ICE SKATING: Skate America: Men

Skate America 2000 October 26-29, 2000 Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA Televised November 5, 2000 on ABC

The Men's Event

The three-time and reigning World Champion, and two-time and reigning Skate America champion Alexei Yagudin, was the favorite going into Skate America. Last year Yagudin struggled with the altitude (he needed oxygen after the short program), and was nervous about how he would handle the altitude this year. His biggest challenge would come from American Timothy Goebel, who finished second to Yagudin last year at Skate America. Goebel also made history at Skate America in 1999 when he became the first man to land three quads in competition (apparently he wasn't affected at all by the altitude!). The 1996 World champion, Todd Eldredge, would also challenge. Eldredge was coming off a victory over Yagudin at the Master's of Figure Skating competition (see http://www.e-sports.com/article.asp?Article_Id=5932&Category=General), where he had completed his quad for the first time in competition.

However, both Goebel and Eldredge would have a tough time beating Yagudin, who is not the three-time World champion for no reason. When Yagudin is on, he can rarely be beaten. He is the ideal combination of hard work and talent. A naturally powerful jumper and hard worker, Yagudin is consistent and performs well under pressure. Yagudin's only concern at Skate America was the altitude (Colorado Springs is over a mile high in altitude). Although he said that he felt a little better than he did last year, he was still nervous about it.

In the short program, Yagudin was phenomenal, flawlessly completing a quad toe-triple toe combination, triple axel, and triple lutz. His short program was to Chopin's "Etude of Revolution," a departure for him in the short program. In the last two years, Yagudin's short programs (Circus and Nutrocker) have been fun and carefree, and Chopin's Etude is a very explosive piece that calls for crisp, clean movements. Despite this incredible performance, Yagudin was exhausted after the short program, and he wondered aloud how he would manage in the long program, which is almost twice as long. Unlike last year, however, Yagudin did not take oxygen after the short program.

Timothy Goebel was second after the short program. He landed a quad salchow, triple axel-triple toe, and triple lutz. Goebel had changed coaches over the summer, and is now being coached by Frank Carroll, Michelle Kwan's coach. He wanted to prove that switching coaches was a good idea and has given him better presentation on the ice.

Todd Eldredge had a disastrous short program. He fell on the quad, and then fell on the triple axel as well. Eldredge was in fifth after the short program, and actually was lucky to be placed so high after two huge errors.

In the long program, Timothy Goebel skated first. While normally, this is not a good time to skate, because the judges tend to hold their marks for the later skaters, it proved to be a good position for Goebel. Without the pressure of earlier performances, Goebel landed three quads, one of them in combination with a triple toe! That is the third time he has done this in competition; he did it last year for the first time at Skate America, and then at the U.S. Nationals. Last year at Skate America, however, Goebel did not skate the rest of his program cleanly, and to really make a statement this year he would have to land all his other jumps. And that he did. Goebel completed his weakest jump, the triple axel, cleanly, and he did it twice. He was as close to perfect as you could get. Unbelievable.

Goebel also came very close to doing too many jumps! In skating, the rule is that you can do no more than three of the same jump. The reasoning behind this rule is that the judges want to see varied jumps, not just one jump that you can do over and over and over again. Goebel did three salchows - two of them were quads, and one was a triple. He did three toe loops - one of them was a quad, and the other two were triples done in combination. If Goebel could vary his jumps a little more, he would be an even better skater.

While Goebel's spins were mediocre, and he still has poor posture and speed over the ice, nothing could take away the achievements of his jumps. Unlike the other skaters, Goebel was not even phased by the altitude; in fact, he seems to perform his best when he's in altitude! It appears that the coaching change was a good idea. The improvement in Goebel's presentation was evident in his long program, set to music from "Henry V" and "Canone Inverso." It will, of course, be a while before he becomes known as an artistic skater, but he is getting there.

Tood Eldredge skated next to music from the "13th Warrior." He was suffering from a bone and muscle bruise, which he sustained in a collision with another skater in practice the previous day. Eldredge thought about withdrawing, but the competitor in him decided to push on and compete. He did compete bravely. He opted not to do the quad. Eldredge fell on his first triple axel. He recovered after that and landed his other jumps cleanly, including a triple axel-double toe. Towards the end, Eldredge began to tire. His usual final spin was slower than usual, and not as well centered, but this could be easily attributed to the altitude. It was affecting all performances, except Goebel's.

Eldredge now needed someone to open the door for him so that he could medal at Skate America. And two people opened the door for him. Vincent Restencourt, who was in fourth place after the short program, had an uneven long program. He popped his quad, but landed his next triple axel - triple toe combination. But then Restencourt popped his lutz towards the end of the program. Skating to music from the "Mummy" soundtrack, Restencourt's program was…interesting. There were some nice areas, but other sections that just left you confused and uninspired. Restencourt attempted to do some spirals, but he is simply not limber or steady enough to do them, and they came off looking poor in quality. Restencourt dropped to sixth.

Emanuel Sandhu, the 19-year old Canadian and in third place after the short program, also fell apart. Sandhu has a reputation for being an extremely artistic and dramatic skater with wonderful line; he studied at the National Ballet School in Toronto for eight years, and it shows in his posture, line, and elegance. However, Sandhu is not a pressure skater. He falters when the pressure is on, and he fell apart tonight. Sandhu took a hard fall on his quad toe, landing on his tailbone and hitting the boards. He continued to struggle throughout his program. Although the choreography, set to "Kodo" and "The Path of Life," was meaningful and Sandhu had wonderful expression, that alone could not hold him up. He fell to fourth.

Alexei Yagudin skated last, and he had made the mistake of watching Goebel skate. He was obviously very nervous and tentative as he stepped out onto the ice and took his position for the long program. He was skating to music from the soundtrack "Gladiator."

Haunted by Goebel's wonderful performance, and fearing the altitude, Yagudin had a terrible long program - the worst he has ever done, probably ever. He popped his first quad toe-triple toe combination into a double toe, and did no combination. His next jump was supposed to be a triple axel-triple toe, but instead Yagudin attempted the quad again…and popped it…again. At this point, Yagudin knew that attempting the quad again would probably result in disaster, so he went for his triple axel…and put his hand down. After such a start, most skaters would just continue to unravel throughout the program. But it was the exact opposite.

Yagudin's fighting spirit kicked in, and he managed to complete the rest of his program cleanly, throwing in some jumps on the fly, so he would have some triples at least. He completed a triple flip and added a triple toe on the end of it, and then a triple axel directly after that. Yagudin had a better second half of the program, but the strained and worried look on his face as he stroked around the ice made it too clear that he was totally wiped out. He did not have his trademark speed or power as he completed the rest of his jumps - a triple salchow, triple loop, and double lutz - and went through his difficult footwork sequences.

At the end of the program, Yagudin was so pale it looked as if he would faint. He put his hands to his face, knowing that that would not be enough to win it. As Yagudin's technical marks came up, the despair on his face was plain to see. Three out of the seven judges did respect Yagudin's heart and expression, and gave him first place on account of his presentation, but the other four judges placed Goebel above Yagudin. Goebel moved into first place.

Yagudin walked off the "kiss and cry" area as his presentation marks came up. The first person he ran into backstage was Timothy Goebel, and he shook his hand and congratulated Goebel on his win. Later, Yagudin commented, "Today was his best skating and today was my worst skating. I see what I have to work on. He's pushing me forward."

Fortunately, Yagudin had designated Skate America as his non-scoring event. He will move on to Skate Canada (Mississauga, Ontario), and Trophee Lalique (Paris, France). One thing that Yagudin should be worried about, however, is that the 2002 Olympics will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, a city that is also high in altitude. Altitude seems to take its toll on Alexei, not just physically, but also mentally.

Goebel earned twelve Grand Prix points, and will also compete in the Sparkassen Cup (Gelsenkirchen, Germany) in his effort to qualify for the Grand Prix Finals in Tokyo, Japan.