Columnist image

TSN Figure Skating Analyst

Archive

Canadian pairs champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford capped off a dream season at the world figure skating championships in Shanghai, China by continuing their undefeated streak and winning the gold medal.
 
It was the deepest pairs field that I have seen at the worlds and one of the best pairs events ever.  The Canadians were pushed by three Chinese teams who were at their finest in front of a hometown crowd. The young team of Wenjing Sui and Cong Han executed an artistically beautiful free skate, including a quad twist to win the silver. As they have done all year, Meagan  and Eric dominated by building up a comfortable lead in the short program and then followed through with a technically demanding and emotionally uplifting free skate. While Meagan and Eric were the best of the best, Canadian junior world silver medalists Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau did not put a foot wrong on their way to an impressive eighth place finish in their first Senior International event.  Canada's silver medalists, the newly formed team of Lubov Illiushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch, showed signs of brilliance in their first worlds but it was their newness as a pair that was their undoing. After a flawless start, they made a couple of costly errors late in their free skate that dropped them to 13th overall.

A gold was not to be had for Grand Prix ice dance champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. They had come to China undefeated this season and thus as the favourites but ended up third.  With the expectations of gold, bronze was a bitter blow. The devil was in the details for Kaitlyn and Andrew with a miss of a level in the short dance and a lift deduction in the free. In the end, the Americans Chock and Bates built a lead in the short with all level 4 elements; a lead which held up for silver.  

The French team Papadakis - Cizeron, who were in fourth in the short, had the performance of the night with their free dance - a captivating dance that also delivered the technical levels - and so the title was theirs, leaving Kaitlyn and Andrew in third.  Over the years I have watched adversity and disappointments define and strengthen Kaitlyn and Andrew.  They are in for a long hard battle as they work their way towards the Korean Olympics but history indicates that their capacity to handle the hurdles is immense.  Key for them now is the planning for next year.  The bottom line is they need the material or the vehicle that will win the emotions of the audience and set them apart. The most crucial part of their next year will likely take place in the next two months when they decide on their music in their quest for world gold.

Canadian dance silver medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier moved up to sixth from their eight place finish last year.  They finished this year on high with season's bests in both programs. The other Canadian team, Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam, were on their way to another top ten finish sitting in eighth after the short dance with a superb skate, but a rash of technical errors in the free dance dropped them to 13th.

The audiences in Shanghai ate up the performances of 16-year-old Canadian champion Nam Nguyen who over delivered once again.  Realistically, a top eight finish was optimistically hoped for but a top five finish? Even his coach, Brian Orser, did not see that coming. At the beginning of Nam's short program when he looked over, beamed at the rink side audience and they responded with shrieks of joy, I knew he was going to be on.  He reminds me of Kurt Browning in the way that he works a crowd and feeds off it. These audiences were charmed by him and hung on every move which brought his level of presentation to new heights on this international stage.

It was heartwarming to watch Nam interact backstage with his training mates and mentors Javier Fernandez the new World Champion and Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu who won the silver here.  The past few years Nam has grown up watching these athletes show what's possible by doing the seemingly impossible each day in practice.  He also sees the tough days, gruelling run-throughs and the acceptance of physical and emotional strain on a daily basis.  Nam knows what it takes, that the sky's the limit and he runs with it. Not only is he a kid that is totally committed but as we saw here once again in Shanghai he loves to perform and the bigger the competition the brighter the spotlight.  

Jeremy Ten of Canada struggled in the free skate to finish in 22nd overall, however, Canadian men earned enough points to qualify two men to the World Championships next year which is a key point considering Patrick Chan is planning to return to competition.

Canada's women, who are both young and relatively inexperienced at this level, drew mixed reviews in Shanghai.  Canadian champion Gabby Daleman, plagued by injury coming in, drew solace from the fact that she fought through but the results, 21st overall, were disastrous for a Canadian champion.

Alaine Chartrand had a solid short and shaky long for an 11th place finish overall which in terms of placement is nothing to scoff at. However, I did not think it was a well skated ladies event other than Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's  triple axel and Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner's comebacks in the free skate.  It was a weaker field from what we have seen in the past making it a perfect time for Alaine and Gabby to rise up and make their mark. It was an opportunity missed this year but a valuable learning experience if they treat it as such.  Both of these skaters have the ability to compete with the best. Both physically and emotionally they have what it takes. It is crucial that they take what they've learned from Shanghai, reassess and chart a slightly different course for the season ahead.