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Nebelhorn Trophy 2003 - Ladies Short Program

The first competition of the second day was the ladies short program.

The first skater was Sara Falotico from Belgium, who had chosen a Tango as the music for her SP and wore a lilac dress. She screwed up her 3lutz combo attempt, but managed a 3toeloop next, but stepped out of her 2axel. She did a well-centered camel with ok speed and did a really nicely choreographed straightline step sequence. Her spin combo was travelling and lacked flow between taking the different positions a bit. She had a little stumble going into her layback. What I liked about her program was that she managed to pull off a lovely "Spanish attitude", the program was choreographed well to the music and she's good at the interpretation. She's a skater who always seems to have very neat choreographies and is able to interpret her programs well to the music. And she definitely got charisma and stands out in the crowd :)

Olga Naidenova, the young Russian (we learned only in the exhibition that she's still only 14!) skated to "Adagio" and she wore a turquoise/white dress. She fell on the 3z, got up and completed a 2toeloop. Then she attempted something that I noted down as a 3flip, but looking at the detailed results sheet, she was only rewarded a 2flip. I really have no idea, if I misidentified the jump or if she also was punished for lack of rotation like Corwin. She unfortunately also screwed up her axel. She did a rather nice spiral sequence, but only with lots of stroking in-between. Her footwork was partially on one foot. She had a very "typical" generic ladies program, but I like her style, for such a young skater she already skates rather sophisticated and she certainly has elegance. Too bad about the bad skate.

Denise Zimmermann skated a program to music by Vanessa Mae. She fell on her lutz, but completed a 3toeloop. She seemed a bit slow at the beginning, her spirals were unfortunately only held very short. Her 2axel was very nice and she also did a fast layback spin. I loved her footwork sequence, the music got fast-paced for this part and she completed it very energetically and fluent, really fun to watch. Her spins are rather well-done generally and she used lots of different variations on arm positions during them. I especially liked the second half of the program with the faster music, she expressed it really well, it fit her very energetic style of skating and was really fun to watch!

Katharina Haecker wore a colorful dress with flowers on it. She fell on the 3lutz, then got up and completed a 2toeloop. She stepped out of her 3toeloop, but did a good fast camel spin and I also liked her spirals, then she completed at least her 2axel. Her layback travelled. The circular footwork was easy and nothing creative. Her final combo spin was ok. Overall the program was ok to watch, but a bit boring.

Shirene Human wore a blue costume. She surprised me in the SP, with a really good skate for her standards. She skated to the beautiful song "Kissing You". She started her program with a 3toeloop-2toeloop combination and then was credited a 2salchow. I'm not 100% sure, but I tend to think it was a badly underrotated 3salchow attempt, at least that's what I noted down. She did a well-centered camel spin, her spirals were a bit slow and shaky. Overall she was a bit slow too, but it was a good performance for her. The choreography was of course also "typical soft lyrical ladies program".

Amber Corwin skated to "Moon River". She did a 3z-2t combination and then a flip that certainly was supposed to be a triple :D She landed her 2axel. Her spirals and layback were quite nice. Her jumps certainly aren't the best technically, but at least she landed them here and while her program wasn't anything outstanding, I always find her pleasant to watch and it was a harmonic skate.

Miia Marttinen is a rather tall Finnish girl (tall for a skater). She skated to a Blues and wore a costume in black and pink. She did a 3loop-2toeloop combination, followed by a nice 3toeloop and her 2axel was really nice, high and with good flow in and out. Her spins are good and solid. She used some more "rocky" music towards the end. Her program was well-skated, she looked quite powerful with a nice Blues feeling, she's not the most elegant skater, but she attacked that program.

Lesley Hawker wore a turquoise costume, she tried a 3z-2t, but stepped out of the lutz, but she managed to land her 3Flip and did a fast camel and a well-done 2axel. Her speed was rather good. Again we saw a "typical" generic ladies program. It was a good skate, but an a bit boring program with nothing original and not too much choreography.

Jennifer Don was a skater I had already been looking for, after seeing her do pairs. She wore a black costume. She started with a really beautifully done 3toeloop-2toeloop combination, but just saved the 3salchow. She then did a great layback spin (that already had been wowing me in the warm-up) and a nice back spiral. Her flying sit was also not bad. She touched down on the 2axel. Her footwork sequence was well executed and secure, but a bit slow. Overall she has very good spins and spirals, maybe a little bit more power (especially on the footwork ) would make her skating even more impressive, but it definitely was already nice enough :D I'm sure her great smile earned her some extra points ;) The choreography of her program wasn't original or anything, but nonetheless very effective and

Irina Lukianenko from the Ukraine had one of the worst SP's. She also skated to a Blues and wore a black costume with glitter on it. She stepped out (and put her hands down) on the loop after about 2 and a half rotations (so it was only counted as a bad double). She fell on her 3toeloop attempt, also after not having completed the rotation, therefor again it was counted as a very bad double. Her camel spin was ok. She barely landed her 2axel. Her footwork looked slow and easy. The program was bla, there was nothing interesting about it and there wasn't much going on choreographically.

Caroline Guelke was next, wearing a white costume. She started with a well-done 3t-2t combination, but then fell on the loop, which also should have become a triple by the way, but was ratified a double. Her speed was good. She did a nice solid layback, but fell on the 2axel attempt (again only ratified as a 1axel). The technical specialists seem to be very strict about ratifying triple attempts where the skaters fall without having completed the 3 rotations fully as doubles (or doubles as singles, etc. etc. ) This makes me doubt that we'll ever see skaters attempting for example quad-lutzes due to the high base mark as some people suggested would happen, because unless the skaters are 100% sure that they at least will be able to rotate the jump nearly fully (in which case attempting it would probably make sense anyway since there should be a chance they can actually land it) before falling, the risk of it ending up being counted as a failed 3lutz is much too high. Her spirals were rather nice, but the positions only held very shortly. Her spins generally are well-centered, but not very fast. The program was a bit boring overall. What makes her skating very unattractive is that she has no facial expressions at all. I've NEVER seen her change her stone-faced facial expression that she always puts on during skating, not even in the slightest. I don't know if it's just concentration or something else, but unfortunately it makes her seem very unmotivated and since she never seems to attack her programs either, she always makes a very lackluster impression out there and you can't help but wonder why exactly she skates, when she seems to display neither joy nor motivation nor even interest. Maybe that's a completely wrong impression actually, but unfortunately it's exactly what she projects.

Constanze Kemner, a young German skated wearing a red dress. Her spiral section was fast, but the positions could have been held longer. Her music was upbeat, but sounded a bit strange. She did a 2t-2t combination and fell on the 3salchow. Her timing to the music was a bit off, but her speed wasn't bad. Her camel was ok, a bit slow. She did a nice 2axel. Unfortunately she displayed no noticable musicality during her skate, there was no connection between her movements and the music. I liked her circular footwork.

Daria Timoshenko did a 2lutz-2toeloop combination and then barely completed a 3flip with a legwrap. Her straightline step sequence had lots of arm movements too, but was a bit slow, her flying camel was nice. And she finally did a nice 2axel. She also did a very good spiral sequence and some very good spins at the end. Spins are certainly the biggest strength of her skating.

Before Kristin Wieczorek could skate we had to wait 2 minutes for Idora Hegel. She had not shown up, but apparently had gotten accreditation and apparently the rules say that one has to wait for 2 minutes for a skater who is supposed to skate, to give her a chance to turn up. Of course she didn't, so Kristin Wieczorek skated next. She did a really nice 3loop-2toeloop combination, but fell on the 3toeloop and also on the 2axel, too bad. Her flying camel was well-centered, the combo spin solid and the spirals ok. Her speed has some room for improvements.

The final skater was Alenka Zidar from Slovenia, who also skated to a Blues (seems to have a popular music choices for the ladies at Nebelhorn). She did a nice 2axel out of a spread eagle. Unfortunately this was the only highlight jump-wise, because she fell on the attempted combination, which was supposed to become a 3salchow-2toeloop. She attempted the triple, but again it was ratified only as a double, she got up and did a 2toeloop. She had like no speed into the combination, it already looked quite hopeless on the take-off. Her camel spin was fast. We already had noticed during the practice in the morning that her spins are actually quite good, especially speed-wise. She stepped out of her 3flip attempt after 2 and a half rotations, so again just a bad double. Her layback spin was also nice. Her spirals and the footwork was ok, but she finished the program behind the music.