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| Michelle Kwan Photo by Paul Harvath |
(11/5/04) — Just as Michelle Kwan and Timothy Goebel skated their way to $50,000 in first-place finishes among the $200,000 given away at the Campbell's Classic last Friday, another $200,000 will be given out to the world's top figure skaters at the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating in Auburn Hills, Mich., Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in Auburn Hills for the fifth consecutive year, and tickets are now on sale.
The ladies field will be led by Kwan, who won the Campbell's Classic. The five-time World and eight-time U.S. champion performed her new free skate to “Bolero” to wow the judges and the crowd at the St. Paul Xcel Center, securing herself the $50,000 first-place prize. She will be joined in Auburn Hills by current World silver medalist Sasha Cohen, 2004 World champion Shizuka Arakawa of Japan and 2004 U.S. bronze medalist Jennifer Kirk. At the 2003 winter event Kwan won the gold opposite Arakawa's silver and Cohen's bronze.
Leading the men's field are 2004 World silver medalist Brian Joubert of France and 2004 U.S. champion Johnny Weir. Joubert began the 2004-05 season with a second-place finish at the Campbell's Classic, and Weir, struggling with a foot fracture, finished in fourth. At the 2003 winter invitational in Auburn Hills, Evgeny Plushenko of Russia won the gold, Canada's Jeff Buttle won the silver and Michael Weiss took home the bronze. A finalized roster with additional skaters will be announced prior to the event.
Tickets for the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating are now on sale and can be purchased at www.palacenet.com, the Palace Box Office and all Ticketmaster centers. Tickets may also be charged by phone to American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover by calling 248.645.6666. Reserved seats will be priced at $55 and $25 and general admission tickets are $15. Special Superfan seating is available. Group discounts are available for groups of 15 or more, senior groups and scout groups by calling 248.371.2055. The event will be nationally broadcast by ABC Sports on Dec. 18 from 1-3 p.m. EST.
At the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating skaters will compete for $200,000 of prize money, part of a first-time $600,000 pot up for grabs at three linked events throughout the 2004-2005 season. The introduction of prize money marks an investment by U.S. Figure Skating to increase the level of competition at the events. Each athlete will perform one free skate in front of an international panel of five judges. Prize money will then be allocated to the top six finishers in ladies and the top six finishers in men's: first, $50,000; second, $25,000; third, $15,000; fourth, $ 5,000; fifth, $3,000; and sixth, $2,000. The three events to award $200,000 each are the Campbell's International Figure Skating Classic in St. Paul, Minn., on Oct. 1; the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Dec. 3; and the Marshalls International Figure Skating Challenge in Tampa, Fla., on March 28.
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