Fay

We live on different planes of reality until we do the clean-up. Hello from page 2016... so there's no present - you just went backwards a few pages and got a new start towards 2000 whereas we had to reach that crucial milepost with no sense of celebration. And now we have to depend on you to tell us when the real 2000 hits...

I guess there are more of us from Moscow...

You officially are now!

Sounds like a good idea, but what do we do if we're from the same city?

Yes PLEASE!!! I'd break my neck for it!

Can I exchange five thousand questions I have for just half an hour of his skating? No hard elements - just skating around the skating rink...

I got myself a yuzu and lemongrass tea at a cafe once - and I felt self-conscious about explaining to my friend why I wanted it...

It'll start growing back one day, guys... Sending you hello from page 2011...

Unless we remove the hidden posts manually, yes, the situation stays like that. And that's what we have pretty little time for. Currently it's page 2006 for us. Calling you from the future which is really our past...

Please, don't! we'll be starting our journey anew towards that elusive goal!

So now the forum is jinxed - admins and mods see 1998 while other satellites get 1970s? LOL

Sorry, guys, it shows 1997 to me now. LOL. what sorcery is this?

Going down? We're on page 1996 - where were we before?

For crying out loud, do you think we'll take two weeks to fill under twenty pages?!

Sergei Voronov (30 y.o.) (World Standings #21) A Russian skater, a two-time European medalist (2014 silver, 2015 bronze), the 2014–15 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a two-time World Junior medalist (2006 silver, 2007 bronze), and a two-time Russian national champion (2008, 2009). Currently coached by Inna Goncharenko, his previous coaches were Eteri Tutberidze, Sergei Dudakov, Nikolai Morozov, M. Voitsekhovskaia, Alexei Urmanov, Galina Kashina and Rafael Arutunian Sergei is the veteran of this competition – he was born on October 3rd, 1987. He started to skate in 1991, and went through a long and tortuous process of growth and disappointment, but never gave up the sport. He isn’t the most technically advanced or the most artistic skater in the world, but he certainly does have fun if the skate is good enough. His heyday was probably the season of 2014-2015, when he won two silver medals at the Grand Prix events (the Rostelecom Cup and NHK Trophy) and made it to the 2014 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, where he ended up being 3rd. At the start of this season, he improved his personal best score and won the Challenger Series Minsk Arena Ice Star. He improved on his results furthermore at the NHK Trophy. His personal best overall score is 271.12 at the 2017 NHK Trophy, his best SP score is 90.33 at the 2014 Rostelecom Cup, his best FS score is 181.06 at the 2017 NHK Trophy. Sergei won the NHK Trophy with two strong skates, which brought him two personal bests – for his FS and the overall accumulative score and is highly likely to make it to the Grand Prix Final if he can place at least 5th. We wish this veteran good luck! His SP is Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla His FP is Sarabande Suite Both his programs were choreographed by Misha Ge. Daniel Samohin ISR (#17) An Israeli skater, the 2016 World Junior champion. He has won two ISU Challenger Series medals, including gold at the 2015 U.S. International Classic. Currently coached by Igor Samohin, his father, his former coach was Igor Pashkevich. He lives and trains in the USA. His skating idol was Evgeni Plushenko. His brother, Stanislav, is 7½ years older and competed in figure skating for Russia and Israel. He was born on March 12th, 1998 and started skating very young. He could have skated for the US team, but he chose to skate for Israel in the end. He started to compete internationally in 2013, but it was only last season that he moved on to the senior circuit. Unfortunately, the season of 2016-2017 put a bit of a damper on his ambitious plans, as he was dogged by inconsistency and sometimes by bad luck – everyone is sure to remember that his skates got lost with his luggage just before the 2017 European Championship, and he had to skate in a pair of skates he borrowed from his brother, and as a result, he didn’t make it into the free program skate. But nevertheless, Daniel is one of the few skaters to have landed two quad jumps in a short program, three quads in a free program, and five quads in one competition, which makes him a contender for a medal at this event. The first GP event this season, turned out to be tumultuous for Daniel - he finished last in the field of 12, with 183.79 points. Let’s hope he does better at Skate America. His personal best total score is 236.65 at the 2016 Junior World Championship, his personal best SP score is 83.47 at 2016 Cup of China, and his personal best FS score is 165.63 at the 2016 Junior World Championship. His SP is It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World His FP is Two Angels Maxim Kovtun (RUS) (22 y.o.) (World Standings 16) A Russian skater, a three-time European medallist and three-time Russian national champion (2014, 2015, 2016). Currently coached by Inna Goncharenko, his former coaches were Elena Buianova, Tatiana Tarasova, Maxim Zavozin, Nikolai Morozov, Marina Voitsekhovskaia Maxim was born on June 18th, 1995, and started to skate at the age of four. He wanted to be a hockey skater at first, but stuck with figure skating. He was one of the first skaters to try jumping two quads in his short program and three quads in his free program, and as such, he soon became the centre of fevered expectations of the Russian Federation and Russian fans alike, who expected him to quickly rise in the ranks of top men and start winning medals. These expectations might have contributed to his problems both with his nerves and unfortunately with his body too. He was expected to take part in two GP events this season, but SA is his first outing – and his coach Inna Goncharenko intimated that while he does take part in it, his issues are not quite over and this is just a trial competition for him. His personal best overall score is 266.80, his best SP score is 94.53, his best FS score is 172.27, all of them set at the 2017 European Championship. His SP is Flamenco selection His FP is Hey You by Pink Floyd Adam Rippon (USA) (28 y.o.) (World Standings 10) An American skater, the 2010 Four Continents champion and 2016 U.S. national champion. Earlier in his career, he won the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships, the 2007–08 Junior Grand Prix Final, and the 2008 U.S junior national title. Currently coached by Rafael Arutunian, Vera Arutunian, Nadia Kanaeva, his previous coaches were Jason Dungjen, Yuka Sato, Brian Orser, Ghislain Briand, N. Morozov, E. Sergeeva Adam was born on November 11th, 1989, and started to skate quite late when he was 10. He’s also the only male skater to have won the Junior World Championship twice. He’s a lyrical skater with nice choreography and some trademark moves like the way to jump his triple lutzes with both hands above his head (the move is colloquially known as rippon) and his layback spins, but he’s been held low by his inability to jump quads. He’s been trying to jump and land 4Lz for quite a while, but he hasn’t really tried many of the others. Last year, he had to withdraw from competitions due to a fracture, but now he’s ready to join the fray and try and make it to Pyongchang. His personal best overall score is 267.53 at the 2016 Trophee de France, his best SP score is 87.86 at the 2016 US International FS Classic, his best FS score is 182.28 at the 2016 Trophee de France. Adam finished 2nd at the NHK Trophy with 261.99 points and has good chances of making it to the Grand Prix Final now though he’d probably best finish at least in the third position for that. His SP is Advice Of Tomorrow/Let Me Think About It choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle His FP is Arrival Of The Birds choreographed by Benji Schwimmer. Nathan Chen (USA) (18 y.o) (World Standings #7) An American skater, the 2017 Four Continents champion, 2016–17 Grand Prix Final silver medallist, and 2017 U.S. national champion. Earlier in his career, he won bronze at the 2014 World Junior Championships and gold at the 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final. Currently coached by Rafael Arutunyan. Genia Chernyshova, Karl Kovar and Marina Zouyeva were his former coaches. Nathan was born on May 5th, 1999, and started skating at the age of three. He moved to Arutunyan in 2011. His junior years proved he was about to become a major threat to all the elite skaters, but he has been dogged with injuries and has had to undergo a couple of surgeries. Nathan is the only skater in the world who landed both the quad lutz and quad flip jumps in competitions. He is also the first man to land five quads in the free program and is the current record holder of scoring the most amount of points on one element (the quad lutz-triple toe loop combination). His technical prowess made him capable of beating the other top senior figure skaters, which he decisively proved by finishing ahead of Yuzuru at the 2017 Four Continents Championship and winning the gold medal there. His personal best total score is 307.46, his personal best SP score is 103.12, and his personal best FS score is 204.34, all of which were achieved at the 2017 Four Continents Championship. Nathan won the Rostelecom Cup with 293.79 and is a favourite to win Skate America too. His SP is Nemesis by Benjamin Clementine choreographed by Shae Lynn Bourne His FP is Mao’s Last Dancer by Christopher Gordon choreographed by Lori Nichol In addition to figure skating, as a kid, Chen trained in ballet with Ballet West Academy as well as competing in gymnastics at the state and regional levels for seven years. Boyang Jin (CHN) (20 y.o.) (World Standings #5) A Chinese skater, a two-time World bronze medallist (2016–2017), the 2016 Four Continents silver medallist, the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medallist, and a four-time (2014–2017) Chinese national champion.On the junior level, he is the 2015 World Junior silver medallist and the 2013 JGP Final champion. Currently coached by Zhaoxiao Xu and Caishu Fu, his previous coach was Xiujing Chen Boyang Jin was born on October 3rd, 1997 and started to skate at the age of seven and a half. He soon developed as a jumping talent and a technical wiz – Boyang Jin became the first skater to ever land a quad lutz-triple toe loop combination in international competition,the first skater to have landed four quad jumps in a free skate and six quads in a competition. He’s been kept relatively low by his less than stellar skating skills, but he’s been working hard on catching up in that respect as well, so it’ll be exciting to see how he develops. He’s got a brilliant set of personal bests – his best overall score is 303.58, his best SP score is 98.64 and his best FS score is 204.94, all set by his clean skates at the 2017 World Championship, where he won his second World bronze medal. He started the season well by winning the 2017 Finlandia Trophy. Boyang came second in the Cup of China with 264.48 and he is a likely candidate for the Grand Prix Final. His SP is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon His FP is Star Wars soundtrack Both of his programs were choreographed by Lori Nichol.

And lastly, we're here at the start of the last GP event - Skate America. After a whole array of withdrawals, the final set of men taking the ice seems to be the following: Roman Sadovsky (CAN) (18 y.o.) (World Standings 57) A Canadian skater, winner of two gold Junior Grand Prix medals. Roman is coached by Tracy Wainman and Grzegorz Filipowski, his former coaches were Brian Orser, Lee Barkell, Allen Carson Roman was born on May 31st, 1999, and started to skate at 5 to learn to play hockey, but his interest in figure skating took over. He had some success as a junior skater, but his transition into the senior skating hasn’t been so easy – he placed 10th at the 2017 Finlandia Trophy. This is the very first senior GP event for this young (and tall) skater, so let’s wish him good luck! He can jump 4S and 3A. His personal best overall score is 221.21at the 2016 Tallinn Cup Junior Grand Prix, his best SP score is 76.27 at the 2017 Junior World Championship and his personal best FS score is 149.25 at the 2016 Tallinn Cup Junior Grand Prix. His SP is The Vampire Masquerade choreographed by C. Lane, J. Razguljaevs His FP is Sword Art Online OST choreographed by David Wilson Liam Firus (CAN) (25 y.o.) (World Standings 53) A Canadian skater, the 2016 Triglav Trophy winner and three time Canadian National medallist. Currently coached by Bruno Marcotte, his former coaches were Christy Krall, Damon Allen, Erik Schulz, Lorna Bauer, Rod Mackie, Scott Davis Liam was born on July 2nd, 1992, and started to skate in 1999 as a hockey skater first and then switched over to figure skating. Liam is a smooth skater with excellent skating skills, but he hasn’t been competing internationally that much. He has 4T and 3A under his belt, but he hasn’t been able to land these very consistently. His personal best overall score is 248.29, his best SP score is 83.46 and his best FS score is 164.83, all of these set at the 2017 US International FS Classic, where he won the bronze medal. His SP is Happy Ending by Mika His FP is La La Land Ross Miner (USA) (26 y.o.) (World Standings 44) An American skater, the 2012 Four Continents Championship bronze medallist, the 2011 and 2012 NHK Trophy and 2015 Rostelecom Cup bronze medallist, the 2013 US National Championship bronze medallist. The 2013 National silver medallist. Ross is currently coached by Peter Johansson, Mark Mitchell, his former coach was Edmund Nesti He was born on January 24th, 1991 and started skating at the age of three. He had to relearn all his jumps at the age of 12, as his jumping technique was very poor at the beginning. But he has improved on that dramatically – he can jump 4S and 3A. His personal best overall score is 248.92, his best SP score is 85.36 and his best FS score is 163.56, all of them set at the 2015 Rostelecom Cup. His SP is Cosmic Superhero/Magic Cure/Downtown His FS is Somebody To Love/Love Of My Life/Crazy Little Thing Called Love His choreographers are Jamie Isley, Adam Blake Takahito Mura (JPN) (26 y.o) (World Standings #33) A Japanese skater, the 2014 Four Continents champion, 2014 Skate Canada champion, and 2012 Trophée Éric Bompard champion. Nationally, he is a four-time Japan Championships bronze medallist and 2008 Japan Junior champion. Currently coached by Takashi Mura, his former coaches were Hiroshi Nagakubo, Yoriko Naruse, Naoki Shigematsu Takahito Mura was born on February 11th, 1991 and comes from a figure skating family: his father and coach Takashi Mura competed internationally and his mother also was a figure skater. Takahito is a beautiful skater with flair for unusually colourful and sometimes dubious clothing, and he has been working hard to keep up with the incredible progress in men’s skating we’ve been seeing these couple of years. Last season, his plans were curtailed by injuries and mishaps, so he didn’t make it into the Japanese Team for the Four Continents Championship and World Championship. This season, he’s undoubtedly fired by competition and a desire to make it to Pyongchang, but his first outing at Skate Canada was nearly disastrous for him as he only got 188.66 points overall, way below his capacities, and finished last in the competition. Let’s hope he vindicates himself in this competition and prove he can do far better than that. His personal best overall score is 268.43, his best SP score is 89.08, and his best FS score is 179.35, all achieved at the 2016 Four Continents Championship. His SP is Too Close by Alex Clare choreographed by Massimo Scali His FP is The Phantom of the Opera choreographed by Charlie White Kevin Reynolds (CAN) (27 y.o.) (World Standings #28) A Canadian skater, the 2013 Four Continents champion, four times Canadian national medallist, the first man to have landed two quadruple jumps in the short program, and five quadruple jumps in the short program and free program, which he achieved in the 2013 Four Continents Championship. Kevin is coached by Joanne MacLeod. He started skating at the age of five and started training with Joanne at 9. One of the most recognisable and lovable skaters, Kevin is one of the skaters who can proudly wear the badge of beating Yuzuru Hanyu – he won his 2013 Four Continents title over Yuzu. He’s been struggling with quite a few injuries, though, so lately his performance level has somewhat lowered down, but he was able to finish 9th in a highly competitive field. He can jump 4S and 4T, has tried 4Lo quite few times, never landing it clean and rotated. His personal best overall score is 253.84 at the 2017 World Championship, his best SP score is 85.16 at the 2013 World Championship, his best FS score is 172.21 at the 2013 Four Continents Championship. This season, he has taken part in Finlandia Trophy where he placed 11th. At his first GP event, Cup of China, Kevin finished in the 8th place with 226.50 point, let’s see how he does this time. His SP is Whiplash OST choreographed by Shae Lynn Bourne, His FP is The Armed Man: The Mass For Peace choreographed by Mark Pillay Han Yan (CHN) (21 y.o.) (World Standings #23) A Chinese skater, a three-time Four Continents bronze medalist (2013, 2015, 2016), the 2017 Asian Winter Games bronze medalist, 2013 Cup of China champion, 2012 World Junior champion, and a two-time (2009, 2010) Chinese national champion. Coached by Mingzhu Li, previously coached by Shuguang Jia Han Yan was born on March 6th, 1996, and started to skate when he was 5. After he won the 2012 World Junior championship, many people expected him to be a major competition to the likes of Yuzuru Hanyu as soon as he started his senior career in the autumn of 2013, as Yan Han can compete with anyone in the quality of his jumps, especially 3A, his expressivity and his wonderful skating skills. These hopes were substantiated in the season of 2013-2014, when Yan Han won the Cup of China gold medal and made it to the Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka, and finished in the respectable 7th place in the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2014 World Championship. Unfortunately, ever after the infamous Cup of China collision with Yuzuru, his skating career went rather downhill and he’s been dogged with injuries, but his recent outing at the Cup of Nice, which he won decisively, seems to show he’s got lots of competitive fire in him for now. Undoubtedly, we will see him at the 2018 Olympic Games, so for now we wish him to do well in the Grand Prix events. According to the ISU biography, his personal best overall score is 271.55 at the 2016 Four Continents Championship, his best SP score is 90.14 at the 2013 Cup of China and his best FS score is 181.98 at the 2016 Four Continents. In the 2017 Cup of Nice, he went over these figures in the SP, accumulating 94.29 points. In his first GP event, Cup of China, Han Yan finished 5th with 254.61 points, potentially he has the ability to go to the GPF if he can win the event. The likelihood of him winning is not terribly high, though, but less probable things have happened during this Grand Prix series. His SP is A Thousand Years His FP is I’ll Take Care Of You Both programs have been choreographed by Lori Nichol

The rumours so far are that she injured her foot while she was doing some conditioning exercises - she hit her foot hard against a bench she was to jump over. Had she allowed herself to rest then, it might not have been so bad now...

For the sake of the girl's health, I want her to withdraw if she can't skate in three weeks' time. Making the fracture more serious by forcing those jumps out is no option. But I do understand what is at stake. She trained too much and too hard...

So I wasn't the only one to think the sudden rise of Alina's PCS has to do anything with the current problem?

Pressure fractures in her right foot. She started feeling the pain before the Rostelecom Cup, and it got worse at NHK. She was on painkillers for her NHK free program. Why didn't she withdraw from the gala?

Medvedeva's injured, but aims to perform at the GPF http://www.fsrussia.ru/intervyu/3390-evgeniya-medvedeva-khotela-by-vystupit-v-finale-gran-pri-nesmotrya-na-obstoyatelstva.html

Nothing too bad - Yuzu has just landed a 4Lo and wants Javi to jump his quad. Javi says he's overdressed for the part, Juzu suggests he take off the top layer (not quite knowing Javi has nothing underneath) Sweet memories of GPF 2015...

So who is left instead of the raccoon?

We'll consider your case carefully now that you declared your crime...

Yeah, a robin, you know...