Back to Reports Main Page

Reported by Emma Abraham

All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.

(originally published in Freestyle #6, March/April 1992)

Ah, San Francisco. What a great place for Worlds. Wait--its not SanFrancisco, its Oakland. But the skaters will be at the Hyatt? No, actuallytheyre at a former Hyatt--in Oakland. And the practice rink is...yes, inOakland. And were all staying...in San Francisco. But BART services bothareas--sort of. Sometimes. And that was only the beginning of the lack of, and,some cases, mis-, information distributed by those in charge of this yearsWorlds. But for the most part, it was possible to have a good time anyway (witha few exceptions!)

Going to Worlds for the second time, you tend to be more prepared for the oddeventuality. Like exhibition practice being closed at the last minute--as infive minutes after it was meant to start, and ten minutes after theydannounced that it was open. And twenty minutes after wed have all left to getto Ladies OP if wed known we were going to get booted from the practice rink.Ho hum. More of the same.

But we go to these things for the skating (although those of us who organizesimilar things tend to forget this when confronted by the sometimes monumentalchaos caused by people who havent put sufficient thought into what theyredoing). And the skating was fascinating in Oakland in late March. Since most ofyou saw the competition on TV, Ill try to emphasize my perceptions ofpractice, and what we saw by being at the competition.

The mood seems to be different in an Olympic year. People have more to prove.Everyones seen everyone skate very recently, and Albertville performances (orlack thereof) are uppermost in a lot of minds. Controversies that arose theprevious month are renewed: were younger skaters overlooked in the marks, wereold favorites scored on their reputations, should different skaters have madevarious teams (not just US--there were many skaters at Worlds who hadnt beenat Olympics)? Did falls result from injuries, from lack of training, fromnerves? Im not a big one to quibble with marks; in many cases, I agree withthe judges that a certain amount of prejudging is necessary. At least unless anduntil we get some kind of cumulative point system, so that a one-off fall doesntknock a deserving skater out of the top ranks, while still allowing a one-offwonderful performance to get recognition--not asking too much!

Anyway, we arrived at the Coliseum in the early morning of Saturday, 21March, having missed only one day of practice--I did learn from my Sundayafternoon arrival at Halifax! Turns out we hadnt missed much; while theRussians had arrived mid-week the week before, neither the American nor Canadianteams were in yet. So Saturday could be devoted to watching the Russians, otherfavorites such as Nathalie Krieg of Switzerland and Joanne Conway of England,and discovering Nathalies compatriot, Patrick Meier.

It was difficult for male skaters from the non-power countries. Of the fivemens practice groups, one was dominated by the 3 Americans, one by the 3Canadians, and one by the 3 Russians. The class of Group 3 were the French:Philippe Candeloro and Axel Mederic; Group 4 was a mixture that included OulaJaaskelainen (familiar to most Orser fans, as he trains with Doug Leigh),Konstantin Kostin of Latvia (he of the quad and second place finish in WorldJuniors), and Patrick Meier of Switzerland. Patrick was barely 16 years old, andwould have been lost in the shuffle of the other groups, so his was a luckydraw. Watch for him: unlike the wunderkind who usually make the World team at ayoung age, Patrick isnt a jumper, per se, hes a stylist, and mature wellpast his years. He didnt make the cut this year, but its only a matter oftime. He seemed tense and frustrated all week, unable to match the ability ofthe older skaters. I hope that he doesnt let this years finish put himoff. I cant even begin to compare his style to anyones at that age: bothBrians were still hopeless, and even Todd was just coming into his own.

The early practices allowed us to discover Patrick, catch up with Viktor,Zago and Alexei Urmanov, and see the two guys from France who hadnt been sentto Albertville. I must admit to liking Alexei more than I thought I would; hisstyle is coming along nicely, and if it ever matches his prodigious jumpingability, and the latter becomes consistent, hes sure to be a medalist. (Itwas also nice to recognize a quad when I saw it, in his freeskate. Iusually miss them! The only other one I saw and recognized was by Michael Chackin a freeskate practice in Minneapolis). Zago remains as inconsistent as Iremember him being, and Viktor...is Viktor. No surprises, all surprises. Heseems simultaneously more controlled than I remember him being, and less so.Very strange. And Philippe...not the guy I remembered at all. Very strong, verydetermined to be unique. Trying a bit too hard at the moment, but promising. TheFrench have really got a great crop at the moment. Young Axel stood outimmediately as he, like Surya, is black. Also like Surya, his main strength ishis athleticism, although he is more graceful than the former gymnast.Unfortunately, he relies so much on his sometimes incredible jumps that when heblows them, as he did in the OP, hes lost. He didnt make the cut.

Later on, other old favorites arrived. Steven Cousins was in the Canadiangroup, but still managed to get his share of attention. Hes as popular asever, but Im not particularly pleased with his (lack of) progresstechnically. Steven did have a clean and pleasing freeskate, finishing stronglyat 16^th place overall (13^thalbergo di lusso Gdynia in the FS, 21^st inthe OP). Also in the Canadian group was Cameron Medhurst of Australia. He hadinitially impressed me at Skate America 89 with his spins, and Ive lovedhim ever since. He had a wonderful Bond OP that ended with him shooting theentire panel of judges. Since this is probably his last year of competition, Ibet that was satisfying. When I told him I loved the program, he replied "Ijust love to shoot people!" I also loved his freeskate, of which thecentral music was "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Mis, which showcasedhis graceful style. Seeing him for what may be the last time was bittersweet, aswas seeing Grzegorz Filipowski. Grzegorz has been skating poorly, although inpractice he seems to be pretty much his old self, and quite capable of keepingup with the top guys. But not in competition. And while he smiles and shrugs itoff, it must hurt, after all these years, to not even finish in the top 10.

Does anyone know when Ralph Burghart of Austria got to be so beautiful? Notthat Im complaining. I am, however, complaining about another skater beingmolded into the next Orser by Doug Leigh. Jan Erik Digernes is lovely andstylish, and deserves better. (His "Lassiter" long program stole notonly the music, but much of the choreography!) It was strange to see our ownAlex Chang, now with Frank Carroll and competing for Taipei--and not making thecut. Some skaters, who I barely remembered, impressed me much more strongly thistime: Mirko Eichhorn, who has strong jumps and interesting programs; Philippe,who I mentioned; and among the dancers, Gritschuk & Platov, who are makingtheir personalities known, quite distinct from the other Russians.

Then there were the relatively-known quantities. Chris Bowman--as tense as Idever seen him, seeming as tightly under control as hed been in Minneapolis,even without Toller. The restraint does him more harm than good, Im afraid.He looks solid, but slow and lifeless on the ice. He no longer makes real eyecontract with the audience very often, and almost never in practice. What achange--and not for the better. Kurt Browning, as always wobbly in theearly-going, was triple-axeling all over the ice by midweek; as much as Chrishas changed, Kurt has remained the same, still the prankster of his practicegroup, still seemingly casual even under intense pressure. He arranged somethingfor the ending of each practice: jumps in tandem with Elvis or Michael, orsomething silly instead. One of the highlights of the week for me was whenViktor finished his OP and Kurt skated out, and they did a high five. Theywaited together in the CBC booth for the placements, and chatted as they watchedthe monitors. And Kurt had his arm around Viktor after the medal ceremony, whilethey were waving to the crowd. I miss Chris being a part of that group. Sigh.Whatever happened in the OP with the trim on Kurts shirt? I guess it cameloose; we couldnt see it at the time and were all shaking our heads inconfusion when he pulled it off and threw it to the side. He seemed disgustedwith himself, and resigned. Nothing wanted to go right for him--and then up camethe marks. What a stroke of luck that the judges failed to note his missedtriple (I wish theyd missed Todds as well)! Elvis Stojko took aparticularly bad fall (on one hip while practicing a triple axel) that had usall worried. He was down for what seemed an eternity, but luckily he was okay; Ithink both his skating and Michelle Leighs choreography have come a long wayand are equally responsible for the much better look of his programs. MichaelSlipchuk, iffy all week, remained inconsistent in his programs; as always, hessuch a nice guy that you really feel for him. Petr Barna was rock-solid, andcool as ice, all week. He looked totally confident. His OP went just the way hedrehearsed it--what happened in the long? My biggest surprise was Todd Eldredge.Todd fell more than Petr did in practice--after all, he does a lot more jumps.But he looked like a World Champion all week. His jumps were straight,incredibly high, and landed so perfectly that you could barely hear them. Powerand flow. Strength and softness. It was a treat to see. Unfortunately, you didntsee much of it outside of practice. Too much adrenaline in the OP, and too muchtrying to regroup and rechoreograph mid-program. The long just looked a littlesloppy; Im not as clear why. But at least he didnt make any what I call"Todd mistakes" in competition: those mental lapses that cause him toland a particularly difficult jump, relax, and then fall. Hes got it all. Butwill he ever get it together at the right time to take the gold? I think thatsup to him. (Werent we saying that about Viktor--like for the last 4 years?!)Right now, hes head and shoulders above Elvis or Zago or Alexei. If only hedget a choreographer!

We all know now how Mark Mitchell did. It wasnt as apparent in practice.While he mostly skated cleanly, the new FS was so flowing that it looked almosttoo effortless. And how would World judges score the sexy OP? Sex may sell inprofessional competitions, but at the amateur level sexy programs, unless backedup by very solid technical skating, are frowned upon (unless, of course, one isKatarina Witt). Luckily, Mark turned in two good performances and matched Toddsmark of a 5^th place finish at his first Worlds. (Maybe Im luckyfor first-time US mens competitors?)

ERROR MSGUnlikely as it may sound, I did see a few other events than mens. Really.Not many--but some. And Im more impressed than ever by Nathalie Krieg. Notyet 15 years old, that girl has expression, and spins, that a lot of the20-year-olds cant match. If she ever masters her jumps, shell be on thepodium. Shes already a crowd favorite. I also liked Tatiana Rachkova of the"CIS", who skates with more emotion than we usually see in Russiansingles skaters. At 19 shes not a beginner, but Ill be interested to seeif she develops. 20-year-old Karen Preston was making her second visit toWorlds, and followed up a week of solid practices with mostly clean, if a bitstolid, programs and finished 9^thdiscount hotels in Poznan. Her countrywoman, Josee Chouinard,is a couple of years older and miles ahead artistically, but remainsinconsistent. Like Todd, she has it all: shes charming and graceful andexpressive, and has a smile that can light up an arena. But shes got to landthose jumps! She did just well enough to squeak into 5^th.

I think Ive given up on Patricia Neske, the American who skates forGermany. Long-touted as an up-and-comer, she never quite pulls it off. How longcan someone have "potential" and not come through? Not as strong, butmore fun to watch, is JoAnne Conway. It seems like shes been around forever,although shes only 21, and still an audience pleaser. The newer English girl,Charlene von Saher, is very pretty and looks like she might go places.

What can I say about Lu Chen? Shes got it all (including one of myfavorite skaters, Tom Dicksen, as her choreographer). Laetitia Huberts styleis less mature, but shes also a comer. I like her speed, and the way sheattacks her programs. Alice Sue Claeys is another transplanted American, skatingfor Belgium, and was pleasing to watch. I was a bit disappointed in all theAmerican girls: Ive come to expect absolute perfection from Kristi, and thefall was jarring (which will teach me to have such unrealistic expectations!), Ithought Nancys programs were uninspiring, and Tonya...well, "MoonRiver" was a nice attempt. I saw her very little, so I dont know how shepracticed, but 6^th place did seem warranted to me.

Although in my younger years it was ice dancing that was my least favorite,thanks to first Wilson/McCall and Usova/Zhulin, that has all changed.Unfortunately, as the vast majority of the dance practices directly conflictedwith the mens, I didnt see as many as Id have liked. After all, onesimply cant get too much of watching Alexander Zhulin! I hadnt really beena Klimova/Ponomarenko fan until Halifax, where I just adored the "My FairLady" program, which I thought proved once and for all that good ballroomdancing is notalberghi a Lucerna boring or dated. I didnt like last years number, andthe Bach, although beautiful, leaves me cold. I sense a certain mechanicalnessto it, and while I can appreciate it intellectually, Im not moved. TheVivaldi "Four Seasons" of Usova/Zhulin, on the other hand, I foundeven more incredibly gorgeous in person than I had imagined. Even in practicecostumes, with several interruptions, the program remained strong. The bit nearthe end when they propel each other down the ice leaves me breathless. Imentioned Gritschuk/Platov earlier; I like the contemporary feel to theirskating, and find them very likeable. Rahkamo/Kokko remain crowd favorites, andalways fun to watch. Our American skaters were badly outmatched at thiscompetition, but then compared to the Russians, almost anyone is. April andRusty remain beautiful and smooth, but I feel theyve never matched thebrilliance of their rejected Rachmaninoff number from the 89-90 season. Iveloved Petr/Janoschak via television for a couple of years. Since the split fromToller, theyre less desperately avante garde while remaining interesting towatch. They still need work on their compulsories, though. Mann/Noria were alsopleasing, especially when Juan Carlos was given a chance to smolder, which hislong suit!

In the mens competition, I usually come to like most of the competitors byweek-end, and want everyone to do well. In pairs, I rooted for one couple:Brasseur/Eisler. While they arent the most elegant pair in the world, theyhave developed a straightforward style that suits their speed and athleticism,and I think is equally as valid as the more balletic style of current and pastRussian pairs. And I do not count Mishkutenok/Dmitriev as particularlyballetic; I still call them "The Pretzels" because of their gymnasticelements. Unfortunately, while Natalia and Artur are by no means Gordeeva &Grinkov, they didnt have to be. After the great OP I thought maybe Isabellesproblems were behind her. At Albertville, they practiced well all week and fellin competition. In Oakland, she fell at least once during most practices, whichshould have presaged good programs. It did for the OP, anyway.

I think a lot of the current pairs are what I call "interim" pairs;what we make do with until another really talented pair comes along. (I alwaysthought the Pretzels were an interim pair, but Elena Bechkes inconsistencyput her out of the picture). Kovarikova/Novotny are very good, but I dontknow how much further theyll develop. Some of the older, experienced maleskater/younger female partner reworkings do work out--note Brasseur/Eisler.Others progress rapidly up to a point and then stop. I think thats whatshappened with Kuchiki/Sand. When theyre on, theyre great. They have beenfor a couple of years. But is their best better this year than last? I dontthink so. Ditto for Urbanski/Marval (with reversed genders). Similarly,Meno/Wendland are pleasing to watch, but not in a class with the Canadians orRussians. My favorites, other than Izzie and Herbie, are Bechke/Petrov(especially now that Ive noticed how incredibly gorgeous Denis Petrov is inperson!) And Schwarz/Koenig. Both have been marked by failures under pressure ofthe female partner. How ironic if Peggy Schwarz skated a clean long program thisyear and Alexander Koenig fell! Both have everything it takes to make to the toptechnically and artistically, but not competitors nerve. This, I think, is anunder-rated asset.

I hadnt really had an opportunity to watch Shishkova/Naumov up til now,and I really liked them. You dont notice them at first; they dont doanything to really call attention to themselves, which may be an error on theirpart. I thought their OP, in particular, was sophisticated and polished. TheBrubeck music set off their seamless, seemingly-effortless skating. Paul Martinimentioned in his commentary that they made it look too easy, and I agree. Theyare very good.

Of the other Canadians, Ive always liked Hough/Ladret, although I thoughttheir sexy OP was too much sizzle and too little steak (and apparently thejudges agreed). Not to mention too obviously reminiscent of Barb & Paul. ButI loved their "Les Mis" freeskate. Ill be interested to see whatdirection they take as professionals. Ball/Wirtz are young and energetic,without a developed style yet, but Sherry in particular is fun to watch.

Ive left the exhibitions for last, since once again I was fascinated bywhat and how the various competitors skated. We were allowed into thesecond exhibition practice, albeit we missed pairs due to there being no trainsthat early on a Sunday! The ladies had yet to do their freeskate, so that leftMen and Dance to practice. What luck--just what we wanted to see most! MarkMitchell wasnt there, so his Prince number was a complete surprise--you canprobably hear Liz and me screaming on the video. Ive always liked Mark, andhe won me over to his new look and style in Minneapolis, but I dont think Ireally appreciated him fully until last years Collins Tour, when I actuallycaught myself thinking of him as the lead guy (rather than Brian Orser)! Verysexy, and also very nice. What a combination.

hoteles en SalzburgoTodd was more relaxed all week than Id ever seen him, and he amazed us bygoofing around by the boards while he was waiting to skate (he was first afterthe ice make). His "Love Story" was lovely, but what got me was theway he smiled at the audience. It was real and unforced, and not particularlyrequired by the number. Wow! That skating in a shopping mall must be paying off.

The other major surprise was Elvis. That morning in practice, when I heardthe first notes of "Who Wants to Live Forever?" I looked for Viktor.It wasnt his music. Elvis?! How could he?! But he skated it beautifully.Better in practice than in performance, actually. It seems to have a lot ofmeaning for him, and his skating that morning seemed to be for himself, with thechoreography arising from his feelings. It looked slightly less moving when hetried to make it larger, to "reach" the audience, but it was stillimpressive. Who knew he had it in him? Could this number be for the AIDS benefitthis fall?

Those were the blockbusters for me. Kurts "Oh Canada" number hadme in stitches that morning, and I was glad Id already seen it twice so Icould concentrate on the reactions of the Canadians in the audience as he skatedit. He always knows just what to do. And I loved his running commentary on NBC.After he talked to Chris Bowman in the audience, I spent much time thereafterwatching Chris reactions to the various skaters. If I wanted to agonize morefor him, I got my wish. He obviously wanted to be on the ice with them, andfound it difficult to watch the others. He did crack up at Kurts ending: Thefall after the back-flip, and the back-stroke off the ice!

Viktor again proved that he hasnt spent the last few years hanging outwith Kurt and Chris to no avail; in practice, he really played with us, doingjust enough of the choreography (i.e., hip thrusts!) to have us screaming, thenhed stop. What a tease! I found it distracting to have him on the ice whileElvis skated to music that I associated with Viktor; I found myself watchingViktor and eventually, as I hoped, Viktor broke down and did a few steps of hisown choreography to the Queen song. (Doesnt match Halifax, though, where atone practice Bananaramas "Venus" was playing and Kurt waited til heknew Viktor was watching and did about 30 seconds worth of Viktorschoreography to that song, perfectly!) Gritschuk & Platov alsorehearsed a Queen song ("The Show Must Go On") that I loved, but theydid a different number that evening. Possibly since they followed Elvis, theythought it would be Queen overkill. All the Russians practiced that morning inblack; it was a beautiful sight, as black suits all of them very well. It waslovely to see these three couples, all in the same color, doing such differentthings, all perfection in their own individual ways.