ITL Weekly Figure Skating News Roundup (26 August - 1 September 2018)

Yuzuru Hanyu practicing his new free program (Photo credit)

Yuzuru Hanyu practicing his new free program (Photo credit)

This week: Programs galore, entries abound, an empress is among us, and much more. A roundup of news you may have missed this week. Roundup is published every Saturday. Follow us on Twitter for the most timely updates throughout the week. If you have news, announcements and/or shoutouts you'd like to be included in the week's roundup, DM us on Twitter and we will take it into consideration! 

Announcements

  • Two time Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu has announced his 2018-19 programs. His short program is inspired by Johnny Weir's 2004-5 free program to "Otonal," while his free program takes inspiration from Evgeni Plushenko's "Tribute to Nijinsky."

    Yuzuru also stated that he hopes to land a 4A in competition this season. His 4T, 4S and 4Lo are included in his planned layout. However, he has opted to remove both the Flip and the Lutz from his layouts as he still has some lingering discomfort in his right foot, which was injured in practice at the NHK Trophy last year. His short is choreographed by Jeffery Buttle, and his free is choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne (source).
    • SP - Otonal, FS - Origin (Tribute to Nijinsky)
       
  • Sadly, Russian pairs team Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov have announced their split.  The couple did not go to the 2018 Olympic Games because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not allow Stolbova to compete (source).
     
  • Canadian ice dance team Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje have announced their programs for the 2018-19 season (source). Their free dance for this season will be a tribute to their friend Denis Ten. They will skate to the music he used for his 2017-18 free program (source). While they will not compete on the Grand Prix circuit, they will be participating in Autumn Classic later this month.
    • RD - Libertango, FD - SOS d'un terrein en détresse
       
  • Russia's Maxim Kovtun announced his programs for the upcoming season, both choreographed by Peter Chernyshev. Maxim was notably absent from most of last season, after withdrawing from both Finlandia and Skate Canada citing a back injury, and then similarly withdrawing after the short at both Skate America and Russian Nationals, where he placed 12th and 16th respectively. We are looking forward to his return this season! (source)
    • SP - L-O-V-E, Sing Sing Sing, FS - Carmen.
       
  • Mariah Bell has announced her programs for the 2018-19 season at Champs Camp. Her free is choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne, while her short is choreographed by training mate Adam Rippon.
    • SP - Love You More by Celine Dion, FS - Ludovico Eunadi selections
       
  • Elena Radionova has announced her programs for the 2018-19 season. Both programs are choreographed by Peter Chernyshev (source).
    • SP - You Know I'm No Good, FS - Cinema Paradiso
       
  • American ice dance team Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue have announced their 2018-19 programs. Both programs are choreographed by their coach Marie-France Dubriel (source).
    • RD - Alevare, Tangata del Alba by Astor Piazolla, FD - Introduction to Romeo, Kissing You
  • The entries for Ondrej Nepela Trophy 2018 have been released. Notable skaters competing there include: Alexei Bychenko, Keiji Tanaka, Mikhail Kolyada, Rika Kihira, Alina Zagitova, and Polina Tsurskaya.
     
  • The entries for Nebelhorn Trophy 2018 have been released. Notable skaters competing there include: Keegan Messing, Alexei Krasnozhon, Marin Honda, Mai Mihara, Scimeca Knierim/Knierim, and Gilles/Poirier.
     
  • The entries for CS Autumn Classic International 2018 have been released. Notable skaters competing there include: Yuzuru Hanyu, Junhwan Cha, Jason Brown, Evgenia Medvedeva, Wakaba Higuchi, Bradie Tennell, James/Cipres, Weaver/Poje, Wang/Liu and Hawayek/Baker.
  • There have been several updates to the Grand Prix assignments for the 2018 season. 
    • South Korea's Junhwan Cha has been given a second assignment, GP Finland. 
    • Another addition to GP Finland is the Finnish ice dance team Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis.
    • Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR) have been assigned to NHK Trophy.
    • Japanese ice dance team Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto have been assigned to a second Grand Prix event, Rostelecom Cup. This is the first season where the team has received two assignments. If you haven't already, check out the interview we did with them last month at Asian Open Trophy!
Alena Kostornaia skating her short program at JGP Cup of Austria (Photo credit).

Alena Kostornaia skating her short program at JGP Cup of Austria (Photo credit).

Competitions

  • JGP Cup Of Austria (August 30-September 1 2018)
    • Junior Men - 1st: Camden Pulkinen (USA), 2nd: Koshiro Shimada (JPN), 3rd: Roman Savosin (RUS)
      Protocols: SP, FS
    • Junior Ladies - 1st: Alena Kostornaia (RUS), 2nd: Alena Kanysheva (RUS), 3rd: Shiika Yoshioka (JPN)
      Protocols: SP, FS
    • Junior Pairs - 1st: Polina Kostiukovich/Dmitrii Ialin (RUS), 2nd: Anastasia Poluianova/Dmitry Sopot (RUS), 3rd: Alina Pepeleva/Roman Pleshkov (RUS)
      Protocols: SP, FS
    • Junior Ice Dance - 1st: Sofia Shevchenko/Igor Eremenko (RUS), 2nd: Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha (CAN), 3rd: Eva Kuts/Dmitrii Mikhailov (RUS)
      Protocols: RD, FD

You can watch full clips of the Junior Grand Prix performances and livestream them on the ISU's official Youtube channel with commentary by Ted Barton, and keep an eye out for our competition wrap up article to be posted tomorrow!  We will also be covering this competition and JGP Bratislava on our upcoming podcast episode out September 4th.  

  • Tokyo Summer Figure Skating Tournament (24 - 26 August 2018)
    • Junior Mens: 1st: Shun Sato. 2nd: Yuki Kunikata. 3rd: Yoshi Miura. 14yr old Shun executed three 3As in both programs and fell on an under-rotated 4S. His total score of 195.56 outscored all the senior men at the same competition. 
      Protocols - SP, FS
The empress, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (Photo credit).

The empress, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (Photo credit).

Skaters

  • Canada's Keegan Messing recently talked about his goals for the next few years, his programs at GTSA Summer Skate, and the jumps he is currently working on. His 4Lz is getting consistent in practice, and while he has not attempted a 4A outside of the harness, he plans to before this year is up (source).
     
  • Canadian junior mens skater Conrad Orzel talked with IFS Magazine about moving to Toronto Cricket Club  and his goals for the upcoming season (source).
     
  • Canada's recently retired Elladj Balde is the new digital host for Skate Canada. Elladj has already covered Skate Canada's annual High Performance camp and will be seen 'all season long' via Skate Canada's digital channels (source, 2).
     
  • And finally, 2015 World Champion and self-appointed Empress Elizaveta Tuktamysheva has joined Twitter! Go follow her account @TuktikLiza.

Did we forget some news? Help us be even more comprehensive next week by DM-ing us news to our Twitter!