Weir Graceful and Excellent in Men's Short Program
by Michelle Wojdyla

“I am very, very, very excited with how today went,” Weir said. “With the way practice is going I thought I could skate well, but not as well as I did. To score over 80 points is my new personal best. I am just very elated right now, so thrilled with how I came out. It was lovely, really. It’s me, so I skate however well it is going to go that day, and I never can predict anything.  But, I trained well.  I trained well coming into this event and no matter how bad or nervous I am feeling, I can still deliver a strong performance.”

Weir’s performance opened with a triple Axel with strong, fast flow out on the landing edge. All his GOEs were positive, including one +3. He followed that up with a triple Lutz-triple toe that gave him 11.43 points. His flying sit spin and circular step sequence both gained level 4s and his straight-line step sequence received a +3. He received three negative 1s for his final level three combination spin, but three other judges gave it a +1 and they mostly cancelled each other out, giving Weir a +.01 GOE for the element.

The program components were varied, with different judges on the panel seeing the program in extremely different lights. One judge gave scores in the 6.25 to 7.25 range, where another scored Weir 8.5-9.0. The scores averaged just under 8.0, with the lowest being a 7.79 for transitions.

The audience in SavvisCenter was very receptive to Weir’s “The Swan” program by composer Camille Saint-Saens, cheering him on throughout the nearly three minute routine.

“I can never really hear them, but I can feel it,” Weir said. “You can feel when the audience is behind you. There is nothing like skating in front of a crowd that wants you to win."

Thursday’s short program sets Weir up well for Saturday’s free skate.

“Skating well in the short program always helps me feel good for the free program,” he said. “I think when you skate bad in the short program you want to prove something in the free, and I have proven that to myself a lot. When you skate a great short program, you want to keep the same level and the same confidence level for the following program.”

Michael Weiss’ program to Verdi’s “La Donna e Mobile” proved the 29-year-old skater cannot be discounted as a contender to make his third Olympic team. A two-foot landing on the first jump of his quad toe-double toe combination netted him a –1.71 GOE, but the remainder of his elements were either base or positive. His circular step sequence matched the music and was rated a level 4. His final spin, a change-foot combination, was also rated level 4 and received mostly +1 and +2 GOE. Weiss was thrilled with his outing.

“My goal was to enjoy this national championship,” he said. “I knew that this was my last short program at the national championships. When I finished my program I just stood there for a second and I found myself getting pretty emotional. I have been at this competition for a long time and it has been a big part of my life. It was nice to skate that way with the situation we are in. It is certainly a tight race for the Olympic team. I skated a solid program. It wasn’t perfect, but I will certainly take it. It was just a great moment for me. It was enjoyable to be out there. I have probably 20 members of my family here at the competition, and they have been with me here for 10 years.”

Weiss cannot help but think about his chances for a third trip to the Winter Games.

“It is certainly in my mind,” he said. “The Olympics are the best athletes in the world. To be related with all of those great athletes is certainly a great honor. If I get the opportunity to represent my country again for the third time I will do so proudly. It is certainly going to be a good long program. Everybody has been skating well this week and it is very competitive out there.”

Evan Lysacek, who finished third at the 2005 U.S. Championships, had a fluke fall on his footwork sequence. His level of difficulty was downgraded to a level 2, and he received the required –3 GOE and the 1.0 deduction from his total.

“I am disappointed; it was uncharacteristic,” Lysacek said. “That was the first element that I have missed all season in a short program, so, it is obviously very uncharacteristic. I can’t think of another time this has happened. But, I guess it is part of the sport. That is something that is exciting about skating, you never know what is going to happen – when your music is going to skip or your costume falls apart.”

Lysacek also struggled with his triple flip out of footwork, receiving –1.29 GOE on the element.

“I got a little bit trippy and I couldn’t really recover from it. I just lost a little bit of speed I felt like,” Lysacek said. “On the far end of the ice before that last jump I hit a piece of ice and kind of lost a beat a little bit. I was trying to make up for it and I kind of lost my speed going into that last jump and I was a little bit off.”

After skating to the Gipsy Kings this fall, Lysacek decided to return to “Espana Cani,” music he has used for many seasons. This comes on the heels of him ditching his “Grease” program for the more traditional “Carmen” in his free skate. All the changes and the problems in his short program will not derail Lysacek’s preparation for the free skate.

“I am just going to go into it as if I did a perfect short program and keep the confidence that I have had throughout this entire season,” Lysacek said.

Matt Savoie crashed on his triple Axel, receiving the mandatory –3 GOE and –1.0 off the total score. He did not receive negative GOEs for any of his other elements.

“I am happy with the scores,” Savoie said. “It is hard to get truly excited about it. I am disappointed in the way I skated.”

Savoie was asked whether he thought his scores were higher than he expected.

“It is hard for me,” he said. “I have never been scored under this system at nationals. I think everybody is scored a little bit higher at nationals than in international competitions, so my frame of reference is not the biggest. I don’t think anybody’s is.”

Timothy Goebel made two mistakes in his short program. He put his hand down on the quad in his quad toe-double toe combination, and he overrotated his triple Axel.

“Obviously I was disappointed to make two mistakes in a short program,” Goebel said, “but, I am four points out of third. Four points is basically nothing. It is certainly not over yet. The long program is really the main program. It is very easy to make up four points.”

Ryan Bradley’s performace to “Zorba the Greek” earned him a standing ovation from the crowd and a place in the final group in Saturday’s free skate. He had only three –1s throughout the 72 GOEs awarded, one +2 and the balance +1 and base. He had no level 4 elements, and only a level 1 on his straight-line footwork sequence. Bradley was happy with his performance.

“It is really fun to be a part of this,” said Bradley, who was scheduled to have surgery on his ailing ankle after the sectional qualifying competition but delayed it to compete in St. Louis. “When the competition is this good you have to bring your best. I love that part of the sport.”

It has been a challenging season for the 22-year-old from Colorado Springs, but the U.S. Championships brought out the best in him.

“I’ve had ups and downs regardless of the competition,” Bradley said. “I enjoy it more when the skaters are better because it is do or die. If you make a mistake out there, you are toast. That kind of pressure is hard, but I love it.  Sometimes you hate it, but when you do succeed you love it even more.”

The men’s free skate takes place Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CST and will air live on ABC Sports.

to top