You are here: Home / Skating / Reports / Nations Cup 2001 / Men's Long Program
Nations Cup 2001 - Men's Long Program
General Comments: I didn't always note down all the elements for all the men. Sometimes I only noted down elements that had a mistake or that were performed exceptionally good. If an element isn't mentioned, it usually was performed clean. If an element is mentioned without further comments, it was usually also clean.
Abbreviations: t=toeloop, l=loop, s=salchow, f=flip, z=lutz, a=axel
Michael Weiss (USA)
Black pants, white shirt. Music: "Puccini: La Boheme, Nessum Dorma". Popped his t, 3a-3t (stumbled out), 3f-3t(stumbled out), 2a, 2l (steps out), 3s, 3z (hand down). Really bad skate. The presentation was quite good, he did a good job highlighting the music, but there's nothing remarkable about the choreography.
TM: all 5.0
Pres: 5.2-5.4
Silvio Smalun (Germany)
Black and blue costume in his usual style. Music: "Rhapsody in Rock by Robert Wells and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninov". 3a (fall), 3z, 3t, 3f (problem with landing), 3a (fall), nice positions in combination spin, 3l (fall), 3s, good spins. I really like his style, he's a very artistic and expressive skater, who always has programs with a good choreography. This program (I think it's the one from last year, at least it's the same costume) has a creative choreography, with lots of playful hand movements and little details. He's also a very musical skater. I really enjoy watching him.
TM: 4.4-4.8
Pres: 4.6-5.3
Vitali Danilchenko (Ukraine)
Black costume with white stripes and some gold, ok. His music sounded orientalic. 3t, 2a, 3z (hands down), 3a good, 3l (little wobbly), 3f-2t, nice footwork, 3s, sit spin that reminded me of Lucinda Ruh. I really liked this program, good presentation. Nice arm movements, musical and expressive skater. Interesting choreography. I thought his style was similar to Silvio Smalun's before him. Very artistic and a quite dynamic skate. Liked it!
TM: 4.7-5.2
Pres: 4.7-5.3
Roman Skorniakov (Uzbekhistan)
Blue pants, shirt in blue and white. Didn't recognize music, something with a flute. 3t, 3a-2t (with some problems), 2a, 3z, 3l, f, 3s (hands down and steps out). He seems to be quite musical. A very classic style program, rather boring to watch, nothing outstanding.
TM: 4.9-5.2
Pres: 4.6-5.3
Stefan Lindemann (Germany)
Black pants, dark red shirt with some black. Music: "Reflections of Earth and A fistful of dollars more (soundtrack)". 3a-3t (hand down), 3s, 3f (2-footed), 3t, 3a (2-footed and stepped out), 3l (hand down), 3z, nice footwork. He was quite fast and skated powerful. His presentation is still not very good, I found him boring to watch.
TM: 5.2-5.4
Pres: 5.2-5.4
Frederic Dambier (France)
Costume in brown, olive and beige. Music: "Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saens) and La Boheme (Puccini)". 3a-2t, 3? (fall), 3a (not sure if clean), 3f, 3t, 2z, s popped, 3? (stepped out). Dramatic program. Good flow. I found it rather boring and I didn't really note down much about it.
TM: 4.6-5.2
Pres: 4.7-5.3
Chengjang Li (China)
Costume in grey, black and silver. Music: "Star Wars soundtrack". 4t-3t (very good), 4s, 3a-3t, 3z (2-footed), 3l, a popped, 3s. Good presentation, very musical, good highlighting of music, some nice choreographic ideas. Overall a good program.
TM: 5.5-5.8
Pres: 5.4-5.7
Alexander Abt (Russia)
Black pants, light blue shirt. "Piano Concerto No3" by Rachmaninov.
3a-3t (good), 4t (2-footed), 3z, 3a, 3s, 3f (might have been slightly 2-footed), 3l, 3t. Very good skate! He's also a very musical skater, the presentation of this program was ok. I'm not really crazy about this program, I liked his short program a whole lot better, I find this one a bit boring, although he skated it extremely well here.
TM: 5.3-5.6
Pres: 5.4-5.8
Elvis Stojko (Canada)
Black costume with some yellow. Music: "Dragon the Bruce Lee story soundtrack". 4t (nearly falls), 3a-2t, 3z, 2a, 3f, 3l, nice footwork, 3s (slightly 2-footed?), fast spins.
Presentation ok. Nice program, but nothing outstanding.
TM: 5.2-5.4
Pres: 5.3-5.6
Timothy Goebel (USA)
Black suit with a tie. Music: "An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)".
3z, 4s-3t (good), 3a-2t, 4t, 3a, 4s (falls), 3f, 3l. Nice choreography. Still he should try to do more with his arms and he still has to work on letting the presentation seem more natural, sometimes he seems very awkward with it, but it's definitely much better than last year. He should improve the transitions between his elements and also the flow has to get better. Much better posture than last year. A clever program for him, enjoyed it! I think he has chances to win a medal in Salt Lake City, if he does his jumps.
TM: 5.6-5.9
Pres: 5.6-5.8
Takeshi Honda (Japan)
Black costume. Music: "Rhapsodia Cubana".
3f, 4t (fall), 3s, 3a (problems, but saved), 3a-3t, 3l, weak spins, 3l (fall), nice footwork. Presentation was ok, but a rather boring program without any highlights.
TM: 5.4-5.5
Pres: 5.3-5.7
Evgeny Plushenko (Russia)
Black and gold costume, program from last year.
4t-3t-2t, 3a-3t, 3a, 3s, 3z, 3l, 3f. Good choreography, with many details. Did a lot of posing in front of the judging. Definitely better than the rest of the field. I would have preferred to see his new program, it will be interesting to see how it looks like. Audience around us complained about him not getting a 6.0 in presentation, but I don't think he would have deserved one, it was a good performance, but not a fantastic one.
TM: 5.7-5.9
Pres: 5.8-5.9
Final Standings Pairs
