2009 ISU Worlds Ladies Figure Skating

World Championships Women’s Final Standings Continued

Apr 24, 2009

ISU figure skating's elite ladies competed in Los Angeles and set the stage for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

Finland’s Laura Lepisto rounded out the night with a lukewarm performance. She’s got great positioning in her landings and spins, but she couldn’t get in clean jumps, save a good triple loop combo. Her technique cannot compete with Yu-Na, but Laura should be able to represent her country with pride at next year’s Olympic Winter Games ladies figure skating competition. She placed 6th in the short program and 7th in the free skate, with a combined total of 170.07 overall.

7th Place: Russia’s Alena Leonova surprised everyone at the World Junior Championships to come to the competition. This 18-year-old went after her elements and didn’t hold back her personal joy after each accomplishment. Her technical elements were woven nicely between connecting steps and difficult entrances (read: major bonus points). She needs to work on her spin speed, but it’s hard to complain about a skater who’s smiling throughout the skate. For her, this obviously isn’t a job; it’s a joy. After an 11th place short program, she gleefully took 6th place in the free skate with her combined total of 168.91 – which gave her yet another reason to grin.

8th Place: Japan’s Fumie Suguri’s knees were soft in spiral, but she showed great extension before landing a clean triple Lutz. She looked tight and didn’t seem to pay attention to finishing her arm developments, but she made a good attempt to gain the 10% bonus for completing jumps in the second half of her program. Unfortunately, she failed to complete the rotations on her triple sow. She earned 164.58 total, and 9th place in both programs.

9th Place: Sarah Meier of Switzerland didn’t come to win but to earn a spot on at the Olympics for her country, even though she’s been in the top 7 here for the last 3 years. Her beautiful black-backed white dress accentuated her long lines and balletic hands. She singled her triple Salchow but landed her triple Lutz and double Axel during bonus time. She changed the order of her jumps, but the real concern was the 10 weeks of training she missed this season due to injury. Beating the odds with courage, Sarah scored tears, pride, enough for 10th place in both programs, and 163.37 total, earning her -- and her country -- a spot in Vancouver.

10th Place: Georgia’s Elene Gedevanishvili made her Olympic debut in Torino and was hoping her energy would drive her to another Olympic trip. She cranked out a triple toe, triple toe, and landed her required double Axel with expression. Her footwork included twizzles, the difficult ice dance move, but this skater’s muscle control allowed her to impress in her spiral with a free-handed extension a la second. If her energy looks familiar, it may be because of her coach, former jumping dynamo Elaine Zayak. Unfortunately, Elene’s entertaining program was riddled with mistakes during the last half, as reflected by her fall from 8th place in the short to 11th in the long program. She earned 162.48 total.

12th Place: Italy’s Carolina Kostner, defending World Silver Medallist is tall and a ballerina on ice. Unfortunately, she singled most of her jumps and left us wondering if this was a fluke or if she is simply needing to regroup for next year. Carolina’s middle name has never been Consistency, but she kept her speed and artistry going to the end. The one triple she landed didn’t get her very far. After placing 5th in the short program and 15th in the long program, she earned a 153.56 overall.

13th Place: Finland’s Susanna Poykio is 27 and no stranger to these world championships. This Europeans bronze medalist had a bitter-sweet performance here. She landed her triple flip, double toe loop combination before falling on her triple Lutz. Susanna seemed comfortable on this familiar stage, but she began to change her jumps and was semi-successful for it, landing every other jump after that. Her shiny, modern, yellow dress and dainty hair bow presented an elegant addition to this technically disappointing program. She placed 12th in both the short program and free skate, with a 153.31 combined total.

Final Standings Continued

Note: 28 other ladies represented their countries at this competition but did not make the finals. Congratualtions to them all.

The copyright of the article 2009 ISU Worlds Ladies Figure Skating in Women's Skating is owned by Timbre Beck-Murphy. Permission to republish 2009 ISU Worlds Ladies Figure Skating in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.