GRAND PRIX FINAL Four in a row is one for the books With President Putin in the audience, Davis and White make history by MIMI WHETSTONE M
eryl Davis and Charlie White made history at the 2012 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final as they became the first ice danc-
ing team to win four Grand Prix Final titles, de- feating training-mates, rivals and reigning Olym- pic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada for the gold medal. Te Americans also are the first to win four consecutive Grand Prix Final championships.
Competing for the first time in Sochi’s Ice
Palace, the figure skating venue for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Russia, members of team USA left the event with two medals, the advantage of competing in the Olympic venue and the motivation to return and repeat as the world’s top contenders. “Being able to be in the venue and get a feel
for it was really helpful,” White said. “Being able to compete, warm up and get a feel for every- thing, you can’t help but turn your mind a little bit to the Olympics. It’s everywhere; everyone’s talking about it. Our goal is to come back and win the Olympic gold. Tis is just a stepping stone.” Davis and White earned a season-high 183.39 points for the week, not only capturing the most ice dancing Grand Prix Final titles, but winning them in consecutive years. “It’s something to be proud of,” White said.
“Tese are the top skaters in the world. Tey had to prove themselves at their Grand Prix events and we had to do the same. To be able to win four years in a row, it’s an accomplishment.” Following victories at 2012 Hilton HHon-
ors Skate America and 2012 NHK Trophy, Davis and White concluded the Grand Prix sea- son with their 12th consecutive Grand Prix Series gold and a season-best 110.19 points for their free dance. Teir performance, set to music from Notre-Dame de Paris by Riccardo Cocciante and Luc Plamondon, was highlighted by an array of level 4 elements, including a dance spin, four lifts and a twizzle sequence. “In terms of our skate, it was solid,” Davis
said. “It was one of those skates that nothing re- ally came easily and we had to fight through it, but that’s OK. It’s good to have skates like that. It’s times like that where we feel that we grow the most. We’ll take the feelings and lessons we learned here and build on the rest of the season.” Among those who witnessed Davis and
White’s record-setting title was Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Te ice, the atmosphere and the crowd were fantastic,” Davis said. “We heard (Russian
14 JANUARY 2013
Meryl Davis and Charlie White perform a season-best free dance to selections from Notre-Dame de Paris at the 2012 Grand Prix Final.
President) Putin was in the audience, which is really exciting. When you hear about important people in the audience, it’s not something you try to focus on before you skate. But after- ward we were like, ‘Oh! Putin was in
the audience. Tat’s cool.’” Wagner’s gutsy performance earns silver
In the ladies event, reigning U.S.
champion Ashley Wagner’s short pro- gram performance to selections from Te Red Violin featured a flawless triple flip-double toe combination, positive grades of execution on every element and level 4s on her step sequence and all of her spins. Heading into the free skate, Wagner sat in second place, less than one point behind Japan’s Mao Asada, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist. “It was a great program,” Wagner said. “All
this season, I have had solid performances. Today I was able to squeeze three more points out of
After their fourth straight Grand Prix Final championship, Meryl Davis and Charlie White are the first ice dancing team in history to win four GP Final titles.
that short program with better spin levels and a footwork sequence. I’m really happy.” Wagner’s “Samson and Delilah” free skate, which had been error-free all season as she won the ladies title at the 2012 Japan Open, 2012 Hilton HHonors Skate America and 2012 Tro-
PHOTO BY JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES
PHOTO BY JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68