoyed that. However, it was a different experience for me to watch the women's competition and not know a single candidate!  Nearly all the skaters were new to me and it was exciting to see some really good ones (at least IMHO) out there. There are a lot of new names out there to remember and I look forward to seeing them. It was, however, a little strange not to see Michelle Kwan or Sasha Cohen.  I miss watching them compete.

One of the interesting things about this year's women's competition is that of the top four winners only one is old enough to go on to the World Championship. The other three are too young and do not meet the age requirements.

Last night was the men's competition. It was one of the best competitions I've seen! Seems like the past few Nationals for Men have been splat fests or just poor performances. Not this year! The top two contenders, Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir were both really good in both the short and long programs. The bizarre thing about their competition was that after the long program the scores were tied! That is amazing in this day of digital scoring to the hundredths of a point.  At the beginning of the long program (also called the free skate) Evan Lysacek was behind by 1.35 points. After both had skated, Evan won the free skate by 1.35 points making them tied exactly. How weird is that! In the case of a tie, the gold medal (first place) goes to the winner of the free skate. So Evan Lysacek won the gold.  On a personal level I like Evan more than Johnny, but I have to admit that I liked Johnny's two programs better than Evan's. It's too bad that they can't award two gold medals because, to be fair, I think Johnny deserved it as much as Evan.  It will make for an exciting World's competition. I hope they both make the podium.

Posted in Figure Skating

Since I mentioned Figure Skating Nationals in my last post, I thought I would go ahead a post about it.

Posted in Figure Skating

And....kudos to Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto for winning the bronze medal in Ice Dancing and to Evan Lysacek for winning the bronze medal in Men's.

Posted in Figure Skating

I was introduced to figure skating by Dick Button who broadcast skating events for ABC's Wide World of Sports on Saturday ofternoons and I have been listening to him ever since. All I know about figure skating I have learned from him. He is still broadcasting and was part of the team for the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. I personally do not ice skate. In fact, I have spent more time lacing and unlacing iceskates than I have actually iceskating. I certainly could identify with Tonya Harding during the Olympics of 1996 in Norway when she was late for her performance because of a broken lace.

For Christmas of 1967 my family received our first color TV set. It was one of those big console pieces of furniture and we were thrilled to watch the Rose Bowl Parade the following New Year's Day in color. In February of 1968 the first Olympics were broadcast in color from Grenoble, France. We were glued to the TV. One of the Olympic superstars of that year was Jean Claude Killy, who brought France 3 gold medals in Skiing. He was good looking, a bit of a playboy and like millions of women that winter, I had a big crush on him.

The other superstar that year was America's Olympic sweetheart, Peggy Fleming. She won America's only gold medal. Peggy Fleming is now an icon in figure skating. She was the first to really bring figure skating to the American public with her skating specials. I was enthralled with her. One of my favorite images is of her gliding on the ice in a long flowing pink chiffon skating outfit. I have always enjoyed seeing her and Dick Button as they commentate skating events.

Here in Guayaquil there is no ice skating. No attention is paid to the winter Olympics since there are no winter sports here. I have missed being able to watch skating and depend on others to tape for me. However, the internet has been a good means to keep up with some of what is going on in the skating world. In honor of the Olympics in February and the World Championships in March my screen savers have been pictures culled from the internet of some of my favorite skaters. All but two are currently eligible skaters. I have many many more pictures than I'm going to show you here. These are just a small sample. Enjoy!


This is Peggy Fleming taken during the Olympics of 1968 in Grenoble, France.


This is Michelle Kwan. She is one of my very favorites. I won't bore you with her very long list of gold medals! This was taken during the opening ceremonies of the Torino Olympics. Due to an injury that hadn't healed she withdrew from the Olympics.


This is Irina Slutskaya from Russia. She and Michelle have competed against each other for many years. This picture was taken when she won the gold medal at the European Championships prior to the Torino Olympics in February. She took home the bronze medal at the Olympics.



This is Sasha Cohen, current US Champion. She is incredibly beautiful on the ice. She took home the silver medal in Torino.


This is Kimmie Meissner. This is her first year to skate on the Seniors level. She came in second at the US National Championship and fifth in Torino. Not bad for the first time on the seniors level! She is one of only two US skaters to do a triple axel in competition (Tonya Harding was the first). You can look forward to seeing a lot of her in the years to come.


This is Emily Hughes. You might have heard of her sister Sarah who won the Olympic gold medal four years ago in Salt Lake City, Utah. Infectious smiles must run in the family because hers is as engaging as Sarah's. Emily came in 6th in Torino and 3rd in the US Nationals. We can look forward to seeing her as well for the next few years.



This is Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto. They are America's top Ice Dancing couple. They are really fun to watch. They really come alive on the ice. They brought home America's first ever silver medal in Ice Dancing in Torino. We look forward to them  being the first to bring home the gold in four years!


This is Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean from England. They are my very best favorite of all ice dancers. They won the Olympic gold medal in the1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia Olympic games with perfect scores. They were the first (and only, I think) to ever do that. I can never listen to Bolero without seeing them in my mind. It was truly a wonderful olympic moment to remember.


This is Shizuka Arakawa from Japan. She is the first Japanese to ever win a Gold medal in the winter Olympics. She did so last month in Torino. She's an incredibly strong and beautiful skater.



This is Fumie Seguri from Japan. She is truly graceful on the ice. She came in fourth in Torino. I really like to watch her.



Whew! We are at the last photo! And it's a man! This is Evgeny Plushenko from Russia. He won the gold medal in Torino. He's not my particular favorite (most of my favorites are now professionals) but my daughter Anna likes him so I included him.

Well, that is a small showing of my many, many skating photos I use for my screen saver. And that doesn't include all those others I have but don't use!