Skate America honors Lake Placid’s history, and adds to it
By Christie Sausa, Special to the News
LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid hosted the triumphant return of Skate America Nov. 12-15 and figure skating fans descended upon the village in droves to witness the event.
A Grand Prix event that determines Olympic favorites in the disciplines of lady’s, men’s, pairs and ice dancing, Skate America began here 30 years ago as the Norton Skate/Flaming Leaves Festival.
The competition kicked off with ice dance and pairs. The favorites in the ice dance competition were Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the U.S., who are the second highest points scoring team in the country (the highest point scorers this season are Meryl Davis and Charlie White). They skated well during the entire competition, with only a small mistake on twizzles in the free dance. Their overall score, 195.87, was more than 24 points higher than the second place finishers, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy.
In the pairs competition, the favorites were Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China, the 2002 Olympic bronze medalists and the 2006 and 2007 World Champions. They skated a clean short program and a long program with minimal mistakes. Even though they have been away from competition for two years, they skated just as well as they did the last time they were competing.
The men’s competition was a highlight of Skate America. Evan Lysacek of the United States was the favorite coming into the competition and he delivered. The score from his long program was also far higher than that of his competitors; at 158.55, he was 20 points above the second-place competitor in the long program, Ryan Bradley.
Yu Na Kim of Korea won the lady’s competition despite a fall and some small mistakes in the long program. Her total score was 187.98, which was 13 points higher than that of the second-place finisher, American Rachael Flatt. Third was Hungary’s Julia Sebestyen, who scored 159.03.
The skaters seemed as pleased as the fans to have Skate America back in Lake Placid.
“It’s a real honor to skate here. It is so historic,” said Ben Agosto at a press conference.
Evan Lysacek shared those sentiments.
“It is so inspiring to skate on the same ice where the Miracle on Ice happened,” Lysacek said. He shared a story about his coach, Frank Carroll, who had a “golden moment” when he won the 1960 Eastern Men’s Sectional Senior Championships in Lake Placid.
“I have heard about it every day for the past five months,” Lysacek added.
In other words, for one of America’s foremost figure skating coaches, Lake Placid remains a truly magical place nearly 50 years after that golden moment.
“It feels great to win here,” Lysacek said. “There is a lot of history in Lake Placid, and we could all feel it. It’s an honor to be a part of Lake Placid history, which I am sure will continue after Skate America.”
POSTED: November 19, 2009
Photos
A Grand Prix event that determines Olympic favorites in the disciplines of lady’s, men’s, pairs and ice dancing, Skate America began here 30 years ago as the Norton Skate/Flaming Leaves Festival.
The competition kicked off with ice dance and pairs. The favorites in the ice dance competition were Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the U.S., who are the second highest points scoring team in the country (the highest point scorers this season are Meryl Davis and Charlie White). They skated well during the entire competition, with only a small mistake on twizzles in the free dance. Their overall score, 195.87, was more than 24 points higher than the second place finishers, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy.
In the pairs competition, the favorites were Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China, the 2002 Olympic bronze medalists and the 2006 and 2007 World Champions. They skated a clean short program and a long program with minimal mistakes. Even though they have been away from competition for two years, they skated just as well as they did the last time they were competing.
The men’s competition was a highlight of Skate America. Evan Lysacek of the United States was the favorite coming into the competition and he delivered. The score from his long program was also far higher than that of his competitors; at 158.55, he was 20 points above the second-place competitor in the long program, Ryan Bradley.
Yu Na Kim of Korea won the lady’s competition despite a fall and some small mistakes in the long program. Her total score was 187.98, which was 13 points higher than that of the second-place finisher, American Rachael Flatt. Third was Hungary’s Julia Sebestyen, who scored 159.03.
The skaters seemed as pleased as the fans to have Skate America back in Lake Placid.
“It’s a real honor to skate here. It is so historic,” said Ben Agosto at a press conference.
Evan Lysacek shared those sentiments.
“It is so inspiring to skate on the same ice where the Miracle on Ice happened,” Lysacek said. He shared a story about his coach, Frank Carroll, who had a “golden moment” when he won the 1960 Eastern Men’s Sectional Senior Championships in Lake Placid.
“I have heard about it every day for the past five months,” Lysacek added.
In other words, for one of America’s foremost figure skating coaches, Lake Placid remains a truly magical place nearly 50 years after that golden moment.
“It feels great to win here,” Lysacek said. “There is a lot of history in Lake Placid, and we could all feel it. It’s an honor to be a part of Lake Placid history, which I am sure will continue after Skate America.”
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