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Post by Admin on Oct 15, 2014 21:41:34 GMT
The International Skating Union (ISU) announced today the athlete selections for the 2014 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, which will begin Oct. 24-26 with 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America in Chicago. The field at Skate America will feature several members of the 2014 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team including Gracie Gold, Jeremy Abbott and Jason Brown. The Grand Prix Series, entering its 20th season, incorporates six international figure skating competitions as a unified point-scoring series that awards prize money to eligible skaters. At the conclusion of the series, athletes’ points are totaled, and the top six ladies, men, pairs and ice dance teams are invited to compete at the 2014 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The Grand Prix Final is scheduled for Dec. 11-14 in Barcelona, Spain. The complete list of athlete selections for the 2014 Grand Prix Series is available at www.isu.org. 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America – Athletes Invited to Participate (subject to change) Ladies Brooklee Han (AUS) Mae Berenice Meite (FRA) Elene Gedevanishvili (GEO) Haruka Imai (JPN) So Youn Park (KOR) Elena Radionova (RUS) Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) Joshi Helgesson (SWE) Natalia Popova (UKR) Gracie Gold (USA) Mirai Nagasu (USA) TBA (USA) Men Jorik Hendrickx (BEL) Nam Nguyen (CAN) Chafik Besseghier (FRA) Alexei Bychenko (ISR) Tatsuki Machida (JPN) Dennis Ten (KAZ) Michael Christian Martinez (PHI) Artur Gachinski (RUS) Adian Pitkeev (RUS) Jeremy Abbott (USA) Jason Brown (USA) TBA (USA) Pairs Cheng Peng & Hao Zhang (CHN) Maylin Wende & Daniel Wende (GER) Stefania Berton & Ondrej Hotarek (ITA) Yuko Kavaguti & Alexander Smirnov (RUS) Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov (RUS) Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier (USA) Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim (USA) TBA (USA) Ice Dance Julia Zlobina & Alexei Sitnikov (AZE) Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams (CAN) Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri (ITA) Cathy Reed & Chris Reed (JPN) Ekaterina Bobrova & Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA) Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani (USA) TBA (USA)
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Post by Admin on Oct 24, 2014 21:10:23 GMT
The year after a Winter Olympics is a building block for figure skaters. Sure, there's pressure to succeed, just nothing like what the athletes went through heading toward the Sochi Games.So here comes Gracie Gold, with a team bronze medal and a strong individual showing at Sochi on her résumé. Time to take the next big step, even if the 2018 Olympics are so distant. For the 19-year-old Gold, that means not stressing as she constructs a foundation for this next cycle."Not every competition is the Olympic Games," Gold said. "I just need to relax and have a little more fun with competing." The fun begins Friday through Sunday at Skate America, where she will be co-favored to win the first of six Grand Prix series events. Gold and two-time junior champion Elena Radionova of Russia are the top women entered at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates. "I have another four years left in me, if not more," she says. "It's a fresh start on my skating career for both Grand Prix and leading into nationals. I feel good about the possibilities." The 2013-14 season was a breakthrough for Gold, who won her first U.S. title, then was fourth at Sochi and fifth at the world championships. She's already had a competition this season, finishing a disappointing third at Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany behind two Russian skaters: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who is entered in Skate America, and Alena Leonova. But Gold was unveiling new programs, and that unsettled her. Her "Phantom of the Opera" medley needs some work, but she has faith in it. And in herself. "Being at the top in a pretty big country like the U.S., I think it just gives me confidence," Gold said.
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Post by Admin on Oct 25, 2014 20:58:04 GMT
Top 3 Ladies SP #SA2014: 1. @tyktamisheva 67.41; 2. @radlen99 65.57; 3. @graceegold 60.81 U.S. champion Gracie Gold has work ahead of her if she’s to win her first senior international title at Skate America on Sunday. She sat behind Russians Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (67.41 points) and Elena Radionova (65.57) after the short program in Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Saturday. Gold scored 60.81. Gold two-footed a landing on her opening triple-triple jump combination but didn’t fall as she did in her season debut in Germany last month, when she was a disappointing third in a weaker field. She erred on a final spin, though. Tuktamysheva, 17, who didn’t make Russia’s Olympic team, had the cleanest short program. Radionova, the two-time reigning World junior champion, was third at Skate America last year but too young for the Sochi Olympics. Radionova’s program Saturday included Jennifer Lopez‘s “Aint it Funny,” with Lopez’s vocal lyrics, allowed under a new rule this season. The Lopez song came out in 2001, when Radionova was 2 years and 10 days old. NBC will air coverage of the women’s free skate Sunday (4-6 ET).
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Post by Admin on Oct 26, 2014 21:05:25 GMT
Russian figure skaters Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Elena Radionova took first and second place, respectively, for their short program performances at the first stage of the 'Skate America' Grand Prix Final, which is taking place in Chicago. "Today I am very happy that I was able to cope with my nervousness and I was happy that I could show a good performance," Elizaveta Tuktamysheva said, as cited by ABC News. Tuktamysheva, the 17-year-old champion of Russia’s 2012/13 figure skating season, impressed judges and spectators with her technically flawless short program performance, receiving 67.41 points. The other Russian figure skater, Elene Radionova, who has won the junior world championship twice, made a small mistake by a cascade of a triple lutz and triple toe, but otherwise performed excellently and scored 65.57 points. Third place went to US athlete Gracie Gold, who missed a combination spin and got 60.81 points. Tuktamysheva topped the ladies’ singles competition after Russian figure skaters Yuka Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov ranked first in the pair skating short program. The free skating contests will take place on Sunday.
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Post by Admin on Oct 27, 2014 21:22:15 GMT
This is the first GP I was able to win. It's a completely different emotion than being 2. or 3. It’s clear where the balance of power lies in singles figure skating in this post-Olympic year. Just look at the Skate America winners. Elena Radionova, who was too young to compete at the Sochi Olympics, prevailed in a Russian one-two in Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Sunday. U.S. champion Gracie Gold was third. That came after Japan’s second-best skater authored the biggest men’s rout under the current scoring system in Skate America history on Saturday night. Radionova, 15 and the two-time reigning World junior champion, surpassed countrywoman and short program leader Elizaveta Tuktamysheva in the free skate. Radionova totaled 195.47 points to Tuktamysheva’s 189.62. Gold came in third, well back with 179.38 points. Gold was the top American at the Sochi Olympics (fourth) and World Championships in March (fifth). The 19-year-old is still seeking her first senior international victory. She’s made three podiums in Grand Prix events. “I just feel I’m on the brink of breaking into that gold and silver medal,” Gold said, according to The Associated Press. “Everybody’s doing all the tricks. As soon as I can get back that confidence and just really go out there and attack it, I know I can break into the gold medal, silver medal, at the other competitions.” She’ll probably have to beat a Russian or two to make that happen. No easy task. It’s a renaissance all should have seen coming, given the boost nations receive from hosting the Olympics and that Russia swept the women’s podium at the last two World Junior Championships. They also had two of the three medalists at the two Worlds before that. “There are no more than three Russians per competition,” Gold said before Skate America, “so I’m not getting them all at the same time.”
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