Watching Brendan Kerry take to the ice at PyeongChang, it’s obvious that the Sochi Olympian has changed.

“I feel in control this time around,” the 23-year-old said after an impressive training session.
“I’m just more comfortable.”

Kerry’s Olympic debut ended in heartache, with the then 19-year-old admitting he was overawed by the scale of the event, the media attention, and the crowds.

“I just wasn’t ready for it all,” Kerry said. “It was like I just couldn’t process it properly.”

But it’s a very different Kerry who’s skated in to Korea and he’s ready for his chance at redemption.

“There’s not that initial spark of excitement like the first Olympics, but I prefer it this way. I know what I can enjoy and what I need to wait for until after the event,” he said.

“Last time I spent my first few days running around, checking out all the venues, trying to meet everyone and get to all the events. This time I realise there’s no rush – I can do all that after my competition.”

The new and improved figure skater has also proved he isn’t scared of big decisions, changing coaches to Russian Nikolai Morozov just four months ago.

“I’ve made some big changes, but I had to,” Kerry said.

“I feel good about everything I’ve done. I’m in a good head space.

“My training has completely changed and I’ve learnt how much dedication it takes in all areas of life to be an elite athlete. When I went to the first Olympics I was like, ‘I go to the rink, I warm up, I skate, maybe I cool down and then I leave’. Now I know how important off-ice fitness is, I watch my diet, and I don’t go out all the time. I’m much more committed this time.”

He’s also committed to some of his favourite mottos, such as “pain is only temporary”, with the 23-year-old sporting numerous fresh tattoos.

“Since Sochi I’ve got, I think, maybe twelve tattoos,” Kerry laughed.

“I just used them as a way to remind myself of what’s important to me, and to keep me motivated to keep going.
“My favourite is the one on my forearm, it’s got four lines and the initials of all my sisters. My family is important, I always remember where I come from.”

And there’ll be plenty of family support in the stands – his mother, Monica MacDonald, who was her son’s former coach and a Winter Olympian is already here and his father will fly over in a few days.

“It’s great knowing they’re here and I have that piece of home with me,” Kerry said.

“Mum is the reason I started skating and dad has always been a big part of my life, so it means a lot that they’ll be here.”

While Kerry pushed hard to include three quad jumps in recent competitions, he plans on scaling it back for these Games, focusing instead on having two clean skates.

“I know I’m more than capable of doing the three quads but I know the best thing for myself will be to take that bit of stress off and just skate a really strong free program,” he said.

“I know what I’m focused on – I’m here to do a job.”

Kerry will skate his short program on Day 7 (February 16), and his free program on Day 8 (February 17).

Katherine Firkin
olympics.com.au

In his last event before PyeongChang, Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry has finished 13th at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.
 
Performing his free program, the 23-year-old opened with a flawless quad toe but incurred a landing deduction in his second quad.
 
Multiple landing errors on easier triples proved costly for Kerry who said that he was “pretty disappointed” with his performance.
 
“I’m not going to lie, I don’t think I’ve even done one in practice that bad to be honest,” he said.
 
“But I’d rather do it now and know exactly what I have to improve on before the Olympics.”
 
China’s Boyang Jin won gold with 300.95 points while Japan’s Shoma Uno finished second with a total of 297.94.
 
Meanwhile America’s Jason Brown, who finished fourth in the short program, took bronze with a score of 269.22.
 
Andrew Dodds, who also competed in the ice dance with partner Chantelle Kerry, finished the day in 21st place with 177.81 points and though exhausted said that he was happy with the results.
 
It’s a long week, no one has ever done this before at a championship event doing two disciplines so it’s a challenge,” he said.
 
“Yes there were things that I missed out on and I can do a lot better but even that was a season’s best so it’s just building and I’m happy that I’ve got a season’s best at every time I’ve been out this week so that’s all I can ask for.”

David Barden
OWIA​

Australia’s Figure Skating duo Harley Windsor and Ekaterina ‘Katia’ Alexandrovskaya have finished 6th at the Four Continents Figure skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.
 
The pair were the last to skate in the Free Program on Friday after claiming a silver “small medal” earlier in the week following the Pairs Short Program.
 
Windsor doubled the opening salchow then rallied for the triple double double combo. A lift later in the four-and-a-half-minute skate did not eventuate, interrupting the flow of the pair’s program.
 
“It just wasn’t our day,” Windsor said.
 
“We’re going to Japan after this so we’re just going to have to put our heads down and train just like we would every other competition again. It’s in the past now so there’s nothing we can do about it.
 
“We just have to try and take the good away from this competition. Obviously, there were a lot of mistakes in the free but we did a good short so if there’s anything we can take away from this it’s just some of the good elements that we did do and just focus on our preparation into the next one.”
 
Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea, who were third in Wednesday’s short dance, won gold with a total segment score of 128.68 while their fellow Americans Ashley Cain and Timothy Leduc claimed silver with a combined score of 123.85.
 
Meanwhile, North Korea’s Tae Ok Ryom and Ju Sik Kim claimed the country's first ISU Championship medal after taking bronze.
 
Following the women’s free program on Friday night, Sochi Olympian Brooklee Han finished 14th and said that while she “left a few points on the table” she was “feeling pretty good” after returning to the ice after battling an injury for most of the season.
 
“I had some silly mistakes, especially on the triple toe which I can do in my sleep,” Han said.
 
“I’ve been jumping and doing triples for about a month so, with that being said, I’m really happy with how it went.
 
“The triple Lutz is the last jump that I’ve added back in and that only happened a week-and-a-half ago and I can’t really train that as much as I would like based on doctor’s orders at the moment.
 
“I was just really focused today and wanted to put out a good solid program and I felt for the most part I did that, I was happy with how it went overall.”

Japan dominated Friday night’s podium, with Kaori Sakamoto winning gold, Mai Mihara silver and Satoko Miyahara taking bronze.
 
Newcastle native Kailani Craine, who will compete in her first Olympics next month, said that Friday’s free program was “definitely not my best performance” after finishing 16th but added that she was feeling positive for PyeongChang.
 
“I thought I would score higher but, you know, what can you do?” she said.
 
“I guess that they’re just making me work hard for next time and that’s ok, this competition was a competition to iron out the wrinkles in my skating.
 
“I really want to be perfect for the Olympic Games and if this is what it takes me to just push that extra level then that’s ok because I really want to do my best at the Olympics.”
 
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships continue tomorrow with the men’s free program. For results click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live updates.
 
David Barden
OWIA​​

​Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry has delivered his best short program performance since last March’s World Championships with two quads and a triple axel at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei.
 
The 23-year-old finished 9th on Thursday and after a “horrendous” performance at Nationals and an “awful” Grand Prix, he said he was happy to “come back here before the Olympics and dust the rust off” ahead of PyeongChang.
 
“I feel really good for free,” he said.
 
“This competition I’m trying a really different approach, I’m trying not to come here and do a tonne of programs and overwork myself like I usually would at home training.
 
“I’m trying to relax, I got in a little bit later than everyone else, missed my first practice. I’m feeling fresh, if at this point the work isn’t done I’m kind of stuffed no matter what so I figure just keeping my legs fresh getting ready would be the way to go.”
 
Current leader and Olympic podium favourite Soma Uno from Japan won gold with a score of 100.49, just 0.32 points ahead of China’s Boyang Jin who claimed silver while bronze was taken by Uno’s fellow countryman Keiji Tanaka with a score of 90.68.
 
While there is still the final free program to be skated on Saturday, small medals are awarded after the short program at ISU Championship events.
 
Kerry’s fellow Australian Andrew Dodds finished 18th after competing in the Ice Dance free program with partner Chantelle Kerry earlier in the day.
 
Despite being “completely exhausted” the 26-year-old said that he was feeling ready for Friday’s practice before hitting the ice again in the free program.
 
“I’ve had a bit of a calf injury at the moment so [I just need to] take care of myself so I’m ready to go on Saturday, he said.
 
Mark Webster opened with a triple axel and completed his triple flip combo but had trouble with the Lutz, finishing 28th.
 
Earlier in the day, 2016 Ice Dance Champions Matilda Friend and William Badaoui were back on the ice for their free dance scoring 58.96 in a program that the pair feel “is a lot more suited to us”.
 
“We feel a lot more comfortable doing it and we feel like it shows off our strengths in skating a lot more than the short dance and I think the score kind of reflects that and shows where we can be,” Friend said.
 
“Considering the setback we had, if we can be at this point in our free dance now then it’s looking promising for the future.”
 
“We were really proud of that skate, as soon as we finished we knew that we did the most we could on the ice and we really pushed it and when we got off and we saw the scores today we were happy with them,” Badaoui added.
 
“It was a surreal moment for both of us sitting in that kiss and cry and seeing the scores because three months ago I was in bed with the cast on.”
 
Dodds and partner Chantelle Kerry felt “settled” after finished thirteenth following the free program with a score of 115.62.
 
“We felt easy, we felt the ice pretty well,” Dodds said.
 
“All the elements went well, we got a few calls for the levels on some elements that we can work on. We’ve got a competition next week so we’ll have another shot to get them.
 
“We were aiming to get the qualifying scores for Worlds here, we were 0.4 off it. With a few extra practices and feedback on that, we should be good to go for next week. We’re pretty happy [but] like always we’re going to be disappointed when we just miss out on something.”
 
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships continue until the 27th January. For results click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live updates.
 
David Barden
OWIA
 
 

Figure Skating duo Harley Windsor and Ekaterina ‘Katia’ Alexandrovskaya have made history at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan after becoming the first Australians to receive an ISU Senior Championship medal.
 
The current Junior World Champions claimed a silver "small medal" following Wednesday’s Pairs Short Program and while they’re no strangers to making history, their focus for the time being is purely on their skating.

Whilst there is still the final free program to be skated on Friday, small medals are awarded after the short program at ISU Championship events. 
 
“People keep saying that we’re making history for Australian figure skating, I don’t think I’ll really appreciate everything until after the season and I’ve had time to relax and let everything really sink in,” Windsor said.
 
“For now it’s just skating, just focusing on that rather than trying to think about all the other achievements that we’ve done.”
 
Despite feeling “a little bit nervous” ahead of Wednesday’s competition, Windsor and Alexandrovskaya gave a superb short program and were just 0.31 points behind American gold medallists Ashley Cain and Timothy Leduc who finished with 66.76.
 
“You have all the nerves and stuff before comp warming up and then you go through your routine but once you step on the ice, we’ve done a clean short program a thousand times,” Windsor said.
 
“We weren’t tired at all during that Short Program and that’s a good indication for the Free, I remember at the beginning of our season during our Short Program half way through I was tired.”
 
2016 Ice Dance Champions Matilda Friend and William Badaoui were back on the ice on Wednesday just three months after Badaoui broke his fibula.
 
“Rehab hasn’t been easy but with Till and all the support that I have, it’s been amazing. Everyone’s helped me through it so much because it’s a pretty rough thing to go through,” Badaoui said.
 
Despite finishing in 14th place after their short program, Friend said that the results weren’t going to faze them.
 
“We felt really confident going into it,” she said.
 
“We were really excited to be competing again and when we finished the program we were really happy with it and how it all went.
 
“We didn’t get a couple of levels that we were hoping to get on some of our elements so that brought the scores down quite a bit but we always came into this comp not worrying about what we were going to get in terms of scores so we’re really happy with our attitude going into it and how it turned out.”

In their first “big international” as a dance team, fellow Aussies Chantelle Kerry and Andrew Dodds said that they’re using each competition as a learning experience after finishing the day in 13th place.
 
“We are frustrated with some of the calls that we were given but that’s normal, you’ve just got to work through it. We know that we can do the stuff, we just have to get feedback and see how we can go from there,” Dodds said.
“Every competition we’ve ended with a PB scores so we’re getting there, moving up each time. That’s all we can ask for, we’re a new team.”
 
“We’re definitely feeling more settled each comp we go to so to come out at the biggest comp we’ve done since we started dance and to actually feel pretty settled skating together, taking our time is good,” Kerry added.
 
In the women’s Short Program, Brooklee Han placed 13th while Kailani Craine finished 16th.
 
“Today definitely wasn’t my best performance,” Craine said.
 
“I made a big mistake on my triple-triple combination jump and I’m really disappointed in that because I felt really confident going into that in the short program.
 
“Some of the calls I’ll have to go back and have a look at, I missed some levels so I’ll just have to go and have a look at that and just improve. It’s good that I’ve had this now instead of finding this out at the Olympics!
 
“It’s a really good practice run now and I can just improve.”
 
For Sochi Olympian Han, who has been battling an injury for most of the season, Wednesday’s performance was an opportunity to get back onto the ice.
 
“I was happy with the performance of the program, I felt like my combination was the best that I have done this season in my short program,” she said.
 
“It was disappointing to miss some of my events in the middle of the season and then of course to miss Australian nationals in my home state of Queensland and I really wish that I could have gone to that but I was happy to get back out there again today.”
 
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships continue until the 27th January. For results click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live updates.
 
David Barden
OWIA​​

Australia’s figure skaters are preparing for their last opportunity to test their programs ahead of the PyeongChang Games at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taipei, Taiwan this week.
 
Among the first to be selected for the Olympic Team, wonder pair Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya capped off 2017 winning the Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan.
 
The current Junior World Champions, who have now won a total of five international victories and one third place podium result, said that they we’re feeling “ready for the competition”.
 
“Our session just now was relatively good and in the morning it wasn’t bad either,” Windsor said.
 
“We normally skate really well if we do a comp and then another not long after. It’s worked alright for us this season so I guess this will just be like a practice for us for PyeongChang.
 
“We had a big gap in between the Junior Grand Prix Final and this so we felt like this was sort of necessary to do before the Games.”
 
The pair, who will make their first Olympic debut in February, are unsure of how to feel about the looming Winter Games.
 
“We’ve never been and we don’t know how to feel because everyone’s told me that it’s not like a normal Junior or Senior World Championships … it’s the Games,” Alexandrovskaya said.
 
“There’s certainly a lot more hype around it but it’s our first one so I don’t really know what I’m meant to feel or how I’m meant to react to it,” Windsor added.
 
Fellow Aussie Kailani Craine, who wrapped up 2017 by winning her fourth consecutive national title at the Australian Figure Skating Championships in December, said Four Continents is her ideal Olympic test run.

“This competition for me is just a practice for the Olympics so hopefully I’m not really changing anything between the two competitions,” she said.
 
“I plan on doing my triple-triple combo in the Olympics so I really want to try and get that out there one more time, I’ve done it in the past two competitions but getting one more run at it will be good and just practicing the programs another time.
 
“I’m so excited, I could go tomorrow. It feels like it’s coming so slow but I’m sure it’ll come right around the corner. I’m really excited and I Want to do well at this competition so I can go back to Australia, back home, and have a few days before I leave for Korea.”
 
Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry, who previously said that “being selected for the Olympic team again is a huge motivation” for championship events, will also compete in Taipei.

"4CC isn't so much a practice run for the Games as it is a testing event," he said.

"I really want to see what's ready and what needs work before the Games so I can go out and do two clean skates come PyeongChang.

"My biggest focus at this event is for the Short Program to go out with 2 quads. The Free I'm focusing a lot more on being strong the whole way through rather than trying to save myself for the ending."

The large Australian team also includes 2014 Sochi Olympian Brooklee Han in Ladies, dancers Matilda Friend and William Baddoui plus Chantelle Kerry and Andrew Dodds. Joing Brendan Kerry in the men's are Andrew Dodds (competing dance and mens) and Mark Webster.
 
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships kick off on Wednesday 24 January with the pair and women’s short programs. For results click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live updates.

David Barden
OWIA

Wonder pair Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor have capped off an incredible year by winning the Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan.
 
The current Junior World Champions, who have now won a total of five international victories and one third place podium result, always believed they could win the prestigious International Skating Union’s end of year event, which brings together the six best juniors and six best senior skaters in each discipline to determine the best of the best.
 
Australia has never medalled at either the Junior or Senior Grand Prix Final and this win is yet again another historic milestone for the nation in the sport of figure skating.
 
“Our skate was great. A little tiring for me but it was great,” Alexandrovskaya said immediately after the free program.
 
After a strong short program on Thursday, Windsor and Alexandrovskaya were sitting in second place behind the Russian team Apollinariia Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov and only 1.34 points separated the top four teams. The pressure was on for the free program.
 
Windsor faltered on the opening triple salchow – landing the jump then falling off the edge. Undeterred, they powered to their side-by-side triple toe combo in perfect unison and completed a quality packed program scoring a total 173.85 points sneaking ahead of Panfilova and Rylov by less than one point (173.01)
 
“It was a little tough, at least for me,” Windsor said. “There was one big mistake but we are happy that we pushed through it and everything else was relatively OK.”
 
Galina Pachin, who coaches the team with her husband Andrei, was ecstatic.
 
“It’s amazing. It’s like a golden rain this past two years,” Pachin said. “Harley told me that winning and gold medals are like an addiction now.”
 
“They are already more mature and definitely dealing with pressure better. I don’t any pair who have gone from nothing to win Junior Worlds and qualify for Olympics in just two years,” Pachin said.
 
On their goal for the coming Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Windsor – who will be Australia’s first Indigenous Winter Olympian, was frank.
 
“We’re not there not to win a medal. We want to skate two of the best programs that we can and that our ultimate goal is to finish in the top 12. We will be extremely happy,” he said. 
 

In a comprehensive victory, Kailani Craine has won her fourth consecutive national title surpassing her personal best score by nearly five points at the Australian Figure Skating Championships in Brisbane.

23-year-old Brendan Kerry made it a six-time win, coming from well behind in the short program with a fighting free program to retain his crown as Australia’s Men’s Champion.

Kailani had a spectacular national’s campaign with a clean short program that included a triple/triple combo and backing up with two triple lutzes in her free program to Moulin Rouge, achieving a PB total of 172.06 points.

“I love my short program,” she said.

In second place was the new junior national champion Amelia Jackson from Queensland who backed up by making the podium in senior ranks and in third was veterinary science student Katie Pasfield from NSW.

Struggling with multiple international flights and jet lag, Brendan Kerry skated a horror short program, missing every jump and ending up fifth on 57.17 points. He had his work cut out to catch short program leader Mark Webster who was on 65.03 points leading into the free program.

Fighting back to overhaul an eight-point lead, Kerry landed two triple axels and a triple/triple combo in the free program, earning 197.29 points, which was enough to secure the title ahead of Andrew Dodds on 190.80 and Mark Webster on 184.51, both of whom also skated strong free programs.  

Kerry had been testing out the order of the quad jump elements at the recent Shanghai Trophy in China and at the national championships.

“I wanted to see if I felt comfortable with the quad salchow as the first element, so we tried it in Shanghai but I didn’t want to base a decision off one comp, so nationals was a safe testing ground,” Kerry said.

“I’m definitely now able to sort the order of elements to put out strong consistent skates from here on out.”
Kerry will return to his new training base in New Jersey next week.  

“I’m looking at getting in some really solid training time without having to bounce around for comps. They were disappointing skates at nationals but I’m really happy I pulled up and won my sixth title. It’s important to me, especially heading into the Olympics.”

“At nationals I wanted a clean second half and when the loop didn’t happen, I was angry.”

Paris Stephens and Matthew Dodds took out the pairs championships and new dance team this year Chantelle Kerry and Andrew Dodds were impressive in their first championship together winning the dance.

Belinda Noonan
OWIA

The Australian Figure Skating Championships in Brisbane this week will provide national champions Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine with an almost last opportunity to test their programs ahead of the PyeongChang Games next February.

Both skaters have returned from their US training bases for the senior national titles in Brisbane to be held Thursday 7 and Friday 8 December at Boondall Ice World.

Kailani Craine (19) will be going after her fourth consecutive title, while five-time Champion Brendan Kerry (22) will be seeking his sixth.

Craine intends to test out harder technical content in her short program.

“I'm really looking forward to the nationals this year. I always love competing in front of a home crowd, and I really hope to deliver a personal best performance,” she said.

“It's also an excellent opportunity to practice my routines before the Olympic Games with harder content, especially in my short program.”

“This year has been so exciting for me, so I hope to finish with my tenth overall national title (in all divisions). It's always a fun time catching up with my fellow team mates and I love to see how much everyone improves each year.”

Kerry is expected to have a smooth ride to his sixth title.

“It’s important to come home and do nationals because as Australia’s best I feel obligated to come back to defend my title and compete alongside the up and coming Australian skaters,” Kerry said.  

“At this event I want to try and see what’s comfortable and what isn’t in regards to the order of elements headed into the Olympics. The new free program is going really well so far and transitioning from a thought process to more of a go to set of actions.”

Pair champions Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor will not be in Brisbane to defend their 2016 crown but competing on the same days in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan.

2016 Ice Dance Champions Matilda Friend and William Baddoui are also out of this year’s championships after William sustained a broken ankle in training a few months ago.

The Australian Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Ice Skating Queensland Facebook page.

Entry to all events are free of charge at Boondall Ice World, Sandgate Road, Boondall. The Senior Men’s short program starts at 8.40pm (AEST) Thursday, 8 December and the Ladies at 9.50pm.

The final free programs on Friday, 9 December begin at 11am (AEST).

A competition schedule can be found at http://www.isa.org.au/afsc

As unlikely and unpredictable as Australia’s Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor’s Junior World Championships title seemed back in March this year, of even more significance is the continual melding the figure skating pair are bringing to their sport, lives and partnership.

In a stunning two seasons, Alexandrovskaya (17) and Windsor (21) have come from nowhere on the international figure skating scene to have now captured four gold medals and one bronze and are preparing for the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games next February.

With the Junior Grand Prix Final title within their reach this week in Nagoya, Japan the pair and coach Andrei Pachin articulated their impending move from Junior to Senior ranks, what that means and how their partnership has matured and progressed.

“This season didn’t start so good,” Andrei Pachin said of the pair’s fourth place in their first Junior Grand Prix in September. “Harley and Katia were thinking about how others were thinking about them after winning the Junior World title.”

“Just before Oberstdorf (the Olympic qualifier) they became confident.”

“Even in the last few weeks now, you can see Harley is now really confident and really professional in practise. They are confident about going for the Junior Grand Prix Final title.”

“I could see this confidence in Poland (two weeks ago). They can cope better with little mistakes. One mistake last year would destroy everything. Now they can go through the program – they are very professional.”

In the lead up to the Junior Grand Prix Final in Japan at the end of this week, Pachin said that his team were ready.
“There have been four clean shorts and one clean free program.”  

The husband and wife coaching duo of Andrei and Galina Pachin from Sydney’s north west have proven to be strong role models for their team in life as well as figure skating.

Where Andrei is dogmatic and relentless, Galina is critical of the finer points. Andrei has a global view, Galina looks after detail. The same could be said respectively for Katia and Harley.

It’s not uncommon for Andrei and Katia to have short, sharp explosions whereas Galina and Harley would be in quiet discussion to resolve a training issue.

“Andrei is good for Katia. I’m good for Harley,” Galina says.

It’s that simple.

Andrei is looking to the future.

“I feel like we have to go ahead and look ahead beyond Olympics and Worlds in 2018. The technical luggage we have not will not be enough for next year (beyond this season),” he said.  

“For Olympics and Worlds it’s important to get a result to ‘book your place’ for the future.”

The pairing of the unlikely couple is realising a career-long passion for their coaches.

“We weren’t sure it would happen like this. But step by step, it has happened. Now I can see with conditions we have now and the quality we have now we can fight.”  

Alexandrovskaya’s increasing confidence in English is providing an opportunity for local skaters to discover more than seeing by example. Her serious determination to be the best is unswerving. She expects success and knows how to achieve it.

Basking in past results holds no water.

“Last season was last season and that’s already gone. We were World Junior Champions but that’s already last year,” she said in August.  

“Communication last year was with hands. (It’s) much better now. I can talk to people. Harley is quiet. I’m much louder. Yes, it’s much better now. I know him.”

Harley’s passion to achieve and learning how to think like a champion will also have a lasting impact at home.  

“Last year every competition was a new experience. I learned how to mentally prepare myself for competitions,” Windsor said.  

“This year I don’t want to come second. I kinda like the taste of gold.”

When a pair skater girl is repeatedly thrown in excess of ten metres across the ice, the boy is asked to lift multiple times, both land complex jumps and then required to bring emotional power to four minutes of a free program, it takes a special combination of talent and personality to succeed.

Windsor and Alexandrovskaya are normal and do have their occasional spats and then get on with what they want to achieve.

Skating to the Rolling Stone’s ‘Paint It, Black’, Alexandrovskaya explains their short program as “dark and hard music, very strong”.

“It’s more difficult mentally. More transitions, more emotions because we think not just about elements.”

The emotional repertoire required is a challenge they are both willing to achieve and keep building upon. 

“Last season the programs were very basic with a focus on us getting to the elements,” Harley said.

“If you want to be a really good senior pair you can’t pick just anything (to skate to). You have to pick something that suits both of us.”

“I like that we can show how we can step up and have variety,” he said.

“As we skate more together and mature, we will show stronger emotions and connections. That’s important to us.”
Katia holds the same view.  

“For the free program it’s different music, different style (to the short) from the film Mask. First part is jazz and again jazz in the early second part. Third part is rock and roll. I like more the jazz part, but I love all music.”

Training at the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) in Sydney’s Olympic Park under a program devised by OWIA’s John Marsden and Zsolt Zsombor from NSWIS has been integral during this all-important season.

“NSWIS has been huge. Especially the altitude training. If we didn’t do NSWIS we wouldn’t be as fit or strong. Week by week we would increase. The weight went up and a little more reps plus the altitude got harder and harder,” Windsor said of their preparation before the Olympic qualifier in September.

“It was smart what Zsolt did - planning it all out and increasing slowly and surely. It’s made us smarter in the way we train and how we prepare.”

Will nerves play a part at the Olympics?

“I don’t do nervous before competitions. Senior is of course mentally harder,” Katia said with a shrug. “I want clean programs and wait for the result. We need just to skate.”

Windsor believes there has been a big shift this season.  

“We are both good competitors and we are both good at turning it up a notch when it matters.”

“I’m sure there are far, far better skaters than us but not everyone can compete. But the ones who can turn it on and perform when it counts are the ones who are there at the end.”

The ISU Grand Prix Final and Junior Grand Prix Final for the best six in the world in each discipline is in Nagoya, Japan from December 7 to 10.

Alexandrovskaya and Windsor will compete their short on Thursday, 7 December from 4.10pm (AEDT) and their free program on Friday 8 December from 6pm (AEDT).

A livestream of the Junior Grand Prix Final can be found at https://www.youtube.com/isujuniorgrandprix

More information and results can be found HERE
 
Belinda Noonan
OWIA
 

Under an unusual format for international ice sports, the invitational only Shanghai Trophy in China combined figure skating, short track  and synchronised team competitions over four days culminating in an ‘All On Ice’ gala on Sunday evening.

Australia was represented in the limited-entry events in figure skating by Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine and in Short Track by Deanna Lockett.

The competition formats with only a free program for the figure skaters and varying distances for short track provided a change from the usual routine.

The best result came from Brendan Kerry who placed fourth of six competitors in the free program with 149.15 points, landing one quad jump and two triple axels scoring less than four points shy of his personal best.

“The event was fun and much less tiring as I didn’t have to perform the short program beforehand,” Kerry said of the new-look competition.

“We all enjoyed such a small event. Everyone gets along really well, so it’s safe to say we all had that competitive mentality but also all enjoyed it.”

Kerry, who has changed coaches to Nikolai Morozov and changed his training base to New Jersey, USA, took away a few positives from Shanghai.  

“Overall the PCs (Program Components) were much lower than what I would’ve liked. I  wanted to throw out some triples seeing as I managed not to do too many at my last event. So not the greatest I’ve ever done but I still took away some good stuff headed to the Games.”

Kailani Craine, who was called up to the event with just two weeks’ notice, also enjoyed the new experience and placed fifth with a spirited skate.  

“I've had a really different competition experience in China, only a free program,” Craine said.

“In training I was trying more ‘tano’ variations on most of the jumps which unfortunately I didn't showcase here in China, but I think they will be ready for my next competition.”

“All of these different experiences help me build into a better skater. There’s always more you can learn.”

Being guaranteed a gala exhibition at the conclusion of the event is exactly the sort of skating which the Newcastle 19-year-old enjoys.  

“I've had a really good time in China. The people are so friendly and I can't wait to perform in the exhibition,” she said before the gala.
 
 

Australia’s current Junior World Pair Figure Skating Champions Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor have struck their fourth career gold medal and fifth podium in Estonia overnight, returning to the scene of their first Junior gold medal last year in Tallinn.
 
The Tallinn Trophy is part of the senior ten-event International Skating Union’s Challenger Series and will accrue additional world standings points and experience for the up and coming team going in the PyeongChang Olympics next February. The ISU Challenger Series sits underneath the top tier Grand Prix series of events, which includes the best athletes in the World. 
 
After a dazzling short program the previous night highlighted by a soaring triple twist and an effortless lift at speed that scored the Sydney-based team a PB of 66.80, the free program, which sealed their first senior international gold medal, was harder work.
 
Last to skate and performing to the soundtrack from The Mask, the opening of the free program was heavy going with difficulties on both side-by-side solo triple jumps but they worked the 4.30 minute program to the end with strength and determination.
 
“It’s our first senior gold. That’s cool,” Windsor said.
 
“We were pretty confident going into the short and were doing clean run throughs in training whether we were feeling good or bad. We’re happy that our program component scores are going up - giving us extra points. We got mid sevens here, whereas last comp it was high sixes, so it’s a decent jump,” Windsor said.  
 
Alexandrovskaya, ever the perfectionist, was happy with short, saying, “It was season’s best, but little bits were wrong. The toe loop wasn’t perfect like we can do. All elements were not bad.”
 
Scoring 112.50 points and well under their best for the free program, Windsor and Alexandrovskaya were able to amass an overall total of 178.90 points, well ahead of second placed Alisa Efimova and Alexander Korovin from Russia on 162.62. Third went to another Russian pair, Anastasia Poluianova and Dmitry Sopot on 161.60.
 
“We didn’t have a practice on the day, just the six-minute warm up,” 21-year-old Windsor said. “When I do practice in the morning it gets my muscles activated and without that it was hard. Our senior pairs free program isn’t exactly easy.”
 
Alexandrovskaya intends to learn from the experience.
“We didn’t have skating for one full day – 24 hours. Of course, it (the win) is good points for us, especially with so many mistakes in the program. It was not perfect. I like to check mentally my jumps, throws and lifts in practice,” she said.  
 
The senior Challenger gold medal follows their Junior Grand Prix win in Poland last month and bronze in the Senior Olympic Qualifying Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany in late September.
 
Transitioning to senior ranks during the season has entailed switching between junior and senior programs at alternating international events. Next up for Australia’s history-making pair will be the prestigious Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan from December 7 to 10, which will mark the end of their ground-breaking junior career before a solid push to PyeongChang.  
 
“This will be one hard week between here (Tallin) and the Junior Grand Prix Final (JGPF). Of course we will work hard,” 17-year-old Alexandrovskaya said.
 
“It’s going to be a hell of lot easier than a senior program. I’m looking forward to that. Now that we have pretty good results this season so far, we are more experienced than last year and events like the JGPF are no longer an intimidating thought,” Windsor added.   
 
PyeongChang is less than 80 days away and this young team’s expectations are in check.
 
“We do not expect to get a medal but want to skate two good programs in Korea,” they both said.
 
“Our transition from Junior is going well and we look more mature on the ice, stronger and more senior. In the free program here, we again got a level 4 for the twist but this time with +3s for the grade of execution,” said Windsor.
 
“Just do what we can and a perfect skate for us. We can’t have a medal, but we can skate good and clean,” Alexandrovskaya said of PyeongChang.  
 
In their international career to date Windsor and Alexandrovskaya have made the podium five times with four golds in a mix of top tier Junior events and Challenger level senior competitions - Junior Grand Prix Tallinn 2016, Junior World Championships 2017, Junior Grand Prix Gdansk 2017, Tallinn Trophy Senior Challenger 2017 and bronze Nebelhorn Trophy Senior Challenger 2017.
 
The Australian Olympic figure skating team of Brendan Kerry, Kailani Craine, Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor were named to PyeongChang earlier this month, with Windsor making world-wide news as Australia’s first indigenous Winter Olympian to be selected. 

Belinda Noonan
OWIA
 
 

With their Olympic qualification events behind them, figure skaters Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine alongside short track speed skater Deanna Lockett are heading into this weekend’s Shanghai Trophy with a weight off their shoulders.
 
The three Aussie skaters secured their place on the invitational event’s start list through their strong performance at their respective World Championships in March this year.
 
Having already secured his place on the Australian Winter Olympic Team for 2018, Shanghai will present the perfect opportunity for Kerry to reclaim the ice after he previously described his performance at the Grand Prix in Regina, Canada as “the worst”.
 
Now, just a few days out from the event, Kerry said that he was “hoping to achieve a strong core and re-gain some confidence”.
 
“Preparation for Shanghai has been going really well. Not planning as much technical difficulty, rather trying to just go out and focus on a more polished performance,” he said.
 
“I started the season out really strong and then had a disastrous skate at my GP. All part of sport – but I just want to go out and get my mojo back!”.
 
The five-time Australian Men’s Figure Skating Champion and Sochi 2014 Olympian was named alongside Craine two weeks ago as one of four figure skating athletes to compete at PyeongChang this February.
 
Kerry, who will contest the men’s individual event, said that “being selected for the Olympic team again is a huge motivation” while for Craine it’s made her “push harder”.
 
“I think now that I have qualified, my training feels a little more free and I can push myself to try harder elements and also really push my run throughs without being worried of making a mistake,” Craine said.

​“Preparing for Shanghai is a little different to a regular competition since we only perform our Free Program. So basically I’ve just been running my free program a lot and building up really good stamina and confidence with the program.
 
“Training has been going really well, I have a lot of confidence in myself leading into this competition so hopefully I can just perform how I do in training every day!”
 
The 19-year-old skated to gold at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany earlier this year, securing an Olympic berth for Australia at PyeongChang 2018 and impressing judges with her Free Skate to ‘Moulin Rouge’.
 
The routine featured five triple jumps, three level-four spins and level-four footwork, skills that picked up the Newcastle native 109.43 points.
 
“My local rink has set up a big TV screen where my free program from the Olympic Qualifying competition plays on repeat, which is such good motivation for me to push myself so I can feel those kind of moments at the Olympic Games,” she said.
 
Lockett, Australia’s top female short tracker, wrapped up her World Cup season last weekend ranking seventh in the 1500m and 19th in the 1000m – with the top 32 skaters in each distance securing Olympic quotas for their nation.

​With the Olympic qualification period behind her and this event having no impact on her rankings, Lockett will be more “relaxed” and able to “enjoy a little bit more racing with no pressure,” according to her coach Lachlan Hay.
 
“She will be able to focus on some new things and some new strengths to use at PyeongChang” Hay said.
 
“It will be a great chance to get used to the loud noise from the crowd which will be expected in Korea 2018.
 
“It’s a huge event they put on and very exciting, showcasing the best of the best in speed skating and figure skating as well.”
 
Lockett will contest the individual 1000m and 1500m event and will likely throw her hat in the ring for “a really fun chance to skate with other skaters and make a relay team” in the 444m, 777m and 2000m international mixed gender relay events.
 
The 2017 Shanghai Trophy will take place from 24 – 26 November. You can follow the live results HERE.

David Barden / Georgia Thompson 
OWIA / Olympics.com.au

Dynamic figure skating duo Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya have their eyes set on gold as they head into this week’s International Skating Union Challenger in Tallinn, Estonia.
 
The pair, who have both been selected to represent Australia at PyeongChang 2018 in February, have been training hard for Tallinn but they’re keeping things simple and sticking to what they know, according to Windsor.
 
“Our preparation for Tallinn is just like every other competition, we haven’t changed much in terms of training,” he said.
 
“Going into this comp we are feeling good, training is going good so we expect to get a medal and [we’re] hoping for gold.
 
The pair’s selection to represent Australia at the Winter Games has been a massive motivation to continue to strive towards greatness.
 
Windsor said that the news “was a massive step” this season and that both he and Alexandrovskaya, “hope to use this comp and more mental preparation leading into February and also our Grand Prix Final”.
 
“Being selected for the Olympic team, I think, has helped us a lot,” Alexandrovskaya added.
 
“We know what we are capable of [and] we think we can always get better and improve.”
 
Galina Pachin, who coaches the pair with her husband Andrei, said that the duo’s selection for the Winter Games was “their dream come true” and that it would drive them to “skate their best at upcoming competitions to get better rankings before the Olympics”.
 
“Being selected for the Olympic team has an effect of greater responsibility for what they do on ice every day,” she said.
 
“Preparation for the Tallinn Trophy was good. Harley and Katia practiced in Sydney for four weeks and almost all their programs run through were of good quality.”
 
Earlier this year, Windsor and Alexandrovskaya made history as the first Australian figure skaters to win the Junior World Paris Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki.
 
The duo, who will have been skating together for two years this December, won a bronze medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany this September behind the World silver medallists and European champions, qualifying them to the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang next February.
 
The Tallinn Trophy will take place from 23  to 25 November. You can follow the live results HERE. 


David Barden
​OWIA

PYEONGCHANG 2018: Australia has made plenty of Winter Olympic history over the past 20 years and now figure skating sensation Harley Windsor is set to rewrite the history books himself as he becomes Australia’s first ever Indigenous athlete to compete at a Winter Games.


Windsor was today selected onto the Australian Winter Olympic Team for PyeongChang 2018 where he will compete alongside his Pairs partner Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya.

Australia has had 51 Indigenous athletes pull on the green and gold at the Summer Olympic Games and come February Windsor will be the nation’s first Indigenous Winter Olympic athlete.

“It hasn’t completely sunk in yet but it feels like an amazing and mind-blowing accomplishment to have been named as Australia’s first Indigenous Winter Olympian,” the 21-year-old said, who won the Pairs Junior World Championship with partner Alexandrovskaya earlier this year.

“I grew up in the Aboriginal community and have always been around Aboriginal culture so it’s been a huge part of my life and something that I’m very proud of.”

Windsor is hoping his selection will inspire other Indigenous Australians just as he was inspired by fellow Indigenous trailblazers throughout his youth.

“I was a massive supporter of Cathy Freeman and how hard she worked to achieve what she achieved.

“She was such a great athlete and such a great inspiration for me when I was young.

“I hope I can give other young Indigenous athletes some inspiration that they are able to get to the highest level in Winter Olympic sports just like we’ve done in Summer sports.

“I hope I can continue to push forward and give them someone to look up to.”

Just as any family would be, Windsor’s relatives are exceptionally proud of his achievements to date and his history-making selection to compete at PyeongChang 2018.

“My parents know their son is now going to be an Olympian and compete for Australia at the Winter Olympic Games so they are really proud which is great.”

Australian Chef de Mission Ian Chesterman has witnessed the rise of winter sports in Australia, having led the Winter Olympic Team at the past six Games, and knows this is a landmark moment for Indigenous Australians as well as winter sports.

“Having Harley on the Team, as Australia’s first Indigenous Winter Olympian is of huge significance,” Chesterman said.

“It reflects the increasing growth of Winter Sports across all Australian states and territories.”

Australian Olympic Committee CEO Matt Carroll added; “This is an historical day for Indigenous sport and the Olympic movement in Australia. Just as Harley has stated he wants to, we hope that he provides inspiration to young Indigenous athletes that they can follow in his path and compete at a high level in Winter Sports.”

Windsor, who grew up in Rooty Hill in Sydney’s west, created history earlier in the year by becoming the first Australian ever to become a figure skating Junior World Champion with Alexandrovskaya.

The pair then went on to finish third at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, to secure Australia the quota spot for PyeongChang 2018.

Windsor’s involvement at PyeongChang will come 82 years after Australia first competed at the Winter Olympics at the 1936 Garmisch Games when Ken Kennedy lined up in four speed skating events.

To date Australia has had 51 Indigenous Summer Olympic athletes that have won 12 medals between them. You can find out more about Australia’s Indgenous Summer Olympic history here>>>

Alongside Windsor, Alexandrovskaya, Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine were also named to the Australian Winter Team for PyeongChang 2018. Find out about the figure skating team’s selection here>>>

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

At the second of six ISU Grand Prix events in Regina, Canada, figure skaters Brendan Kerry and Kailani came away with a mixed bag of results in a topsy turvy event that included Olympic and world medallists.
 
Ranked 15th in the world, Kerry was aiming for a two-quad short program and three quad free program, testing his technical arsenal in Skate Canada’s power-packed men’s field, which including Olympic, World and European medallists.   
 
For Kerry, the short did not go well, with the opening quad popping to a double and errors on the following quad salchow and triple axel leaving him trailing the field in 12th and well below his personal best.
 
In the free program Kerry had it all to do and shook off the previous day’s disappointment, landing three quads and being one of only two men to do so along with winner Shoma Uno from Japan.
 
The back end of his free program that includes the usually reliable triple jumps mostly popped out to doubles and whilst Kerry climbed to 9th in the free, his overall result only improved to 11th.
 
“The men’s event here in Canada was a very, very interesting one. A lot of great skates and a lot of not so great skates,” Kerry said.
 
“Unfortunately, I went out and delivered the worst possible short program I could have. The long was also not ideal in not delivering the triples at the end of the program. However, I think that there is always something good to take away from each skate headed towards Pyeong Chang.”
 
“For instance, it was awesome to be able to go and throw down three quads in the free skate. I made a lot of silly mistakes on the easier elements. But that’s sport - everyone has their good and bad days. Onwards and upwards from here on out,” he said.
 
The men’s Skate Canada title went to Shoma Uno, silver to USA’s Jason Brown and bronze to Alexander Samarin of Russia. An epic melt down in the free by Canada’s Sochi silver medallist and three-time world champion Patrick Chan saw him slip from second to 4th after a technically weak final performance.
 
In the ladies, Kailani Craine was a surprise invitee to the prestigious Grand Prix circuit two weeks ago and came into the field ranked near the tail.
 
Her trademark enthusiasm and infectious performance quality saw the debut GP skater deliver a blistering short program, which included her first successful attempt at a triple/triple this season placing ninth ahead of 2016 World Junior Champion Marin Honda from Japan and two Canadians.
 
In an attacking free program, Craine went after the jumps but was penalised for under rotations, finishing the event a creditable 10th overall.
 
The three-time national champion was initially disappointed in her free program score.
 
“The free program skate wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be. I had higher standards and expectations for myself but at the same time I'm proud of myself and the way that I've represented my country,” she said.
“I believe that I benefit so much from different experiences and emotions, and this competition will make me a much stronger skater for upcoming competitions and this Olympic Season.”
 
“I feel really great about my season so far and I was so excited to be invited to my first Senior Grand Prix. I hit a lot of new goals that I set for this competition including hitting a triple triple combo in the second half of my short program, and also no edge calls.”
 
“My short program was technically up to date to be competitive in this field and I needed to get the triple triple combo out there before Four Continents. I was hoping for a much higher score but regardless I have gained much more confidence with this element.”
 
The ladies Skate Canada gold was won in emphatic style by Kaetlyn Osmond from Canada, silver to Maria Sotskova (Russia) and bronze to Ashley Wagner (USA).  
 

Australian champions Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine open their 2017 Grand Prix account this coming weekend at Skate Canada in Regina, Saskatchewan.

For Craine, the invitation to compete in her first Grand Prix follows her stunning victory at the Olympic qualifier in Germany last month and was a welcome surprise.

“Honestly, I am so grateful to be competing with the top ladies in the world. I'm not sure how I expect to feel when I am there since it is a new experience for me, but I really just want to show how hard I've been working, and how much I enjoy being out on the ice,” Craine said from her,” Los Angeles training base on the weekend.  

The pressure at the top end of the Ladies event is intense with Canadian and US champions Kaetlyn Osmond and Karen Chen among a hot field with top Russians and Japanese skaters all vying for the Grand Prix podium.

The four-time national champion has bagged a gold and silver in the Challenger events this season but knows that she has stepped up the international ladder.

“This season has been going really well as I've medalled a fair few times and picked up some personal best scores.”
“However, I can always improve on my skating and my goal for Skate Canada is to lay out a more technically difficult short program. For my free program I feel like I can make a personal best score as I've been working on areas that need to be improved since Nebelhorn.”

“My short program I kept from last season because I feel like it deserves an Olympic moment and it highlights the happiness that I feel when I skate.”

“I am completely in love with my free program (to Moulin Rouge) this season. My choreographer and I spent a lot of time making the cuts and storyline just right. I am kind of challenging something cryptic and ancient, like an awakening. This program really brings out an inner intensity and fire that I needed to feel for this season.”

Brendan Kerry is no stranger to the Grand Prix circuit and top echelon of the men’s field. Skate Canada will be his fifth career GP in a field that includes Canadian Sochi silver medallist Patrick Chan and 2017 World silver medallist Shoma Uno from Japan.

The technical advance in quad jumps for the men since the Sochi Olympics has been profound and was highlighted again on the weekend at the first Grand Prix in Moscow when USA’s Nathan Chen overcame Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu with two quads in the short and four in the free program. Hanyu, who won the free program portion of the event with three quads had to settle for silver to the new US men’s star.

Kerry, who is coming off a successful Challenger series with two bronze medals, is upping his quad content.
“In Regina, I want to hit a two-quad short and then an overall PB score.”

“As far as the level of skating that the top-ten is currently at, the only mental preparation for me is to focus on myself and my skating - not the other competitors.”

 “The aim is to reach the goals I've set for myself rather than focus on a finish I can't control.”

Kerry finished a career-high fifteenth at the World Championships in March and is knocking on the door of the top 12.  
Leaving his relatively safe character performers from last season behind, Kerry has taken a more serious-minded approach to his music choices for the Olympic season with two different choreographers in Mark Pillay for the short and Nikolai Morozov for the free.  

“The inspiration behind the short to ‘Everyone Wants To Rule The World’ was to just go out and do something completely different, be more serious and to play to my skating strengths.”

“The free program to Pink Floyd was Nikolai's idea and I love it because I feel as though it's super outside of the realm of skating. It's edgy and different,” Kerry said.

Skate Canada opens with the Ladies Short Program on Friday 1pm local time (Saturday, 6am AEDT). The men’s event begins at 6pm local time (Saturday, 11am AEDT). The final free programs will be competed the following day. Results can be found here

By Belinda Noonan
owia.org
 

Australia has secured two more Figure Skating qualification spots at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games with an individual gold medal from Kailani Craine and a Pairs bronze medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. 
 
19-year-old Craine skated to gold on Saturday night, securing not only the Ladies title but an Olympic berth for Australia. 
 
After dominating the Short Program the night before, Craine continued her strong form impressing judges with her Free Skate to ‘Moulin Rouge’.
 
The routine featured five triple jumps, three level-four spins and level-four footwork, skills that picked up the Newcastle native 109.43 points.
 
A combined total of 167.45 points from both skates saw Craine take the gold by only 0.44 points. 
 
“I felt really good in my free program today. I felt really prepared for this competition. It wasn’t the best free program that I’ve done, but it was enough to get me first place and to qualify an Olympic spot,” Craine said. 
 
“I don’t think anything really can compare with what the Olympic Games are going to be like. It’s been a dream since I started skating, so I really just want to be able to skate my best, but I want to soak up every single moment.”
 
Rounding out the podium was Matilda Algotsson of Sweden and Alexia Paganini of Switzerland who earned the silver and bronze medals respectively, as well as 2018 qualification spots for their countries. 
 
In Friday night’s Pairs event, World silver medallists Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia took out the top spot on the podium ahead of Germany’s European Champions Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot.
 
Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya of Australia stunned the world with a performance of a lifetime 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 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.
 
Australia is now qualified in three figure skating disciplines with Men, Pairs and Ladies, also resulting in eligibility into the Olympic Team Event for the top ten nations in the world.
Australian Men’s champion Brendan Kerry earned Australia the men’s spot with his 15th palce at the 2017 World Championships in March.
 
For the Olympic Team Event, Australia would unofficially currently be ranked 12th. The top ten nations will be determined on a points basis after the Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix series has been completed in early December. 
 

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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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


Ashleigh Knight
olympics.com.au

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

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

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

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

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

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