ICE SKATING: Building Blocks and Roadblocks

by April Knights

The buzz about U.S. ice dancing started in full force nearly three years ago, when Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler became the first American team to win the gold medal at the world junior championship - in fact, Joseph and Butler were the first Americans to win a world title in junior or senior level competition. Suddenly, U.S. teams capable of medaling in international competition were popping up right and left. Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek were even more spectacular junior champions than their predecessors when they won the title in 1999, and this past season the U.S. managed to put two teams on the podium at the World Junior Championships.

Suddenly, the possibilites appeared endless. The U.S. might have world ice dance champions within ten years - no, make that five years. Why not? Olympic medalists in 2006, or if the stars were aligned just right, maybe even 2002. Why not? After all, the junior level dancers were taking over the international scene with alarming force. Why not? Well, start with Joseph and Butler. With all the talk about the doors they'd opened for U.S. ice dancers, the team split up quietly less than a year after they won their historic championship. Joseph was without a partner for nearly two years, and Butler retired from competition entirely. One promising team was finished.

The Joseph-Butler split went virtually unnoticed partially because Silverstein and Pekarek were coming up the ranks even more noticably. In the 1998-99 season, they won every major competition they entered. In December, they won the world junior title. In February, they swept through the U.S. junior event with scores up to 5.9 - higher than any senior dance team earned that year. In March, they received first place marks from every judge at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Next came an easy victory at the Nebelhorn Trophy in their senior debut, a couple of strong Grand Prix finishes, a U.S. silver medal, and a promising finish at the World Championships.

Okay, so Joseph and Butler were gone - but this team was the one to watch. They had it all: technical difficulty, style, grace, one of the top coaches in the U.S., and from all accounts, work ethic and great personalities besides. They were unstoppable.

Not quite. Silverstein and Pekarek have withdrawn from their Grand Prix events this season for personal reasons, according to a recent press release. No announcement has been made regarding their plans for the rest of the season, but their status as a "sure thing" is certainly gone even if they do reappear later in the year. All the glory predicted by the fans still might be in the future for this team, but clearly, they're not invincible.

Even beyond Silverstein and Pekarek, the future was looking bright for the U.S. last season when two American dance teams finished on the podium at the World Junior Championships. The silver medalists were Emilie Nussear and Brandon Forsyth, who were in their second year together and also had a great deal going their way. Nussear was a bright, sparkly performer who passed over twenty dance tests in one summer in order to compete in junior dance. Forsyth provided solid technical foundation, strong performing talent of his own, and several seasons of international experience. This could be another team with gold in their future.

However, that partnership disintegrated after the World Junior Championships. First Nussear and Forsyth made a coaching change, then they stopped skating together entirely. There was yet another promising U.S. dance team out of the picture. There may still be world and Olympic medals in the future for American dance, but the question is arising: who, precisely, is going to be winning those medals?

The current top senior teams are unlikely to ever reach any world or Olympic podiums. Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, two-time national champions, have had solid top ten finishes at the last two World Championships. But the clock is ticking for this team - Tchernyshev will turn 30 this season - and they're unlikely to stick around for another four years after the 2002 Olympics. Debbie Koegel and Oleg Fediukov, two-time U.S. bronze medalists, have consistently achieved solid finishes, but haven't moved up substantially in the international standings. Beata Handra and Charles Sinek, despite significant improvements in the last two seasons and good international reception, will also face the barrier of age. Sinek is already in his early 30's.

There are a few bright spots among the younger teams on the U.S. scene, though. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who defeated Nussear and Forsyth for last year's national junior title and finished just behind them at the World Junior Championships, are certainly the most prominent young team behind Silverstein and Pekarek. With only one season of competition under their belt, however, it might be wiser for them to remain at the international junior level for another season. And Belbin, a Canadian citizen, won't be eligible to represent the U.S. in the 2002 Olympics.

Loren Galler-Rabinowitz and David Mitchell, reigning U.S. novice champions, could also be a team to watch. This couple has already become a favorite of many who follow the U.S. dance scene, but have yet to compete internationally. Their youth may be a drawback - they're just 14 and 18 years old - and they'll also have to contend with a shoulder injury which kept Mitchell out of competition over the summer. There may be championship potential within this couple, but they're a long way from realizing it.

Along with these teams, a few of the old favorites decided to keep themselves in the medal hunt among the U.S. dancers. Brandon Forsyth, left without a partner in July, promptly started searching for a new one - and found Jessica Joseph. Joseph moved from Detroit to New Jersey so that the team could work with Forsyth's coach Alexander Zhulin, and Forsyth tested up to the senior level. Things fell through with their former partners, but Joseph and Forsyth have found another opportunity for success.

There are a lot of U.S. ice dancers who envision gold medals in their future - and the way things have gone at the junior level, they might reach their goals. There's been a renewed interest in ice dancing among young U.S. skaters, with top-notch coaching and facilities available, not to mention a lot of talented partners - all the building blocks of success. But as the events of this summer have proven, there are also a lot of roadblocks facing those who make it their goal to become dance champions.

World dance champions from the U.S. in five years? Olympic champions in ten years? Maybe - but for the time being, nothing's certain.

Article courtesy of esportfans.com