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Comments by: YACCS
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Friday, October 18, 2002
The new skating season started at the Campbells Classic two weeks ago in Daytona Beach. Michelle Kwan debuted a new long program to "Concerto D'Aranjuez", beating a surprising Ann Patrice McDonough. Sarah Hughes admitted that she only started back into skating in last few weeks with a new long program. Sasha Cohen debuted her new Rachmaninoff long program, but still stumbled on some jumps. Alexei Yagudin won in a lackluster mens event. Only one male skater "landed" a quad; Michael Weiss two-footed a quad lutz. Both Yagudin and Plushenko fell on their quad attempts. Timothy Goebel fell absolutely apart, a dire warning of things to come. Injuries are already becoming the news of the season. Yagudin has an injured hip, yet plans to compete in the Grand Prix series and tour with Stars on Ice. Goebel has an injured hip, pulling out of his early Grand Prix events. And now the real story, Sarah Hughes tore a muscle behind her right knee, allowing Michelle Kwan to take her place at Skate America. Okay, color me stunned. I'm sure ABC/ESPN is breathing a sigh of relief. I'm hoping that Michelle's technical content for "Aranguez" is improved. And it appears that Didier Gailhaguet wants trouble. He has announced that he will attend whatever competitions he likes, even Worlds or Skate America, even though, he is prohibited from off-ice activities in the terms of his suspension. Officials have pointed out that there's nothing stopping him from buying a ticket and attending like a common fan. However, he theoretically wouldn't be allowed backstage or to hobknob with the other skating officials and judges. While judges are credentialled like media, most skating federation presidents aren't necessarily. FBI agents have talked to some of the skating officials who blew the whistle and discussed how to talk to other international judges when they come into the country for competitions here. Oh, and those whistleblowers... Sally Stapleford not only lost her job on the technical committee, but she only has *one* judging assignment this year. Do the math. And they wonder why people don't come forward in this sport... |
