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 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.”

PyeongChang 2018 figure skating hopeful, Kailani Craine has launched her 2017 season with a clear message -  she may be young, but she means business.

The 18-year-old has shown her international competition at the Asian Open Trophy and she's not there to muck around, recording a solid third place finish after the free program and another podium.

"This is my first competition of the season, the Asian Open Trophy, I'm competing against some really good skaters from countries such as Japan and Korea," Craine said. 

The Newcastle native finished behind two Japanese skaters, Kaori Sakamoto and Yuna Shiraiwa, in the opening short program of the trophy, but said it is her new free program that she was most excited to perform.

"I'm really using this competition to debut my new free program which I absolutely love!," said Craine, who hopes to make her Olympic debut at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. 

"I would love to record a personal best in this competition, and perhaps some add some new elements to my performance.

"Also if I can improve my ranking that would be an extra bonus."

Skating her four-minute program to Moulin Rouge, Craine landed two triple lutzes, a triple flip and delivered all level 4 spins to score 100.87.

With two falls on her usually reliable triple loop and double axel, she was unable to record the personal best score she was looking for, but as an opening season’s event, the higher technical preparation is on her mind.

"This event is a really good warmup for the upcoming Olympic season, and really every event that I will compete in this season will count towards my Olympic preparation.

"I'm just working towards improving my technical ability and also improving my world ranking."

The three-time Australian Champion also said the fact that this year's 2017 Asian Open Trophy was held in Hong Kong was an added bonus. 

"This year the competition is held in Hong Kong which is really cool because it's my first time visiting here!"

Craine was joined by fellow Australian skaters, James Min and Andrew Dodds who finished 7th and 9th respectively in the men's event, and pairs skaters, Paris Stephens and Matthew Dodds who secured a 4th place finish.

Ashleigh Knight
olympics.com.au

Figure skater Kailani Craine has a dream – the Olympic Winter Games next February, and the path to that dream crystallises at the 2017 Helsinki World Championships Finland next week.

With 38 Ladies from 29 countries vying for the initial 24 Olympic qualification spots (by nation) at the world championships, the pressure and expectations on all competitors have been mounting.

“I have had to figure out the best possible way t have a good worlds,” Craine said from her Los Angeles training base.
“I’m freaking out because of the Olympics.  It’s fighting for something that’s been your dream.”

The three-time national champion medalled twice late last year in Latvia and Poland and then relocated to LA in mid-December to train with Tiffany Chin ahead of this all-important event.

“The top 24 is where I need to be and in the top 17 is my goal. I will have to have trust in myself and stay in the moment. I do need to enjoy the event – otherwise why am I doing it?”

Only 24 skaters make it through the short program to the final free skate.

“I’ve had good short programs this season and apart from working on the choreography after Four Continents, both programs have stayed the same. I need to work at maximising my points,” she said.

Craine experienced a few niggling foot problems with her Achillies requiring new boots and blades at short notice after the Four Continents Championship and Asian Winter Games in February.
  
“It was lucky that I had new ones waiting. Four Continents wasn’t my best skate and I had to wonder why, then go back to figure it out. The free program was a shock to me and I’ve since changed my training a little bit.”

“Mostly I have to get out of my own head and trust myself – so I will trying to change my game plan going into this comp.”

“That just makes me aware I should really focus in that moment, because I was really well trained. I have been a good competitor in the past and one comp shouldn’t change it.”

The 2017 World Figure Skating Championships begin with the Ladies Short Program on Wednesday, 29 March.

The Asian Winter Games in Sapporo have proven to be a happy hunting ground for Australia’s best figure skaters Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine.

Kerry, who is now firmly established as one of the world’s top men’s figure skaters, landed three perfect quad jumps throughout his Sapporo campaign – two of which were in the free program to earn personal best scores in all phases of the event and a total of 237.37 points.

The 22-year-old Sochi Olympian has used the Asian Winter Games as a stepping stone for next month’s World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finalnd where he will aim to qualify Australia for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. 

Despite performing well in Friday’s short program Kerry admitted to being nervous in the free. 

“This is my first program in competition successfully landing two different quads so that was pretty awesome but I feel it was a bit sloppy and I was disappointed with my mindset going into it, (I was) self-doubting a lot,” Kerry said. 

“Doing these back to back events it’s a huge drop off in training. I go from having as much ice as I want to being limited to one practice a day. I feel as though doing quality elements is a strength of mine but my stamina is on the low end so when you take the training schedules away it’s pretty hard to maintain that,” he said.

Having successfully competed at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and now Asian Winter Games, Kerry is confident his routine can secure Australia a start in the men’s event at next year’s Olympics.

"I saw my choreographer about a month ago and we made some changes, so last week was a good simulation and this week was a chance to test things out and figure out what we need to change, so it should be good going into Worlds,” he said.  

The men’s event was won by Japan’s Shoma Uno, with Boyang Jin (China) in second and team mate Han Yan in third.

Kailani Craine continued her good Asian Winter Games form, producing a strong routine in the women’s free program at Sapporo’s Makomanai Indoor Skating Rink.

Encouraged by her personal best result in the short program, Craine gave another competitive performance in the free program to finish in fifth position overall.

 “Still a lot of work to do,” Craine said. “It wasn’t a personal best but definitely it was twenty points better than last week (at Four Continents).”

“I was happy about being able to do a lot better than last week and stay physically and mentally strong.

“I don’t think I delivered a really good performance tonight but once again I was really focused on each element, I really do need to work on the performance factor,” she said.

 “Obviously still a lot of work to do before Worlds but I think now I’m on the right pathway.”

“Top 17 is the ultimate goal but I really want to show everyone what my potential is and what I can do every single day in training because I think that’s the most frustrating part that sometimes it doesn’t always work out.

In the pair’s competition, Matthew Dodds and Paris Stephens had their final Asian Winter Games outing in the free program with a total score of 91.90, which ranked them seventh.

The pair were disappointed with their short program and in Saturday’s free program they were out to prove they could deliver a polished performance.

“We wanted to get the twist done,” Stephens said. “Being able to show that I can do the twist was important because I missed that yesterday so that was good,” she said.

While they were happy with the performance Dodds admitted they had more to give.

“We would have hoped for a little bit higher, I think we were missing a couple of levels in some of our elements so even though everything happened it wasn’t top quality for us,” Dodds said.
 

Kailani Craine has again increased her best score in the short program after skating to a top five finish with 55.02 points in the ladies short program at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games last night.
 
Where the short program was previously the weaker portion at international events, Craine’s PB at last week’s Four Continents Championships at the Olympic test event of 54.70 was bested again in Sapporo with an error-free short program, which included a triple flip jump combo and triple loop.
 
After a disappointing free program at the Four Continents Skating Championships, Craine was looking for a confidence boost in last night’s short program, believing there is more to give.  
 
“I would have loved to have done a better short program,” Craine said. “I expect more from myself and while people may think that’s great, I really would have liked more from myself, especially after the practices I’ve been having.
 
18-year old Craine has set an ambitious target for the free program and her current fifth place puts her in the last group to compete the free program on Saturday.
 
“What I’ve learnt from Four Continents is that I need to fight for everything and not just expect it because I’ve been doing really good in training. 
 
“I think I got a bit too confident in myself for the free state (last week) because I was doing nice free skates in advance of the competition and also in practice,” she said. 
 
“The goal for the free skate is to put out a personal best, I’m really aiming for that and to redeem myself from the (Four Continents) free program because that was devastating for me.
 
“Now I have a day off - so I will be focusing on the practices but also focusing physically and mentally on how I’ll be feeling the next day.” 
 
Earlier in the day young ice dancers Matilda Friend and William Badaoui performed their Hip Hop Short Dance, achieving a personal best score of 46.52 for sixth position, which was a major step-up from the 32.75 points they scored at the Olympic test event.  
 
Friend said the Asian Winter Games had given the couple a confidence boost. 
 
“It was really amazing, I’ve been in a really good mood ever since I got here and I can’t wipe the smile off my face,” Friend said.
 
“It makes such a difference feeling happy and positive about it. We can come out with a much better skate when we’re in that mindset and enjoying ourselves more.
 
The couple are also seeking redemption for a disappointing Four Continents outing.
 
“An additional goal for the Asian Winter Games would be to perform better than what we did last week,” Badaoui said. “Skate the best we can and I think we did that today.”
 
Figure Skating competition continues today with Free Dance, Brendan Kerry in the men’s short program and  pair’s short program for Paris Stephens and Matthew Dodds.   

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

The 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships kicked off yesterday, with ten Australians taking to the ice across multiple disciplines at Gangneung Ice Arena in Korea.

Six Aussies competed in the mixed ice dancing, with pairs Adele Morrison and Demid Rokachev, Kimberley Hew-Low and Tim McKernan, and Matilda Friend and William Badaoui finishing 14th, 15th, and 16th.

After experiencing what will be the stage for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Friend and Badaoui expressed disappointment in their opening skate after a stumble on the twizzle by William and slip right at the end of the Short Dance by Matilda.

“It wasn’t the best skate – we had a few small mistakes,” said Friend.

“Tomorrow is a new day and we are going to go in with a fresh mentality and a good attitude.”

The pair impressed early in their routine, but a fall during a lift ultimately cost them.

“I just hit my toe pick when we were coming out of the lift.

“It cost us a lot of points so we are a bit disappointed with the outcome, but apart from the mistakes that we did have, we were really happy with the rest of the program.”

Taking out the event was Canadian pair and Vancouver 2010 gold medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and Badaoui said sharing the dressing room with the two-time World champions was an experience in itself.

“It was pretty amazing, just seeing everyone, them in particular in the change rooms and warming up next to us, doing the same thing as us. The atmosphere was very surreal," the Aussie dance team said.

In the pairs short program, Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya impressed in their first senior International Championship event, finishing 11th.

They started strongly, opening with a flawless split triple twist and moving into effortless side-by-side triple toe jumps.
A fall on an attempted throw in a triple lutz was the only sour note in an otherwise accomplished performance.

“I feel like we're becoming more of a mature senior team now,” said Windsor. “Overall I’m pretty happy with our skate, minus the throw.
“Being our first senior championship event and being in the first group it really wasn’t too bad.”

Their score of 56.10 shows that the young pair are ready to match it with the best in the world.

Watching from her home in Sydney, coach Galina Pachin believes that, with time on their side, the team will only continue to improve.

“I think Harley and Katia will do better in the very near future,” said Pachin. “They just need more experience.”

The ladies short program also saw two Aussies in action, with Kailani Craine and Sochi 2014 Olympian Brooklee Han battling it out against some of the world’s best.

Craine finished the best of the two after cleanly landing her triple flip/double toe combination and steps into tiple loop placing in 13th, but feels she has more to give.

“I made a few minor errors and it did not show my full potential as a skater and the things I am capable of doing,” said 18-year-old Craine.

The free skate is still to come, where the Newcastle native hopes to put on a show.

“I am looking forward to the free skate as it is usually my stronger program, jam packed with triple jumps.”

Gangneung Ice Arena will play host to the Pyeonchang Winter Games in 2018 and, on first inspection, the Olympic hopeful was full of praise.

“The stadium arena is fantastic. The crowd was very supportive and the atmosphere was electric. I'm looking forward to getting back out there after a day off tomorrow between events.”

Craine is aiming to be the first Australian skater to perform a ‘triple triple’ at an international event.

“I am very confident as I have been training extremely hard since Nationals. I’ve had a little bit of a rough time with it at these practices but other than that at home it’s been going really great,” said Craine who hopes to debut the move at the Sapporo Winter Games next week.

“I just needed to do what I had to do for this competition and feel good for myself and my skating.

“For the Asian Winter Games I really want to try it out.”

Craine will be joined in Sapporo by Friend, Badaoui and pairs team Matthew Doods and Paris Stephens along with Olympian Brnedan Kerry, as Australia makes their Asian Winter Games figure skating debut.

All competitors will be looking to improve in their remaining events, as they sharpen their routines ahead of next week’s games.

Action continues today in Gangneung, where Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry will compete in the men’s short program, while the remainder of the team look forward to the free dance section. 

Nathan Lange
Olympics.com.au

Olympic qualification is never far from the mind of Australian figure skater Kailani Craine.
 
The 18-year-old is poised to compete at three major meets in the next two months and will aim to qualify Australia for the Women’s Olympic Winter Games Figure Skating Competition at the World Championships in Helsinki (FIN), beginning 29 March.
 
Before the Worlds Craine will compete at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Korea, followed by the Asian Winter Games in Japan.
 
It is the first time Australia has been invited to participate at the Asian Winter Games and the multisport event will be attended by 30 emerging and experienced Aussie winter sport athletes.  
 
Four Continents is an annual figure skating event which attracts many of the world’s top competitors. In 2016 it was a place of success for Australia’s national champion.
 
“The crowds were fantastic throughout the entire competition and I was on top of the world when I received a personal best for my free skate,” Craine said.
 
The figure skating sensation achieved a new personal best in November 2016 at the Warsaw (POL) World Cup. 
 
“The way that I’m going at the moment I’m incredibly confident in myself,” Craine told her local newspaper The Maitland Mercury.
 
With high school now complete the 2016 HSC graduate has made her sport her priority. Together with her parents she has located to Los Angeles to give herself the best opportunity for success.
 
She has ambitious goals for 2017 with all roads leading to PyeongChang.
 
“I think about the Olympics all the time. That’s just a complete dream.”
 
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships will be held at the venue of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games beginning on 14 February. Australia will be represented by 13 athletes across the men’s, ladies, pair’s and ice dance divisions including Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry. 
 
The Asian Winter Games are being staged in Sapporo (JPN) from 19-26 February and will see six Australian figure skaters attend.

A team of thirty athletes have been selected to become Australia’s first event competitors at an Asian Winter Games when they hit the ice and snow in Sapporo in February.

The team, which features some of the nation’s brightest winter prospects, was selected to compete in snowboard, freestyle skiing, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, biathlon, short track speed skating and figure skating.

The event will give a host of young athletes the opportunity to compete against the continent’s finest as many look to build towards the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

“Our team we have selected for Sapporo 2017 features plenty of athletes on the rise that highlight the continued strengthening of winter sports in Australia,” Chef de Mission Geoff Lipshut said.

“Australia’s first foray into the Asian Winter Games will be a great test for our athletes against some strong competition and will potentially be a stepping stone towards Olympic competition.”

Among the athletes competing are three-time Olympian Holly Crawford (snowboard – halfpipe), Vancouver 2010 Olympian Ben Sim (cross country skiing), and Brendan Kerry (figure skating), Pierre Boda (short track speed skating) and Deanna Lockett (short track speed skating) who all competed in their first Games at Sochi.

“It's an honour to represent my country at an event like this,” Kerry said.

“It's a little unnerving when thinking about how big this event is and the added pressure, however it's also exciting and an incredible feeling knowing that you are the one chosen from your country to represent it as the best.

“There is always something new to learn and accomplish at every competition and Sapporo will be no different.”

Fresh off testing out the PyeongChang 2018 venue in last week’s World Cup Pierre Boda and Deanna Lockett will have arguably the most difficult test at the Games.

“Asia is very dominant in short track,” Lockett said.

“I think I will be able to grab a lot of experience being able to race with all Asian countries from the first round and I expect it to be very competitive right from the heats.”

Added Boda: “These Asian Games will definitely be a stepping stone to the Winter Olympics as it will most likely share the same format of racing so it will be a great eye opener as to what we can expect at the 2018 Winter Games.”

While the team features a number of athletes who regularly compete on the world circuit, the Games will also give the likes of young moguls stars Cooper Woods-Topalovic, Ben Matsumoto, Sophie Ash and Jakarra Anthony some major international event experience.

“I think this will be a great opportunity for me to experience a bigger event atmosphere,” Anthony said.

“The experience will help me manage myself when I achieve qualification to bigger events like World Championships and Olympic Games. I hope to be able to it to enhance my performances at the next Olympics in PyeongChang, if I qualify, and at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.”

As Australia’s biathlon ranks continue to deepen, Sapporo will see four young guns in brother and sister duo Darcie and Damon Morton, Jill Colebourn and Jeremy Flanagan compete.

“As an Olympic sanctioned event, I think it will be a good experience into what an Olympics would be like,” Damon Morton said.

“It's also likely to be a really high level competition and so doing well there will be a good indication of how I'm doing at a world level.”

Darcie has had a massive 12 months having competed in the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Winter Olympic Games in February and is looking forward to competing alongside her brother in Japan.

“It will be awesome to travel to Japan and race with Damon,” Darcie Morton said.

“He's really supportive during competitions, kind of like a second coach, giving me tips before the race and calming me down when I'm stressed. It will be really great to have him there with me.”

The 8th Asian Winter Games will be held from February 19-26 and involve five sports, 11 disciplines and 64 events.
The Olympic Council of Asia invited the Oceania National Olympic Committees to compete in Sapporo as guests, following an approach by the Australian Olympic Committee.

The athletes from Oceania can enter individual sports only and will not be eligible to win medals.

Athletes:
Snowboard
Millie Bongiorno                       Snowboard – Giant Slalom, Slalom
Christian De Oliveira                Snowboard - Giant Slalom, Slalom
Nicholas Masjuk                       Snowboard – Giant Slalom, Slalom
Holly Crawford                          Snowboard Halfpipe

Moguls
Jakara Anthony                        Freestyle Mogul Skiing, Dual Moguls
Sophie Ash                                Freestyle Mogul Skiing, Dual Moguls
Ben Matsumoto                       Freestyle Mogul Skiing, Dual Moguls
Cooper Woods-Topalovic       Freestyle Mogul Skiing, Dual Moguls

Alpine        
Zanna Farrell                            Alpine – Giant Slalom, Slalom
Liam Michael                            Alpine – Giant Slalom, Slalom

Cross Country Skiing
Jackson Bursill                          Cross Country - 1.4km Sprint*, 10km Classic, 15km Free, 30km Free (Mass Start)
Ben Sim                                     Cross Country - 1.4km Sprint*, 10km Classic, 15km Free, 30km Free (Mass Start)
Casey Wright                            Cross Country – 1.4km Sprint*, 5km Classic, 10km Free, 15km Free (Mass Start)

Biathlon
Jillian Colebourn                        7.5km Sprint, Mixed Relay
Jeremy Flanagan                        10km Sprint, Mixed Relay
Damon Morton                          12.5km Pursuit, Mixed Relay
Darcie Morton                            10km Pursuit

Short Track Speed Skating
Pierre Boda                                 Short Track (events TBC by mid-Jan)
Denali Blunden
Keanu Blunden
Alex Bryant
Joshua Capponi
Andy Jung
Deanna Lockett

Figure Skating
Kailani Crane                                         Figure Skating – Ladies
Brendan Kerry                                       Figure Skating – Men
Matthew Dodds & Paris Stephens     Figure Skating – Pair
William Badaoui & Matilda Friend      Figure Skating – Ice Dance

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.

Seven months away from international competition working on the basics and developing her jump technique has been a smart choice for Kailani Craine.

The 18-year-old figure skater from Newcastle took on a full school and training schedule leading up to her opening competition in Latvia this morning at the Volvo Cup, placing third in the short program, increasing her PB set as a junior last year by over four points to 54.14.  

With Sydney coaches Galina Pachin and Kylie Fennell, Kailani trained two versions of her new short program, with and without a triple lutz and triple/triple combo.

Kailani decided to go with the safer option of a triple/double jump opener, delivering a clean seven-element program that attracted no edge calls or jump, which was a smart choice.

“Today wasn’t perfect but I’m happy,” Kailani said.

Coach Galina Pachin says going for the safer option has paid off.

“Because the ice is shorter, the triple lutz wouldn’t have been as good, so we decided to go with Plan B and it went well with a PB,” she said from Latvia.

Watching in Sydney was Kylie Fennell.

“It’s good for Kailani to put out a solid performance at the first comp of the season. I’m happy with the jumps - the spins were a little rushed but the extension has improved from last season. There’s still room for growth and that’s a good thing,” Fennell said.  
 
Leading the field is Russian Aleksandrina Degtiarev on 58.30 points – a three point lead over Latvian Angelina Kuchvalska who skated a great program this morning.
 
Brooklee Han, Australia’s 2015 Sochi Olympian, is sitting in 8th after a solid skate on 45.66 points in the 27-strong field. The final will be skated early Sunday morning (AEDT).

AUSSIE POCKET ROCKET TAKES SILVER
Up-and-coming Australian Novice Champion Holly Harris is making heads turn in her break-out Junior international season.
Fresh from an 11th place in her first ISU Junior Grand Prix in Germany four weeks ago, Holly won silver at the Volvo Cup in Junior Ladies, splitting the Russian skaters Anastasiia Gubanova and Avgusta Jevseeva.

Recently turned 14, the Colorado-based Sydney skater has a mature, artistic skating style that belies her youth. The tiny ‘pocket rocket’ skates with a delicate passion, combined with a growing list of triple jumps – including the lutz.

Consistent performances in the short (3rd) and free (4th) scored a total of 145.06 and was enough to secure the silver behind  Gubanova, who has made the Junior Grand Prix Final to be contested in France next month.
 
 

It’s been a chock-a-block off season for figure skater Kailani Craine who last competed internationally at the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships in March.

All that is about to change when Kailani kick starts her international competitive season in Riga, Latvia this weekend at the Volvo Cup.
The national two-time champion had remained in Australia since April, compressing her final year of high school into six months to catch up on her studies, sit her Higher School Certificate and drive to Sydney from her home base in Newcastle for training.  

“It’s been a hectic year and I’m glad I can focus totally on my skating,” Kailani said.

Olympic coaches Kylie Fennell and Galina Pachin have spent the time re-honing Kailani’s skating skills, adding layers of subtle finesse and edge quality whilst developing the all-important triple/triple jump combinations, which are essential for success in Ladies figure skating.

“We will see how Kailani goes in her first event in Latvia this weekend. She will definitely be going after the triple flip/triple loop jump combination in the free program,” said coach Galina Pachin before they left for Latvia earlier in the week.

“The triple loop jump is definitely smoother with far greater quality,” Galina added.

Finishing the HSC is a big deal for any NSW student, yet few could contemplate the timetable that Kailani managed to get through during October.

A ‘normal’ week for the dynamo included travelling twice a week to Sydney, training late at night in her home Newcastle rink, working with a dance coach weekly, study and exams, off ice training and to top it all off a flight to Melbourne to accept a scholarship from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on October 14.

That morning Kailani had sat her first HSC English exam and by the evening was mixing with Australian sporting legends, before heading back to the exam desk the following day.

With school days now over, Kailani says she will be going after every opportunity on the ice.

“You need triple/triple jumps to be competitive. But it’s not only that – there’s the programs and high level spins,” she said.
If there’s a challenge to be had, the first words Kailani says are “bring it on”.  
 
The Volvo Cup in Latvia has attracted 27 competitors in the Senior Ladies event, among which is fellow Australian Brooklee Han. The short program starts 4am (AEST) on Saturday with the free the following day.

In the Junior Ladies, Sydney’s Holly Harris has continued her outstanding form in her debut season and currently lies in 3rd place after the short program.

Australian Men’s Figure Skating champion and OWIA athlete Brendan Kerry stood up to the pressure-cooker short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, USA this morning, delivering a personal best score of 71.04.
 
He has also called for the quad jump to be a required element in men’s figure skating. 
 
Kerry, who trains with coach Tammy Gambill in Los Angeles, has easily qualified to the top 24 and final Free Program after placing in 17th in the short, performing a quad toe, triple/triple jump combo and effortless triple axel. 
 
“The short program felt awesome,” Brendan said from Boston. “For me the hardest thing about competing is that I always forget how much I love going out in front of a crowd and trying my best until I’m actually out there doing it.”
 
His controlled, smooth delivery to ‘Blue Drag’ was only marred by a hand down on the opening quad toe in an otherwise masterful skate by the 21-year-old Sydney-sider.
 
“My approach to this event was that it didn’t have to be perfect every day – it had to be my best in the moment. I had a week where I didn’t miss and it stressed me out. The I did make a mistake and felt relieved knowing I can make that error and still keep it together.”
 
Scoring a personal best did not figure in his mental preparation for the World Championships.
 
“I wasn’t too focussed on a personal or season’s best. I’ve been training harder than ever since Four Continents last month. I went out there knowing I had a job to do and that was to make sure I gave it all I could. I knew I was well prepared – sick, injured or half asleep. I was going to make it happen and get my job done.”
 
Men’s skating has never been this good
 
The pressure of the quad jump in men’s figure skating has lifted the bar across the board and soon a quad will be essential just to make the final Kerry says. Of the top 20 in the short program, 14 went after quads. Or as another stat, almost 50 per cent in the 30-strong field.
 
“Any year now a quad jump will be a must-have. The quad isn’t a choice. If you want to be competitive at all, you need multiple quads as well as the whole package. Men’s skating has never been this good. It’s exciting, exhausting, nerve wracking and it’s what the sport needs,” he said.
 
“I think at the senior men’s championship level, that a quad should be a requirement.”  
 
Sochi Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu proved again why he has been in a class of his own all season, setting record after record and establishing that his greatest competitor is himself.
 
Skating to Chopin, Hanyu was the only top contender to lay down a flawless two quad program, scoring 110.56, twelve points ahead of defending Spanish World Champion and training mate, Javier Fernandez who fell on the quad salchow, earning 98.52. Canada’s Patrick Chan, the three-time former world champion came to grief on the triple axel, and had to be satisfied with 94.84.
 
The Men’s Free Program will be live on Saturday, 2 April on SBS TV from 9.45am until 2pm (AEDT).
 
The ladies event gets underway tomorrow (Friday morning AEDT). Australian Champion Kailani Craine has drawn to skate her short program in 10th position. Coach Tiffany Chin said from Boston today that “Kailani is fighting fit” and raring to go.

Article Courtesy: Belinda Noonan/Burwood Scene
 
 
 

Fans of Australian winter sport are in for a treat this Saturday, with SBS airing the finals of the 2016 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships from Taipei City, Chinese Taipei.

The event, held last week, was a great success for Australia, with OWIA athlete Kailani Craine placing 13th, setting a huge personal best in the long program and being selected for Australia at the 2016 World Championships, which will be held in Boston, USA, during March 28 to April 3.

Kailani, one of Australia's most exciting talents, is building a strong reputation on the international stage.

The 90-minute show goes to air this Saturday, February 27, at 2pm on SBS featuring the Mens, Pairs, Dance and Ladies events.

OWIA athletes Kailani Craine and Brendan Kerry will be in action along with fellow Australians Brooklee Han, Katie Pasfield and Andrew Dodds.

Saturday 27th February
1400 – 1530: Four Continents Championships (Ladies and Dance)

IMAGE: Kailani Craine with coach Tiffany Chin at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

With two years until the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea, the ice is heating up for prospective Australian figure skating athletes, as the 2016 ISU Championships get underway.

Jostling for international rankings positions and making an impression during the international championship season is where it’s at for the world’s leading figure skaters.

The initial qualifications for each country at PyeongChang are the World Championships in March 2017, but the coming World Championships and next week’s Four Continents Championship, play a vital role in determining the all-important ISU rankings, which determine entries into next season’s highly-coveted  ISU Grand Prix series.

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) Figure Skaters and National Champions Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine, lead a seven-strong Australian team into the 2016 Four Continents, which will be held from February 16 to 21 in Taipei City, Taipei and both are looking for personal best performances.

For Los Angeles based Brendan Kerry, it’s his return to the form he showed earlier in the season at Skate America that is fuelling his determination.

“I feel like I’m actually in shape,” said Kerry. “Fitness wise this is the best, so far, I’ve been in years. I absolutely want to crack 200 points again,” he added.

Training the quad jumps into his short and free programs whilst dealing with niggling injuries has been a challenge. 

A bursar on his heel, slight bone bruising on the shin, and minor groin pain, are not caused by the quad jumps, but all parts of the body are required for those high-level jumps.

“I probably overdid the running and my guess about the groin pain is excessive spinning; but it’s all fine,” Kerry said. “I’m planning two quads in the free program and I’ve been training both the salchow and toe for the short,” he added.

 “The past few weeks have been equally gruelling and amazing – figuring out how to train the programs every day with two quads, one quad or on some days none.”

Along with his main coach Tammy Gambill, Kerry has been working regularly with legendary Olympic Gold Medallist coach Frank Carroll.

“The programs have been consistent. We will all decide once we are in Taipei which quad will be in the short. I’ve landed both in the free program run-throughs multiple times, so that’s going well too,” Kerry said.

The ‘Frank factor’ is not lost on the 21-year-old when he was asked how he feels about having such a legendary coach by his side.

“I feel nervous and excited, because he is Frank Carroll. I really don’t want to mess up with Frank there,” Kerry said.

Brendan will be looking to advance on his 17th placing from last year.

Los Angeles has also been a temporary home since early January for 17-year-old Australian Ladies Champion Kailani Craine. 

“I’m ready to go,” Craine said. “I’ve been training five sessions a day every day except Sunday. I feel really good going into this comp and my programs are really consistent,” she added.

 “My body is feeling stronger, particularly on the technical things. Holding positions is easier. Usually when I get to USA I get sore, but all that work in the NSWIS gym and now this training, has been good,” Craine said.

The emerging talent has always been there, but there’s newly acquired senior, elite focus coming to the fore.

“I’ve definitely been working on the technical side because I need that technical score and doing many program run throughs,” Craine added.  There’s also been a lot of focus on refining the step sequences and the coaches have been working on skating skills between the elements – removing the ‘bounce’ in my skating.”

Along with US coach Tiffany Chin, Crista Fassi has been providing a guiding hand.

“Crista has added more rockers between the elements. All these details are important.”

The results from Four Continents will likely determine Australia’s entries to the World Championships in Boston next month. Australia has one entry into each discipline but the skaters must have reached the minimum qualifying score to compete.

Also competing for a spot on the world team is 2014 Sochi Olympian, Brooklee Han.

Joining Brendan, Kailani and Brooklee is Queensland’s Andrew Dodds and newcomers to the senior international stage Katie Pasfield (Ladies) and National Junior Ice Dance Champions Matilda Friend and William Badaoui.

The competition gets underway with the Ice Dance and Ladies Short Program on Thursday, 18 February.

All the action can be seen on SBS-TV on Saturdays from 2pm – 3.30pm. 
​
Saturday 20th February
1400 – 1530: Four Continents Championship (Mens and Pairs)
Saturday 27th February
1400 – 1530: Four Continents Championship (Ladies and Dance)

IMAGE: Brendan Kerry in action © Michael Santer Oz Skater Magazine

OWIA figure skater Kailani Craine finished in fifth position after a strong short and free program at the Mentor Nestle Torun Cup in Poland on the weekend despite a tense few days before the short program waiting for her lost luggage and skates to arrive.

The fifth place finish qualified Kailani for valuable world standing points, pushing her ISU Season World Ranking to 45.  

The 17-year-old Australian Champion scored a total 138.11 with a tight, yet controlled short program that did not incur any downgrades or under-rotations and a six-triple free program that was not up to her expectations.

“I wasn’t happy with a couple of the jumps or one of the spins because I wanted more points,” Kailani said before she headed to Los Angeles for a month’s solid training before the ISU Four Continents Championship in Taipei.

“I’ve got Four Continents on my mind and looking forward to L.A. Really happy and pumped about being back there. I’ve never wanted a personal best so much as I want for the next comp and I will train like a machine.”

Latvian Angelina Kuchvalska won the event, with other Australians Brooklee Han finishing in eighth and Chantelle Kerry in 18th.

Australian Figure Skating Champion and OWIA athlete Kailani Craine continues to impress in the senior ranks with a 7th place at the Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria on the weekend.

In her first season at senior ISU level, the 17-year-old is cementing her world ranking having finished in the top 8 at both Senior Challenger B events, plus continuing on the junior circuit this year - scoring PBs along the way.

In Graz, her bubbly short program was rewarded with a personal best 27.62 points for her performance components outstripping her Nebelhorn Trophy result just four weeks ago by over four points.

The overall short program total of 49.70 put Kailani in 8th place in a field of 26 competitors going into the free skate.

“I felt really relaxed and happy with how I skated the short,” Kailani said from Austria. “We changed the short program to have the triple flip first and the loop combination later in the program. The plan worked and I am excited about that.”

The under rotations on the jumps, for which she had been down-graded previously this season, were fully rotated and rewarded in the short program, but in typical Kailani-style, her expectations are high.

“I would have liked to have scored higher, particularly on the flying spin but it’s encouraging to see the component score on the way up.”

The short was one-two for USA with Tyler Pierce and Mirai Nagasu scoring 58.47 and 57.85 respectively but both women experienced difficulties executing the combination jump.

In the free program, skating to Romeo and Juliet, Kailani improved the score on her now reliable opening triple flip and for the first time was awarded a fully rotated triple /half loop/triple jump combo that scored 10 points towards her 91.89 total, however the lutz entry edge and four other rotation downgrades kept her score under the coveted 100 points.

Despite one fall, Kailani’s consistently high-scoring spins and improved technical delivery landed her in 6th place in the free program and 7th overall with 141.59 points.

USA’s Mirai Nagasu fought hard in the free program, despite also being called for four under rotations, to win overall with 169.38 points, Russian Maria Artemieva took the silver (166.81) and Tyler Pierce stayed on the podium with 162.69.

Kailani will return home to Newcastle and her Sydney training base for the rest of November ahead of the Australian Figure Skating Championships at Penrith Ice Palace, which begin on December 4.

Photo: Kailani Craine skating her free program to Romeo and Juliet. Image Courtesy Michael Santer, Oz Skater     

Figure skater and OWIA athlete Kailani Craine won her first NSW Senior state title in style last night at Penrith, scoring 153.76, with her best performance this season so far.

The 17-year-old also won the Junior title, but will now concentrate on her senior programs for the next few months ahead of the National Championships, again back at Penrith in early December.

It’s been a fast and furious six weeks for the current national champion who has juggled three Junior Grand Prix and Senior Challenger B events in USA and Europe, notching up PBs and showing steady technical improvement  but it’s not over yet.

Kailani will meet up with her US-based coach Tiffany Chin in Graz, Austria next weekend for another Senior B Challenger.

“I’ve been to Graz before and really like it there. The senior free program last night was the best one I’ve done so far this season with more jumps cleaning up. Especially the flip and loops,” Kailani said.

Kailani delivered four strong programs over the weekend with the senior free being the stand-out performance.

“I wasn’t that happy with the Junior free and knew I could do better, so it feels good knowing I’ve got a good senior program going into Graz.”

The total score at the NSW Championships eclipses her previous personal best with the added bonus of breaking 100 points for the free program, scoring 101.55 after landing a strong opening triple flip, two triple lutzes and two triple loops.

All three spins reached Level 4 and were rewarded further with high Grade of Execution (GOE) scores by the judging panel.

Australian Olympic coaches Galina Pachin and Kylie Fennell were encouraged by Kailani’s efforts over the weekend.

“She has that fire that can’t be taught,” said Galina Pachin. “There is work to do on the lutz, which we all know but we are sure that will come with time.”

Kylie Fennell agreed, commenting that, “Kailani is delightful, very focussed and always listens. This is an exciting time for her.”