Wilson Leaves Skating

At a time when figure skating needs all the help it can get to restore flagging popularity, it will be without a man who made the sport a captivating show.

Whether capturing the golden moment that is his most vivid memory, Brian Boitano’s 1988 Olympic triumph, or making the best of competitions tarnished by the dross the sport has produced in the past several years, Doug Wilson managed to convey the beauty, difficulty and passion of skating to TV audiences for nearly half a century.

The Wilson era ended Sunday, when he directed the exhibition telecast from the World Figure Skating Championships for ESPN/ABC. After 50 years of work for ABC, in which he directed or produced 40 different sports, Wilson has promised his wife this is the finale, even if NBC were to come calling for help with its coverage of U.S. skating and the 2010 Olympics.

Speaking from Sweden, where he also directed the women’s and dance competitions, Wilson, 72, was quick to credit all the others who helped him, especially the people behind cameras who provided the memorable shots from which he chose.

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Mens Champion Crowned

In a free skate where one top contender fell completely apart and two others had repeated flaws, Johnny Weir's conservative but nearly error-free skating won the bronze medal Saturday at the World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Jeffrey Buttle, rebounding from two subpar seasons and a defeat in the Canadian Championships. became the first Canadian man to win the title since Elvis Stojko in 1997.

Buttle won the free skate as easily as he had won the short program and was the only man to do two outstanding programs.




France's Brian Joubert, the 2007 champion, rallied from sixth in the short program to take the silver.

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2008 Ice Dance Final Results Are In

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France won gold with 212.94 total points and Canada's champions earned 208.80. Jana KIhokhlova and Sergei Novitski of Russia won bronze with 203.26, edging U.S. champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto by 26-100ths of a point.

It was the first time since 1975 that all three couples on the world ice dancing podium were there for the first time.

Virtue and Moir were third after the original dance but won the free dance with their delicately romantic and demanding "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" routine that had the hundreds of Canadians among the 9,500 who filled the Scandinavium jumping to their feet and waving Canadian flags when it ended. Virtue and Moir knew they'd nailed it when they saw their marks pop up.

"This was a goal of ours but to see it become a reality on the screen . . . it was just awesome," said Virtue.

Virtue, 18, and Moir, 20, are among the youngest skaters ever to step onto the world ice dancing podium. She was only seven and he was only nine when they began skating together. They won the world junior title two years ago and were sixth at the senior level last year.

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Brilliant short program for Weir but Buttle Leads

Canadian Jeffrey Buttle won the men's short program at the world figure skating championships on Friday.


In a confident performance to Astor Piazzolla's Adios Nonino, Buttle took a surprise lead going into Saturday's final as several of the favorites, including defending champion Brian Joubert, made crucial mistakes.

Buttle, second in this year's Four Continents competition and bronze medalist at the Turin Olympics, scored the highest technical mark to end on 82.10 points, comfortably ahead of American Johnny Weir in second on 80.79 points.

Weir, coached by 1992 Olympic champion Viktor Petrenko and Galina Zmievskaia, turned in a near-faultless skate. Japan's Daisuke Takahashi was third on 80.40 points after a jump error.

Frenchman Joubert fell on his triple lutz and eked out just 77.75 points to stand sixth after a two-point deduction. An ISU official said France was appealing one of the deduction points, which was for the use of music with vocals.

Buttle said he felt "comfortable and confident" on the ice as he executed a clean short program.

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Skating's fade to black

I have been watching the World Figure Skating Championships from Sweden live on my computer.

On a Turkish TV channel that is part sports, part C-Span, showing the country's parliament when the lawmakers are in session.

From the postings on skating news groups, others have been watching live on Internet streams from a variety of countries, including South Korea, China, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

All this is free -- except the usurious monthly fees charged by Internet service providers, that is.

This availability of live coverage makes skating fans winners, but it makes the sport they care about a loser.

Why would a TV network want to pay anything but two plugged nickels for exclusive territorial rights to an event where the territorial exclusivity of the telecast is compromised?

That is among the reasons why ESPN threatened to break its four-year contract with the International Skating Union after one year when it learned the 2005 Moscow worlds were being streamed live into the United States. That meant many of the people who might watch ESPN's delayed coverage already had seen the event and felt less compelled to tune in.

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Asada is Golden

Mao Asada’s opening move was heart-stopping — and not in a good way.
As she went to take off for a triple axel, a jump so hard few women even try it, she slipped and slid across the ice.
“I was surprised myself,” Asada said.
But the two-time Japanese champion rebounded with a huge triple flip-triple toe loop combination, righting her long-program fortunes and capturing the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships on Thursday. She finished with 185.56 points, winning by almost a point.
“I learned that I still can make up for the mistake if the other elements are good,” Asada said. “Never give up. That’s what I learned this year.”
Two-time European champion Carolina Kostner of Italy won the silver (184.68 points) and South Korea’s Kim Yu-na finished third (183.23).
Asada’s was by far the most spectacular fall of the evening, with the crowd of 9,431 groaning in unison. But it was not the only one.

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Standings after the Original Dance

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France won the original dance at the World Figure Skating Championships on Thursday, widening their lead to a comfortable four points.

Delobel and Schoenfelder have 107.98 points going into Friday's free dance.

Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski of Russia are now second, passing Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada in the original dance. But the margin between the couples is slim, with the Russians just .45 points ahead: 103.97 to 103.52.

Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto entered the worlds favored to become the first U.S. couple to win a world dance title. But a rare fall in compulsories dropped them to fifth place and, despite finishing fourth in the original dance, they weren't able to make up any ground in the standings.

"This is the first time we've gone in hearing that perhaps we were one of the favorites for a title. That's a lot of pressure to carry," Belbin said. "I think I just had to put that out of my mind and realize that we can still gain a lot from this event -- good or bad."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

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World Pair Skating Champs Crowned

Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy rallied from a spectacular joint fall to score the top mark in the free skate and win the pairs event at the figure skating world championships on Wednesday.

The European champions, who trailed China's Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang after Tuesday's short programme, both took a tumble in their side-by-side triple Salchow early on in the free skate routine, but the pair regained their composure to triumph.

"Tonight, I don't know what to say, I'm so happy," Szolkowy told reporters. "It was a hard way to get here and make a performance like this. It wasn't perfect, but in the end it was enough."

The pair paid tribute to the enthusiastic crowd.

"A really big thanks to audience. We've had so much fun skating here. I think the last two points were because of you," Salkowy added.

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2008 World Figure Skating Championships TV Schedule

World Figure Skating Championships
Thursday, March 20th 7:30pm-11:00pm (EST) ESPN
(Pairs Short+Long, Ice Dance Original Dance)

Friday, March 21st 7:30pm-11:00pm (EST) ESPN
(Ladies Short, Ice Dance Free Dance)

Saturday, March 22nd 3:00pm-6:00pm (EST) ABC
(Ladies Long, Mens Short)

Saturday, March 22nd 6:30pm-8:00pm (EST) ESPN2
(Ladies Short, Ice Dance Free Dance)
This broadcast may be delayed if the preceding basketball game runs overtime.

Sunday, March 23rd 4:30pm-7:00pm (EST) ESPN
(Mens Long)

Chinese Lead Pairs

Goteborg, Sweden (Sports Network) - The Chinese duo of Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao have taken the lead after the short program of the pairs competition at the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships.

The two had a score of 74.36 points, which was ahead of the German pair of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (72.00) and the Russian duo of Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov (71.42).

Canadians were next in fourth with Bryce Davison and Jessica Dube (68.66) occupying the spot.

Zhang Hao and Zhang Dan were fifth in last year's worlds and second in 2006, but are on track to give China three straight gold medals at the event. The Chinese have traditionally dominated pairs, winning seven of a possible 12 medals over the last four competitions.

The top American team is Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, who are in 10th place with 53.83 points. The pair of Benjamin Okolski and Brooke Castile holds 12th place with 49.59 points.

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French Lead After Compulsories

Oteborg, Sweden (Sports Network) - France's Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder are in the top spot after the compulsory dance round at the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships Tuesday.

The French pair finished with 40.73 points, more than two points clear of Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and over five points ahead of Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who are in fifth place after a rare fall.

The Russian duo of Jana Kokhlova and Sergei Novitski is in third place, while Italians Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali are fourth.

Belbin and Agosto, the reigning Olympic silver medalists, were the odds on favorite to win the dance crown after European champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin withdrew.

But, while skating to the Argentine tango, Belbin stumbled while attempting a twizzle. Falls in compulsories are very rare, and the Argentine tango is considered an easier dance.

Belbin and Agosto suffered a mandatory one-point deduction and finished with a score of 35.02.

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U.S. Ice Dancers Tumble During Compulsories

It's always a shock when ice dancers pratfall in elite competition.

But it was staggering to watch gold medal contenders from the United States do it - in the A-B-C, pro-forma compulsory dance segment of the event, at the World Championships.

Tanith Belbin, the 23-year-old beauty from Kingston, Ont. who received dual citizenship in order to represent America in international figure skating, took a gasp-inducing tumble in the opening phase of the dance-off here this morning and was ashen about it afterwards - even through the heavy layers of stage makeup.

"It's just a freak accident,'' she said, feathers trembling slightly on her head. "It's never happened (even) in practice. I wasn't nervous. It just sucks that it had to happen at worlds.''

Partner Benjamin Agosto stood mutely aside as the female half of this polished tandem tried to explain what had gone so horribly wrong.

The couple was just coming round a corner of the rink, actually slightly off pattern in the mandated Argentine Tango, when Belbin's trailing foot simply caught the ice badly and it was arse over teakettle.

"It's weird that falls happen in compulsories, period,'' she acknowledged. "And then to happen in a place where it's never happened before, it did catch me off guard.

"I'm really bummed out right now.''

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Canadians Hoping for A Medal

The door to the world figure skating podium has swung open for Canadian ice dancing champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

Patrick Chan and Jeff Buttle can only win men's singles medals if others falter, Joannie Rochette's chances in women's singles are remote, and Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison have an outside shot in pairs. But it is with Virtue and Moir that Canada's best chances rest when competition begins Tuesday in Goteborg, Sweden.

The withdrawal of Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, who has reinjured the left knee he had surgery on in December, should allow Canada's champions to reach the podium - not that they are happy about Shabalin's misfortune.

"It's too bad," says Moir. "It's nice to go to a world championship when everybody is healthy and you can compete against the best.

"At the same time, we're excited about the opportunity that lies ahead of us."

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Lysacek Out of World Championships

Two-time U.S. figure skating champion Evan Lysacek withdrew from next week's world championships after hurting his left arm in a fall during practice.

Lysacek's right skate blade broke on the landing of a triple axel Wednesday, and the fall injured his left forearm, elbow and shoulder. No bones were broken, but he's wearing a soft cast and will be in a sling for about a week. Doctors have told him not to jump or do spins for two weeks.

The world championships begin Tuesday in Goteborg, Sweden.

"I'm obviously disappointed that I won't be there," Lysacek said. "I've been skating very well, and I really felt like the momentum was building. I'm going to continue to train as hard as I can, work to get this equipment issue straightened out, and return strong for next season."

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Contenders for 2008 World Figure Skating Championships

WOMEN

MAO ASADA - A co-favorite after finishing second at worlds last year, Asada romped to victory at Grand Prix final in December. ... She's won two straight Japanese championships, a very difficult task, and won Four Continents this year. ... The graceful Asada has not finished below second in any significant event since Turin Olympics, which she missed because of age restrictions. ... Has trained with one of Michelle Kwan's former coaches, Rafael Arutunian.

MIKI ANDO - Defending champ has struggled this season and failed to qualify for the Grand Prix final. ... Was third at Four Continents after second straight runner-up finish behind Asada in Japanese nationals. ... Rallied from weak Olympics to have big 2006-07 season. ... Still only woman to land a quadruple jump in competition, but the last one was more than four years ago.

KIMMIE MEISSNER - The 2006 world champion is in a deep slump. ... Has struggled all season, with career-worst seventh-place finish at nationals, where she was defending champ. ... Dropped coach Pam Gregory for Richard Callaghan in February. ... Meissner has been plagued by falls all season, wound up last in Grand Prix final. ... She made team only because three skaters ahead of her at nationals were too young for worlds.

ASHLEY WAGNER - Third-place finisher at nationals then came in eighth at Four Continents, but fifth in free skate. ... At 17, makes her major international debut at worlds. ... Has a striking persona on ice, powerful and confident, with her ponytail bopping in perfect sync to the music. ... Bronze medalist at last year's junior world championships.

KIM YU-NA - The 2006 world junior champion has won two straight Grand Prix finals, including edging Asada this season. ... Hip injury forced her to skip Four Continents in her own country. ... First major contender from South Korea. ... Exciting skater with great spins and spirals, quick but precise jumps. ... Has won all her major competitions since finishing third at '07 worlds.

Others to watch: JOANNIE ROCHETTE, Canada's four-time national champ and Four Continents runner-up; Italy's CAROLINA KOSTNER, two-time European champion; Japan's YURI NAKANO, who beat out some formidable countrywomen to get to worlds; Swiss veteran SARAH MEIER.

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MEN

DAISUKE TAKAHASHI - Reigning silver medalist has been the most consistent of world's best men this season. Won both of his Grand Prix events, Skate America and NHK Trophy, and last month's Four Continents. Was solid at Grand Prix final, losing title on performance marks. ... Looking to become first Japanese man to win world title. ... Spectacular jumper, but isn't quite as strong on spins and footwork. ... Short program is a hip-hop version of "Swan Lake."

STEPHANE LAMBIEL - Two-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist still trying to recapture championship form after skipping most of last season. ... Won Grand Prix final with dazzling flamenco number, but had to improvise after botching early jumps. ... Finished second at European championships after lackluster free skate. ... As good an artist as he is a jumper, his spins alone are worth price of admission. ... Surprise entrant at worlds last year after skipping Europeans, finished third.

BRIAN JOUBERT - Defending world champion, unbeaten last season, looked dominant again with win at Skate Canada, only to miss rest of Grand Prix season with strength-sapping virus. ... Clearly still recovering at Europeans, where he ran out of gas in second half of free skate and finished distant third. ... Did three quads in one program in November 2006, but hasn't come close to duplicating feat. ... Free skate is a medley of Metallica songs.

JOHNNY WEIR - Tied Evan Lysacek in final standings at U.S. championships, but wound up with silver medal because Lysacek won free skate. ... Lackluster results last season prompted big changes. Left longtime coach Priscilla Hill and now trains outside New York City with Galina Zmievskaya, who coached Olympic gold medalists Viktor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul. ... Most artistic and expressive skater around when he's on. ... Will try quad in free skate.

Others to watch: TOMAS VERNER - After coming oh, so close several times, Czech beat Lambiel and Joubert to win European title. Might that breakthrough lead to more appearances on podium? ... JEFFREY BUTTLE - Second-place finish at Four Continents might be start of comeback for Olympic bronze medalist, who has been hampered by back problems. ... STEPHEN CARRIERE - With Lysacek out, Americans will need a strong debut from last year's junior world champion to keep three spots at next year's world championships.

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