Kristi Yamaguchi will be honored with the 2008 Sonya Henie Award at the annual Professional Skaters Association Awards Dinner May 22 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago. The honor is one of several “EDI’’ awards, a tribute to Edi Scholdan, an Olympic coach and the first president of the Professional Skaters Association.

Yamaguchi, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, has been one of the most recognizable people in the sport. Today— 16 years after she captured the gold medal in Albertville — she remains one of the most popular. These days, she can be seen off the ice, on the small screen on ABC megahit, “Dancing with the Stars.’’

A skater most of her life, Yamaguchi had to learn the nuances of ballroom dancing in a matter of a couple of months. Yet she has once again risen up to the challenge, and along with partner Mark Ballas, she has been among the frontrunners on the show.

Yamaguchi was selected as the winner of the Sonya Henie award this year because she has brought recognition to the sport of figure skating in a positive and favorable manner. The award is presented to a female, professional skater.

As a professional skater, Yamaguchi has appeared in numerous nationally televised skating shows, pro competitions and toured with Smucker’s Stars on Ice. She also has taken time to be involved with charitable organizations, most notably her own foundation, Always Dream. That organization’s goal is to help children fulfill their dreams and goals.

Yamaguchi lives in Raleigh, N.C., with her husband, Bret Hedican, a NHL player who has won a Stanley Cup title with the Carolina Hurricanes, and their two daughters, Keara and Emma.

Mirai Nagasu, who captured the U.S. figure skating title at age 14, was named one of America's most promising athletes by Forbes magazine. The article, published on May 2, 2008, features several young soccer, baseball and basketball phenoms.

Nagasu trains with coach Charlene Wong in Southern California. Nagasu won the 2007 U.S. junior championship and the following season, she captured the senior title, becoming the second-youngest woman to do so. Tara Lipinski won the 1997 title when she was a few months younger than Nagasu. She followed up that success with an Olympic gold medal in 1998. Nagasu hopes to follow Lipinski's footsteps as she prepares for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

"Winning junior nationals was really surprising, just like this year at nationals. Last year I came through regionals to sectionals to nationals. So to win in my first nationals [as a junior] was exciting," Nagaus told IFS in a March interview. "After my short program [this year] I was really surprised [to be in the lead]. I was happy I had skated my best. When the scores came up it was like a shock but it was a pleasant shock so I really enjoyed it."

Forbes magazine looked at various sports in an effort to track down the next LeBron James, Venus Williams and Mia Hamm. Nagasu was the only figure skater selected.

Photos by Susan D. Russell

The 2008 Canadian Stars on Ice tour hit Toronto Friday night. With an all-star cast headed by Kurt Browning, it was an exciting show. IFS was there to capture all the action.

Two-time Olympic ice dance gold medalist Pasha (Oksana) Grishuk was drugged with a common date rape drug.

The incident occurred during a business meeting at the St. Regis Monarch Beach on April 12. Grishuk was eating dinner when she found a pill, partially dissolved, at the bottom of her drink. Investigators later found another dissolved pill at the bottom of a drink she had ordered in the hotel’s lounge.

A hotel employee called police and paramedics responded to the scene. Grishuk was feeling ill but it appeared she did not realize the seriousness of the incident immediately, according to the 911 call, which as released to the media. The hotel employee did not think she would require transport to the hospital.

In fact, Grishuk did need medical attention. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated and released.

Toxicology test results, released April 21, were positive for GHB. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.

Authorities have called a 60-year-old Orange County man, whom Grishuk was meeting with when the incident occurred, a person of interest in the case.

Police have not released the name of the man in question. Grishuk said she met the Orange County man to discuss starting a joint business to market vitamins and clothing.

Grishuk won the Olympic title in ice dance in 1994 and 1998 with Evgeny Platov. Skating for Russia, they also won four ice dance titles at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Grishuk now lives in Los Angeles where she is raising her 5-year-old daughter daughter, Skyler. In recent years, she has had some involvement with the sport as a coach and choreographer.

Photos by Susan D. Russell

IFS brings you all the action from backstage, on-stage, the medal ceremonies, press conferences and the closing banquet.







Mao Asada and Jeffrey Buttle grace the May/June cover of IFS. To read the cover story, click here.

U.S. ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, the five-time U.S. champions, three-time World medalists and 2006 Olympic silver medalists, announced Thursday, April 17 that they will end their 10-year professional relationship with coach Igor Shpilband and choreographer Marina Zoueva and will begin training with 1980 Olympic and two-time World ice dancing champions Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pa.

Belbin and Agosto said the decision to leave Shpilband and Zoueva was a difficult one, but they felt it was necessary to gain fresh input and bring a new perspective to their skating.

“They are a remarkable coaching pair, and we have great admiration for them,” Agosto said.

“We never would have achieved our current level of success without Igor and Marina, and we are very grateful for their friendship and their guidance over the past years,” Belbin said.

Linichuk and Karponsov have trained several prominent ice dancing teams including two-time Olympic champions Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov, two-time World champions Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov, and two-time World champions Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski.

“Natalia and Gennadi are highly accomplished coaches, and we are very excited about working with them to take our skating performance to a new level,” Agosto said.

The 2007-08 season saw Belbin and Agosto take home gold from Skate America and Skate Canada, and earn a silver at the Grand Prix Final in Italy. They went on to win their fifth straight U.S. title and ended their season with a fourth-place finish at the 2008 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The team is disappointed to be leaving Detroit but is looking forward to training in Aston.

“Detroit will always be like home for us, but sometimes to grow you need to leave home and explore new opportunities,” Agosto said.

Do you love trivia? Are you a fan of “The Cutting Edge” movies? Then enter the International Figure Skating contest, sponsored by MGM, for a chance to win a free “Cutting Edge 3” DVD or a special boxed set of three DVDs.

QUESTIONS
1. Who was the female lead in “The Cutting Edge?”
2. What year was the original movie released?
3. In “The Cutting Edge,” NHL prospect Doug Dorsey is injured in an Olympic hockey game. What team was he playing against when the injury occurred?
4. What is the name of the second movie in this series?
5. “The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream” (“Cutting Edge 3”) aired on what American cable network?

Answer all five questions correctly for a chance to win one of 11 prizes. One grand prize winner will receive a DVD boxed set of the three “Cutting Edge” movies. Ten runners-up will receive a DVD copy of “The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream.”

There are two ways to enter. Send an e-mail to IFStrivia@madavor.com and include the following information: your name, address, zip/postal code, phone number, e-mail address and the answers to the above questions in numerical order. Or, include the same information on a postcard and mail it to: IFS Trivia Contest, Madavor Media, 420 Boylston St., 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02116.

The contest ends June 15. Good luck!

The men closed out the competition at the 2008 ISU World Figure Skating Championships and gave the sold-out crowd of 9,555 spectators in the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden quite a show.

Jeff Buttle of Canada claimed the gold medal. France’s Brian Joubert soared from sixth to second place overall and American Johnny Weir earned the bronze.

“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Buttle said. “I was just very happy with how I skated.”

Buttle, the overnight leader, had drawn last to skate in the final group. The Canadian opened his performance to the “Ararat” soundtrack with a solid triple Axel-double toe-double loop followed by a triple flip-triple toe and another triple Axel.

He went on to nail a triple Lutz-double toe, a triple loop, Salchow and another Lutz as well as excellent spins. At the end of his program, he happily punched the ice in triumph.

The 2006 Olympic bronze medalist was awarded a level four for all four spins and a level three for both step sequences to post a new personal best of 163.07 points (84.29 element score/78.78 program component score).

The 25-year-old improved his previous personal best by 11.27 points and racked up a total score of 245.17 points to take his first World title. The Canadian waited anxiously in the kiss and cry for the score, and when it came up he looked in disbelief and jumped up to wave to the crowd.

"I stepped on the ice and it didn’t matter that I skated last,” Buttle said. “I adapted to that, I’ve done it at home and I was ready. There were no excuses.”

Buttle had won the silver at the 2005 World Championships but was ranked sixth in 2006 and 2007. His title is the first gold medal for a Canadian man since 1997, when Elvis Stojko won.

Joubert, who stood in sixth place after the short program skated next to last and was ready to fight when he took the ice. He had followed the competition and knew exactly what he had to do.

The 2007 World champion nailed his opening quadruple toe loop, a triple Salchow and triple Axel as well as a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, a triple Lutz, loop and flip in his Metallica medley program.

The crowd was with him when he went into his straight line step sequence and when he finished the program he knelt down onto the ice and kissed it. The two-time European champion earned a level three for his footwork and two spins and scored 153.47 points (74.11/79.36). His overall score was 231.12 points.

It was Joubert’s third World silver medal after 2004 and 2006. “I changed [my strategy] after I saw how the others did and I decided to not take a lot of risks and not to do a quad Salchow, just wanted to skate clean. The competition was great, the audience was great and I will remember this all my life,” the French star said.

Skating to “Love is War” by Yoav Gordon, Weir produced a two triple Axels, two triple Lutzes, a triple Salchow, loop and flip as well as strong spins, two of which were graded a level four. However, his opening quadruple toel loop was under-rotated and downgraded and overall Weir appeared somewhat hesitant.

The American picked up 141.05 points (67.21/73.84) for this performance and accumulated 221.84 points to win his first World medal.

“I’m so excited. It was not my strongest performance, but I am just proud for myself and for my coaches and I am proud to bring back the only medal for the USA,” the 23-year-old said. “I was a little tired towards the end and I had much nervous energy. When I was going into my starting position, my legs were still shaking.”

Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) finished fourth at 220.11 points. He landed a quadruple toe loop and four clean triple jumps, but he fell on his second quad toe attempt and stumbled on a triple Axel and loop.

A triple Lutz-double toe loop didn’t count as it was considered as a fourth, not allowed combination after the second quad, second Axel and a triple flip-triple toe.

Stéphane Lambiel (SUI) came in fifth after some errors on his jumps (217.88 points).

Kevin van der Perren (BEL) gave a strong performance to finish sixth. He completed eight triple jumps including a triple flip-triple toe-triple loop combination (216.02 points) and was ranked third in the Free Skating.

Sergei Voronov (RUS) was ranked fourth in the free skating and seventh overall (209.93 points). He hit a quad toe loop and seven triples to move up from 15th place after the short program.

European champion Tomas Verner (CZE) faded to 15th after popping some jumps (191.94 points).

The World Championships conclude Sunday with the Exhibition Gala.

The men’s event kicked off with its share of excitement at the 2008 ISU World Figure Skating Championships being held at the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden. Jeffrey Buttle of Canada took the lead after the short program in which he scored 82.10 points.

Johnny Weir (USA) edged Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi by 0.39 points for second place.

Meanwhile the ice dance competition concluded with three new pairs of medalist standing on the podium. Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France claimed the gold medal and the title. Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took the silver and Russia’s Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski captured the bronze.

THE MEN

Buttle gave a strong performance to “Adios Nonino” by Astor Piazzolla. “I felt very comfortable today on the ice," Buttle said. "I have been practicing hard and training well so I went out there today knowing that all hard training was over and I was just going to enjoy myself and have a good skate and I am glad that I did.”

He nailed a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, a solid triple Axel and a triple Lutz out of footwork. The 2008 Four Continents silver medalist was awarded a level four for the flying sit and the combination spin and a level three for the two step sequences to pick up 82.10 points (44.07 element score/ 38.03 program component score).

Performing to “Yunona and Avos,” Weir nailed a triple Lutz-triple toe combination, a triple Axel and a triple flip. His jumps were smooth and effortless.

The three-time U.S. champion scored a season best of 80.79 points (42.64/38.15). “I felt fantastic on the ice today," he said. "The audience helped me through this performance and I felt like it was a regular run-through I did everything I am trained to do.

"I've been happy to be in Sweden for such a long time because I feel that I'm comfortable here, I am not rushed. The short program came at the perfect time, just when I'm getting at the point when I'm a little bit too comfortable. With the long program tomorrow I'm excited to get that over with.”

Takahashi opened his innovative routine to a Hip Hop version of "Swan Lake" with a triple flip-triple toe loop combination but then stumbled out of his triple Axel. The Four Continents champion recovered to nail a triple Lutz and produced fast, well centered spins, earning a level four for two of them. The crowd cheered for his extravagant footwork. Takahashi got a level three for both step sequences and scored 80.40 points (41.15/39.25).

“I was a little nervous but I enjoyed skating a lot and the audience helped a lot. I missed the triple Axel so that wasn’t very good,” Takahashi said. “I have been in Sweden for quite a long time to prepare for this competition and first I found it hard but today I was ready.”

The skaters ranked fourth to sixth are not far behind which promises an interesting battle in the free skating. Tomas Verner (CZE), 2008 European champion, skated a strong short program that included a triple flip-triple toe combination, a triple Axel and a triple Lutz. He is within striking distance of the podium at 79.87 points.

Stéphane Lambiel (SUI) finished fifth. He stumbled on his triple Axel, but landed a quadruple toe loop. However, the second jump in the quad-triple toe combination was downgraded (79.12 points).

Reigning World champion Brian Joubert landed a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, but fell on his triple Lutz. He is currently ranked sixth (77.75 points)

ICE DANCING

Delobel and Schoenfelder delivered a beautiful performance of their “The Piano” free dance. The French duo completed a rotational lift in a low position, a intricate yet flowing footwork, a serpentine lift with changes of position and a curve-rotational lift.

They received a level four for the steps and lifts and a level three for their spin to collect 104.96 points (53.57 element score/51.39 program component score), surpassing their previous personal best of 101.96 points from three years ago. They were ranked second in the free dance but remained in first place overall with 212.94 points.

“It is more than just being happy. It was a long way for us. It is our first medal at Worlds and it’s the gold medal, so this is just amazing,” Delobel said. “We did a great job. We focused on our technical elements but also skated with passion and emotion which gave us points for the presentation.”

Virtue and Moir gave an inspiring performance of “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” They opened their romantic program with excellent twizzles followed by a curve-rotational lift and a combination spin. Their steps were difficult but looked effortless. The 2008 Four Continents champions scored a new personal best of 105.26 points (54.69/50.59) and won the free dance by just 0.32 points. Overall they moved up from third to second at 208.80 points.

“We are definitely excited I think you could tell that from the kiss and cry. This is the high light of our skating carrier so far. We are so pleased with how it went today and about how it went the whole week, we expected to come here and just do this, it is different thing to actually come and follow through so we are extremely pleased with ourselves,” Moir said.

Khokhlova and Novitski’s dynamic performance to “Night on Bald Mountain” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King” was highlighted by their spectacular lifts and a dance spin with many changes of positions. Their side-by-side midline footwork was smooth and right on the music, but Novitski briefly slipped during the circular step sequence.

The couple was awarded a level four for all elements except for the two step sequences that were graded a level three. The European bronze medalists earned 99.29 points (50.66/48.63) which added up to a total of 203.26 points. “

Right now I don’t have any emotions. We had hoped to fight for a medal, but it was more like a dream. When it yesterday became realistic with the silver, it pushed us and we really wanted to repeat the success. It was enough for the bronze, which is great – to have the bronze at Worlds. But right now I still don’t fully understand it,” Khohklova explained.

Novitski added, “We are very happy with our scores and placement, it is definitely a big step forward to us. There was a lot of tension, especially in the last warm up group. When we got out on ice we were trying not to think about a medaling, we just want to focus on skating as well as we can."

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (USA) finished fourth with a their lyrical Chopin Free Dance. They were ranked third in the free dance (203.00 points).

Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali (ITA) produced a smooth performance of their program to “Yentl” and were awarded a level four for all eight elements. They were fourth in the free dance and fifth overall (201.91 points).

Mao Asada of Japan claimed her first global title at the 2008 ISU World Championships, being held in Gothenburg, Sweden. Italy’s Carolina Kostner took the silver. Yu-Na Kim of Korea earned her second consecutive bronze medal.

In ice dancing, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France strengthened their lead to four-points after the compulsory dance. Russia’s Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski egded out Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (CAN) by just 0.42 points to move into second place.

THE LADIES

Asada had drawn to skate next to last. The 17-year-old had to overcome an unexpected and shocking fall in the first seconds of her routine to “Fantaisie Impromptu” by Chopin when she slipped on the take-off of her planned triple Axel and fell hard.

“When I fell I couldn’t think of anything, but the next triple flip-triple toe loop went well,” Asada said.

The 2007 World silver medallst recovered instantly to reel off a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, a triple Lutz, triple loop, double Axel-double loop-double loop combination and another double Axel.

She also went for the triple flip-triple loop combo, but the second jump was cheated and downgraded. The Japanese star completed also strong spins, earning a level four for two combination spins and a level three for the other two spins.

Asada received 121.46 points for her performance (61.89 element score/60.57 program component score).

When the marks came up and she realized that she was in first place, a big smile lit up her face. The Four Continents champion was ranked second in the free skating but moved up to first overall at 185.56 points to take her first gold medal at Worlds; she earned the silver last year.

Overnight leader Kostner opened her dynamic program to “Dumsky Trio” by Antonin Dvorak with her trademark triple flip-triple toe-double loop combination, but then touched down with her hand on her triple Lutz.

The 20-year-old Italian landed a triple loop and earned a level four for her spiral sequence and two spins, but the landings of her triple flip, the double Axel-triple toeloop combination and a triple Salchow-double toe loop were not clean.

The European champion picked up 120.40 points (61.88/58.52), which was a new personal best for her and collected 184.68 points overall to win the first World silver medal for an Italian Lady and the third World medal for an Italian Lady overall.

“I was going into the program feeling a responsibility I have never felt before. I had a good skate, although I am also a bit angry about my mistakes,” Kostner said. “During the past years I was dealing with gold and bronze a lot, so I am really happy with my silver now. It is a step forward from the bronze I won in Moscow (at Worlds) in 2005. I win this medal in the name of the whole team who have worked with me so many hours and helped me when I felt not strong, so thank all of you who were with me in these past nine months of training.”

Kim stood in fifth place after a fall on the triple Lutz in the short program, but came back strong today. The Korean hit a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Lutz-double toe-double-double loop, a double Axel-triple toeloop as well as a triple Salchow and two double Axels. The only mistake came when she popped the second Lutz.

The 2006 World junior champion also produced beautiful spins and was awarded a level four for the flying sit spin and two combination spins. Kim scored 123.38 points (64.82/58.56) and accumulated 183.23 points overall to make it to the podium.

“I had an injury entering this competition and fortunately I got a bronze medal in the end and I think it was a good result. I will be careful not to get any more injuries in the future. In the beginning of the season I didn’t had any injuries so I didn’t pay much attention and that’s why I got injured. Now I know that it is important to rest as well and not only train very hard, and if I feel little pain now I should take care of it immediately,” Kim explained. “First of all I will go to Korea and take care of my injury for two months and after that I will go to Canada and work on two new programs and improve what I thought was my weakness this time.”

Yukari Nakano (JPN) gave a strong performance that featured five clean triple jumps, but both her triple Axel and a triple flip were downgraded. She dropped from third to fourth (177.40 points). Joannie Rochette (CAN) hit a triple toe-triple Salchow sequence and three other strong triples to come in fifth at 174.12 points. Sarah Meier (SUI) was ranked sixth. She completed four clean triple jumps (171.88 points).

Kimmie Meissner, the 2006 World champion, finished well back in seventh place with 149.74 points.

2007 World Champion Miki Ando (JPN) withdrew after skating one minute and ten seconds of her program citing injury. According to the medical bulletin, she is suffering from muscle strain and partial rupture in her left leg. She injured herself while warming up for the morning practice.

ICE DANCE

Delobel and Schoenfelder interpreted a charming Gavotte, a French dance from the Bretagne. They completed a circular step sequence, a spin and a straight line lift in which he used a scarf to hold her. All six elements in the dance were graded a level four.

The European silver medalists earned a new personal best of 67.25 points (35.30 element score/31.95 program component score) and now have accumulated 107.98 points so far.

“I think we skated well with much pleasure and tried to be very energetic in our skating. Of course we are very pleased with our marks,” Schoenfelder commented. “We try not to think about that (lead of about four points) now, but of course we want to win the free dance tomorrow so that there are no questions.”

Khokhlova and Novitski had chosen a Russian Gypsy Dance “Two Guitars.” Their characteristic dance included a straight line lift and a rotational lift that showed off Khohklova’s flexibility, as well as smooth yet difficult footwork.

The European bronze medalists received a level four for all elements as well and scored 65.99 points (35.67/30.32), improving their previous personal best by 5.93 points.

They moved up one spot with now 103.97 points. “We are very pleased with our performance and with our score. This probably was one of the best performances of the season. We put a lot of work into this dance and we’re very happy that it worked out so well,” Novitski said. ”As we came here as the top Russian couple we thought that we could fight for a medal, for the bronze, but the small silver medal (for CD and OD combined result) comes as a surprise to us.”

Virtue and Moir are not far behind the Russians at 103.52 points overall. Skating to “Dark Eyes,” the Four Continents champions produced a dance spin, a curve and a one-armed rotational lift, but Virtue did one rotation less on a twizzle in the side-by-side step sequence. The twizzles were graded a level three, but the other elements were awarded a level four.

The Canadians picked up 64.81 points and slipped from second to third. “Tessa and I really wanted to go out there and have fun, skate a really good program and it felt like we did that. We had a blast right there in front of the Swedish crowd and we are very pleased,” Moir said. “That was the first time it happened. Usually I make the mistakes.”

Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali (ITA) produced a characteristic Italian Pizzica to finish fourth (100.70 points).

2007 World bronze medalists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto (USA) turned in an entertaining Western Hoedown and were ranked fourth in the original dance. Overall they remained in fifth place at 99.71 points.

Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat (FRA) came in sixth with a passionate Spanish Flamenco (95.49 points).