Oksana Baiul and Tonya Harding may have found some new company...figure skating may have another bad girl in its ranks.
Nicole Bobek, 1995 U.S. National Champion (and 1995 World Figure Skating Bronze Medalist), was arrested at her home last week in Jupiter, Florida on the charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Bobek is believed to be a top member of a large drug ring in Northern New Jersey. 20 other individuals were arrested in connection with the drug ring. Apparently, an investigation has been underway for over a year. If convicted, Bobek faces up to ten years in prison.
This is the off season for figure skating, not much competition news but for insiders it's one of the most important times. Who's switching coaches? What music will they use next season? Who's competing where?
In an Olympic year, as next season is, there's another question...who's coming back?
Never to be shut up...figure skating's bad boy, Johnny Weir, hits the big screen this weekend at the Seattle International Film Festival with a witty documentary chronicling his attempt to ascend to the top of the figure skating pyramid.
Sasha Cohen's presumptive return to competitive skating still has the figure skating world in a bit of a buzz. It's kind of like drinking a lot of caffeine and that energy that ensues for the next few hours.
But that buzz is certain to wear off and then there is that inevitable energy crash. And that crash, for many hardcore Sasha Cohen fans, will be the actualization that this isn't in the bag...by a long shot! Of course I'm talking about her spot on the 2010 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team.
Johnny Weir has managed to land himself a piece of television real estate with an upcoming series on The Sundance Channel entitled "Be Good Johnny Weir."
How important is this damn jump? The quad is of course what I'm talking about.
Almost exclusive to men's figure skating (Miki Ando of Japan is the only women to have landed one in competition), the quad is four revolutions in the air as opposed to the usual three. The most common quad is the toe-loop, but the salchow has also been landed in competition.
South Korea's Yu-Na Kim shattered the competition Saturday Night at the Staples Center en route to winning the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships. The previous high score for a female skater was 199.52. Yu-Na posted a score of 207.71 as she became the first Korean skater to win a World Championship. Her Free Skate to Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazad"' was one of the finest programs ever put on ice, and the crowd responded with a standing ovation that seemed to last a lifetime. After her free skate she was flanked by over 20 Korean cameras, many of whom stayed in the United States after the World Baseball Classic just to see her performance. Michelle Kwan described Kim as "dominating'" as she took in the action inside the Staples Center.
The competition continued Friday at the Staples Center with free dance at the World Figure Skating Championships. It was a close battle, with all teams giving their absolute best effort! In the end, Russian's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin managed to hold off Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto to take the title. The two teams were separated by just over a point, and both gave season's best performances -- which is impressive, considering each team was sidelined with injuries just a month ago.
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