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Post by Admin on Jul 28, 2014 14:49:51 GMT
Maxim Kovtun and Adelina Sotnikova continue to delight fans with stories from his personal life. At this time, eminent sportsmen reported on joint pastime in Italy. Recently, they really went together to a ski resort Piancavallo, but it was just a training camp. Athletes with friends had fun in Italy, noting there birthday Kovtun. "I was born on June 18, and then received congratulations, and ion the 22nd, we dined in a small restaurant in the mountains. Guys arranged funny surprise - candles in the form of numbers "19" stuck in my favorite grilled chicken with garnish fries! But there was a traditional cake too "- quoted Kovtun StarHit. Adeline and Maxim are familiar from childhood, they have been friends for a long time, but there has been no significant relationship between them. Regardless his young age, Maxim plans like an adult, taking out a mortgage apartment in Moscow and becoming a world champion as a minimum. Хорошего дня всем!) а нам еще немножко!) @ Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium The Olympic champion was presented with a huge bouquet of peonies and thanks to her parents. "Today is the day when I turn 18, and I want to congratulate this day my parents! Because they made me so they brought me this, they always helped me, they rejoiced victories and maintained at any minute-second ... They always told me the right information that you will need in your life! They raised me like that! They all have done for me! and now it's my turn to do everything for them, that they were proud of their daughter! I love you very much," wrote the birthday girl.
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Post by Admin on Aug 1, 2014 14:41:52 GMT
Russian Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova knows she still has much to prove to many figure skating fans. “After the Olympics I grew up,” Sotnikova told RIA Novosti. “I feel that my perspective not only on sport, but on life in general has changed. I look differently at my skating now. I want to show people that I deserved to be an Olympic champion, that it was not a coincidence, that I’ve got a gold medal for a reason!” Sotnikova won gold under controversial circumstances, over 2010 Olympic champion Yuna Kim of South Korea. The Korea Skating Union filed two complaints in the spring over the judging in Sochi, which were rejected by the International Skating Union. The complaints specifically mentioned Sochi Olympic judge Alla Shekhovtseva, who made headlines in the aftermath of the women’s free skate as being married to a top Russian figure skating federation official and was seen hugging Sotnikova shortly after she won gold. Outside of the judging, Sotnikova’s gold was peculiar because she had finished ninth in her only World Championships appearance, the previous year. Sotnikova, who turned 18 on July 1, became the first woman to win individual Olympic figure skating gold with no prior World Championships medals. Sotnikova then skipped the post-Olympics World Championships in March. It’s now clear that when she comes back later this year, her top competition will be domestic. The top two returning skaters for next season from those World Championships are both Russian, Yulia Lipnitskaya and Anna Pogorilaya. The 2014 World Junior champion is also Russian, Yelena Radionova, who is now 15. Sotnikova was assigned to November Grand Prix season events in Moscow (with Pogorilaya) and Osaka, Japan (with rising Americans Gracie Gold and Polina Edmunds).
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Post by Admin on Aug 14, 2014 14:43:08 GMT
Since coming home from Sochi, Olympic figure skaters have kept pretty busy. Take a look at what the Americans have been up to. Meryl Davis and Charlie WhiteThe ice dancing gold medalists seem to be everywhere. Together, they were named grand marshals of the 88th America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit. The duo will also be grand marshals at NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday. Davis competed on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and won with partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. White finished fifth with partner Sharna Burgess. White proposed to girlfriend and Olympic silver medalist Tanith Belbin in Hawaii. WomenGracie Gold, fourth in Sochi, said she’s taking baby steps getting ready for the new season. She toured in Japan and attended a few Hollywood parties, such as the “Divergent” movie premiere. Ashley Wagner, seventh in Sochi and at Worlds, is scheduled to open her Grand Prix season at Skate Canada in two months, followed by Trophée Éric Bompard in Bordeaux, France. Polina Edmunds, the youngest of the Americans at 16, will also skate in the Grand Prix season. She participated in the July 4 Rose, White and Blue Parade in her hometown of San Jose, Calif. MenJeremy Abbott‘s decision not to retire after Sochi paid off. He finished fifth at the World Championships in March, helping earn three men’s spots for the U.S. at the 2015 World Championships. He’s not done with the sport – he wants to leave an impact in some way – but doesn’t know how long he will continue. He is entered in Skate America and NHK Trophy in Japan next season. Jason Brown, whose “Riverdance” free skate captivated audiences, will return to Skate America and is slated for the Moscow stop in the Grand Prix season. I ce DancingMaia and Alex Shibutani have been on tour in Japan, uploading their trademark “ShibSibs” videos of their travels. They placed ninth in Sochi and sixth at the World Championships in March, one spot behind another U.S. couple, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, at both competitions.
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Post by Admin on Aug 16, 2014 15:43:02 GMT
Jeremy Abbott is SKATING magazine's 2014 Readers' Choice Award winner. Abbott earned his fourth U.S. title in January and won a bronze medal in the inaugural Olympic Team Event in Sochi, Russia. Through online voting on icenetwork during the week of June 30, SKATING readers cast their ballots for the athlete or team they felt most deserving of the award based on the accomplishments of the past season. More than 20,000 votes were cast during the balloting period. Olympian Jason Brown finished second in the voting, with Olympic ice dance champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White garnering the third-most votes. Abbott, 29, will be presented with the Michelle Kwan Trophy, which represents both the sport of figure skating and SKATING magazine, at the 2015 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, N.C. The trophy is a one-of-a-kind crystal sculpture designed by Crystal Signatures of Pennsylvania. "I am incredibly honored to be receiving this award," Abbott said. "I have such incredible fans from around the world that I have been privileged enough to meet and skate for. My skating has always been about more than points and placements. I love to give to the audience. I love to take them on my journey with me, and I'm so grateful that they can feel that." Abbott's season featured many highlights, including winning a bronze medal at the NHK Trophy in Japan, capturing his fourth U.S. title in Boston with a record-setting short program (99.86 points), qualifying for his second Olympic Winter Games, securing a bronze medal as a member of Team USA in the inaugural Olympic Team Event and rallying to finish fifth at the World Championships to help the U.S. gain three spots for the 2015 World Championships. "I am still in awe of all of this," Abbott said. "However, the epic fall I took at the Olympics in the short program has had the biggest effect on me. I've heard so many different stories about how that moment affected people - how it inspired them and motivated them and gave them courage to do things in their lives that they thought weren't possible. Hearing these stories and sharing these moments are more valuable and will last longer than any medal. So, I just want to thank again the fans, from the hard core to the casual Olympic viewer, because you guys make the effort all worthwhile." Readers' Choice Award winners 2014 - Jeremy Abbott 2013 - Meryl Davis/Charlie White 2012 - Ashley Wagner 2011 - Meryl Davis/Charlie White 2010 - Johnny Weir 2009 - Evan Lysacek 2008 - Johnny Weir 2007 - Miami University 2006 - Kimmie Meissner 2005 - Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto 2004 - Sasha Cohen, Haydenettes (tie) 2003 - Michelle Kwan 2002 - Michelle Kwan 2001 - Michelle Kwan 2000 - Michael Weiss 1999 - Michelle Kwan 1998 - Michelle Kwan 1997 - Tara Lipinski 1996 - Michelle Kwan 1995 - Todd Eldredge 1994 - Michelle Kwan 1993 - Scott Davis 1992 - Paul Wylie 1991 - Tonya Harding 1990 - Jill Trenary 1989 - Kristi Yamaguchi
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Post by Admin on Sept 16, 2014 5:55:00 GMT
Seven months after Team USA’s skaters finished competition in Sochi, Russia, many of them were readying for the upcoming season and some were already talking about competing in PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018. Rohene Ward, who choreographed Jason Brown’s masterful Riverdance–inspired free skate last season, said he already knows what music he wants the skater to use less than four years from now should Brown skate in South Korea. Of course, he wouldn’t reveal the music choice so we’ll just have to wait and see. Team USA’s elite skaters — including 10 Olympians who competed in Sochi back in February — convened late last month in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they had their programs evaluated by officials. Ice dance certainly will be a bit different in the absence of Meryl Davis and Charlie White this season. They capped off their 17-year competitive career by becoming the first Americans to win an ice dancing Olympic gold medal in Sochi and then both skaters took their dance moves to the ballroom floor on “Dancing with the Stars.” Davis and White won six national championships in a row and this season will mark the first time since 2008 that a new U.S. ice dance champion will be crowned. The top two American teams are Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who were runners-up to Davis and White at the 2014 nationals, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, the sister-brother team that placed third. Both Chock and Bates and the Shibutanis represented Team USA in Sochi and will face each other in the season-opening grand prix event, Hilton HHonors Skate America, Oct. 24-26 outside of Chicago. Jeremy Abbott continually said that he was not returning to nationals after the 2014 competition in Boston, but he decided after the Winter Games and worlds that he still has some gas left in his competition tank. “When the season started last year, I knew it was going to be grueling and long,” said Abbott, who turned 29 in June. “I put 100 percent into the last Olympics, and I was just done. I was exhausted. But after the Olympics, I felt a burst of energy, a renewed sense of enthusiasm and I went to worlds and I said, ‘Wow, I love this.’ I learned so much from last season and how to compete. “I had some epic mistakes,” he added, laughing at his own misfortune from Sochi, where he crashed into the boards during the short program. “But I still found joy from competing. I want to test myself again.” On the women’s side, Ashley Wagner also is returning this season. A two-time national champion who made her Olympic debut in Sochi, Wagner is 23 but has set her sights on another trip to the Winter Games in 2018. “I can still go and fight and show those babies I can still show them a thing or two,” Wagner said. Wagner has an impressive resume but finished fourth at nationals in 2014. She hopes she can prove she is still a force to be reckoned with at nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina, in January. Gracie Gold pulled off one of the most remarkable turnarounds last season when she decided to uproot her life and move to Southern California to work with coach Frank Carroll less than six months before Sochi. Carroll, who guided Evan Lysacek to the Olympic gold medal in Vancouver and molded Michelle Kwan into a world champion, got Gold mentally and physically ready for the toughest season of her career. Gold ended the season with a national title, an Olympic bronze medal in the team event and she placed fourth in the women’s event in Sochi. He’s been her full-time coach now for nearly a year, and Gold is a much more confident competitor. Carroll recently was tabbed by U.S. Figure Skating to mentor American coaches and said he is not taking on any more skaters than the ones currently in his stable. Looks like Gold got in just in time. Polina Edmunds provided the biggest surprise at nationals last season when, at the age of 15, she skated to the silver medal. It was her first senior-level showing at nationals and it launched her into a spot at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, where she placed ninth. The finish was strong, especially considering it was her international debut at the senior level. Now 16, Edmunds is hoping to build on her success. She recently obtained her driver’s permit and her coach, David Glynn, has such confidence in the teenager’s abilities that he let her take his Audi for a ride to Jamba Juice. “I did a lot of directing,” Glynn said with a laugh. This season, in addition to working with Glynn and Edmunds’ mother, Nina, (a former skater who competed in Russia), Edmunds has enlisted former national champion Rudy Galindo as a choreographer. No longer a surprise, Edmunds is hoping to contend for the title.
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