Junior Ladies Skate at 2008 Worlds
Skaters Compete at the ISU World Junior Championships
Sofia, Bulgaria hosted the 2008 World Junior Figure Skating Championships February 24th-March 2nd. Here's how the ladies' competition wrapped up.
Who will reign over the world of figure skating in the years to come? If you tuned in to this year’s ladies’ competition at Junior Worlds, you probably have a good idea.
Get used to hearing names like: Rachel Flatt, Caroline Zhang, and Mirai Nagasu. Of course, if you’re from the states, you probably already know these gals.
These US ladies swept the World Junior podium for the second year in a row – and started a wave of speculation that this team has a great chance at gold in Vancouver.
Rachel Flatt surprised everyone, including herself, when she took the crown from the 2007 World Junior Champion, Caroline Zhang. Flatt is only 15 and landing clean combos like a triple Salchow, then a triple Lutz, triple toeloop combo, another loop, flip, Lutz -- all triples. She worked in her final jump combination, a triple flip, double toe, double loop at the very end of her program to showcase exceptional training and stamina.
In this, her first appearance at Worlds, she earned a total of 172.19 points. She is healthfully confident in her technique. Most notably, however, is that Flatt skates to have a good time. This former pairs skater can’t help but bubble over with excitement for getting to compete amongst so many talented ladies on the world stage.
The always-lyrical Zhang fit a triple flip, triple toeloop jump combo into soft choreography to “Ave Maria.” She was downgraded on an under-rotated triple loop. A level 4 rating for her signature layback gave the 14-year-old bonus points and extra applause. Her point total was 171.84, making this a very close competition.
Zhang’s silver medal is bitter-sweet, although not totally unexpected since she came in to the long program in second place. She’s proud to do so well, but for her the gold is definitely the one that got away. She was, after all, one third of a point away from claiming the title. She attributes her bobble on the loop to injuries and bad bruises.
Marai Nagasu landed in third place behind her teammates. Her spiral sequence is unparalleled, but her jumps weren’t solid enough for her to retain her lead from the short program. Even her level 4 flying sitspin couldn’t earn her enough bonus points to compensate for losing her edge in the final Biellmann spin position.
Nagasu says she’s not disappointed with her medal placement because of the level of the competition. But, like every born champion, she’s particularly frustrated at herself for tightening up and making those mistakes.
Finland’s Jenni Vahamaa proved that she can spin and jump with the best of them. While she still needs time to develop and integrate her overall program, her long program bumped her up from sixth place to fourth place.
