Injuries put Grand Prix athletes at rink side Injuries forced a few members of Team USA out of the Grand
Prix Series this fall. Two-time U.S. champion and 2010 Grand Prix Final titlist Alissa Czisny, three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir and the new pairs team of Caitlin Yankow- skas and Joshua Reagan missed some or all of the international circuit season. Czisny withdrew from the
NHK Trophy, the last of six events on the Grand Prix Series, as she continues to recover from the surgery she had in June to
repair a torn labrum in her left hip. She hopes to compete at the 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha, Neb., in late January. Weir competed in the short program at the Rostelecom Cup
in Moscow, but a right hip injury during practice prevented him from performing in the free skate. He later ended up withdraw- ing from Trophée Bompard in Paris. Like Czisny, though, Weir hasn’t ruled out compet-
ing at the U.S. Championships and continuing his push to qualify for the Olympics in Sochi in 2014. Yankowskas and Reagan withdrew from Cup of China
because of a rib injury to Reagan. The couple later with- drew from NHK Trophy because of the same injury.
Olympic champion Evan Lysacek headlines an all-star skating cast that will perform at the third annual 2012 Winter Solstice on Ice in Vail, Colo., December 20–22. The outdoor event, directed by Eddie Shipstad and Shipstad Entertainment, is free to the public. Other headliners include U.S. pairs champions Caydee Denney and John Coughlin, U.S. bronze medalist Agnes Zawadzki and 2011 U.S. junior champion Max Aaron. Pictured is last year’s skating cast, which included two-time World champion Patrick Chan (red coat).
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHIPSTAD ENTERTAINMENT
Scottsdale SkateFest a slam dunk More than 120 youngsters and four
celebrity skaters participated in the fi rst of four U.S. Figure Skating SkateFests on Nov. 8 in Scottsdale, Ariz. The event, which took place at the
Ice Den, was held in conjunction with the Disson Skating special that was taped on Nov. 10 at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix. The show, titled “PANDORA Unforgettable Holiday Moments on Ice,” will air on NBC on Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 25. SkateFests are also planned in con-
junction with Disson shows in James- town, N.Y., on Dec. 13 and in Kent, Wash., on Jan. 9. The SkateFest in Atlantic City, N.J., was postponed because of Hurricane Sandy and hadn’t been rescheduled as of press time. The skaters in Scottsdale were treated
to free instruction and help from skating greats Kimmie Meissner, Ryan Bradley and the dance team of Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, as well as a profes- sional group of local coaches. U.S. Figure Skating’s mascot Snowplow Sam also lent a hand. There were three sessions of skat- ing between 4:30 and 6 p.m. “The SkateFest was a tremendous suc-
cess,” said Susi Wehrli-McLaughlin, senior director of membership at U.S. Figure Skating. “Special thanks goes to Julie Pat- terson and Miki Stevens of the Ice Den for all of their help and hard work.”
Kimmie Meissner showed a group of skaters some of “fun”-damental moves.