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.
 

By Michelle Cook, OWIA

Figure Skater Brooklee Han got her calling at a Scott Hamilton's Stars On Ice show in the USA.   
 
“I fell in love with the skaters, their performances and the costumes, all of the things they were able to do on the ice,” Han said.  
 
“It was after the show that I told my parents I wanted to skate,” she said. 
 
It wasn’t the sport her equestrian parents thought their daughter would end up competing.
 
“My dad was an Australian junior champion in Eventing. I think figure skating took them by surprise,” she said.
 
In 2016 Han started training with Peter and Darlene Cain, requiring her to move from her Connecticut base to Texas.
 
“I really like Texas so far.  Liking the climate but hoping the summer isn’t as awful as everyone says.
 
“Been really nice to train with other athletes competing at a high level and reaching for the same goals.”
 
Han was on a pony for the first time when she was six months old.
 
Leaving her family and horse in Connecticut is one of the many sacrifices she’s made for her sport.
 
“Since moving this is the longest I’ve been without riding.”
 
The Sochi Olympian says she’s a stronger competitor to four years ago.
 
“I have figured out more about my training and how to manage my training better and I feel like I’m a more confident performer and I’m more comfortable in my own skin on the ice.”
 
She was disappointed in her first Olympics but says it was an experience she’ll never forget.

“I wish I performed better and had that idealistic Olympic moment we all dream of.
 
“It wasn’t my best performance but I was happy with how I fought through and managed to keep the performance going. It was enough to get me through to the long program and that was really my goal.”
 
Han was among the Australian athletes in Melbourne who were taking part in team processing ahead of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. 

Gangneung Ice Arena has proven it is well and truly ready to host the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, as the Australian Figure Skating Team wrapped up their ISU Four Continents Championships campaign with great results across the board.

Serving as the Test Event for the 2018 Games, the South Korean arena saw the largest Australia contingent of skaters compete at the event, with athletes in every discipline for the first time since 2006.

The first pairs skaters in over a decade, Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, finished the Championship in 11th place, with consistent results in both the short and free program.

“I feel like we're becoming more of a mature senior team now,” said 20-year-old Windsor, who has been skating with 17-year-old Alexandrovskaya since January 2016.

“Overall we are pretty happy with our senior championship.”

Windsor and Alexandrovskaya will now turn their attention to Junior World Championships in mid-March before taking on the world’s best at World Championships later in the month, which is also an Olympic qualification event. 

In the men’s event, Sochi 2014 Olympian Brendan Kerry produced fantastic results, finishing 11th overall with a season’s best and his highest ever Four Continents result.

“I was incredibly happy and incredibly annoyed after my season’s best,” said Kerry who recorded his first short program score inside the top ten at an ISU Championships.

“I had so much fun out there and gave it my all.”

Despite nailing majority of his routine, the 22-year-old walked away frustrated with a mistake on his triple axel in the short program.
 
“I missed my money jump. Ask anyone at my training rink and they'll tell you- it's never the 3A he's worried about.”

But a mistake won’t deter Kerry in his quest for PyeongChang 2018 qualification as he hopes to feature on the Olympic program for the second time.

“That's my number one focus.

“I know that if I give my absolute best at every other event and treat it like an Olympic qualifying competition that when the time comes it won't be as big of a deal,” said Kerry who was also eager to test out the Gangneung Arena.

“The Olympic venue was awesome! Less intimidating than I thought it would've been.”

Kerry now turns his attention to Sapporo, Japan where a team of 30 Australian athletes will make their Asian Winter Games debut.

“I'm excited to do the AWG as there isn't any pressure for a specific result - it's a competition I can do just to enjoy the experience. I'm also really looking forward to going to Japan.”

Fellow Aussies Andrew Dodds and Mark Webster finished in 20th and 21st position respectively in the men’s event.
In the women’s competition, 2014 Olympian Brooklee Han wrapped up her campaign in 14th, two places ahead of Australian teammate Kailani Craine in 16th.

Mixed results for the Aussies saw Han record her best ever free program routine, while a bad day on the ice and two falls for Craine proved to be an important learning lesson for the 18-year-old.

“I expected everything to go as it has gone in practice, so when I made a mistake on the triple lutz I was in a state of shock, and just couldn't recover,” Craine said.

“I am told ‘all champions have had bad skates’, so now I have had mine.”

The Newcastle native is determined to put her bad skate behind her and is looking forward to bouncing back for the Asian Winter Games.

“Even though I know myself that I work way too hard to perform the way I did, the bad days at the office make the good days feel even more special.

“I'm so grateful to have the incredible support from my Australian team mates, and I'm the luckiest girl alive to have my two number one fans by my side; my mum and dad.”

Rounding out the green and gold skaters, the three sets of Australian Ice Dancers finished their ‘4CC’ campaigns with the free dance event on Friday afternoon.

Adele Morrison and Demid Rokachev finished in 14th overall, while AWG skaters Matilda Friend and William Badaoui secured 15th position ahead of Kimberley Hew-Low and Timothy Mckernan in 16th.

Craine, Kerry, Friend and Badaoui will now join pair skaters Paris Stephens and Matthew Dodds plus their AWG teammates in Japan and will look to record some more strong results for Australia.

The 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games’ were officially opened overnight and figure skaters are set to take to the ice on Thursday February 23, with Ice Dance the first event on the program.

Live streaming is available on the Sapporo17 website.
 
Ashleigh Knight
AOC

IMAGE: Brendan Kerry and coach Tammy Gambill wait for the scores after the free program at the ISU Four Continents Championship. Photo: ISA Facebook

A narrow podium miss has frustrated Brendan Kerry at the Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia at the conclusion of the ten-event ISU Challenger series.

Kerry tried to hang onto his slim bronze medal position from the previous day, landing two triple axels in the free program and posting a PB for his components scores in another incremental step forward but missing the opening quad and having two spins called at Level 3 kept him off the podium by less than two points.

Finishing with 221.94 and 5th overall garnered valuable ISU World Standing ranking points, which determine the start groups at the World Championships in Helsinki next March.   

Added to the frustration of coming within a whisker of his 222.40 PB set in Salt Lake earlier in the season was also just missing out on the overall Challenger Series podium that would have required  222.47 points.

The up-and-down event saw Israeli skaters Alexei Bychenko, win the gold with fellow countryman Daniel Samohin slipping to 2nd after placing 7th in the free. Bronze went to Keegan Messing with 223.30 points and a leap by 11th placed Alexander Petrov from Russia was 4th on 222.92 points.

The Ladies overall result remains somewhat of a mystery almost two days after the event concluded early on Saturday morning (AEDT).

In a very strong field, which included highly ranked competitors, Kailani Craine was sitting in 7th after the short program, having landed her first clean triple/triple jump combination, with fellow Australian Brooklee Han in 9th.

Leading the field was the returning Sochi bronze medallist Caroline Kostner, who has made a brilliant comeback.  

Craine’s free program was a step up from her nationals win the week prior, landing five triples and two double axels in a more measured, emotionally connected performance.

Like many others in the field, any questionable jump rotations were penalised across the event, leaving Kailani with a free program score of just over 100 points, placing 8th - however the overall scores and final result for the entire event are yet to be published.  
 
What is less clear is the treatment of apparent error by the Technical Panel in the calling of Kailani’s triple loop to triple salchow jump sequence, which initially showed on the competition protocol as a triple/double sequence and has since been amended to reflect the triple salchow, but with a downgrade.

For Kailani, who has already won a silver and bronze internationally this season, the overall placement in Zagreb is of lesser importance. She had other goals on her to do list.

“My one major goal coming into this competition was to go for the triple/triple in the short program. Therefore, it was never about the placings for me,” she said.

“It was what I was able to take from this competition. The free skate went pretty well. Of course I need to increase my speed, which will come as I gain more confidence with these high level jumps.”

“This competition was successful because I was able to take away a lot of experience and overall I am proud of myself.  It’s given me more confidence to achieve more in the future, such as the qualification to the 2018 Winter Olympics.”

Coach Galina Pachin agreed.

 “I think Kailani started to show more consistent skating at this competition. There where errors, but I know we can fix them. She looked very confident on the ice and this comp had a lot of big names. I am happy with her Free Program,” Pachin said.

A Sochi Olympic bronze medallist, a former World Champion and runner up, plus a current US Champion showed up for the final and tenth ISU Challenger Figure Skating competition in Zagreb, Croatia this morning.

One of the most elegant skaters to ever grace the ice,  Carolina Kostner, at 29-years-of-age, made a comeback to the competitive ranks skating to a contemporary drum-only short program, which is a major departure from her previous lyrical, almost luminescent, style.

But oh, what a magnificently executed piece of choreography it was. Kostner landed a relatively easy triple toe/triple toe combo and stumbled on the triple loop landing, yet it mattered not as she demonstrated how and why her performances have stood tall above other more gifted technical skaters.
 
Competing in the strong field is three-time Australian Champion Kailani Craine and Sochi Olympian Brooklee Han who both recorded personal bests.

Craine delivered her first triple flip/triple loop jump combination at her first try this season in a character-laden and mature short program that also included steps into the more difficult triple lutz instead of her safer triple loop, earning 54.05 points and 7th place.

"Today was a good day because I finally landed my triple triple first time in comp," Kailani said from Zagreb.

"Galina and I had the plan to go for it and I'm glad that I stuck to the plan. Of course I had a few errors, but they were minor and fixable, most importantly I moved forward with my goal this evening. I hope tomorrow I can beat my personal best in the free program again, this is the plan."
 
It was also a clean program for Brooklee Han, scoring 53.65 with a triple lutz/double toe combination and triple salchow, finishing the day in 9th place.  

US Champion Gracie Gold had a horror day, falling on the lutz and missing the take-off for the double axel, but still managed to stay in the top ten.

Carolina Kostner is easily in the lead with 69.95 points followed by Amber Glenn from USA who had a magnificent skate and currently in 3rd place is Russian Alena Leonova, who also delivered a high quality short program.  

The final free program will be skated from 5am (AEDT) Saturday morning.

The 2016 Australian Figure Skating Championships have concluded at the O’Brien Group Arena in Melbourne’s Docklands, with reigning champions Kailani Craine and Brendan Kerry holding onto their national titles.

In the Senior Ladies, Craine finished with an overall score of 157.66 points ahead of Brooklee Han on 150.72.   
     
Following on from her short program score of 59.35, Craine opened her free program with a strong triple flip, double toe jump combination and presented a mature performance to ‘Hallelujah’, which included her signature triple loop, half loop, triple salchow and high level spins.

In defending her title and coming from behind, Kailani missed one triple flip and didn’t hold the landing of the opening triple lutz but it mattered for little as she scored 98.31 points to secure her third crown.

After leading the short program with 59.45 points, an improved Brooklee Han began impressively with a triple loop but also struggled on the opening lutz, taking a costly fall. Her spins have always been a trademark and she was also able to include some impressive jumps.

It wasn’t enough to hold onto the slim lead, but it was an effort the 2014 Olympian could be proud of.​

​In the Senior Men, Brendan Kerry continued his dominance, following up his outstanding short program score of 81.01, with yet another brilliant skate, finishing with 225.84 points overall.

Australia’s quad king, Kerry landed another quad in his free program tonight along with a slew of further triples including two triple axels.

Skating to ‘Pirates of the Carribean’, tonight’s competition was a good tune up ahead of the ISU Challenger Series in Zagreb, Croatia, which Kailani Crane will also be attending.

Junior men’s champion James Min backed up from yesterday to take the Silver medal in the Seniors category, after a passionate and entertaining program where he did not stop jumping for four and a half minutes.
​
He poured his heart and soul into his debut National Senior program, finishing with a score of 170.14 and a few macaroons with his family as a celebratory treat.

Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine have recorded victories at the 2014 ISA Australian Figure Skating Championships at the Iceworld Olympic Ice Rink in Boondall, Brisbane.

Kerry’s win makes it three National titles for the 2014 Sochi Olympian, which he did in commanding style winning both the short and free program. Brendan performed the first ever successful quad salchow by an Australian to open his free program. 

With three Australian junior titles to her name, Craine can now add her first senior title to her trophy cabinet after winning the ladies event.

After the short program, 2014 Sochi Olympian Brooklee Han was in first place, with Craine in second, but the 16-year-old NSW skater reversed the tables in the free program. Craine recorded an overall score of 154.37 points to move into first place with Han a close 2.18 points behind in second.

Both Craine and Han landed triple lutzes in their programs.

Overall Results

Senior Men
1) Brendan Kerry (NSW) 183.28 Points
2) Cameron Hemmert (NSW) 147.58 Points
3) Andrew Dodds (QLD) 138.43 Points

Senior Ladies
1) Kailani Craine (NSW) 154.37 Points
2) Brooklee Han (VIC) 152.19 Points
3) Jaimee Nobbs (WA) 92.5 Points

IMAGE: Kailani Craine in action at the National Championshipsin Brisbane © Michael Santer

Australia's Brooklee Han has finished the free program of the Sochi 2014 Figure Skating competition in 20th place. Han began the second phase of competition in 22nd after earning 49.32 points for her short program. She was the second athlete to take to the ice, following Korea’s Park So Youn. Skating to the soundtrack of the Taiwanese movie Secret, Han produced an elegant program with technically challenging elements, earning 94.52 for a total score of 143.84.

“I felt pretty confident going out onto the ice,” Han said. “The past few weeks of training have been really solid. The program’s been running really well and this morning my practices session was pretty good. So I felt confident and ready to go.

“I popped one jump but everything else was solid and clean and really there. I think I had a couple little iffy landings today and it wasn’t as pristine as it could have been. So hopefully I can fix that before Worlds.”

Han got off to a good start before falling on her second element, the triple lutz.

“I felt pretty good going into the loop, it’s been very good in the program lately so I did that and then the lutzes have been going pretty well so I’m disappointed with the fall on that. I think I was a bit off balance a little too much inside and I wasn’t able to hold onto it but I was able to move on well and do a pretty good rest of the program. The first salchow was a little off but then the rest of it was pretty good.”

Just like in her short program, Han showed determination and composure, not letting the early error affect the rest of her long program.

“Ever since I was a little girl I have worked hard on regaining my composure,” Han said. “I never wanted to be that girl that gave up - I wanted to be a fighter.”

Han was pleased with the top-20 finish, and will leave Sochi with great experience and memories to take with her as she looks to the future.

“I definitely feel like this has been a very special experience,” the 18-year-old said. “Representing Australia at the Olympic Games is something that I have wanted to do since I was very little so finally being able to actualise that dream and skate is incredible.”

The standout performer in the first half of the field was Japan’s Mao Asada. A gold medal favourite, Asada bounced back from the huge disappointment of her short program to produce an incredible free routine that saw her score a new season’s best of 142.71.

Despite this flawless performance and huge score, it would prove impossible for her to challenge for a medal, with her total score sitting on 198.22. It will see her enter the record books as the first woman to land eight triples in competition.

"I may not be able to bring back an Olympic medal to Japan but I feel like I had the best performance I possibly could,” Asada said. “I'm obviously disappointed with myself from yesterday but everything I've been practising for the past four years bore fruit today. I like to think I've matured since Vancouver in my own distinct way."

The battle for the podium came to its climax as the last six skaters took to the ice.The emphatic crowd got was not quite enough to get Russian Yulia Lipnitskaya home with a clean performance, although her score of 135.34 did lift her temporarily into first place. The 15-year-old under-rotated her triple loop and then fell again on her triple salchow. As with her short program however, she scored highly on composition and interpretation, finishing with an overall score of 200.57.

Italy’s Carolina Kostner was elegant in her Bolero-inspired performance, earning 142.61 for a total of 216.73 and taking the top spot on the leaderboard.

Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova, who was second after the short program, followed with a fast-paced performance. Sotnikova was clearly loving the crowd, at one point even motioning to them for more encouragement. Despite a small stumble on her combination, the judges rewarded her with a score of 149.95 for a total of 224.59. Again the top spot was taken by a new contender, and with three skaters left – the medals would soon be known.

The USA’s Gracie Gold didn’t have the perfect routine that she needed to try and climb out of fourth position. A fall on her triple flip cost her, but she still managed a season’s best score for a final total of 205.53.

Gold’s compatriot Ashley Wagner who was sixth coming into the free program would drop a place, finishing on seventh with 193.20.

The moment everyone had been waiting for came as the last skater of the night took to the ice. Korea’s Yuna Kim was out to defend her Olympic title from 2010, knowing she would need to reproduce the magic she delivered in Vancouver four years ago if she was to get the gold.

Kim brought the house down.

Her performance was both flawless and beautiful, with the 23-year-old nailing every element in her program with grace and composure. The judges however forced Kim to settle for silver, awarding her 144.19 for a total of 219.11.

The gold would go to local favourite Sotnikova to the delight of the crowd. Kostner of Italy took the bronze.

Alice Wheeler | sochi2014.olympics.com.au

Thinking on her feet has seen Australia’s Brooklee Han put together a solid performance in the Ladies’ Individual Figure Skating and qualify her through to free program. A shaky start to Han’s short program meant that she lacked the speed to nail her first jump – a triple toeloop plus double toeloop. The deduction of 2.10 for popping the jump would have proved costly to her score if not for some quick thinking that saw her add the double back in later in her program.

“I had a little wobble at the beginning of the program, Han said. “I don't know what I was thinking. 

“In the crossover into the triple toe I had to pick up speed and unfortunately I wasn't able to get the triple toe perfectly out there. But then I was able to fight through and do a triple loop and tack a combination on there. So I was happy that I could think as I was going.”

Rising to the pressure of the occasion seemed a breeze for the 18-year-old who is based in Redding in the USA.

“I wasn't really all that nervous,” she said. “I was confident in my training and I had trust in myself. I kind of took it in my stride. The cameras following me everywhere, I have never really had that before. I kind of expected that but I had never experienced it before so that was a bit different.”

Han executed all of her other elements smoothly and was rewarded with a score of 49.32 from the judges, putting her in sixth place. With only the top-24 progressing through to free program, Han had done enough to secure a finals berth. 

“The free skate has been going really well in training,” she said. “It's a program that I really enjoy performing and I was really hoping I would get a chance to perform it here so I am excited to go out and skate it tomorrow for everyone and hope that I can skate it like I have been in practice the last few months.”

Despite the errors, Han admitted that her performance was a dream come true.

“It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience - you only get to make your Olympic debut once,” she said.

“It was something that I had dreamed of my whole life. Unfortunately it didn't go exactly how it does in my dreams but it was a good performance so I am happy with that.”

Korea’s darling of figure skating, 23-year-old Yuna Kim, skated in the third group of the night, and delivered her trademark flawless technical execution. The defending Olympic Champion and World Champion, delivered a stunning performance to the sounds of Send in the Clowns, earning 74.92 for her program. Although the score was not as high as her personal best set in Vancouver four years ago, it put her more than comfortably in first place with the second half of the field still to skate.

"In warm-up, I was very nervous, I couldn't jump at all,” Kim said. “But I tried to believe in myself and believed in what I've done before. I always get nervous before competition. I don't feel pressure. I was just nervous."

Gracie Gold of the USA was the best in the following group of skaters, earning 68.63 for her performance which brought her up to second place. Gold looked nervous in her short program but was technically solid and will remain a chance for a podium finish if she can lift in her free program.

The fifth and final group of the night got off to a roaring start, with 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya the first to skate. The baby-faced Russian star, who already has a gold medal from the Team event, had huge crowd support but felt the pressure of the occasion with some shaky elements and then a fall on her triple flip. Despite this, the judges awarded her strongly for composition and interpretation, putting her on 65.23 points.

Italy’s Carolina Kostner put out a clean and elegant skate in her performance to Ave Maria and was strongly rewarded with a season’s best score of 74.12. The score was the second best of the night at that point, and had the 27-year-old sitting just a fraction of a point behind Kim.

The home crowd quickly got a new favourite with Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova giving the performance of her life for a huge season’s best score of 74.64. The score rocketed her into second position with just one skater left on the bill – hot medal favourite Mao Asada of Japan.

Asada provided the biggest shock of the night, under-rotating on her triple axel and falling heavily to the ice for a three-point deduction. The 2010 Olympic silver medallist struggled to regain her composure, making a further mistake on her triple loop/double loop. Despite still showing her graceful lines throughout her program, the mistakes cost Asada heavily, earning just 55.51 from the judges, to leave her in 16th position.

Kim heads into the free program in the lead on 74.92 and will be challenged for the medals by Sotnikova (74.64) and Kostner (74.12), as well as the two American skaters Gold and Wagner and Lipnitskaya.

Han finished in 22nd and will be looking for a personal best in her free program to climb the final rankings.

Competition continues at 7pm local time on Thursday 20 February.



Alice Wheeler | sochi2014.olympics.com.au

Danielle O’Brien and Greg Merriman have further stamped their names in the history books, securing a record seventh consecutive national ice dancing title.

The pair from Sydney have been competing together since 1998 and won their first senior national title in 2007. Seven years later and they are stronger than ever and en route to their debut Olympic Winter Games.

“It felt really good out there today, a lot better than our short dance yesterday,” 23-year-old O’Brien said.

“I really noticed the crowd a lot more, I could feel their energy and I was able to use it in my performance.”

O’Brien and Merriman’s free routine, based around circus elements, perfectly captures the natural larrikinism the pair embodies on and off the ice.

Nineteen-year-old Brendan Kerry entered the long program as the second-ranked athlete behind David Kranjec who touched him out for the top spot in the short by 0.42 points. Kerry got the better of him in the free skate however, taking out the national title ahead of Kranjec.

It was Kerry’s second senior title, having also won in 2011, but importantly it was his first chance to debut his Olympic free skate routine in competition.

“My coaches won’t be too happy with it,” Kerry said. “I popped a few jumps which is not okay, I was a bit lazy and missed some of my steps.”

After securing Olympic qualification, Kerry and his coaches decided to put together a new free skate with more difficult technical elements including two quad jumps.

Although he popped the quad jump today, Kerry was happy to have put together his new routine giving him vital competition practice ahead of the Four Continents and Olympics.

For the first time, Kerry has also brought character to his free performance – something he finds more difficult than the technical elements of the skating itself. Kerry will be channelling a French waiter in his program.

“It doesn’t come naturally to me,” he said of the performance aspect of his routine. “I would rather go out there and be serious and just skate, but I know it’s important so I’m working on it.”

And how will he be working on it? French restaurants will be an important feature. Along with watching some famous movies recommended by his choreographer for him to really get into character.

Representing Victoria, Brooklee Han won her first senior national title, grabbing top spot in the senior ladies’ event with a combined score of 161.42.

“It’s really exciting,” 18-year-old Han said. “It’s my first national title so I’m happy with that.”

After falling on her first jump, Han recovered to put together a strong free skate to earn 102.81.

“Overall it was not perfect,” she said. “I’ve been training it much better and it went a lot better this morning in practice. But there were parts of it that I was very happy with. After falling on the first [jump] I was happy to get the second one down in combination.”

Falling is a part and parcel of figure skating, but how the athlete recovers is paramount to their overall performance.

“Sometimes it can be tough,” Han said. “There’s a quote from another skater that I like to think of though – ‘Every program begins again with every new element’. If you make a mistake, it’s in the past and you have to move on.

“I have a lot to take with me from this competition. I am trying to push myself faster into jumps. This was a nice event and different to others I have skated in. I hope to take the positive energy from the crowd home with me for the rest of the season.”

All four national champions will now return to their training bases in the USA as they prepare for their next big competition, the Four Continents Championships taking place in Taipei from 20 – 26 January.

Alice Wheeler | sochi2014.olympics.com.au

Brooklee Han skated her heart out on Day 2 of the Nebelhorn Trophy, securing Australia a place in the ladies’ individual figure skating for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Her result in the free program meant that she finished in overall fifth place – but most importantly, first out of non-qualified competitors. With only six spots on offer, Han ensured Australia would continue its proud history of figure skating at the Winter Olympics. "Coming here to gain an Olympic quota spot was my ultimate goal," Han said. "I'm happy that I achieved that. Being one off at worlds was disappointing but I knew I would be in strong contention here. I knew I had my work cut out for me but I got the job done."

Skating to the soundtrack of the Taiwanese movie Secret, Han delivered beautifully in her free routine, faltering slightly on only one jump. Her segment score of 98.42 and total score of 147.16 eclipsed her previous personal bests of 91.26 and 141.88 respectively, which she achieved at the 2013 World Championships, and put her in first place. With just three skaters chasing qualification still to come, Han had done everything she needed to do to qualify.

"Both programs were not perfect, but I'm happy with my long program," Han said. "I was disappointed with the fall on the loop in my short program as I can skate a clean short easily."

The 18-year-old, who lives and trains in the US city of Connecticut, delivered an emphatic performance with four triples, including a triple lutz. At a technical level, her spins were a vast improvement from the previous day’s short program. Han was third overall in the Technical Element Score, with a score of 51.62 - higher than those of the better ranked Miki Ando of Japan and Ashley Cain of the USA. She also recorded the highest score out of all competitors for the total of her three spins - 12.33.

It was her presentation that also really impressed. Han used the powerful emotions in the soundtrack to really take the crowd with her and engage them and the judges in her performance.

The event was taken out by Elena Radionova of Russia but it was Japan’s Miki Ando, who finished in second place who delivered the most anticipated performance. The two-time World Champion, who is the only female skater to complete a quadruple jump successfully in competition, has returned to the ice since having a baby in April and has set herself as a medal contender for Sochi.

Rounding out the top-six qualifying nations alongside Australia were Georgia, Norway (for the first time since 1964), Austria, Czech Republic and Brazil (for the first time ever).

Article courtesy AOC/Alice Wheeler | http://www.sochi2014.olympics.com.au

The jury is still out on who will represent Australia in the Ladies figure skating event at the final Olympic qualification competition in Obersdorf, Germany next month.

Olympic hopeful Chantelle Kerry (16) of Sydney, skated a near perfect Short Program on Wednesday night, but her performance in the Free Program tonight left her just short of a straight forward selection by only 4.32 points.

Chantelle needed to achieve 141.88 or more to beat out Brooklee Han of Victoria, to get a straight bearth to the Obersdorf competition.

Brooklee was unable to compete at Skate Down Under this week due to illness so a decision must be made as to whether officicals send her or Chantelle to try and secure the Olympic quota place.

A decision will be made in coming days so it’s business as usual for Chantelle who will get straight back into training, focusing on the upcoming Junior Grand Prix event in Poland.

Ice Dancers Danielle O’Brien and Gregory Merriman, both from Sydney, skated away with the gold medal tonight beating out the visiting Swiss team, Romana Elsener and Florian Roost.

Brendan Kerry (19) from Sydney, skated the performance of his life tonight and achieved the highest score for an Australian in an International event since the new International Judging System came into play in 2005 with 192.28 points.

Ice Skating Australia will confirm the selections for the Obersdorf competition in the next few days.
Skate Down Under was held at Canterbury Olympic Ice Rink, Sydney from 20-22 August 2013. For full details of Skate Down Under visit www.isa.org.au

Follow Skate Down Under at @IceSkatingAUS

Brooklee Han backed up an excellent short program with a stellar free program in her first World Figure Skating Championships yesterday in London, Canada, placing 20th in the final section with a personal best score of 91.26 points.

An overall 141.88 total placed Brooklee in 21st position, which was one place off an automatic entry in the Ladies event for Australia at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games. Australia has been represented in this event at every games since Nagano in 1998.

Skating her free program to a piano version of Ava Maria, the 17-year-old Connecticut-based high school senior successfully landed four triple jumps in a confident performance that highlighted her ease of movement and high-level spinning technique.

Smashing her overall PB score by almost seven points, Brooklee announced her arrival on the world scene, and is excited to be in the senior ranks.

“I’m really pleased with the programs,” Brooklee said from London, Ontario after the free skate. “It was an honour to compete here. Making the free program was great.”

2010 Olympic Champion Yuna Kim, who had not competed at world level since her Vancouver win, demolished the field, skating a passionate “Les Miserables” free program that included two glorious triple/triple jump combinations and four other triples with a seeming ease. The ‘Queen of Cool’ was in a class of her own and amassed a total score of 218.31, almost 20 points ahead of Italy’s Carolina Kostner on 197.89, who also delivered an emotionally powerful performance to Ravel’s Bolero, but which was marred but a fall in the final seconds. Third place went to Japan’s Mao Asada with 196.47.

After her win, Yuna Kim told the audience that she was back because she wanted to secure more places for Korea in Sochi so that other young Korean girls could experience an Olympic Games. USA and Japan also secured three spots for their countries in the Ladies event at Sochi.

A career-high performance in the short program overnight in London, Ontario has earned a finals place for 17-year-old Brooklee Han at her first World Figure Skating Championships.

Scoring a personal best 50.62, Brooklee skated to 20th place with a joyful program to ‘Freedom’, landing a triple toe/double toe-loop combination, triple loop and double axel along with her trademark spins. The Connecticut-based teenager, who skates for the Ice House club in Melbourne, has overcome injuries sustained last year, coming into form at the height of the international season.

Following a strong performance at the Four Continents Championships in February where she recorded PB’s for her short and free programs, Brooklee followed up with a solid 16th place at the Junior World Championships a few weeks ago in the lead up to this week’s World Championship.

Korean mega star, the ‘Queen of Cool’ - Yuna Kim made her emphatic return to world competition, skating early in the draw and throwing down the gauntlet to the rest of the field with a sublime, uber-confident skate that included a fast-moving triple lutz/triple toe-loop combination. The 2010 Olympic Champion was not marked overly high for the presentation side of her performance and was punished with a -2 for her required triple jump but it wasn’t enough to keep Kim easily off the top of the leaderboard with 69.97 points. Currently in second is European Champion Carolina Kostner from Italy with 66.86, with Kanako Murakami from Japan close behind in 3rd on 66.86.

Russian hopes for medal sweep in the Ladies event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics were dashed after Adelina Sotnikova, Alena Leonova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva crashed out of the top six with each taking falls or missing required elements.

The finals will be skated tomorrow.

By Belinda Noonan

Australian Ice Dance champions and OWIA/AIS scholarship holders, Danielle O’Brien and Greg Merriman added their fourth consecutive personal best performance at the ISU Four Continents Championship in Osaka, Japan last night finishing in a career-best 8th place.

Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White from USA won their second Four Continents Championship over Canadian Olympic gold medalists and rivals, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

The win for Davis and White over their Canadian training partners is the second this season and occurred after Virtue and Moir stopped mid performance prior to a lift, appearing to be out of breath. The couple were allowed to continue after a two-minute break, but by then the spell had been broken.

For O’Brien and Merriman, who moved to Detroit, USA, to train with Pasquale Camerlengo and Anjelika Krylova last year, the high scores achieved in Osaka, which would rank them within the top 20 in the world is bitter-sweet.

The Sydney team, who have made an impressive climb through the ranks this season, including a bronze medal in Poland four weeks ago, will be prevented from competing at the World Championships following a harsh decision by the International Skating Union last week not to lower the minimum score for Ice Dance, but lowering the score for all other disciplines.

It is thought that the decision by the Dance Technical Committee not to lower the scores was 3 – 2 against. Danielle and Greg have exceeded the minimum score twice for the Free Dance but are .5 outside the Short Dance score.

The ISU decision effectively locks out O’Brien and Merriman from the opportunity to qualify a direct Australian entry in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Nineteen quota places will be allocated at the 2013 Worlds in London, Canada next month. The Australians, who were ranked 20th at last year’s World Championships will now have to rely on claiming one of the remaining five quota places at the Olympic Qualification Competition in September.

Australia’s Brooklee Han and Chantelle Kerry both had strong performances, placing 12th and 14th respectively the final in the ladies Championship. For Brooklee, who was within a mere .30 of the higher ISU qualifying score, the opportunity for an Olympic berth beckons after the ISU dropped the 2013 Worlds Ladies minimum technical score requirement by two points.

Landing four strong triple jumps and performing her trademark spins to their best potential, Brooklee stayed ahead of her teammate and current Australian Champion, Chantelle Kerry, who completed two or her planned four triples.

Bendan Kerry and David Kranjec finished 21st and 23rd in the men's event.

AIS/NSWIS Ice Dance couple Danielle O'Brien and Gregory Merriman have created history by winning their sixth straight title, at the 2012 National Championships at the Boondall ice rink in Brisbane.

Their sixth title gives them the most titles of any Ice Dance pair in Australian history.

Both were in good form and easily won, recording the highest scores in both the short and the longer free dance sections of the competition,

The dance couple will spend a week with family in Sydney before returning to their training base in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

In the Ladies event, 17-year-old Chantelle Kerry edged out Brookee Han to claim her maiden National Championship with clean and consistent performances in both the short and free programs.

Earlier this year, Kerry represented Australia placing 10th at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games which were held in Innsbruck, Austria.

AIS/NSWIS athlete and 2010 Olympian Cheltzie Lee was unable to skate due to injury.

On the Men's side, David Kranjec finished ahead of defending National Champion Brendan Kerry to win his first Australian title.

Despite finishing second, Kerry provided a real highlight by landing a quad toe-loop jump in the short program, making it the first quad landed by an Australian male in competition since Anthony Liu at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games.

OWI figure skating athlete Brendan Kerry has achieved a personal best result at the ISU Junior Figure Skating World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

Kerry eclipsed his previous best Junior World's result of 19th in the preliminary rounds of 2011, by finishing in tenth this year to qualify for the main event.

After the short program, Brendan was sitting in 22nd place and remained in that position after the free skate event.

In the women’s event, Brooklee Han advanced through the preliminary round in fifth place, advancing to the final before finishing in 30th place in the women’s short program.

Australian figure skater Brooklee Han has finished 21st in her debut appearance at the World Junior Championships, held in Gangneung City, Korea.

Han skated to 12th place out of 36 competitors in the preliminary round to win her way into the main draw, then placed 23rd in the short program.

In the free skate, the 15-year-old produced a personal best 68.70 points for 20th position, lifting her two places higher on the overall standings.

Her total score of 106.98 points was just 0.22 of a point below her personal best result.

Han, a year 10 student who divides her time between Redding, Connecticut, and the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne, was pleased with her performance in her first major international event.

"I felt that there were definite highs and lows in all three performances," Han said, "but no matter how well I skate I know that there are always areas in which I could improve."

"However, I was very happy with my spins, steps, and skating skills. I was also quite pleased with how I handled skating for such as large audience, as I have never done something like that before."

"I have never seen a competition of this calibre before so I had no idea what to expect. My goals were to skate my best, participate in the competition and enjoy the experience."

"I was also happy that I executed my three jump combination in the preliminary round as well as in the long program. This was also one of the first times I have tried triple loop and competition and I was happy that I was able to compete with the new element."

"Participating and competing in Junior Worlds was really a fantastic experience. I hope to carry that experience on into next season, as I hope to continue to represent Australia internationally."

Russia's Adelina Sotnikova skated to the gold medal with teammate Elizaveta Tuktamisheva taking the silver medal. The 2010 silver medalist Agnes Zawadzki from the US claimed the bronze.

In the boys'event, Brendan Kerry placed 17th in the preliminary round, missing a berth in the main event, while Kimberley Hew-Low and Cameron Hemmert also failed to make it through in the ice dancing.