In the News:

2020 U.S. Nationals

21-26 January 2020

Greensboro, NC

Gracie Gold Jumps Back Into National Ring

By Liz Leamy

Gracie Gold, much to the excitement of many fans and thousands of those involved in the sport, is in the proverbial house here in Greensboro where she has been making, in typical style, quite a splash.

The Chicago-area native, who captured the attention of the world back in mid 2010s when she clinched the 2014 and 2016 U.S. titles with her power, pizzazz and infectious high energy, valiantly made her way back into the national center ring upon scoring bronze medals at the 2020 South Atlantic Regional and 2020 Eastern Sectional Championship events last fall.

The beguiling 24 year-old, who also placed fourth at the 2014 Olympics and 2015 and 2016 World Championships, wound up 13^th in the short Thursday night with a noble performance in which she executed a big double Axel and triple Lutz (with a landing that was two footed)-double toe.

Due to the fact that she had singled a triple loop, Gold lost some crucial points affecting her standing in this first-round showdown.

Wearing a black dress inflected with sparkling gold accents, Gold was clearly a crowd favorite, as the audience gave her a thunderous round of applause when she completed her program.

For Gold, who trains full time in Aston, Pennsylvania with Alex Zahradnicek and Pasha Filchenkov, the narrative seems to be all about self empowerment these days, as this outing marked another vital step forward in her journey back into the spotlight of figure skating.

Gold’s performance here in Greensboro marks the first time she has competed in this event since 2017, when she was sixth at that U.S. Championships.

This venerable athlete, who was followed by virtually all of the biggest media outlets when she made her first big gold-medal splash in the championship skating world, including the New York Post, New York Times and USA Today and was said to have hung around with such mega-celebrities as Taylor Swift when she lived in the Los Angeles area from 2013 through 2016, revealed the powerful spirit here that brought her to worldwide fame a few years back.

Somehow, much of the reason for this is due to the good   old happiness and contentment factor, as Gold, who resides in Claymont, Delaware, is said to be settled and content with her situation at the Aston Ice Works complex, where the renowned Philadelphia Open is held every July.

There, Gold teaches group and private lessons when she is not busy training on and off ice, usually on weekends.

According to insiders, she is adored by many of the young skaters there, as she is said to always make time to chat with them, which is a true test of practically any individual’s character.

Meanwhile, Gold is building her brand, as she has recently formed a partnership with the company Julep, creators of makeup, skincare and nail polish.

For Julep, Gold serves as a spokesperson for their products and also their philosophy of strength, beauty and spirit, which seems appropriate based upon the type of person she is and continues to evolve into.

With this, let the next stage of the games in regard to this promising and talented athlete carry on.

Nathan Chen Seeks Fourth Consecutive U.S. Title- Nathan Chen, the 20 year-old Salt Lake City native and quad jumping phenom who, over the past number of years, has been largely responsible for raising the technical bar of figure skating, seems as hungry as ever to claim his fourth consecutive U.S. title at the 2020 Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina next week.

Cain-Gribble and LeDuc Set to Defend Their U.S. Pairs Title - Ashley Cain-Gribble & Timothy LeDuc, the 2019 U.S. champions who have been making a name as a global podium threat the past few seasons, seem as poised as ever to retain their position as the country’s premiere pair in Greensboro.

Hubbell and Donohue Looking to Clinch Third Consecutive Title at U.S. Nationals - Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue, the reigning two-time U.S. champions and two-time World medalists (silver in 2018 and bronze in 2019) seem to be as pinpoint-focused as ever in regard to the prospect of capturing a third consecutive gold medal at the U.S. Championships in Greensboro.

Alysa Liu Eager to Defend U.S. National Title in Greensboro - Alysa Liu, the effervescent 14 year-old Clovis, California native who last season, catapulted herself right into the sport’s main spotlight after having captured the 2019 U.S. title, seems poised and primed to defend her position as the ladies frontrunner at the 2020 U.S. Championships in Greensboro next week.

The Next Olympic Ladies Champion Revealed - The next Olympic Winter Games are about two years away, but already the writing is on the wall for who will be the next Olympic Ladies Champion.

The Axel is the Only Jump that Takes Off Backwards

In Search of the Quad Axel - What will it take to complete a quad Axel?

The Perfect Air Position - What is it?  What does it look like?  Why does it matter?

Current Replay Systems Not Up To Task of Insuring Accurate Calls

2019 Grand Prix Junior and Senior Finals - The Junior and Senior Finals in Torino, Italy closed out the first half of the 2019/20 season.  Given the number of entries and medals that went to Russia, this might as well have been Russian Nationals.  Half the medals were captured by that country.  The United States placed second in the medal count with five.

2019 NHK

LADIES EVENT

MEN'S EVENT

PAIRS EVENT

ICE DANCE EVENT

Exhibition Cast
Photo by Robin Ritoss

2019 Cup of Russia

LADIES EVENT

MEN'S EVENT

PAIRS EVENT

ICE DANCE EVENT

Shiseido Cup of China 2019

LADIES EVENT

MEN'S EVENT

PAIRS EVENT

ICE DANCE EVENT

Exhibition Cast
Photo by Robin Ritoss

Liubov Iliushechkina & Charlie Bilodeau Show New Type of Press Lift at Skate Canada International

by George S Rossano

The Canadian pair team of Liubov Iliushechkina & Charlie Bilodeau presented a new form of press lift in their free program at the 2019 Skate Canada International in Kelowna, BC.

The ISU (rule 619) divides listed lifts into five groups with the following definitions, with hand to hand lifts being group 4:

Group One - Armpit Hold position
Group Two - Waist Hold position
Group Three - Hand to Hip or upper part of the leg (above the knee) position
Group Four - Hand to Hand position (Press Lift type)
Group Five - Hand to Hand position (Lasso Lift type)

The Lift’s Group is determined by the hold at the moment the Lady passes the Man’s shoulder.

 In Groups 3–5 full extension of the lifting arm(s) is mandatory.

Rule 619 also states:

Partners may give each other assistance only through hand-to-hand, hand-to-arm, hand-to-body and hand to upper part of the leg (above the knee) grips. A change of hold means going from one of these grips to another or from one hand to another in a one hand hold. Changes of hold during the lift are permitted.

The takeoff of this lift (shown below) highlights an interesting ambiguity in the rule.

The lift meets the requirement for a legal hold (hand-to-arm) but does not meet the definition of a group 4 lift (hand to hand), or any other group for that matter.  If anything, this hold starts off looking closer to an armpit hold (group 1) than anything else. But it's clearly not hand to hand.

Nevertheless, the technical panel called this a group 4 lift; and there you have it, a new hand to arm group 4 lift is created.

To paraphrase Humpty Dumpty in "Through the Looking-Glass":

“When I use a rule,” the Technical Panel said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make rules mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said the Technical Panel, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

Like Captain Barbossa's comment about the pirate code in Pirates of the Caribbean, it seems for the ISU "the code (rulebook) is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules."