{"id":10336,"date":"2017-02-19T03:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-02-19T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=10336"},"modified":"2018-05-13T12:34:31","modified_gmt":"2018-05-13T16:34:31","slug":"2017-four-continents-championships-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/2017-four-continents-championships-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 Four Continents Championships Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Anne Calder | Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n

The 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships were held in Gangneung Ice Arena in the Republic of Korea February 14-19. The Championships served as a test event for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.<\/p>\n

Sixteen ice dance teams from six countries competed for prize money. Four former gold medal teams, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje, and Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue, plus the defending champions, Maia & Alex Shibutani, returned to participate in the event.<\/p>\n

Short Dance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Canadians Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir topped the short dance leader board, followed by Americans Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani, Madison Chock & Evan Bates, and Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue in second, third and fourth places.<\/p>\n

Virtue & Moir brought the music of Prince to life with a seamless weaving of the level 4 footwork, curve lift, twizzles and blues pattern. The program opened to \u201cKiss\u201d with a solid 11.90 GOE hip-hop step sequence and closed with a spectacular spread eagle\/curve lift to \u201cPurple Rain\u201d. Moir did have a slight stumble, but they pushed through and earned 79.75 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a little bit of a technical error in the middle of it, so it\u2019s not ideal obviously, especially in the short program where we really have to capitalize on those technical points,\u201d Moir explained. \u201cBut we kind of came out and felt like we attacked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shibutanis used two versions of \u201cThat\u2019s Life\u201d \u2013 Frank Sinatra\u2019s solo for the blues and a Sinatra\/Jay-Z mix for the hip hop. The pattern and step sequences were Level 3; the rotational lift and fast-paced, in sync twizzles earned Level 4.<\/p>\n

The confidence earned after winning a second straight US Nationals title was evident from the opening pose to the final lift. The program scored 76.59, just three points off the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really happy with how we skated today,\u201d Maia said. \u201cA year out from the Games, it\u2019s so exciting and inspiring to be competing in this venue. I think that we really kicked it up a notch today with our program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third place team, Chock & Bates, skated a strong dance to blues and hip-hop. The Rohene Ward choreographed program used \u201cBad to the Bone\u201d and \u201cUptown Funk\u201d to achieve their 74.67 score. The opening curve lift, pattern and twizzles earned level 4, with the footwork scoring level 3. The team went all out with great intensity in their performance and got the crowd involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur program felt like it had a really good energy through the beginning and the end,\u201d Chock said. \u201cWe felt like the audience responded really well to our program, and we had a ton of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue danced a tender blues pattern to Nina Simone\u2019s \u201cFeeling Good\u201d and funky hip-hop moves to top rap hits. The pattern, twizzles, and straight- line lift earned level 4 with the footwork scoring level 3. The program received a 73.79 personal best score.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really pleased with our performance,\u201d Donohue said. \u201cWe really had fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (CAN) were fifth (71.15) and Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu (CHN) were sixth (61.45). An unfortunate fall in the side-by-side footwork landed Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (CAN) in seventh place.<\/p>\n

Free Dance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir won their seventh Four Continents medal. The Canadians now have two bronze, two silver, and three gold medals from the international event. After Sochi, the 2014 Olympic silver medalists took a two-year sabbatical from competitive ice dancing. Since their return to the sport this season, they have won every event they entered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn coming back, we obviously wanted to win,\u201d Virtue said. \u201cI think every athlete enters every competition with that goal in mind, and the Olympics in 2018 were the ultimate goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than that after two years away from competition, we realized what really was important to us,\u201d Virtue continued. \u201cWe were very process-driven; we wanted to create art and programs that we loved and connected with. We wanted to enjoy being athletes again. Our focus has not really been the results. That\u2019s a confidence boost for sure. It adds a little extra pressure, but it\u2019s nice to know that we are on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gold medalists danced a seamless interpretation of \u201cPilgrims on a Long Journey\u201d and Sam Smith\u2019s \u201cLatch\u201d for a personal best 117.20. They earned six level 4 marks for their technical elements and nine 10.00 program component scores. There were a few slight bobbles, but their overall fluidity and consistency dominated the performance.<\/p>\n

The Shibutani\u2019s program is called Evolution. It opens with a mesmerizing violin (Anne Akiko Meyers) and piano (Akira Eguchi) piece called “Spiegel im Spiegel” or “mirror in the mirror”. The second section is an original collaboration between Alex Shibutani and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n

The silver medalists earned six level 4 technical element marks and three 10.00 program component scores. The 115.26 free dance and 191.85 total were personal best scores.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was our best free dance performance of the entire season,\u201d Maia said. \u201cThat\u2019s really encouraging for us, especially competing in the Olympic venue. There\u2019s a little extra thrill to be able to imagine how it could be in a year after having two great skates.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Bowie and Freddy Mercury\u2019s rock music and raging lyrics to \u201cUnder Pressure\u201d shook the rafters during the Madison Chock & Evan Bates\u2019 bronze medal performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such a fun program for us,\u201d Chock said. \u201cWe love skating it, and I felt like we really connected with each other. It feels especially good to do that in competition. I think the audience really enjoyed it, so that makes us really proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lifts, spin and twizzles earned level 4; the footwork was again level 3, which brought a comment from Bates about strategic tweaking before Worlds.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of our attention will be on footwork, where we didn\u2019t get levels today. We also got level 3s yesterday, so there\u2019s room for improvement. That will be our main focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program scored 110.91 points and the total was 185.58.<\/p>\n

Americans Madison Chock & Zachary Donohue were only .88 out of third place after the short dance. Unfortunately, a few mishaps lost them points for a sixth place (107.03) free dance finish, but fourth over all with a personal best 180.82.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made two pretty costly mistakes, both in level and in GOE,\u201d Donohue acknowledged. \u201cThe overall performance was pretty good, but not as strong as we\u2019ve been practicing at home. It was a little more reserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (CAN) were fourth in their dramatic free dance to Concierto de Aranjuez composed by Joaquin Rodrigo and choreographed by their new coach Nikolai Morozov. The program had a few glitches, but scored a personal best 108.94. The 2015 Four Continents Champions finished fifth with180.09 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we\u2019re having some ups and downs with some of our technical things, but we feel like with every competition we\u2019re really growing a lot of our emotions and performance,\u201d Poje said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I did one less twizzle; it seems to be a twizzle mistake competition, but we love what we do, and we enjoy it,\u201d Weaver added.<\/p>\n

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (CAN) danced a fifth place clean and solid Latin program to Con Buena Onda that scored 108.93 \u2013 just .01 behind their countrymen. The total 170.14 moved them up to a sixth place finish.<\/p>\n

Poirier reflected on their short dance that had dropped them into seventh place before the free program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some trouble with the short dance this season. We don\u2019t feel like we performed that program to it\u2019s potential any competition this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to rethink our strategy making sure that the choreography is set up so that we can perform it successfully and secondly just re-evaluate how we\u2019ve been training it because we can\u2019t afford to make another mistake at the World Championships,\u201d Poirier concluded.<\/p>\n

Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu (CHN) set new personal best scores in both performances to finish seventh. The team has been working with Anjelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo in Detroit, Michigan, and moved up two placements from their Four Continents result in 2016.<\/p>\n

Yura Min & Alexander Gamelin (KOR) nearly matched their personal best score in the short dance with 59.01. In the free dance, their spin, twizzles and all three lifts were graded level 4 and the performance scored 85.68 giving the team 144.69 points and an eighth place finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came here to skate our best programs and I think that is what we did,\u201d Gamelin said. \u201cHow we skated sets us up for Worlds. It\u2019s our first Worlds. I think there\u2019s a ton of expectations on us so I think what we want to do is again to skate our two best programs and show that we can compete with the better teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

GANGNEUNG ICE ARENA<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new facility seats 12,000 with two international size ice surfaces located on separate levels for competition and training. The arena will house the 2018 Olympic figure skating and short track speed skating venues.<\/p>\n

The ice dancers commented on the excitement generated by competing on the 2018 Olympic ice\u2026<\/p>\n

Tessa Virtue: \u201cHaving the opportunity to simulate things here in this venue was really important to us and really magical. This will help us a lot moving forward, getting home, and being able to visualize the venue and the surrounding areas. It\u2019s a great advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Shibutani: \u201cThis year marks an incredible opportunity for all the athletes in attendance at this competition to really get a sense for the vibe of this venue and a feel for what the Games might be like for some of us in a year. That\u2019s really exciting. Maia mentioned to me the other day that the color of the seats (light blue) in this arena are so calm, so welcoming and friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evan Bates: \u201cWe got a chance to arrive well before the sun came up, and it was beautiful. The building was lit up from the outside, and it was really special. On the ice, I really love it. It\u2019s got this calming vibe out there, and it feels easy to get in the zone and focus and perform, which is always welcomed in an Olympic venue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zachary Donohue: “This is the Olympic venue. It’s like a dream come true to be able to perform a bit of a simulation of all of our hopes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madison Hubbell: \u201cWe want to create a moment on this Olympic ice to take with us to next year as we try to make the Olympic team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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