Team USA Aims for More Grand Prix Gold in Beijing, China

November 5, 2008 - The Grand Prix of Figure Skating series continues with seven American athletes and teams competing Nov. 6-9 at Cup of China in Beijing, China. It is the third competition in the six event series.

Team USA has earned nine medals in the two previous events including a Skate Canada gold from ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. At Skate America, Oct. 23-26 in Everett, Wash., four athletes and teams won medals for the U.S., while five won medals at Skate Canada, Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Several Americans have the chance to secure medals in Beijing.

Ladies

The American ladies are facing tough international competition at Cup of China. But both Ashley Wagner, a Grand Prix veteran, and series newcomer Katrina Hacker are capable of brining home a medal from Beijing.

Wagner's last appearance on the Grand Prix series came with a bronze medal at 2007 Trophee Eric Bompard. Also in the 2007-08 season, she finished fourth in her senior international debut at Skate Canada, third at the U.S. Championships and eighth at Four Continents.

Wagner is seriously competing for the first time with coach Priscilla Hill at the boards. After ending last season with a 16th place finish at the World Championships, Wagner ended her six year coaching relationship Shirley Hughes, hoping the change would bring new maturity to her skating in the crucial run to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

As a junior, Wagner built an impressive resume that established her as one of the contenders for the Games. She won gold at 2006 Junior Grand Prix France, won gold at JGP Netherlands, won silver at the JGP Final, bronze in junior ladies at the 2007 U.S. Championships and bronze at the World Junior Championships.

This season, Wagner is skating to "Somewhere in Time" by Maksim Mrvica for her short program. She will use Aram Il'yich Khachaturian's "Spartacus" performed by the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra for the free skate.

In the 2007-08 season, Hacker established her presence by winning the New England Regional Championship, taking the Eastern Sectional Championship and finishing sixth in her senior debut at the U.S. Championships. She was named to the Four Continents Championship team, placing sixth in her senior international debut.

Hacker did not qualify for the 2007 U.S. Championships. At the 2006 national championships, she was seventh in the junior ladies competition.

Hacker's short program is to selections from the On Golden Pond soundtrack by David Grusin. She will also debut her free skate to "Scheherazade" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov when she makes her Grand Prix debut in Beijing.

International competitors include Korea's two-time World Championship bronze medalist Yu-Na Kim, who has won four Grand Prix events and two Grand Prix Finals since 2006. European silver medalist Sarah Meier of Switzerland is also competing.

The ladies short program is Thursday and the free skate is Saturday.

Men

U.S. Championships bronze medalist Stephen Carriere and pewter medalist Jeremy Abbott are aiming for a podium performance when they make their season debuts in Beijing. Both men have one season of previous experience on the circuit.

Carriere has consistently performed among the best in the world since his stellar introduction to the senior ranks last season. In his career debut on the Grand Prix, he finished fourth at Skate America and followed that up by winning the bronze medal at the NHK Trophy.

At the 2008 U.S. Championships, Carriere set new domestic personal bests in the short program (76.66), free skate (151.40) and overall (228.06). His bronze medal performance there earned him a spot on the Four Continents Championships and the World Championships teams. He finished fourth and 10th respectively.

The former Junior Grand Prix Final and World Junior Champion, who was undefeated in his last junior international season, will debut an edgy short program to "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica in Beijing. His free skate music for the season is "Firebird" by Stravinsky.

Abbott came close to his first Grand Prix medal last season when he finished fourth at the NHK Trophy. He also placed eight at Skate Canada, fourth at the U.S. Championships, fifth at the Four Continents Championships and 11th at the World Championships, as replacement for an injured Lysacek.

The former U.S. Junior Men's Champion had a break through in the 2006-07 season, after failing to qualify for the 2006 national championships. Abbott won the gold medal at the Finlandia Trophy, won the gold at the Midwestern Sectional Championships, won the pewter medal at the U.S. Championships and the bronze medal at the Four Continents Championships.

Abbott is skating to "Adagio" by Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni for his short program. In the free skate, he will perform to Astor Piazzrolla's "Eight Seasons" performed by Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, which is a variation of Antionio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons."

International contenders include 2008 European Champion Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic and Russia's Artem Borodulin. Last season, Borodulin finished second behind American Adam Rippon at the World Junior Championships.

The men's short program is Friday and the free skate is Saturday.

Pairs

Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig are looking to re-establish themselves after mistake filled performances put them near last at Skate Canada. They finished seventh overall after receiving three mandatory one-point deductions, two for falls and another for a time violation.

Evora and Ladwig made their Grand Prix debut at 2005 Skate America by finishing ninth and bettered that with an eighth place finish at 2005 Skate Canada. They also finished fourth at 2007 Skate America. They won the pewter medal at the 2007 U.S. Championships and took fifth at the recent national championships.

U.S. Junior Pairs bronze medalists Chelsi Guillen and Danny Curzon are excited for the opportunity to skate at Cup of China, receiving the call last week that they would make their senior international debut as replacement athletes for injured Brooke Castile and her Ben Okolski, the 2007 U.S. Champions.

Last season, the pair won the bronze medal as juniors at the U.S. Championships and finished 10th at the World Junior Championships. Guillen and Curzon were also ninth at Junior Grand Prix Estonia, where they finished third in the short program, and also placed 10th at JGP Britain.

Guillen and Curzon are skating to "Song and Dance, Variation 9" by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the short program. Their free skate is to selections from the Atonement soundtrack.

International competitors include two talented pairs from China. Olympic silver medalists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang are three-time World Championship medalists and have more than a dozen medals from the Grand Prix. Country mates Qing Pang and Jian Tong are the 2006 World Champions and 2007 World silver medalists.

The pairs short program is Thursday and the free skate is Friday.

Ice Dancing

Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto are in contention for the gold medal at Cup of China. Competing with their new coaches for the first time at this season's Skate America, Belbin and Agosto won the free dance but narrowly finished second behind the World Champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder.

Belbin and Agosto, five-time U.S. Champions, are one of the most decorated ice dancing teams currently competing. Last season, they won Skate America and Cup of China, finished second at the Grand Prix Final and fourth at the World Championships, their first time off the podium in any event since the 2004 World Championships.

They are the only American team competing in the ice dance event.

International competitors include two strong Russian teams. Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, who train under coach Natalia Linichuk with Belbin and Agosto, had a fabulous 2007-08 season finishing second at Cup of China, first at Cup of Russia, the Grand Prix Final and the European Championships before withdrawing from the World Championships. Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski are the 2008 World Championship bronze medalists.

The compulsory dance in Thursday, the original dance is Friday and the free dance is Saturday.

Cup of China is the third event in the six-event Grand Prix series that concludes with the Grand Prix Final in Goyang City, Korea, Dec. 10-14. The other events are Skate America in Everett, Wash., Oct. 24-26; Skate Canada, Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Ottawa, Canada; Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris, France, Nov. 15-18; Cup of Russia in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 20-23; and NHK Trophy in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 27-30.

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, now in its 14th season, consists of six international events in a cumulative, point-scoring format. The top six scoring athletes in each discipline move onto the Grand Prix Final, which will be combined with the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.