Home sweet home By Michael Terry
Alexander Johnson came home to compete. Johnson, who was born in Minneapolis and left in 2010 to train in Colorado Springs, Colo- rado, fi nished sixth overall after a seventh-place short program and fi fth-place free skate. It was his best fi nish ever in the senior division, where he was making his sixth apperance. Johnson estimates he had about 40 family and friends in the stands, but he recognized plen- ty of others he had skated with over the years in Minnesota. “When I fi rst took the ice, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know if people would be super loud because I was a hometown kid or if they’d be a little quieter. T e energy was amazing though. I felt great even though I was scared I might feel a little more pres- sure. Everyone was so supportive.”
And they were supportive on and off the ice. Johnson said that he still treated the experience like a business trip and remained focused and kept his off -ice activities to a mini-
mum.
Fuji TV interviews
U.S. greats By Barb Reichert Fuji Television Network of Japan was in
Saint Paul interviewing competitors and the big- gest names in U.S. fi gure skating for its supple- mental coverage of the 2016 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
In addition to speaking with athletes who will compete in Boston, Fuji TV plans a feature on how the U.S. rebuilt its fi gure skating program after the crash of Sabena Flight 548 that claimed the lives of the entire 1961 U.S. World Team. With an interpreter in to
will compete in Boston, F TV plans a featur tow, the Japanese-lan-
guage network sat down for in-depth interviews with Olympic champions Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi and Olympic champion coach Frank Carroll.
Carroll shared memories of his coach, nine-time U.S. ladies champion Maribel Vinson Owen, who died when the plane crashed in Brussels, Belgium. Carroll, a U.S. and World hall-of-famer best known for coaching such American greats as Michelle Kwan, Evan Lysacek and currently 2016 U.S. ladies champi- on Gracie Gold, told Fuji that Owen had a profound infl uence on his approach to coaching.
Hamill, the 1976 Olympic champion, refl ect- ed on her career and her admiration of two-time World champion Janet Lynn, who won the 1972 Olympic bronze medal. Yamaguchi spoke of the strength and inspiration of the American program. Fuji Television is a broadcasting rightsholder for the 2016 ISU World Figure Skating Cham- pionships, which will be competed in Boston March 28–April 3.
Simply delicious By Renee Felton Chen x 2 By Amy Rosewater
Karen and Jeffrey Chen
T e 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Champion-
ships were a busy time for the Chen family. Early in the event, Jeff rey Chen and his ice dance part- ner, Layla Karnes, won the juvenile dance title in Bloomington, Minnesota, about a 30-minute drive from Saint Paul. Later, Chen’s older sister, Karen, the 2015 U.S. bronze medalist, competed in the senior ladies event. Karen placed eighth, but was excited about her brother’s title. “I was thrilled for him,” Karen said. “He just
started ice dancing six or seven months ago. I had tried to help him with his jumps and suggested ice dance. At fi rst, he didn’t want to try it but now he has fallen in love with it.” T e switch to ice dance has meant their moth- er has been spending a lot of time at various rinks in Southern California. Karen’s home base is in River- side, and Jeff rey trains about 40 minutes away. “My mom is driving to the rink at 5 a.m. with him and then she comes back and gets me. Sometimes the traffi c is just terrible,” Karen said. “But it’s been good. T ey’ve (Layla and Jeff ) trained really hard. T ey worked their butts off and now they won.”
In conjunction with Visit Saint Paul, U.S.
Figure Skating celebrated the fi rst Taste of the Championships during the nine days of the 2016 U.S. Championships. Olympic champion and celebrity chef Brian Boitano, along with several celebrity judges, took a foodie tour to nine restau- rants around downtown Saint Paul to sample local fare. T e menu items, which were judged on fl avor, creativity and nutritional value, were inspired by the U.S. Championships and featured fi gure skating-related monikers. Boitano and fellow judges, including Kristi
A fi gure skating cast of (l-r) Brent Bommentre, Brian Boitano, Rusty Kath, Caryn Kadavy, Michael Weiss and Michael Buckley sample the tasty dishes at Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub.
Yamaguchi, Meryl Davis, Michael Weiss, Caryn Kadavy, Brent Bommentre, in-arena host Rusty Kath and others, selected the winners as follows: Pazzaluna for its Triple Jump Bell Pepper Risotto (fl avor), Kincaid’s for the Signature Move Seared Ahi (creativity) and Rival House for its Season’s Best Citrus Broiled Salmon (nutritional value).
SKATING 29
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