Rippon, Aaron land on podium Adam Rippon overcame boot issues
and Max Aaron rallied following a rough short program to claim the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Rippon, whose best-previous Grand
Prix Series finish was bronze at both Skate Canada (2010) and Trophée Bom- pard (2009), required emergency help before the short program to repair his skates. He went on to produce two strong programs en route to a score of 241.24 points. His free skate, however, experi- enced a tense moment when Rippon fell hard on his attempted quad Lutz and nearly went head first into boards. “I didn’t hit my head on the boards
but maybe if I did I wouldn’t have popped that second Axel,” he joked. Rippon finished with the second-best program component mark for his free skate to Afternoon of a Faun, created by Tom Dickson. Aaron, sixth after the short program,
fell on his opening quad toe in his Carmen free skate but hit his stride midway through the program by landing three difficult combination jumps, including a quad Salchow-double toe. Aaron, the U.S. champion competing in his first-ever Grand Prix Series event, finished second in the free skate and with an overall score of 238.36 points. “Right now, for these Grand Prix
events, it’s about learning. I want that three quad program, because it’s going to set me apart in the U.S. and I want to defend my title and make the Olympic team, and that is what it is going to take.” Team USA’s Jason Brown also had a
good debut, finishing second in the short program and fifth overall with 231.03 points. Japan’s Tatsuki Machida, third at
2012 Skate America, dominated the event with a personal-best 265.38 points.
S.T.A.R.S. testing, which consists of 15 off-ice tests in three areas: agility/balance/coordination, strength/power and flexibility. Brown has been able to consistently climb the
competitive ladder. He won the U.S. juvenile title in 2007, the 2008 U.S. intermediate silver medal, the 2009 U.S. bronze medal, the 2010 U.S. junior title, the 2011 Junior Grand Prix Final title and re- spective World Junior bronze and silver medals in 2012 and 2013.
As a senior competitor at the U.S. Champion- ships, he finished ninth in 2011 and 2012 and was eighth in 2013. Ade’s support, Brown said, has been critical to
his development and success over the years. “She’s always there for me,” Brown said. “She’s
a very steady person. When she’s mad at you, you don’t always know it. She’s very level. When my skate doesn’t go well, she’s there for me. When my skate goes well, she’s there for me. But she’s not
18 DECEMBER 2013
is behind you.” To give themselves the best opportunity to
succeed, Bartholomay has temporarily quit his job at Gio Fabulous, a fine-dining Italian restaurant in Ellenton, Fla., where he worked as a server. A part- time student, Zhang has scaled back her hours as a sales associate at J. Crew, a retail clothing store. “We wanted to focus on our recovery (from
Jason Brown and Kori Ade at 2013 Skate America
overly excited. She gives that supportive, loving, motherly-like type of support, but at the same time she can be stern, coach-like and that rock that I need as a competitor.” Brown’s willingness to be coached has also
played an important role in his advancement in the sport, Ade said.
“I ask him to do something and he’ll say ‘How
many times, how many of them should I do?’” Ade said.
A few months ago, Ade and Brown relocat- ed their training home from the Chicago area to Monument, Colo., to commence training at the Colorado Sports Center Ice Skating Rink. Brown also enrolled at the University of Colorado-Colo- rado Springs. A different environment and a new “vibe” were what Ade felt was necessary for Brown to continue to grow as a skater. It was also a move that suited her young family. “It’s a great place to live,” Ade said. “We are at a rink with two surfaces and we’re at 7,000 feet. I’m excited about the high-altitude training and just having the freedom to do whatever we want in a comfortable training environment.”
‘Going for it’
Zhang, Bartholomay rest up to move their skating forward by TROY SCHWINDT Te Florida-based pairs team of Felicia Zhang
and Nate Bartholomay burst onto the scene at the 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Champion- ships in Omaha, Neb., putting out two outstand- ing programs that earned them the bronze medal. Teir place on the podium was not only a
great achievement for the relatively new team — they joined forces in May 2011 — it also accelerat- ed their goal of someday qualifying for the Olym- pic Winter Games. Now inserted into the 2014 Olympic Games
conversation, the duo is doing everything they can to give themselves a chance to qualify for the Games in Sochi, Russia. “If anything, it’s just made us realize that:
‘Look, we are here,’” Bartholomay said of the team’s sudden success. “People see it, they are going to put us out there. It’s taken our training to a new level. It’s one thing just training and focusing on wanting to do well, it’s another to feel like the whole country
training) and try to get the most rest that we can,” Bartholomay, 24, said. “It’s part of your training but a lot of people don’t realize it and we have ac- tively started to eat a lot of recovery foods and get adequate rest.” Before making that decision, Bartholomay,
24, would train from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., coach until 5:30 p.m. and then put on his black pants, black shirt and tie, and maroon apron and work at Gio Fabulous for a few hours. Zhang, 20, would train, go to school and then go into work at
J.Crew. “After placing and skating well at nationals and then going to Detroit and also skating well, we realize that we have a shot and why not give it all we got,” Zhang said after the team’s seventh-place finish at Skate America, their first-ever Grand Prix assignment.
Te team actually started their season in
mid-September in Salt Lake City, where they de- buted two new programs — their short to “Car- ousel Waltz” and their free skate to Les Miserables — at the U.S. International Classic. Teir score improved by more than 38 points from that first competition to their efforts at Skate America. Teir coach, Jim Peterson, who led two pairs teams to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, said it’s been business as usual: keep on training, do multi- ple run-throughs and preparation. “We don’t really talk about expectations too
much,” Peterson said. “Every time we go into a competition, it’s what can we control and skate the best we can and hopefully the marks will reflect that. Each competition is a learning experience, be- cause they are so new.” Tat said, Peterson added that “anything is possible in pairs skating.” “It’s whoever has a great day,” he said. “I had both teams at the Olympics last time and that was something that I wasn’t necessarily expecting.” Zhang and Bartholomay have adopted Pe-
terson’s businesslike approach to their day-to-day training. “Part of our 100 percent going for it is not thinking about the Olympics,” Bartholomay said. “We really find our training excels most when we are just training. Is there pressure for the Olympics?
Felicia Zhang and Nate Bartholomay take a step forward in Detroit.
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76