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Post by Admin on Dec 13, 2014 21:24:56 GMT
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia also protected her lead to win the women's final, while Canadian skaters did likewise to claim gold in both pair and ice dance. The 17-year-old Tuktamysheva, who broke her foot in March, cruised through her free skate to finish with a personal best 136.06 points for a total of 203.58. Right behind Tuktamysheva in second was 15-year-old countrywoman Elena Radionova with 198.74. American Ashley Wagner rebounded from her shaky short program with a score of 129.26 to repeat her third-place finish from last year's final with 189.50 points. European champion and Olympic team gold medalist Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia continued to struggle, falling twice to finish fifth of the six finalists.
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Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2014 20:49:39 GMT
Ashley Wagner revealed her strength as a woman competing against girls as she spoilt Russian hopes of a podium sweep at the ISU Grand Prix figure skating Final in Barcelona. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, 17, led a Russian 1-2 ahead of Elena Radionova, 15, with 23-year-old Wagner taking bronze after recovering from a shaky short programme which left her bottom of the six-woman field. The skater from California has opted to continue pushing towards her dream of a world or Olympic podium place as many of her contemporaries are skipping the post-Winter Games season. "A lot of girls taking the season off have been world champions. I'm not there yet. I don't have time to take off," said Wagner, who finished seventh in Sochi earlier this year and also at last year's world championships. My strength right now is that I'm a woman," she continued. "I'm drawing on personal experience about love and life when I perform, and that is reflected in the scores. For me it's about getting the technical elements now before they (the teenagers) find out. I'm 23 years old and after an Olympic podium, that is my dream." The 2012 Four Continents champion picked up a season's best 129.26 points for her free skate to Moulin Rouge and 189.50 overall on Saturday which gave her a third Grand Prix medal to add to her bronze last year and silver in 2012. Today was huge for me to come from last place to the podium is a huge accomplishment, especially against the best girls in world," she said. "Finally I got to show a clean triple flip-triple toe and I tried the triple loop-halfloop-triple Salchow. I want to challenge myself with something new, hopefully by the time I get to nationals, I just have to figure out how to put together two clean programmes because although this free went well, this competition as a whole was a little wonky," said the two-time US national champion. She was followed by two more Russian girls - Anna Pogorilaya, 16, and Julia Lipnitskaya, 16, - who were fourth and fifth, with Japan's Rika Hongo, 18, finishing last in the six-woman field. Radionova scored 198.74 for her skate to move up from third. And she revealed she was already wary of the competition awaiting at Russian nationals from December 24-28. "I'm not so young any more. I'll soon be 16," said the two-time world junior champion. To which Wagner replied: "I'm a great grandma when you say that."
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Post by Admin on Dec 15, 2014 20:45:59 GMT
When Kaitlyn Weaver woke up Sunday morning in a Barcelona hotel room shared with Meaghan Duhamel, she was still disbelieving. Grabbed her smartphone to scroll for irrefutable evidence. “I was thinking ‘wait, did that really happen?’ ” she told the Star on Sunday in a phone call from overseas. “I went on my phone and I checked the results and, yup, that really happened. Both Meaghan and I were having this incredulous moment: ‘Wait a second, did we both just win? Yes we did!’ ” Weaver and partner Andrew Poje racked up personal-best scores on the weekend for their ice dance performance at the Grand Prix finale, pinnacle competition on the figure skating circuit. Duhamel and Eric Radford broke their Canadian record to snatch gold in pairs against all the teams they’ll face at the world championships in Shanghai in March. Where once it seemed that the post-Olympics season might be a transitional and low wattage year for Canada — Patrick Chan gone (though already announcing his un-retirement for 2015), Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir gone — the reality has unfolded otherwise. Figure skating is alive and well in Canada, and for Canadians internationally. Indeed, the outcome in Barcelona marked Canada’s biggest success at the Grand Prix final in 13 years. The double-golds were the first championships this country has nailed on the GP stage since Chan won the competition in 2011 and the first duo golds — pairs and dance — since Jamie Sale and David Pelletier and Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz Avid took top podium honours in 2001. Weaver and Poje bettered their score from last season’s silver medal acquittal at worlds, earning 181.14 points. They skated their elegant long program to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, a familiar piece of music extensively re-adapted, which shot them ahead of the American and French contenders. “We’ve put in so much hard word over the years and to have this one brief, little glimpse at the top is nice,” understated Poje, 27. “We will keep on pushing and working hard to try to continue being up there.” “Every team has its own identity and personality,” explains Weaver. “Andrew and I have a special emotional attachment to each program. We really delve into those characters and find the personal connection to each piece. I think that’s what in the past has perhaps brought people to an emotional state of tears or joy or whatever. We’re bringing the theatrics back into dance. That kind of went away for a bit because of the technical aspects being so highly regarded, as it should be. We want to bring that back and show real emotions. It’s almost like acting on the ice. We want people to remember how they felt watching us — not necessarily the steps or the speed or the choreography but how they feel.”
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Post by Admin on Dec 16, 2014 20:53:35 GMT
By the sum of short and long programs Eugene Medvedev scored 190.89 points. Seraphim Sahanovich was second, earning 186.01 points. The Russians Evgeny Medvedeva and Seraphim Sahanovich won gold and silver respectively in the Finals of the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Championships, which takes place in Barcelona, Spain. By the sum of short and long programs Medvedeva, whp became the bronze medal Grand Prix Final in the last season, scored 190.89 points. Sahanovich, just like last year, was second, earning 186.01 points. The top three winners closed the Japanese Wakaba Higuchi (178.09). Another representative of Russia Maria Sotskova, winner of the Grand Prix Final last season, finished fourth (175.99). jmedvedevaj @annapogorilaya всегда найдется друг, который испортит фото
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Post by Admin on Dec 18, 2014 21:21:23 GMT
Elena Radionova on Saturday cleanly skated the program and took second place in the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, second only to his compatriot Elizabeth Tuktamysheva. Silver medalist of the Grand Prix Final in women's figure skating Russian Elena Radionova said that because of the disease she was ready to withdraw from the competition in Barcelona before it began. Radionova on Saturday cleanly skated the program and took second place in the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, second only to his compatriot Elizabeth Tuktamysheva. "I really wanted to skate, I had a temperature of 38 degrees, and I rolled with it, but did not attach any importance - Radionova told reporters. - When it became quite hard, to measure the temperature still." "I did not train, I had only two days to prepare to gather jumping, and even I felt weak after the illness - added the skater. - But I am very glad that I could cleanly skate the long program though. I start with this experience that can perform well after an illness, and that you should never get upset and discouraged." Radionova called second place in the Grand Prix Final a "small victory". "Despite all the difficulties, I was able to overcome them and do everything. I wanted to improve the outcome of last year's Grand Prix Final (fourth place), and I got it. A short program, of course, was controversial, but was definitely better than a random."
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