ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2010

The ISrJ World Junior Figure Skating Championships2010 opened in The Hague, The Netherlands with the

Compulsory Dance and the Pairs Short Program. 2l I

skaters/couples from 53 ISU members were entered forthe Championships. All skaters/couples competed in the

Short Program and the top 24 Men and Ladies and the top

l6 Pairs proceeded to the Free Skating. In lce Dance, all

couples competed in the Compulsory Dance, the top 30

couples advanced to the Original Dance and the top 20

dance teqms competed in the Free Dance'

Compulsory DanceCompulsory Dance is the Westminster Waltz created in

London in 1938 by Eric can der Weyden and Eva Keats.

The two sequences of the dance should be performed

with elegance of line, strong edges and a soft flowing

stance. Russia's Elena llinykh, 15, & Nikita Katsalapov,

18, danced to the lead, followed by Maia Shibutani, 15, &

Alex Shibutani, 18, (USA) and Ekaterina Pushkash, 17 , &

Jonathan Guerreiro, 18, of Russia.Ilinykh & Katsalapov, delivered a flowing, confident

performance of the Waltz to score a seasons best of 37.52

points. "It is a little unexpected for us to be in the lead,

after all, we are not the top ranked Russian team," Ilinykh

said, referring to the fact that they placed 2"d to Ksenia

Monko & Kirill Khaliavin at the ISU Junior Grand Prix

Final and Russian Junior Nationals. The duo skated

together and trained under Sasha Zhulin while Zhulin was

working in the U.S. then split in 2005, to partner with

others, only to reunite in the spring of 2008 to work under

Zhulin once again after he returned to Moscow."We've worked very hard since the Final in December'

we worked especially on our technique and physical

strength. We did many run-throughs of our programs. We

are pleased that we were able to improve the technical side

of our skating," Ilinykh commented.The couples ranked 2"d through 5'r' are separated by less

than one point. The Shibutanis, had a solid Westminster

Waltz to pick up 34.27 points. "We're very happy with our

dance, and we really enjoy skating the Westminster. It's

very joyful. We just want to put out strong performances.

We think this is a great start to the week and we're just

going to focus on the skating," said Maia Shibutani."We skated really well and we just had a lot of fun

out there. We were relaxed," her brother added. "The

placement is the placement. We still have our goals how

we want to skate and we're going to stick to that."

Pushkash & Guerreiro skated last out of the 34 couples

and produced a strong Waltz as well, showing off their

elegant lines. They teamed up in May of 2009 after skating

with other partners. Guerreiro was the Junior World

bronze medalist last season with Ekaterina Riazanova. The

Russians earned 34.20 points.

46 oreocsor tcr / Mev-Jurue zoro

7'* *"

Maia & Alex Shibutani USA

"We showed everything as we can do it in practice.

and so we are happy and our coach was pleased as well.

We like the Waltz. The flow of the Waltz suits us probably

better than shatp movements in other dances," Pushkash

said. "We skated last and we were a bit nervous, but we

actually like to skate last. We won't relax now, as the

difference in points between the couples is very small'""We are in our first season and we are still gelling as a

team, but the Waltz works well for us as we have matching

body lines. A Quickstep probably would have been a little

harder for us," said her partner.ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions Maria

Monko.l8, & Kiril l Khaliavin, 20, (RUS) came 4th at

34.17 points and Canadians Alexandra Paul, 18, &

Mitchel l Is lam,20, fol low in 5'h with 33.32 points.

Lorenza Alessandrini, 19, & Simone Vaturi, 2l , (ITA) are

ranked 6't' at 32.35 points.Americans RachelTibbetts. 19, and Collin Brubaker,

21, national Junior silver medalists placed 7'h. "We thought

we did a very classy, fluid presentation," he said. "We had

a l4 hour trip here but we came early enough to deal with

the jet lag."

Teammates Piper Gilles, 18, and Zach Donohue,19, placed I l 'h, saying they were disappointed in theirperformance. "We felt stiff. The timing wasn't there," saidGilles.

Original DanceIlynikh & Katsalapov strengthened their lead in theOriginal Dance, but below them, the standings shuffled.Canadians Paul & Islam moved up from 5'h to 2nd andMonko & Khaliavin pulled up from 4'r'to 3'd place.

Skating last out of the 30 couples, Ilinykh &Katsalapov's performance to South American pan pipefolklore was highlighted by intricate footwork and astraight-line lift. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silvermedalists earned a Level 4 for all four elements in thedance and received a personal best score of 59.94 points.Their total score added up to 97 .46 points.

'oOur program went well today. There was a nicesupport from the crowd and you really feel that incompetition," Katsalapov said. "There were a few minorerrors in the programs, errors that probably only we andour coaches noticed and not the spectators and thejudges,but we know what we have to work on for the future,"Ilinykh added.

Another first year team having only teamed up inFebruary of 2009, Paul & Islam interpreted a soft SpanishWaltz and a passionate Flamenco, showing precisionand speed throughout the program. The Canadians gota Level 4 for the twizzles, the lift and the diagonal stepsequence while the side-by-side footwork was graded aLevel 3. Paul & Islam scored 55.90 points and improvedsignificantly on their previous seasons best of 47.91points. Overall they have 89.22 points.

"We are very happy with tonight. We wanted to comeout and to basically skate our personal best and that'sexactly what we did. We were confident going into the ODthis afternoon. We had a good skate two days ago (in theCompulsory Dance)." Islam later said.

Performing a characteristic Ukrainian folk dance,Monko & Khaliavin completed difficult twizzles and awhirling rotational lift. The twizzles were a Level4, butthe circular steps garnered only a Level 2.The ISU JuniorGrand Prix Final Champions earned 53.55 points andaccumulated 87.72 poinls "Our performance was good,there were a few glitches, but overall it was clean and ourcoach was happy with it," Khaliavin said.

Reigning World Junior silver medalists the Shibutanisiblings slipped from 3'd to 4'h. Their Japanese Kodo drumdance was solid, but the side-by-side footwork receivedonly a Level2, and their synchronized twizzles receivedtwo -l GOEs and only one positive GOE on a normallyvery strong element for this team. At 86.94 points, they arestill close to the podium.

Alessandrini & Vaturi moved up one spot to 5'n with alively Tarantella, while Pushkash & Guerreiro droppedfrom 3'd to 6'h after their Russian folk dance, two-footingthe twizzles.

Tibbetts and Brubaker remained in 7'h place with theirlovely Tennessee Waltz,while Gilles & Donohue movedup to 9'r'with their fun country/western routine.

Free DanceIlinykh & Katsalapov danced to the gold medal in whatwas a high-level competition. Canadians Paul & Islamsurprised many by winning the silver medal, while Monko& Khaliavin captured the bronze. All three couplesdebuted at the ISU World Junior Championships.

Ilinykh & Katsalapov gave an emotional performanceto music from Schindler b List. Their performance beganwith machine gun fire. "It ends with a single gun shot.I play the role of Schindler and I am trying to save her.The theme of our free dance is actually very serious.The theme is the war, concentration camps," Katsalapovexplained.

Their performance included difficult step sequencesand lifts that looked effortless. All elements earned a Level4 and positive grades of execution. The ISU Junior GrandPrix Final gold medalists collected 90.82 points setting anew personal best for themselves, and overall accumulated188.28 points to win the title. "It is so exciting for us. Inever thought that we would win Junior Worlds," Ilinykhsaid.

Katsalapov RUSIlinykh &

BLADESON lcr / Mer-.lurr zorc (/

Paul & Islam produced a fast paced Persian dance toSheherazade, that was highlighted by interesting lifts.The Canadians had a Level 4 for the lifts and the spinand a Level 3 for the footwork. They scored 83.15 points,improving their previous personal best significantly, andracked up a total of 172.37 points.

"It's been a really good week for Alex and I. We'vebeen training for this. We laid down three really goodskates, three personal bests. We couldn't be more proud ofourselves," Islam said.

Monko & Khaliavin's powerful Blues program to 1t3a Man s World, featured strong twizzles and lifts, but theircircular footwork was graded only a Level 2. With 8l .09points, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions wereranked 5'h in the Free Dance but overall held on to thebronze at 168.81 points.

"Our performance today was far from ideal, theCompulsory and Original Dance went better for us. Todaywe made some mistakes, but overall it was decent. It wasas successful season for us," Khaliavin commented.

Less than a point separated 3'd place from 5'r' place.2009 World Junior silver medalists, the Shibutani siblings,turned in strong dance to Tango Rhapsody but missed thepodium scoring (168.35 points). "lt went really well. Wegot a lot of experience and learned a lot. The OriginalDance didn't go as well as we'd hoped, but it 's been anexciting year."

Alessandrini &Vaturi also were edged out of thepodium to finish 5th (167.84 points). They performed apassionate Tango routine. Pushkash & Guerreiro came5'h with a romantic Romeo ond Juliet program. sccoring(162.18) points.

Tibbetts & Brubaker held onto 7'h place with theirperformance to En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor, sung bySarah Brightman and Andrea Bocellli. "We were withina point of our Personal Best. We were going for that soto be just a mark off means we're pretty happy with ourperformance."

Gilles & Donohue remained in 9'r' place skating tomusic from Alfred Hitchcock movies. Donohue said,"We lost a lot of points on GOEs, but three of the initialelements got Level4s. I'd say (the performance) wasabout60%o of what we can do."

Pairs Short ProgramThree Chinese pair teams entered the cornpetition throughan inadvertent error made by the ISU when China wasactually only allowed two competitors in the pairs event.No word on what, if anything, the ISU would do or how itwould compensate placements over the error.

Wenjing Sui,l4, & Cong Han, 17, teamed up in 2007training in Harbin under the renowned pairs programChina developed over the years. They grabbed the leadin the Pairs Short Program ahead of Japan's Narumi

48 oleols or lcE / MAY - JuND 2oro

Takahashi & Mervin Tran and Ksenia Stolbova & FedorKlimov of Russia.

Performing to the upbeat Russian folk music Barynia,Sui & Han hit a solid side-by-side double Axel, a highdouble twist and earned a Level 4 for the death spiral andthe pair combination spin, but Sui touched down with herhand on the throw triple Salchow. The ISU Junior GrandPrix Final Champions posted a seasons best score of 60.94points. "Overall we're quite satisfied with our performancealthough in some places it wasn't our best," Han said.

Eighteen year-old Takahashi was born in Chiba, Japan,while partner Tran,l9, is from Regina, SAS, in Canada.They train in Montreal but skate for Japan. Their futurein Olympic competition is in question unless eitherTakahashi or Tran change citizenship. They admitted totheir citizen issues, but are taking things year by year andplan to skate in Senior competition next season.

Their expressive Flamenco program featured two Level4 spins, as well as Level 4s for their lift and death spiral.The reigning ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalistspicked up 59.54 points, which also was a seasons best."Today was really good. We had a few wobbles here andthere, but we were together in the side-by-side spin, whichis better than usual," Tran said.

Stolbova. 18. & Klimov.l9. landed a beautifulthrow triple Salchow, a double twist, a double Axel intheir routine to Russian folklore, but had only a LevelI for their straightline footwork. The couple from St.Petersburg earned a seasons best of 54.26 points. "Weexecuted all our elements, we did our minimum and wedidn't outdo ourselves. We were not pleased with the deathspiral - a Level 2 and the steps only a Level 1, but we arepleased that it was a clean performance and that we gotour best score of the season." said Klimov afterward.

Americans Britney Simpson, 13, & Nathan Miller,21,2'd in Juniors at the recent U.S. Nationals, turned ina clean program to finish 4rt' at 52.20 points. Simpsonwill turn l4 in May, but Miller will age out of Juniorsinternationally, so this will be the team's last appearance atWorld Juniors.

Teammates Felicia Zhang, 16, and Taylor Toth, 21,the U.S. Junior pairs champions placed 6'r' with theirperformance to Rondo Veneziano, while Brynn Carman,15. and A. J . Re iss . 18 . were l3 ' r ' .

Pairs Free ProgramThe ISU reduced the number of entries for the Freeskatethis year, limiting it to only l6 couples for the final. Sui& Han skated to the gold in the Pairs event and Takahashi& Tran clairned the silver. The bronze medal went toStolbova & Klimov.

Sui & Han put down a dynamic performance to theirCharlie Chaplin routine. They opened with a side-by-side double Axel/double Axel seouence and a bis throw

quadruple Salchow, but she two-footed the landing. TheISU Junior Final Grand Prix Champions also hit a tripletwist, a throw triple flip and were awarded a Level 4 forthe spins, the death spiral and the two lifts. They posted anew personal best score with 109.77 points and won thetitle in their debut at Junior Worlds with 170.71 points. Sui& Han are the second Chinese pair to win the ISU WorldJunior Championships after DanZhang & Hao Zhang,thechampions in 2001 and 2003.

"We are pleased with our performance and especiallyhappy that we were able to show the quadruple throw,which is a very difficult element," Han said. "There werea few little mistakes, but overall we think it was good. Thequad throw is hard to do and we've worked together withour coach (Bo Luan) step by step in practice to be able toput it out in competition."

Takahashi & Tran's routine to Butterfly Lovers washighlighted by a double Axel, a high double twist, a throwtriple Salchow and difficult spins and lifts. The ISU JuniorGrand Prix Final silver medalists earned 97.69 points andadded another silver medal to their collection with a totalof 157 .23 points. Takahashi & Tran are the second pairteam from Japan to win a medal at Junior Worlds. YukoKavaguti & Alexander Markuntsov won silver in 2001.

"We're happy with our performance. It's a lot betterthan the other two Junior Worlds we have done. It wasn'tclean-clean, but basically clean, so we are happy aboutthat. It's great to finish the season like this," Tran told thepost-event press conference.

"It was not the best performance tonight, but I'mhappy, because there was no big mistake," addedTakahashi.

Stolbova & Klimov landed a double twist, a throwtriple toe and throw triple Salchow, but she fell on thesecond jump in the triple toe loop/double Axel sequencein their performance Io Oriental Fantasy. The couplefrom St. Petersburg got 91.09 points, establishing a newpersonal best for themselves, and remained in 3'd place at145.35 points.

"Today not all our elements worked out, and so wewere not able to fight for the highest spots on the podium,but we are happy to have held on to third place. This isbasically our biggest success so far, our first internationalsuccess," said Klimov.

Tatiana Novik & Mikhail Kuznetsov (RUS) moved upfrom 5'h to 4th. They completed a rarely seen side-by-sidetriple loop in their routine to music from the soundtrackCadillac. Simpson & Miller slipped from 4'h to 5'h aftershe fell on a double Axel and throw triple loop in theirMoonlight Sonata program. Simpson said afterward, "lhave to attack more."

Zhang & Toth were l0'h in their Wonderland Freeskateto finish l0'h overall, while Carman & Reiss finished inl4'h place.

Artur Gachinski RUS

Men's Short ProgramNineteen year-old Grant Hochstein (USA) won the Men'sShort Program ahead of his teammate Keegan Messing,and Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu, 15. Performingto SleepingBeauty, Hochstein delivered a flawless program thatincluded a double Axel, a triple Lutz-triple toe loop,a triple flip and three Level4 spins. He posted a newpersonal best of 71.35 points to take the lead.

"l didn't have expectations for where I wanted to place.My big goal for this event was just to focus on myself andon my love of skating. That's what I went out and did,and I'm surely very happy with the result," Hochsteincommented. "Competing at the Junior Grand Prix serieshas built my confidence a lot. I wanted to skate with myheart, and I skated with my heart, and I think you alwaysskate better when you love to skate."

Messing, who like Hochstein, is competing in hisfirst Junior World Championships, nailed a triple Axel, atriple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, a triple flip andearned a Level 4 for his combination spin. The l8-year-oldpicked up 68.90 points a new personal best, for his routineset to the classical Four Billion Years from The Soloistsoundtrack.

B L A D E S O N I c E / M A r - J U B E z o r c \ )

"I felt pretty good about how I skated. I went out there,expecting to have some fun, and I had a blast out there,"Messing said. "I was coming into this competition as firstalternate. When I got the call, I felt sorry for him (RossMiner) that he couldn't compete, (due to injury), but Icouldn't help to be excited for myself to actually be here,competing at Junior Worlds and to place second in theShort Program is pretty awesome."

Hanyu skated next to last out of the 46 competitors.He opened his dynamic program to Mission Impossible2 with a triple Axel, followed by a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination and a triple flip. The ISU Junior GrandPrix Final Champion got a Level 3 for two spins and thecircular steps to score 68.75 points.

"Today's performance was not very good, but I amsatisfied to be in third place," Hanyu told the press. "lmissed my triple Lfizltriple toe loop combination, but Iam especially disappointed with my spins and footwork. Ilost a few levels there."

Sixteen year-old Denis Ten (KAZ) came 4'h aftermissing completely the flying sit spin and wobbly landingson the triple Axel as well as the triple Lutz-triple toecombination . China's Nan Song, 19, is currently ranked6'h and still close to the podium with 67.97 points. Heturned in a solid performance that included a triple Axel,but he received a deduction for the wrong edge take-off onhis triple flip.

Russia's Artur Gachinski, 16, the Russian Juniorchampion, was 6'n in his performance to Adagio byAlbonini.

American Armin Mahbanoozadeh, 18, was 8'n aftersingling and falling on a flip and received only a Level Ion his flying sit spin. "They were silly mistakes," he said."I just got ahead of myself."

Skating in an earlier group due to his lack ofinternational experience, Artur Dmitriev, Jr.. of Russia, sonof the two-time Olympic pair medalist Artur Sr., was l5'r'after opening with a strong triple Axel, but then fallingon the tripleLfizltriple toe combination. His steps wereLevel 2 and two of his spins only Level I .

Men's Free ProgramHanyu claimed the title in an exciting Men's event whileSong surged from 5'h place to take the silver medal andGachinski came from 6'h place to earn the bronze.

Hanyu, who was ranked 3'd in the Short Program,turned in a strong performance to Rhapsody on a theme ofPaganini by Sergei Rachmaninov that featured two tripleAxels, a triple Salchow-triple toe loop combination as wellas three more triples and fast, well centered spins. Theonly glitch in his fluid routine was a wobbly triple flip.The 15-year-old picked up a personal best score of 147.35points and racked up a total of 216.10 points to take hisfirst medal at the World Junior Championships. Hanyu had

Yuzuru Hanyu JPN

finished l2'h in his debut at the event in 2009. He is the 4thJapanese man to win the World Junior title.

"Today, I am very happy to win this competition andI am satisfied with today's performance, including thejumps, steps and spins. I did my best. I am very happy towin, but I am even happier with the performance itself,"Hanyu said.

Song skated first in the final flight and set the barhigh with a powerful performance to Ennio Morriconesoundtracks, hitting a triple Axel, a big triple Axel-tripletoe loop combination and three other triple jumps. Only atriple Lutz was shaky. He earned a Level 4 for two spinsand scored 137.28 points, setting a new personal best forhimself. Overall he collected 205.25 points and is the firstChinese man to win a silver medal at the ISU World JuniorFigure Skating Championships.

"I am extremely pleased with my performance today.This was my last time to compete at the World JuniorChampionships and I didn't want to have any regrets," thel9-year-old commented. "The size of the medal is not soimportant. This medal gives me so much honor and when Ilook at it, it brings back pleasant memories," he respondedwhen asked what he thinks about the size of the medal.

Skating last to Narcissus - Whispers from the Mirror,Gachinski popped his planned opening quadruple toe loopinto a double, but then continued to nail two triple Axels,five more triple jumps and two Level 4 spins to move upfrom 6'h to 3'd place. The 16-year-old posted 133.99 points,

50 BLADESON IcE / MAY-JUNE2o1o

a new personal best score, and with 199.19 points overall

to win the bronze in his debut at Junior Worlds.

"The quad didn't work out, but all the other elements

were good and I am satisfied," Gachinski told the press'

"Maybe there wasn't enough preparation for the quad

as this was the first time for me to try it in competition'

Maybe I wasn't ready for it, but I felt confident. I'll work

on it for the future."Messing, who stood in 2"d place after the Short

Program, dropped to 4'h overall. He landed seven triple

jumps, but went down on a triple Axel in his program to

The Incredibte Hulk. Overnight leader, Hochstein, fell on a

triple Axel as well and struggled with three other jumps to

drop to 5'h place in his routine to Romeo and Juliet' Andrei

Rogozine (CAN) vaulted from l3'h to 6'h with a strong

performance that included eight triple jumps.

Dmitriev, the only skater to complete a quad jump

(quad toe/double toe) moved up to 5'h in the Freeskate and

7'h overall inhis Pirates of the Caribbean program. Ten,

dropped to l5'h in his Freeskate as three of his triple jumps

were downgraded, another singled, and he tell on his triple

loop. He was 9'h overall.Mahbanoozadeh also had problems, falling on his

2"d triple Axel, the triple loop, and singling aLutz and

anotherAxel, to place l2'h for the skate and l0'h overall' A

disappointing event for the American men.

Ladies Short ProgramAnna Ovcharova,l4, of Russia grabbed the lead in the

Ladies Short Program, closely followed by Japan's

Kanako Murakami, 15, while Polina Agafonova of Russia

came 3'd.Skating to jazzy music from the Russian movie The

Hipster, Ovcharova hit a triple flip out of footwork, a

triple Lutzldouble loop combination, a double Axel and

earned a Level4 for her difficult spins. The l4-year-old

posted a new personal best score of59.80 points' "l felt

very nervous today, There is more pressure in the short,

but I like this routine better than the long program. I didn't

believe my eyes, when my score was so high. I'm really

glad about this," an excited Ovcharova told the press. "l

wanted to do everything in this competition for my Short

Program and I did."Murakami went for a triple toe/triple toe combination

in her expressive Flamenco program, but the second jump

was downgraded. She continued with a triple flip, a double

Axel and also got a Level 4 for her three spins and a Level

3 for the footwork. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final

Champion scored 59.00 Points."I am disappointed with my jump combination,

because it was downgraded. However, the other elements

were better than in practice," Murakami said. "This

competition was my target for the season, and it's still

like a dream to be here. My goal is to earn three places for

Japan for next year."Agafanova, a tiny 13-year old, impressed with her

spins, especially with her beautiful layback spin, but also

nailed a triple Lutzltriple toe loop combination and a

double Axel to pick up a personal best of 56'28 points'

"l didn't expect at all such a high placement, after all

I'm for the first time at this competition. Basically I skated

a good program and I did everything I can do," she said'

"I changed my Short Program (after the Junior Grand Prix

series), because both my programs turned out to be rather

serious and I wanted to show a different style."

Kate Charbonneau, the 2009 Canadian Junior

champion placed 4'r'at 53.80 points with a solid

performance to Malaguena. "My nerves were less than

they were in Poland (where she was 8'h in the JGP)

because I feel more ready. As the season went on I got

more experience and knew more what to expect."

America's Kiri Baga, 14, was substituted forAshley

Wagner, who withdrew two weeks previously. She is

sitting in 5'h place after stumbling on both the triple flip

and the double Axel in her Donce Macabre performance'

Teammates Agnes Zawadzki, the 16 year-old national

Junior champion, fell on a triple flip in her Tango, which

also had an edge call and placed her 8'h. Now training in

Toronto with coach Brian Orser, Christina Gao, 16, was 9tn

ft*.'

Kanako Murakami JPN

BLADES ON lcE / MAr - JUBE zoro Jl

after singling the triple toe in her opening combination inher Morning Passages routine.

Ladies Free ProgramMurakami skated off with the gold medal, while Zawadzkisurged from 8il' to snatch the silver medal and Agafonovaclaimed the bronze. All three medalists debuted at the ISUWorld Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Murakami skated next to last and gave a strongperformance of her Swan Loke program. The ISU JuniorGrand Prix Final Champion reeled off a five triple jumpsincluding two flips and only doubled a Salchow. Shepicked up a Level 4 for her three spins and a Level 3 forthe footwork, but the Lutz received a deduction for thewrong edge take-off. Murakami eamed 106.41points andtotaled 165.47 points to move up from 2nd to 1*.

"I did very well today. There was only onedisappointment, I missed the triple Salchow. I just dida double. It is such a strange feeling that I'm here," shesmiled. "I haven't yet decided whether I will compete injuniors or seniors, but I hope to show better performancesnext season."

Zawadzki's entertaining routine Io Chicago featured atriple loop, two Lutzes, a triple Salchow and toe loop aswell as difficult spins and steps. The only glitch came ona shaky triple flip that received an edge call. She scored105.81 points and took the silver at 156.79 points in whatwas her first international competition.

"This meant a lot, because it's my first internationaland getting second is great. I didn't have much experiencecoming into it, but I think I gained a lot and I learned alot," she said. "I was a little disappointed (yesterday),because I've been doing clean shorts in competitions. Mycoach (Tom Zakrajsek) just told me to trust my trainingand so I did. I felt pretty confident and relaxed."

Agafonova opened her program to the Romeo andJuliet Overture by Peter Tchaikovsky with a tripleLutz-triple toe loop combination and followed up withfour more triples, but the judges deducted for a wrongedge take-off on her flip. She scored highly again forher excellent spins and collected a personal best scoreof 97 .99 points. She was ranked 4'r' in the Free Skatingbut remained in 3'd place overall at 154.27 points. "ldid everything I could. I'm for the first time at thiscompetition and I didn't expect to be third right away. Ihad hoped to make the top ten," she commented afterward.

Shelepen moved up from 1th Io 4th with a solidperformance that included a double Axelitriple toe loopcombination with 151.65 points, while teammate andovernight leader Ovcharova plummeted to 5'r'after fallingon two jumps (147 .52 points). Charbonneau finished 6'r'with 147.46 points. The other two Americans, Baga andGao, finished 7'r' and 8'r' respectively.

Russia was the most successful nation at the ISU World

J 2 B L A D E S O r u l c E / M A Y - J u N E 2 0 r o

d,,,

YJunior Figure Skating Championships with five medalswith the Ice Dance gold and four bronze medals. TeamJapan took the two singles titles and one silver in the Pairs.China eamed a gold in the Pairs and silver in the Men's.Canada got one silver in Ice Dance and the USA have onesilver medal in the Ladies.

For the American Team, it was disappointing tocome home with only one medal after so many previoussuccessful seasons. As a result, the U.S. will have onlyseven slots in next season's Junior Grand Prix instead ofthe maximum 14. Onlv the ton three countries have themaximum slots.

Asnes Zawadzki USA,#{

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ID FOR 2018 OLYMPIC GAMESl0 Olympic ladies champion Yu Na Kim to travel to

h Africa as part of the bid team for the vote by theCommittee in July 2011. Pyeongchang is making it's

ird consecutive bid after beine defeated for the 201014 Games. The city's officials say their chances haven boosted by the success of Kim who has become a

international star.