Those hot pink gloves of Kamila Valieva: You couldn’t miss them in her Bolero free skate. They were the commas to every move. To the throbbing sounds of “Bolero,” the gloves skimmed the air, in and out and away as her hands moved, too. When she did a jump – any jump – the gloves […]
Skate Canada
Nathan Chen Finds his Feet
Nathan Chen crushed them. Just crushed them. If ever there was a wobble in your thinking about Chen’s prowess on the men’s figure skating scene after Skate America, then straighten yourself in your seat, find a crutch, get a new pair of Birkenstocks, anything, and get ready to marvel again. After he finished third at […]
The Long and Winding Road
The long and winding road isn’t quite finished yet for world bronze medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. But this year they are celebrating it. And skating to it. Using the Beatles music to it, they won a gold medal at Skate Canada on Saturday. It’s an important gold medal: it’s their first Grand Prix […]
The Newest Face of Russian Women
Before any talk of triple Axels or quads or such, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva stepped out onto the ice at the start of her short program at Skate Canada and did something seemingly quite simple. But astonishing nonetheless. Dressed in rose froth, the 15-year-old Russian stretched out a leg far, far up and behind her, up […]
Gilles and Poirier: Another Breakthrough
What do you do for an encore, after you’ve won a bronze medal at the world figure skating championships after years of toiling in the shadows? When you’re Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, you go out and nail the highest score of the season for the rhythm dance at Skate Canada in Vancouver, in front […]
Moore-Towers, Marinaro: Taking the Next Big Step
Yes, this is the start of the next quadrennial. And it has turned Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro into the senior members of the national pair team heading out to Grand Prix events this season. They had a quick lesson in leading the pair show at the world championships last March in Milan when […]
Ilyushechkina and Moscovitch: skating for the Maple Leaf
Lubov Ilyushechkina is glowing. Positively glowing. She and her pair partner Dylan Moscovitch will go to Skate Canada next week as a completely Canadian duo. On Sept. 21, she became a Canadian citizen. “It was definitely a big day for me,” Ilyushechkina said. “Being Canadian means being warm and friendly. And I also associate Canadians […]
Javier Fernandez has been there, done that, bought the t-shirt
Javier Fernandez has good memories of Skate Canada. His first one, in Mississauga, Ont., during the 2011-2012 season, was also his first with coach Brian Orser. He left a lasting impression, throwing the technical book at his opponents, turning from afterthought into world beater. What, a skater from Spain, defeating world record holder Patrick Chan […]
Skating in the family for Eric Liu
Read here a story I’ve done for the Skate Canada website about a promising young Canadian skater:
An 11-year-old rises to challenge
Read my post about another young skater, Alison Schumacher, with talent on the Skate Canada website: http://www.skatecanada.ca/AboutUs/NewsDetails/tabid/2157/sni[2797]/3499/language/en-US/Default.aspx