For Meissner, Campbell's Classic is M'm! M'm! Good!
By Laurie Nealin, Special to U.S. Figure Skating Online |
| All of the competitors gathered Thursday in St. Paul for a holiday-themed photo shoot for the cover of SKATING magazine. |
Photos from Thursday at the Campbell's Classic (three pages)
All Campbell's Classic Event Details
(9/30/04) — Michelle Kwan had her game face on, flying around the ice at amazing speed, showing more powerful jumps and elongated body lines.Sasha Cohen, her spiral sequence as exquisite as ever, floated through her new Nutcracker program, showcasing her flexibility and flawless form.
The Japanese women, Shizuka Arakawa and Miki Ando, displayed the confident jumping style that brought them fame and fortune last season.
Meanwhile, U.S. junior champion Kimmie Meissner drank it all in.
Thursday was practice day for the world's top-four ranked ladies, who will open their 2004-05 season in St. Paul on Friday at the Campbell's International Figure Skating Classic. World champion Arakawa, World medalists Cohen and Kwan, and fourth-place finisher Ando, who also claimed the 2004 World Junior crown, headline the one-day, ISU-sanctioned event.
Also testing the ice were European champion Julia Sebestyen of Hungary, and seasoned U.S. competitors Amber Corwin and Jennifer Kirk, both sounding motivated and upbeat in the post-practice chat with the media.
A late addition to the stellar line-up, Meissner couldn't help but be in awe of the heady company in which she found herself Thursday as she went through her paces at the Xcel Energy Center.
Fresh off two silver-medal finishes at Junior Grand Prix events in France and Long Beach, Calif., Meissner, the 2004 World Junior silver medalist, will make her international senior competitive debut in St. Paul Friday.
"It's very exciting. They are all my idols and everything," said Meissner, who celebrates her 15th birthday on Monday. "When I was out there skating with them, I was a little frantic, but it was OK.
"It's a big learning experience for me before nationals," added Meissner, who will compete on the senior level at the 2005 State Farm U.S. Championships in Portland, Ore., in January.
Kwan, 24, the five-time World and reigning eight-time U.S. champion, recalls the time she made her senior debut among an international field of elite ladies competitors. It was at the Goodwill Games in 1994 in St. Petersburg. She had just turned 14 and grabbed the silver.
"It was a big adjustment, being on the ice with World champions and Olympic medalists," she recalled.
Last year Kwan won silver at this event, then passed on the fall Grand Prix events before returning to claim her eighth national crown in January and World bronze in March. This season, her competitive schedule could be more intense.
Kwan is slated to compete at the first ISU Grand Prix event, Smart Ones Skate America, in Pittsburgh, in three weeks. The following week she is scheduled to be in Halifax for Skate Canada. Kwan is planning to compete at Skate America. However, she is not 100 percent certain about the rest of her Grand Prix schedule.
"I'm scheduled for Skate America and Skate Canada,” Kwan said Thursday. “We'll just see. Since 2002, I've been really taking one thing at a time, and I think it's worked that way because I've competed for so many years. The last thing I want to do is rush into anything."
For Cohen, who returns to defend her Campbell's Classic title, this competition should prove to be a timely test-run heading into Skate America. She is also the defending champion in that event.
"It seems so soon since Worlds," Cohen said, noting she was not yet in the same impressive form that she showed at the start of last season. "[This event] is a great chance to get your program out there, get your start, see where the glitches are and what needs work," added Cohen, whose free skate is set to The Nutcracker.
Kwan also feels the season start has come too quickly. Still, she is pleased with her progress since Worlds.
"My jumps seem a lot more solid than they were a few months ago, even at Worlds," she said.
In St. Paul, Kwan will debut her new "Bolero" program, choreographed by Christopher Dean. "Bolero" is a signature piece for Dean and his partner Jayne Torvill, who won the 1984 Olympic gold medal in ice dancing with their interpretation of Ravel's classic piece.
Men's title up for grabs
On the men's side, the U.S. is fielding a strong contingent led by U.S. champion Johnny Weir, fifth-ranked in the world. Returning from injury and skate boot problems that put him on the sidelines last season is World and Olympic medalist Timothy Goebel. Evan Lysacek, the three-time World Junior silver medalist, completes the American trio who will face-off against competitors from France, Canada and Japan.
Based on last season's results, Frenchman Brian Joubert, the reigining World silver medalist, must be considered the top contender for gold here, but Canada's Emanuel Sandhu, the reigning Grand Prix Final champion, will also be in the hunt. As well, Japan's Takeshi Honda, twice the World bronze medalist, is back from a serious ankle injury that kept him on the bench almost all of last season.
After Thursday's practice, Weir advised he is dealing with a sprained right, take-off foot after tripping off a curb last weekend.
"If I get through my program, it will be a definite plus," said Weir, who trained alongside Joubert this summer. Both worked under the direction of legendary Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova and reigning Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin.
"That's why there was no quad on that (practice) session. I'm in that much pain when I'm skating. So, triple Axel, quad toe, triple Salchow even, is kind of flaky right now. I just want to get my program out there and get in front of an audience before I get thrown to the wolves," Weir added, refering to his first Grand Prix assignment in Japan.
Goebel was in a positive frame of mind after his practice skate.
"Things are going much better this year. I'm healthy and I have good equipment," he said. "I'm taking my time coming back. ... I want to come into this event, skate a solid program, do two triple Axels and hopefully a quad and use this as a good base, build each competition, little bit by little bit. For this point in the season, I think I'm where I need to be."
Last year's Campbell's champion, Evgeny Plushenko, the three-time World champion, was unable to return to defend his title.
The Campbell's Classic marks the first time since the 1998 World Championships that an Olympic-eligible competition has been held in the Twin Cities.
On Friday evening, competitors will each perform a free skate for the five-judge panel. The event will be scored using the traditional 6.0 system.
The Campbell's prize purse totals $200,000 with $50,000 for first place, $25,000 for second, and $15,000 for third. Fourth through sixth-place will earn $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.
While there is no pairs or ice dancing competition at the Campbell's Classic, U.S. pairs champions Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, and U.S. ice dancing champions Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto will perform exhitions Friday evening.
