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Degree of difficulty Slutskaya edges Kwan in GP short program
Updated: Friday February 16, 2001 10:02 AM
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Irina Slutskaya of Russian used a more difficult jump combination to edge Michelle Kwan of the United States in the women's short program of the International Skating Union Grand Prix final Friday. In the men's event, three-time world champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia shook off the effects of a twisted ankle and jet lag to take the lead. Russians also led the pairs competition while Italians were ahead in the ice dance. Slutskaya had a margin of six judges to one over Kwan as both skated cleanly for the eight required elements. However Slutskaya, skating last of the six compared to Kwan's first, landed a more difficult jump combination. Slutskaya's double loop jump after the triple lutz is considered more difficult than Kwan's double toe loop. Slutskaya's routine to guitar music earned her marks mostly 5.7 to 5.9 with the lone 5.6 given by the American judge. The only other judge to rate Kwan better than Slutskaya was from the United States. The Japanese judge had the two technically tied, and the tie-breaker on required elements went in Slutskaya's favor. Kwan's routine to "East of Eden" was clean but her skating first limited her to a maximum of 5.8 for presentation. At the American championships championships Kwan received seven perfect 6.0s in the short program. Kwan had mixed feelings about drawing first. "I'm very used to skating first by now. I've been drawing first for a while now," Kwan said. "It's nice to get it over with right after the six-minute warmup. It's a nice rink but it's cold." Slutskaya was happy with a clean program considering the conditions. "It was okay considering the jet lag. I'm not over it," Slutskaya said. Another Russian rival Maria Butyrskaya took third, despite falling hard on a jump. "I don't know what happened on the triple flip," Butyrskaya said. "I felt good, strong going out there." Sarah Hughes of the United States had problems with some jumps and came in fifth behind yet another Russian, Yelena Sokolova in fourth. Still it comes down to the free skating on Saturday between the top three. In Saturday's first long program, to determine the order of the final face-off, Kwan is scheduled to do her competitive program of this year, "Song of the Black Swan", using a completely new "Miraculous Mandarin" by Bartok for her second routine. After the free programs on Saturday, the women and ice dance have their "super finals" to determine the overall winners with No.1 against No. 2 in a different long program. No. 3 will face No. 4 for the bronze medal. Slutskaya has beaten Kwan twice this season. Whoever wins here will have the edge heading into next month's worlds at Vancouver. The men and pairs conclude their events on Sunday. Yagudin edged Russian compatriot Yevgeny Plushchenko by a 4-3 margin of the seven-judge panel with Yagudin's presentation marks making the slight difference as both men completed a quadruple-triple jump combination. Yagudin said he hurt his ankle after the Europeans championships at the end of January while he was training in the United States. "I twisted my ankle walking on the street and was thinking about withdrawing," Yagudin said. "Now with the jet leg and everything, I am glad I was able to push my body through this." "I really focused on the quad and I was relaxed for the rest of the program. My body was dying and I said 'Alexei you have to stop here' but my head said 'just a couple steps, you have to do it.'" Third was American Matt Savoie, the only other skater of the six fialists not to fall, completing a less difficult triple flip-triple toe loop combination. Stanick Jeannete of France, U.S. champion Tim Goebel and Ilya Klimkin of Russia all fell at least one of their jumps. Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia skated a dramatic routine to Russian folk music to lead the pairs over Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. The Russians had five of seven first place votes. The Canadian and German judges factored the second placed pair. In the ice dance, Italians Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio led after the original dance. To a quick-stepping version of "Puttin' on the Ritz" they gained scores of straight 5.9s for presentation, despite skating first. The GP final brings together the top point scorers from a six-meet series between October and December last year.
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