Cover Page

Pre-event

We will be driving up to Vancouver on the 16th & 17th. The diary entries will start after that.

18-Mar-2001

Getting Started

19-Mar-2001

Pairs Short

20-Mar-2001

Men's Short

21-Mar-2001

• Ladies Qual, Group B
• Pairs Free
• Ladies Qual, Group A

22-Mar-2001

Men's Free

23-Mar-2001

Ladies Short

24-Mar-2001

Ladies Free

Pairs Short Program

Okay I only took notes for about half of the teams. So I will try to write down what I can remember of the other teams. The listing here is the order they skated, I don't know the full results. I am going to leave out my notes on some of the lower ranked teams, because it is depressing to type, fell here, fell there, fell, fell everywhere.

China: Qing Pang & Jian Tong

They skated to a tango. Throw was excellent, good height and flow coming out of it. Hit the side by side triple toes and the twist. But there back outside death spiral did not have enough depth, she barely got down into position. Still I saw tremendous improvement over last year. Looks like China may get to send three teams to Salt Lake City.

Ukraine: Aliona Savchenko & Stanislav Morozov

Skated a really dramatic program to Spartacus, I liked the program and choreography a lot. I thought they skated clean, but there marks looked like there was some major deduction so I may have missed something.

Russia: Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin

I don't like them, but they skated a pretty program to Liebestraum by Liszt and they were more graceful than I had ever seen them. So I did like them a lot this time. HE fell on the side by side jump. She had lovely flow coming out of the throw jump. Much better presentation and more emotional than when I saw them at Skate America.

Uzbekistan: Natalia Ponomareva & Evgeni Sviridov

All I have down is that they skated a pretty program and hit the throw jump.

USA: Tiffany Scott & Phillip Duelbohn

They hit everything, skated very well. They do a lovely death spiral. The only mistake was he caught her with his arms in the twist. I thought they had good speed, but Richard thought they were slow.

Japa: Yuko Kawaguchi & Alxeander Markuntsov

Please, please someone save this team from Tamara Moskovina. They are a graceful pair who relate well on the ice, but Moskivina has them doing all her trademark splits-for-no-reason choreography. The lift she has them doing is particulary unattractive, Yuko leans back and spreads her legs apart, as if getting a pap smear, not skating. Sigh! But I really like them and wish they would leave the mad Russian. Their twist was ok, hit the triple toes, she almost lost the throw but held on to it. Pretty death spiral.

Slovakia: Olga Bestandigova & Josef Bestandig

He stepped out of the triple toes, she popped the throw.

Czech Repulic: Katerina Berankova & Otto Dlabola

She put her hand down the triple toes, landed the throw jump. Good extension and positions in the lift and he caught her with his hands on the twist. They skated to a Gershwin Concerto.

Poland: Dorota Zagorska & Mariusz Siudek

I like them so much. They are very classical and graceful and no weird stuff. They skated beautifully and should be in fourth, I say so! They hit all the elements. She had a very deep edge in the death spiral, fast pair spin, and good speed and flow throughout the program.

France: Sarah Abitbol & Stephane Bernadis

He fell on the triple toes. They had a nice high twist. They did that Japanese program of theirs. The lady behind us kept laughing at their psuedo martial arts choreography and the "hiyas" in the music.

Canada: Kristy Wirtz and Kris Wirtz

She fell on the toes and the throw. They had nice speed and great synch in their side by side spins and their death spiral was great with her head actually touching the ice. They could give classes on unison but alas the jumps were not there.

Canada: Jamie Sale & David Pelletier

Ooooo, what can I say that hasn't been said a dozen times. They are smooth, they are full of expression, their elements flow together seamlessly. They have great unison and relate to each other on the ice better than any team since G&G. They are so sensational that even without her ability to land jumps they are in third and deserve to be. She fell out of the side by side toes and everything else was exquisite.

France: Sabrina LeFrancois & Jerome Blanchard

I love them. They skated a pretty, graceful number to Summer of 42. They had a technical error which I did not write down, but they were smooth and lovely to watch, with nice presentation.

USA: Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman

He fell on the triple toe. But everything else was done well and crisply. They are as cold as that horrible music to The Truman Show but the judges marks were good considering the mistake.

Russia: Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze

Again what can I say? They are fast, the float over the ice as if their blades weren't even touching it. When they are on they are amazing. And they were on tonight, skating clean and beautifully. Everything was well done, they don't have the chemistry and the emotion of Sale and Pelletier, but that doesn't matter if they skate clean the Canadians do not. They are in first and well deserve it.

China: Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao

Skated to the Diamond Commercial music. Again everything was done well and clean. Their jumps and twist are spectacular, amazing height. Their side by side spins are too far apart and they don't have the best line. Also I thought they were a little slower than usual here. But they are in second quite deservedly.

Oh my God, that is first through third places that I agree with the judges. I must need some sleep.