Australia has logged a historic night of Figure Skating with a bronze medal and Olympic qualification in the Pairs event as well as an individual win at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. 

Kailani Craine has claimed top spot in the Ladies Short Program, while Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya rounded out the podium with a bronze medal in the Pairs event after the routine of their lives. 


With a personal best score of 58.02, Craine landed a triple loop-double toe, triple flip and double Axel in her routine to ”Dream A Little Dream Of Me”.


”Of course, I was nervous, because it’s an Olympic spot, my dream on the line, but I definitely prepared, I couldn’t have done anything else in training to prepare for this moment.,” Craine said. 


"I’ve been really present in my training and I tried to mimick competition in my training”, the Australian Champion said about competing in the Olympic qualifying event.


Leading Sweden’s Matilda Algotsson in second place and Nathalie Weinzierl of Germany, the Ladies will return to the ice for the Free Program skate at 1:30am on Sunday night. 


Craine will look to book her Olympic qualification needing a top six finish to seal her Olympic debut. 


In the Pairs event, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia took out the top spot on the podium ahead of Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot.


Alexandrovskaya and Windsor of Australia stunned the world with a performance of a lifetime and  moved up one spot to take the bronze. The Australians and four more couples earned an Olympic spot each for their country.


Skating to ”The Mask”, the pair executed a perfect a triple twist, side by side triple Salchow and triple toe-double toe-double toe as well a throw triple flip and Salchow. 


The Junior World Champions secured a huge personal best, scoring 125.80 points for the Free Skating and 190.31 points overall, securing a ticket to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics for Australia. 


”Obviously it is very exciting for us. We skated really, really well and we also qualified (an Olympic spot) for Australia. So that was a huge step for us”, 20-year-old Windsor said.


With pairs from Russia, Germany, Canada and USA having already booked their spot to the Games, the Australians will be joined by new pairs from Austria, Czech Republic, Peoples Democratic Republic of Korea and Israel on the Olympic program.


Kailani Craine will be the final Aussie on the ice tonight, and you can watch her live: http://www.dailymotion.com/skatingvideos

To see Alexandrovskaya and Windsor's free program from Nebelhorn Trophy, click here


Ashleigh Knight
olympics.com.au

Figure skater Brendan Kerry has secured his second bronze medal in successive weeks on the International Skating Union’s Challenger series, consolidating his position in the top fifteen in the world of men’s figure skating.
 
Over the weekend, Kerry, 22, climbed from fifth place after the short program in the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Bratislava, Slovakia to the podium, claiming bronze with 221.21 points behind Russians Mikhail Kolyada (247.81) and Sergei Voronov (234.07).
 
“It's early in the season and people are still testing things out for the Olympic season, myself included. So, going from fifth to third is awesome. However, it really could've been anyone's on the night,” Kerry said.
 
The overall bronze was a repeat podium appearance by Kerry from the previous week in Italy at the Lombardia Trophy in a stronger field that was won by World silver medallist Shoma Uno (Japan) with silver going to Jason Brown (USA).
 
Kerry opened his season in Italy delivering his most technically difficult short program so far, including two different quads for the first time. He also stepped up the artistic complexity and was rewarded with a personal best Program Components score that bettered his 2017 World Championship score.
 
Crucial to international figure skaters is the all-important world rankings that determine the order in which skaters compete at Championship and Olympic events. Kerry’s aim is to break into the World top ten.
 
 “Getting these world ranking points early in the season will help take the stress off having to rush and do last minute comps pre-Olympics,” Kerry said.

The ISU Challengers are a ten-event series throughout Europe and North America, which this season are attracting top-ranked skaters in preparation for the invitational only Grand Prix events that begin in October.
 
 “Lombardia was a strong competition, which was good and very motivating to be on the ice with Shoma. The event went well for my first time trying a two-quad short program,” said Kerry of his season opener in Italy.
 
Achieving back-to-back podiums secures Kerry’s position in the overall ISU Challenger rankings and lifts his World Ranking going into the Grand Prix series ahead of PyeongChang 2018.

Kerry’s bronze in Italy marked the first time an Australian man had won a Challenger medal and is an indication of how far the Sochi Olympian has come in four years.
 
He will return to his training base at Riverside, Los Angeles with coach Tammy Gambill before competing in the Grand Prix series at Skate Canada in late October.
 
Australian Ladies Champion, Kailani Craine also had a strong Challenger event in Bratislava. The 19-year-old finished eighth on 157.84 points behind winner and current World Champion Evgenia Medvedeva from Russia whose overall total of 226.72 was more than 37 points clear of silver medallist Rika Hongo from Japan.  
 
2014 Sochi Olympian Brooklee Han was also competing in another Challenger event: the Autumn Classic International in Montreal,Canada.  After placing fourth and recording a personal best short program score of 57.65, Han finished the event in seventh place overall with a score of 158.81.
 

Figure skater Brendan Kerry held off strong competition to take overall bronze last night at the Lombardia Trophy in Bergamo, Italy, making him the first Australian man to reach the ISU Challenger Series podium.
 
Ranked 15th in the world, Kerry delivered his most technically difficult short program so far, including two different quads for the first time, scoring 82.30 points just behind USA’s Jason Brown for third place going into the free program.
 
Skating to ‘Everyone wants to rule the world’, 22-year-old Kerry stepped up the artistic complexity of his new short program and was rewarded with a personal best Program Components score that bettered his 2017 World Championships.
 
Current World silver medallist Shoma Uno from Japan skated a majestic short, also with two quads, amassing a lead of over twenty points over Brown and Kerry.  
 
“It was a strong competition, which was good and very motivating to be on the ice with Shoma,” Kerry said. “The event went well for my first time trying a two-quad short program.”
 
Skating after Uno and brown in the final group in the free program, Kerry opened with a stunning quad toe, tripled out the salchow and landed two triple axels in a performance to a Native-American themed free program that is a major departure from his previous character-style pieces.
 
Placing fifth in the free program with a healthy 150.75 points, Kerry again made a career PB – this time for the technical score of 80.15, an overall total of 233.05 and held on to take bronze with Uno winning gold (319.84) and Brown on 259.88 points with silver.   
 
Kerry’s aim was to match his 2017 World Championship performances as a minimum start to the new season.

“The free skate was rough and still a bit lacking in stamina, so I held back to just get the tech done. But we got the job done and I'm really close to where last season ended, which I think is a great place to start.”
 
“Overall this is a good place to begin the Olympic season,” he said. “Training has been a bit up and down as it's always hard to get the season going.”
 
Kerry will head to Bratislava for the Ondrej Nepala Trophy next week for his second ISU Challenger event.  

To see Brendan Kerry's new free program, click here
 
Or to watch his  two-quad short program, click here

Last season justified the belief Brendan Kerry and others had in his ability to succeed in the tough world of men’s figure skating where multiple quad jumps are now essential to be anywhere near the top ten.  

The insecure 18-year-old who went to Sochi in 2014 after a surprise qualification (even to himself) has been replaced by a mature, elite athlete who has learned how to train, manage his time and his expectations.

After placing 15th in the 2017 World Championships, Kerry qualified Australia directly into the men’s event in PyeongChang and that was a relief to the Los Angeles based skater.

Despite managing a nagging foot injury that impacted upon his quad jumps, Kerry reached the top five in multiple international events, posted PBs at almost every event he entered – and became a force to be reckoned with.  
 
“Reflecting on last season, I feel as though I can’t be anything but happy. The main goal was to qualify for the Olympics, which is what I did and what everything was based around. So, no complaints,” Kerry said.
 
But was he satisfied with his results?
 
“World Championships? No, I wasn’t - because honestly I feel as though last season I played a lot of head games with myself, but for first time in my life I was one hundred percent sure I was going to do perfectly.”
 
“It was such a strong field but I was not nervous or stressed about anything. In Finland (at the World Championships) I lost my feet the whole week and I was not having a good week on practise.”
 
“I had been so injured all season but pushed myself, so I knew I could get my job done. I was pretty excited when it was over. It feels way cooler to qualify this time around,” he recalled.
 
Athletes often review their best performances with one word – ‘relief’. Kerry fits in that boat.
 
“Qualifying was the biggest relief. To have a whole year to plan around the Olympics is a yes and no advantage. My focus is about being at the Olympics - not getting to be at the Olympics. There’s a difference.”
 
“Last year I was focused on trying to have a comfortable short program with brief moments of artistry. This year will be different. I definitely feel like a very different skater again.”
 
Last year’s music choices and choreography centred around cheeky-style characters with Singing in the Rain for the short and Pirates of the Caribbean for the free program.
 
Kerry’s Olympic season programs are in a totally different category.  
 
The character pieces are gone, replaced with two intricate, artistically demanding pieces choreographed by two very different choreographers in Mark Pillay for the short program and Nikolai Morozov for the free program.
 
Pillay, from Vancouver, has worked with Kerry for many years and has delivered a short program to ‘Everyone wants to rule the world’, which coach Tammy Gambill thinks is amazing.
 
“I love the short,” Gambill said the first time she watched it in May. “It’s amazing and it’s impressive what Brendan is doing now. I can see a difference already.”  
 
Kerry was seeking a challenge and he has it.
 
“Mark and I were trying to make the short as difficult for me as possible in all aspects. Not a single week has gone by that I haven’t had a compliment on the music and the program.”
 
Pillay’s music choice is no accident.

“Essentially, the theme somewhat parallels Brendan position in the world of figure skating. He’s climbing the ladder amongst several other competitors that are clawing their way to the top. I felt the concept really worked for Brendan and it was an idea we both could get behind, plus the orchestration is incredible, so it felt very fitting to use in an Olympic season,” Pillay explained.

Having watched the boy become a man, Pillay reflected on the years they have worked together.

“I remember my first experience with Brendan. Often times when you get new clients, they really want to impress you. And that was the same for Brendan. He was trying almost too hard, that he was getting in his own way.”

“Now – things are different and the process is much more natural and fluid. Last season Tammy, Brendan and I all discussed how we wanted Brendan to invest more in his choreography.”

“We all knew his technical ability was highly proficient, but now it was time to tackle the other side of his skating.”

“In my field, I’ve always known that progress and the developmental has to come from the skater. You can say all the right things, but if they’re not ready, then that’s the reality. I think last year Brendan was ready to step up and get his Olympic spot. I saw him make that choice all year long, and he went out there and did his job in Helsinki.”

“This year, Brendan came to me and said, ‘I want to change the way I skate’, and I really respect Brendan for that.”

“Last year we saw how well he could handle character pieces, but even though he knew he was good at it and that it would be a safe choice, he didn’t want to go in that direction. He wanted to develop more depth in his skating – and that is what we’re trying to do in his new short program.”

As charming as Kerry is, it’s the serious side that is being explored.

“Anyone who knows Brendan knows that he’s charming. He just is. And with that charm often comes laughter. So more often than not, we laugh a lot together. He’s immensely talented, but talent can be a challenging attribute to have. You have to respect talent, train it, and at times be humbled by it,” Pillay said.

Having finished the short program in May, Kerry was scheduled to embark on his next challenge - the new free program with the mercurial and very successful New Jersey based Russian coach/choreographer, Nikolai Morozov.  

Fate intervened via a freak training accident on June 2nd when Kerry literally stabbed himself in the foot.
 
The heel of the blade of the left foot went through the boot and into the inside of his right foot.  
 
“Rehab has been longer than I wanted,” he said of the ten weeks it took to get back on track.
 
“It was a disgusting amount of rest. There was bone bruising and I had murdered some of the nerves in my foot. They reconnected in a different way but there’s no structural damage, even though my head is saying there’s still pain.”
 
He returned to Australia in July for strength and condition training at the NSW alpine base in Jindabyne with OWIA’s Head of Preparation John Marsden.  
 
“The off-ice training I was doing wasn’t tailored enough. Working face to face with John and having time with him was important so that he could see exactly where I’m at and what I want,” he said.
 
“We worked hard to gain the physical strength, correct techniques and we also sat down and sorted out my comp schedule with off-ice periodisation.”
 
It was the first time Kerry had worked alongside Australian winter athletes from snow sports.  
 
“Working in that setting and being with other Australian winter athletes was nice. The girls thought they could outdo me in an abs contest. That wasn’t going to happen!”
 
He returned to on ice training in August by spending three weeks in New Jersey with Morozov for the free program to ‘Valley of Dreams’.  
 
“I was able to do everything as of first week of August albeit still painful but bearable. I like the free program a lot. It’s native American and we were fine tuning every step and beat.”
 
“It’s hard working with Nikolai. Parts of my body were hurting that shouldn’t be by using different body positions. Doing movement is not enough. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen over just doing his choreography.”  
 
“Usually when I skate I have a very bad habit of remaining on axis no matter I do, but the way Nikolai is teaching me the program, there’s more extreme lean, using core strength and balance to maintain the position.”
 
“It’s very different how Nikolai goes about choreography. I feel like you tell people to do a rocker turn, but to Nikolai it’s not just how you do a rocker but that you could do it in a million different positions. He pushes the boundaries. Doing a rocker like everyone else isn’t good enough.”  
 
Kerry debuted his two new and very different programs in a local Los Angeles competition last weekend. There’s a way to go as the programs develop, however they exhibit a hitherto unknown complexity.   
 
The quads are there, the skating skills enhanced, the spins continue to improve, yet the biggest change is the seamless integration of transitions to jumps and spins in an almost mesmerised fashion.
 
Kerry’s personal challenge will be real. Both programs are magnificently conceived which will require a matching effort.   
 “In hindsight, what I have learned is that every single bit of preparation is beyond important. We’ve been training hard through the injuries and difficulties. Olympics is a very, very different mentality than any event - ever. I had to make my previous maximum my minimum.
 
Kerry opens his international season at the Lombardia Trophy in Bergamo, Italy from September 14 to 17 (Results and information here) then onto the Ondrej Nepala Trophy in Bratislava September 21 to 23  (results and information here).
 
“I would like to do no worse at these comps than I did at Worlds performance wise,” he said.
 
A further test of the new programs will come at the Skate Canada Grand Prix at the end of October but the main game is Olympics.
 
“Toward PyeonChang,  I feel really calm. I’m at a point in my career that I know how the season works. From a mental standpoint, I know how to train. My coach and choreographers keep my head in check.”

By Belinda Noonan
OWIA
 
 
 
 
 

Figure skater Kailani Craine has notched up another podium with a silver medal at the Slovenia Open over the weekend in the run-up to the Olympic Qualifying Competition in Germany at the end of this month.

Scoring a competitive 55.65 in the short program, Craine led the field into the final free program to finish overall second on 159.96 points behind Alexia Paganini from Switzerland (162.27) and did so in a borrowed dress and without all her usual equipment – except for her skates.

“The only thing I had was my skates because I put them in my mum’s bag. No guards, skipping rope, no make-up, no costumes, no training gear, no foot padding,” Craine said.  

Aussie team mate Katie Pasfield, who finished 16th in the 24-strong field was able to loan Kailani a spare dress for the free program and a local girl loaned Craine a short program dress and tights.

 “I’m so grateful to Katie and the girl from the local club. My bag is still in Warsaw and I’ve been living in one shirt for three days. At least there will be no washing to do when my bags turn up.”

Craine was jubilant about her event, citing a step forward in the free program as a goal ticked off.  

“It was a little bit decent,” a happy Craine said this morning.

“I wasn’t coming here for placings. The object was to compete a lot (in preparation for the Olympic qualifier) and not freak out. Even though I moved down a spot after the free program, I felt completely comfortable. I wasn’t shaking or nervous at all and that was the goal.”

“I made a lot of mistakes that I’m not happy with but definitely I felt better. This competition was an ice breaker. I found a new sense of confidence and the event felt more like training.”

“I do this stuff in training thousands of times and wanted to make it feel like practice and I did that. It was a perfect six-minute warm up. I got really down in my feet.”  

Winning the short program wasn’t good enough for the Newcastle native.

“I felt really uncomfortable on the first day, but still I think my training has been better.”

 “Even though I was leading. I didn’t come here for the place. People were congratulating me after the short. I wasn’t having any of that. I was not happy at all with it.  I didn’t do my triple/triple and my spinning wasn’t up to my standards.”

Craine has added a triple loop triple toe jump to her repertoire, which became a triple double in the event.  

“The triple/triple is my biggest obstacle at the moment. I’m just really harsh on myself and it’s kinda taking that next step.”

Knowing she can face equipment problems and still deliver has been a bonus.

“What if the only thing I have my skates? Now I know.”

“We had to sew me into the dress to keep it done up. Everything will be a walk in the park after this.”

Craine will head back to her Los Angeles training base for two weeks before competing at the Ondrej Nepala Trophy in the Czech Republic before heading to Germany for the Nebelhorn Trophy that will determine the final six nations for PyeongChang next February.   

“The competitor list is tough at Ondrej Nepala. The world champion will be there. Hopefully I will go from that to Nebelhorn and feel even better about myself.”

One thing she will be sure to do is travel with her equipment as hand luggage.

“I normally always do. It won’t ever go in in the suitcase again.”