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Men’s figure skating reaching superhero feats

25/10/2016

 
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Could it be less than three years since the Sochi Olympics when the quad jump truly came of age in men’s figure skating?
In the Sochi final, 24 men attempted 21 quads between them of which 13 were successful. The debate on how necessary quad jumps were for men was over.

Unlike Vancouver in 2010, it became impossible to ever again consider a men’s podium finish at Olympics without a quad jump.
Fast forward to the 2016 Progressive Skate America Grand Prix in Chicago this weekend where the world’s number one and two ranked men Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandez were not competing, but they will now know that to hold their top spots, the heat is most definitely on.  

In a ten-man field at the first Grand Prix of the season in Chicago, 12 successful quads from 14 attempts were landed in the free program by the high-quality field.

The quads were flying at the beginning of the free programs – as they did in Sochi, including a quad flip by winner Shoma Uno from Japan whilst the Chinese jumping bean Boyang Jin went for four quads – nailing three, including a magnificent quad lutz.

American Jason Brown, who has struggled with lifting his technical arsenal into the quad club, managed his first quad toe - albeit under-rotated but credited. With his strong performance skills, the one quad and well executed technical program was enough to deliver silver behind Uno. Without the quad Brown would have been looking at bronze at best.

Unlike the run-up to Sochi, men are now attempting and landing quad jumps beyond the mid-way point of the four-and-a-half minute programs. No longer are the quads only planned as the first and second elements in the haul to the final pose.
Multiple quads are slotted in as the 6th, 7th and 8th elements. That’s a herculean work-load and let’s not forget the performance value, which equals the technical score for importance.  

It’s the mix of high-level technical skill with all-or-nothing artistic performance delivery that is sky rocketing men’s figure skating into eminently watchable, which the sport sorely needed for casual viewers.   

Once upon a time the men’s event at major championships could be a snooze fest from the middle of the field to bottom place getters. The music (usually bland or boring or both) and performance value was incidental to the delivery of the all-important jumps. Those days are over for any man wanting to be in the World’s top rankings.

Indeed, just making it to an ISU Grand Prix event requires a potential top World 20 ranking.  

OWIA skater Brendan Kerry competed at Skate America and he’s the only Australian in the Grand Prix events in any discipline. Kerry finished 10 out of 10 landing a gorgeous quad toe plus triple axel combo and triple/triple, raising his personal performance bar and scoring a very respectable 211 points. 

It was a good skate in anyone’s language and the Aussie is starting to fulfil his long known about potential, but it’s a tough world for men now. They must have it all and avoid serious injury.  

If the 2016 Skate America GP proves anything, it is that the bar has been raised for the equal mix of technical and artistic. Thankfully music choices have widened to include vocals, opening the door for a more modern feel with less trusty old standards and over-used classical pieces taking centre stage.

That’s not to say that classical music or the rusty musicals are all passé. However – figure skating is young person’s game that is governed by mostly older people.

The skaters, their coaches and choreographers are taking the sport to the viewing masses by upping the ante across the board and delivering big-time.  

There are five remaining Grand Prix events, which will provide interesting viewing on SBS every Saturday at 2pm, beginning October 29 with the just completed Skate America. How the men hold up over the season will be test of their physical and mental endurance.  
Eighteen months out from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games, the heat is on.
 
Story courtesy Belinda Noonan

TOP IMAGE: Brendan Kerry with coach Tammy Gambill

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Brendan Kerry at the Skate America event

Kailani Craine joins future stars guided by Australia’s best athletes

7/10/2016

 
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OWIA figure skater Kailani Craine has been selected as one of five of Australia’s brightest young stars to receive mentoring from Australia’s Hall of Fame members.
 
Craine will have the sporting opportunity of a lifetime, as part of the 2017 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program, and she will receive one-on-one guidance from beach volleyball Olympic gold medallist Kerri Pottharst OAM.
 
Craine is a rising star in world figure skating, winning the Australian senior title in 2015, before going on to finish 16th in the free skate competition at the world junior figure skating championships in Estonia. Making her senior world championships debut in 2016, Craine finished 27th in Boston.
 
She said the opportunity to learn from the very best, along with the significant financial boost, was an incredible opportunity.
 
“With the mentoring program, listening to the other athlete’s experiences will be interesting, but the funding also helps so much,” Craine said of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
 
“It makes training in other environments like Los Angeles possible, where I can skate and learn with Olympic champions,” she said. “It’s an entirely different scene, helping to adapt and begin skating like them.”
 
The 18-year-old is Australia’s leading figure skating prospect heading into the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and says she’s “powering up to next year’s qualifying season for the Winter Olympics,” and can’t wait to meet the other scholarship holders and Hall of Fame members at the awards in Melbourne next month.
 
“It will be a really great experience to meet everyone at the event and work with the mentors,” Craine said.
 
“I was in the middle of my trial exams when I got the call about the mentoring program. I was really stressed so it made everything so much better – it was the best news.”
 
The Scholarship and Mentoring Program aims to help talented young Australians achieve at the highest level of sport, by providing support and funding for a period of 12 months.
 
Scholarship holders receive one-on-one personal mentoring by a current member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, in what is a unique and life changing experience. Recipients will also be awarded a $5,000 sporting expenses grant, as well as one international return economy flight thanks to Etihad Airways.
 
Awarded annually as part of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala Dinner – supported by Etihad Airways – the five successful recipients will be presented their scholarships by their respective mentors on Thursday, 13th October 2016 at Palladium at Crown, Melbourne.
 
Olympic beach volleyball gold medallist and 2014 Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee Kerri Pottharst, said she is looking forward to learning about a completely new sport when she mentors Crane.
 
“I can’t do what she does, but I can help her get to the next level, develop belief and plan her success,” Pottharst said.
 
Pottharst and playing partner Natalie Cook developed their ‘Gold Medal Excellence Plan’ in the lead up to Sydney and the trademarks easily apply to other sports and all facets of life.
 
“It’s about developing belief.  If somebody else can do it, why can’t I? So I’ll be asking Kailani that question and can’t wait to be involved in her journey,” Pottharst said.
 
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Chairman John Bertrand AO, who was a mentor to 2013 scholarship holder and Olympic silver medallist Olivia Price, said “the mentoring is a ‘money can't buy’ opportunity. The impact of the mentoring on our scholarship holders has been profound.”
 
“The five successful scholarship recipients have demonstrated they are quality young people within sport and life in general and it is a privilege to play a vital role in nurturing the nation’s next wave of talent – both as athletes and people,” said Bertrand.
 
2017 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program
Kailani Craine (Figure Skating)  - Kerri Pottharst OAM (Beach Volleyball)
Elloise Devlin (Equestrian) - Kieren Perkins OAM (Swimming)
Caleb Grothues (Motocross) - Stan Longinidis (Kick Boxing)
Amanda Reid (Para-Cycling) - Louise Sauvage OAM (Para-Athletics)
Bradley Woodward (Swimming, Surf Life Saving, Royal Life Saving) - Clint Robinson OAM (Canoe/Kayak, Surf Life Saving)
 
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program Background
Since the introduction of the program in 2006, 58 young Australian athletes (view full list) have benefited from 61 scholarships and the opportunity of a lifetime to draw on the experience and wisdom of The Sport Australia Hall of Fame members in addition to the valuable cash grant and international airfare.
 
Such is the success of the program that 20 past and present scholarship recipients represented Australia at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio, including dual Paralympic wheelchair tennis gold medallist Dylan Alcott OAM, Paralympic swimming gold medallist Maddison Elliott OAM, cycling team pursuit silver medallists Jack Bobridge and Alex Edmondson, archery team bronze medal winner Alec Potts and synchronised 3m springboard bronze medallist Anabelle Smith.
 
Other notable graduates of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program include Patrick Mills (basketball), Lauren Mitchell (gymnastics), Jessicah Schipper (swimming) and Caroline Buchanan (BMX).
 
Scholarship holders have been privileged to be mentored by such Australian sporting greats as; Catherine Freeman OAM, Susie O’Neill OAM, Rechelle Hawkes OAM, Adam Gilchrist AM, Robert de Castella AO MBE and Sport Australia Hall OF Fame Chairman John Bertrand AO.
 
2016 will mark the 32nd edition of this event, with a further eight Australian sporting icons, from on and off the field, to be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
 
In addition to the eight inductees, Australian sport’s ‘night of nights’ will see the elevation of one current member to Legend status, becoming the official 38th Legend of Australian Sport. The night will also celebrate ‘The Don’ Award which is widely regarded as Australia’s most prestigious contemporary sporting award.
 
Established in 1985, the Sport Australia Hall of Fame plays a vital role in preserving and perpetuating Australia’s rich sporting heritage, whilst promoting the values of courage, sportsmanship, integrity, mateship, persistence, and excellence, all underpinned by generosity, modesty, pride and ambition.
 
For further information (media only), please contact Sport Australia Hall of Fame media:
 
David Culbert
(03) 9822 7110 or 0417 272 641
[email protected]


Historic gold medal for indigenous figure skater

1/10/2016

 
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Harley Windsor and his partner Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya have created history overnight in Tallinn, Estonia by becoming the first Australian figure skaters to win a gold medal at an ISU Junior Grand Prix.
 
Coming from a surprise third after the short program and with well-credentialed Russians teams ahead and behind the Sydney-based pair, Harley and Katia skated first in the final group, laying down an incredible free program, packed with difficulty and power that broke the 100 point barrier and which piled on the pressure for the leading teams to match.
 
The Australian team scored a total 159.26, leaving three strong Russian teams Alina Ustimkina and Nikita Volodin (156.95), Ekaterina Borisova and Dmitry Sopot  (150. 25) and Amina Atakhanova and Ilia Spiridonov (147.80) in their wake.
 
Harley (19), who has Aboriginal heritage on both sides of his family, felt calm and confident as he and Katia began the free program that has taken the skating world by surprise.  

“I was thinking, "what have I got to lose - if I go out with confidence, what's the worst that could happen?"

“We trained every single day, without a rest after the JGP in Ostrava. Day in, day out, not missing anything,” he explained.

Katia, a 16-year-old teenager from Moscow who will seek to become Australian, and her Aussie partner are probably the world’s most unlikely pairs figure skating team. In a mere ten months the teenagers have developed a bond, partnership and desire to succeed that has been matched by results in their first season.     

Their gold medal winning free program had it all. A soaring triple twist, effortless yet complicated and smooth lifts, throw triples and a perfect side-by-side triple jump combination. The power and confident unison displayed by the newcomers was awe inspiring.

 “After our initial Grand Prix in the Czech Republic last month, we knew what our ability was. We just had to believe in ourselves and take it one element at a time,” Harley and Katia said from Tallinn this morning.

The speed of their success has Harley somewhat in disbelief.

“I'm still a little bit in shock and it hasn't really set in yet. I'm absolutely ecstatic. It’s hard to describe what it’s like watching your nation’s flag go up first in the medal presentations.”

As a proud indigenous Australian from the western suburbs in Sydney, Harley fully understands the importance of his achievement. 

“I'm honoured that I have been able to be so successful in such a short amount of time,” he said. “I hope to inspire young athletes’ to strive for their dreams and that anything is possible. I hope that I set a good example that if you work hard, respect and trust your coaches - results will come.”

Harley and Katia look and skate as if they are meant to be, yet the hard work, combined with the vision and support by their Sydney coaches Andrei and Galina Pachin is the real reason for Australia’s latest winter sport stars.  

The unlikely pairing of Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya was the brainwave of Galina and Andrei Pachin late last year in a desperate bid to keep their talented young student in the sport he loves. 

“I began to teach Harley at the end of 2006. He was very thin and small in stature and with great desire to learn and hard-working attitude,” said Galina Pachin, who has watched from home as husband Andrei travels with their team.
 
“He was like plasticine with very good coordination. At the age of 15 until 17 we had problems with rapid growth. Harley struggled with skating and a few times he wanted to quit, but my husband and I tried to convince him that this is temporary and he should continue training by working hard on his strength and skating ability.”
 
“We believed that he could be a good pair skater. The biggest problem was to find the right girl for pairs who was small in height, slim and brave.”

After a few partnerships at home, the coaches looked to Russia to find Harley a partner and finally an unexpected call came from legendary Olympic Gold Medal winning coach Nina Mozer, who had a student she thought would be suitable.  

Andrei Pachin took his student to Moscow. It was a desperate move by motivated coaches at their own expense to keep Harley in the sport.

Nina Mozer saw the possibilities and was instrumental in securing a release for Katia from the Russian Federation after Australia’s formal request. It was a generous gesture by a respected coach who cares about the sport and her students. 

For 16 year-old Katia, the opportunity was totally unexpected  because she too, thought there would not be a partner for her after two failed previous attempts.   

“Nina Mozer spoke with my mother and we met with the coach from Australia Andrei Pachin. Harley arrived within a short period of time. I liked him straight away- tall, slim and strong. Always with a positive attitude, kind and respectful,” Katia remembered.
 
“Most importantly for me in a partner was that he was caring towards a partner. We tried it out and managed well. It was a good fit.”
 
Within the month Katia flew to Sydney on her first visa  to continue training.
 
“When I arrived in Australia I fell in love with it at once and forever more. I loved everything - the climate, nature and the people and most importantly the great training conditions at Canterbury Ice Rink.”
 
“Everyone that I came into contact with welcomed, accepted and supported me. More than anyone, Galina and Andrei welcomed me into their home and life with open arms. Thanks to them and the manager of Canterbury Ice Rink who helped make it possible for us to train, we have had this unique opportunity to develop our skating partnership.”
 
“Harley and I want to achieve high results in this sport, attaining the highest level of success in pair skating.”  
 
As for their coaches, the knowledge that the hard road ahead may now just be a little bit easier has strengthened their belief in the Aboriginal kid from Rooty Hill and his Russian-born partner. 
 
“For the future, we have our fingers crossed,” Galina said.
 
By Belinda Noonan
 
Youtube link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZLRAbIhHjg
 
Harley Windsor’s indigenous background: 19-year-old Harley’s heritage spans across NSW. His mother Josie is from the Weilwyn and Gamilaraay people, whilst father Peter is from Moree of the Gamilaraay and Ngarrable people. His great grandparents were both full blood Aboriginal people, neither of whom ever spoke English.

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