Tara Lipinski on the women's competition: Time to up the ante

Editor's note:  With the World Figure Skating Championships in town last week, Ticket to Vancouver featured posts from skaters who have been in elite competitions and won. It ended Saturday night with the ladies' free skate competition. Gold medalist and 1997 world champion Tara Lipinski, who wrote on Thursday and again on Saturday, wraps up that event for us today.

Kim Yu-Na skated her heart out Saturday night. She took the ice with a commanding lead coming out of the short program. She left the ice with a world title, becoming the first skater to earn over a combined 200 points.  Nerves can take away the natural emotion and passion that skaters feel on the ice.  Not Yu-Na, her skating had a remarkable lyrical quality accompanied by fierce athleticism.  As I watched her, I felt her every emotion and was completely drawn into her program. Coached by newly inducted World Hall of Fame member Brian Orser, she kept the audience captivated the entire four minutes.  I am so happy for Brian, he is a wonderful skater and no doubt a dedicated, caring, and immensely talented coach. His experience has probably been most invaluable to her. 

Mao Asada knew she had to bring it.  She is the only female to ever land two triple axels in competition.  Saturday night she landed one of the two in her program. The first was in combination and flawless.  Mao was in it to win and skated her free skate with familiar race. Coming in as reigning world champion may have added to the pressure, but at this level there is always pressure.  She has a year to get ready for the Olympics and I know she will be training hard with Coach Tatiana Tarasova, who has taken more skaters to Olympic gold than any other.  If she skates with two triple axels in Vancouver, she may be tough to beat.

I know Joannie Rochette must be excited to have the Olympics on her home turf.  Her two programs were choreographed beautifully, the short by Shae Lynn Bourne and the long by Lori Nichols. She is energetic and powerful. How exciting it could be to skate for gold in your country!

I am so proud of Rachael Flatt.  At her world championships debut she took fifth place. She skated strong and if you didn’t know better it looked as though she had been there a few times before. One of the things I like about Rachael is that she is a focused competitor. If she has nerves I couldn’t tell by watching her. She sure keeps them in tow.  
 
Alissa Czisny came back in the long, not letting misses from the short program affect her performance.  Alissa, I know what you went through. I had a rough short program at the 1996 world championships but skated well in the long. It is a great way to end the competition and begin to focus on next year.

Although Vancouver is less than a year away, these ladies have an entire season facing them. You can’t get ahead of yourself -- a lot can happen. You have to take each competition one at a time. A year can also bring a lot of surprises.  The current favorites might not be the favorites in Vancouver.  I think it will come down to who wants it most and who is going to train the hardest.  There will be highs and lows in any season but its all about peaking at the right time. It’s also time to up the ante. Yu-Na won with five triples. The door is still open.  It will be interesting to see who walks thorough it.

Choreographing my programs for my Olympic year was one of the most memorable and cherished moments of my journey to Nagano. I hope that all these talented ladies will treasure the special moments as they prepare their new programs for this upcoming year.

They could be the programs that take them to the games.

They could be the programs that take them to the gold.

-- Tara Lipinski

No matter how you write it, skating's Yuna Kim spells greatness

(Fans of South Korea's Yuna Kim show their transliterated support at the world championships while fans of Japan's Mao Asada do it in Japanese characters. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

I had a nice e-mail from a South Korean reader who suggested that the phonetic — or transliterated — spelling being used in English for his country's great figure skating star, Kim Yu-Na, was incorrect.

He said it should be Kim Yun-A or Kim Yeon-A because it is as much a pronunciation issue as a spelling issue, and there should not be a break after the "u'' sound.

I replied that the English-language media have taken the Yu-Na spelling from the way her name is listed by the International Skating Union.

But I figured it was time to do a little more research to make sure I respect Korean culture by getting it right, especially since I will be writing and saying this young woman's name frequently between now and the 2010 Olympics, where she will be a gold medal favorite based on her performances in winning the world title last week in Los Angeles.

First of all, I have chosen to write it with the family name (Kim) first because that is the Korean manner: family name, then given name. That also is the case in Chinese, but I eventually wrote the name of Chinese figure skating world champion Chen Lu as Lu Chen because she told U.S. media that was her preference for English usage.

I called the South Korean consulate in Chicago to check on the correct way to write Kim's given name, and this is what Lee Eun (who signed her e-mail Eun Lee) told me:

"According to her official website, the preferred spelling of her name is 'Yuna.'  Your reader was correct  in pointing out the subtle differences between 'Kim Yu-Na'  and 'Kim Yun-A'  (or 'Yeon-A') because her Korean name is pronounced 'Gim Yuhn Ah.' ''

(That pronunciation has a hard "G,'' like "gimmick,'' and a short "u,'' like "un.'')

"Having said that,''  Lee's e-mail continued, "Ms. Kim is a world-class athlete who is competing on an international level and may have made a conscious choice to make her name . . . easier for foreigners to understand and remember. The ISU lists her name as 'Yu-Na Kim' and so does NBC. I doubt it would have been written as such without the consent of her team.''

The same could apply to the order of the names, Lee said, suggesting it might be better to avoid confusion by putting the given name first.

So what would Ms. Lee's personal choice be for English use of her countrywoman's name?

"Yuna Kim.''

OK by me.

Now let's see if I can get everyone else to go along.

But, as Shakespeare might have said, a Yuna by another name, like Yu-Na or Yun-A, would skate as great.

— Philip Hersh

Scoring system, Dick and Michelle, Kim Yu-Na and other thoughts

Came home from the final evening of the World Figure Skating Championships late Saturday night and watched my tape of the NBC broadcast. Wished there had been more Dick Button and Michelle Kwan.

Noticed that there didn't seem to be a mention of figure skating on ESPN all week. Maybe I missed it. If so, sorry. But, geez, the world championships are held in the United States, an American man, Evan Lysacek, is the surprise men's gold medalist, and about 18,000 people are brought to their feet in a standing awe-vation over a Korean skater named Kim Yu-Na -- who, if you're an avid watcher of ESPN you've now probably not heard of. It was sports news; it's worth covering the worldwide leader.

And about the skating. It was lovely, it was inspiring, it made this skating fan look forward to the Olympic season. For awhile, especially during the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan and Tara Lipinski-Michelle Kwan-Sarah Hughes years, I covered a lot of figure skating. I first wrote about Naomi Nari Nam and Sasha Cohen here too. I've been more removed from the sport since the new scoring system was installed, but I've heard much about how horrible it is and how it's taking away the artistry and making the sport a robotic, jump-by-numbers snoozefest.

But that's not what I saw this week at Staples. It wouldn't matter if you used numbers, letters or perfect 6's, 10's, 100's or 1,000's, Kim was graceful and athletic, interpreted her music, felt her moves, covered the ice, jumped like Kobe and landed them like a Tiger Woods chip shot: silently and without movement. I don't see how the new scoring system has hindered Kim's development in any way.

Lysacek didn't need a quadruple jump to win a world title. He needed to land his triples, feel his spirals, play on the ice as if he were a gallant 1940s gentleman dancing to Gershwin, which he did, and the scoring system didn't stop Lysacek from playing to his strengths.

And it isn't the scoring system that is keeping the U.S. women behind Kim or Canada's Joannie Rochette or Japan's Mao Asada and Miki Ando. Can Del Mar's Rachael Flatt become a more musical, lyrical skater as she matures? Is Irvine's Caroline Zhang committed to the sport enough to rediscover the spark that made her a junior national champion? Will Arcadia skater Mirai Nagasu's foot heel? Will she be able to corral her talent and growth spurt and become the skater many think could challenge Kim and Asada? What if Cohen, who is living in Corona del Mar, decides to come back? Or Kwan (she teased NBC co-hosts Bob Costas and Button in Saturday's broadcast about whether she might make a comeback)?

What I liked was that even after Kwan saw Kim's ethereal, athletic and dominating winning performance, she was not intimidated. And maybe she shouldn't be. The top female skaters are still only doing five or six triples in their long programs. That's what Kwan was doing up until her injuries forced her from the Turin Games.

Should be a fun skating year leading to Vancouver. And a lot of the skating stories will be coming from Southern California. ESPN is opening its own studio out here next month. Maybe they'll even report on some of them!

-- Diane Pucin

Rachael Flatt can hardly wait for next year

Rachael Flatt, the 16-year-old from Del Mar, was not in awe of the occasion during her first world championship free skate.

She did six triple jumps and her only mistake was in failing to complete her triple-triple combination.

She earned a season-high score of 113.11 points. Whether that moves her up from seventh place overall won't be determined until this final group of skaters has finished.

Until then, check out her post-skate interview:

-- Diane Pucin

Alissa Czisny feels redeemed

Alissa Czisny didn't fall during her long program.

And if she didn't complete more than three credited triple jumps, and seemed to improvise throughout her free skate done to the music of Dr. Zhivago, the 21-year-old U.S. nationals champion said she will use the lessons she learned from faltering so badly in her short program.

She was 14th going into Saturday's performance and wants to improve her mental toughness during the next year of preparations for trying to qualify for the 2010 Olympics.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Alissa Czisny performs her long program on Saturday during the world championship women's competition at Staples Center. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Here's Alissa's interview not long after her long program:

Staples Center looks nearly full

As it gets close to the time for the first U.S. skater, Alissa Czisny, to take the ice, Staples Center looks nearly full. And there are a lot of people holding tightly to South Korean flags. This is going to be almost a hometown crowd for short program leader Kim Yu-Na.

Plus there's a line five deep waiting for autographs from men's champion Evan Lysacek and his coach Frank Carroll. The folks trying to order fresh pasta from the nearby food stand are having trouble getting their hot plates out of the crowd without causing sauce disasters.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Women's leader Kim Yu-Na acknowledges the Staples Center crowd after her short program on Thursday night. Credit: Kyle Terada / US Presswire

Figure skater Candice Didier is OK after fall

Candice Didier, the Frenchwoman who took a hard fall on a triple toeloop jump and crashed into the Staples Center boards, suffered a bruised hip but will be released shortly from a medical clinic and is supposed to make a full recovery.

Didier took a three-minute injury timeout after her fall and was able to finish her long program.

-- Diane Pucin

Painful afternoon unfolds at figure skating championships

Watching the early groups of skaters in the free skate, the ones who scored worst in the short program, can be both heartwarming and frightening. So far today it's been both.

The first skater, Ana Cecilia Cantu of Mexico, fell on her first jump and on another fall she hit the boards harder than any Kings hockey player. Cantu finished her routine, though, just like she did at Four Continents where you can see some of her routine here.

But more frightening was the fall taken by French skater Candice Didier, who, in the first minute of her routine missed a jump that left her sliding into the boards, first with her elbow, then head and finally with her torso. She screamed in pain, curled into a ball and held her ribs as medical personnel lifted her off the ice. As she sat in the kiss-and-cry area bent over in pain fans shouted "turn off the cameras" and her suffering was taken off the large overhead monitor.

After an allowed three-minute injury timeout, however, Didier gathered herself and finished her routine with only one other fall. She received a standing ovation and smiled through her tears while holding her side as she awaited her scores. Her routine actually put her in first place after three skaters. And here's Didier during her short program Friday.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Candice Didier falls to the ice and toward the boards at Staples Center during her long program on Saturday afternoon at Staples Center. Credit: Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images

Tara Lipinski on the scoring system: Skaters who go for it are the ones to watch

Editor's note: All week, Ticket to Vancouver has been featuring posts from past skating champions. On Thursday it was Olympic gold medalist and 1997 world champion Tara Lipinski, who recalled her own victory at worlds and "being in the zone." She is back today, the day of the ladies free skate, to talk about the scoring system.

Skating has progressed through the years, and it's about time judging evolved as well. The international judging system, or IJS, is intended to be fair and unbiased. In essence, each stroke a skater takes is analyzed by the panel. 

Programs are dissected and every aspect of an element is accounted for. You will never have to worry that any facet of a skater’s program is going unnoticed -- a great attribute of the system. 

Skaters are well-informed of the criteria necessary to maximize their scoring potential. The elements that comprise an individual’s score do allow the audience and, more importantly, the judges to know the caliber of a program. 

In a way, it is a little like the degree of difficulty in diving or gymnastics. Maybe it’s not as "simple" as the old six-point system, and a common complaint is that the audience can’t figure it out. Could the audience truly figure out how a program was judged under the six-point system? I don’t think so. It’s just that 5.9 seems like an easier number to work with rather than 70.23 (or whatever the score may be).

It may seem confusing, but with the right explanation everyone should know exactly what to watch for and know when we might see a 70-point-plus performance in a short program like we did Friday from Kim Yu-Na. Audiences appreciate good skating whether the skater scored 5.8/5.8 or 68.95.
 
Some other questions arise. Under the IJS will skaters really go for it and take the risk of pushing the technical envelope? I would like to think the answer is yes. The IJS separates the skaters that have the confidence and ability to attempt more difficult elements from those who do not. Our elite female skaters continue to raise the bar, attempting triple axels, triple lutz-triple loop combinations, beautiful spiral variations and difficult spin positions, knowing the rules will recognize and reward. 

At the same time, this is exactly where the system has its faults. A skater may choose to increase the number of less demanding moves in a program in place of fewer moves that have higher scoring potential. By doing this, a program can score at the same point level but with less risk of execution.

The skaters that I take pleasure in watching are the ones who do go for it. These are the skaters who will reach new heights and push boundaries. They are the ones who will make the sport grow and evolve. 

I realize some competitors are adding up the points they could lose by taking chances and it can be scary -- but, after all, it is competition.  I knew that I had to land triple triples to make the podium. Under the old system I never added points but I definitely knew where a fall would land me. I skated on the offensive. When I returned from a competition, I worked on new jumps, new combos, anything that might set me apart.

I always wanted to try something new that would distinguish me from my competitors. With that said, consistency is paramount. I can't imagine that today's skaters feel any different than I did.

On Friday, Yu-Na, Joannie Rochette and Mao Asada found a beautiful balance of artistry and technicality. The best skaters will always differentiate themselves by executing unique programs with a mix of difficulty and balletic qualities.

If there was ever a time to educate the general public on what to look for when a skater performs it is now. I think as a group we have been divided on the judging system and we are doing neither the sport nor our audience any favors. 

Vancouver is right around the corner, and I want to do my part to encourage the fans to get excited.  This has the makings of a great pre-Olympic year!

-- Tara Lipinski

More musical memories

Pernelle Carron and Matthieu Jost of France used an uplifting compilation of Edith Piaf music, with Piaf's vocals, which had the crowd clapping and stamping feet, and it was perfect for ice dancing and for just plain singing along if you know a little French.

And the next couple, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy, chose a "Love Story" soundtrack sung by Nana Mouskouri. Now I loved the movie as much as the next girl and I know there was skating in "Love Story," but is what you're going for here, to make the fans (at least the female ones) all weepy?

-- Diane Pucin

Pernelle Carron and Matthieu Jost of France compete in the Free Dance during the 2009 ISU World Figure Skating Championships on March 27, 2009 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)