Happy New Year from Field of Gold!!

May 2011 bring us all much happiness and good health! Cheers to excellent skating in the new year!

O Canada! A Tribute to Canadian Figure Skating: Brian Orser's 1988 World Championship Freeskate

Brian Ernest Orser was born in Belville, Ontario in 1961. He is the most accomplished Canadian figure skater in the country's history, with eight national titles, two Olympic medals, six World medals, including one World title. From 1982 to 1988, Brian did not finish off the podium at any competition. In 1985 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, an honour for merit administered by the Governor General-in-Council, on behalf of the Queen of Canada. In 1988, he was promoted to Officer.

Brian retired from amateur skating following the 1988 competitive season, and went on to have a remarkable professional career. He toured with Champions on Ice, Stars on Ice, and even won an Emmy award for his role in the skating movie Carmen On Ice, starring Katarina Witt and Brian Boitano. Brian Orser is in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. He is the director of the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. He coached Korean phenomenon Yu-Na Kim to Olympic gold in 2010 and currently coaches rising American star, Adam Rippon.

Had it not been for the compulsory (school) figures, for which the sport of skating is named, Brian would have been a two-time Olympic champion. His compulsory scores, which back then, combined with the short and long program scores to determine the winner of an event, held him back in both the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, in which he finished 2nd to the great American champion, Scott Hamilton, and again in the 1988 Calgary Olympics, in which he finished second to another great American champion, Brian Boitano.

To non-skating fans, Brian may be most well-known as one of the Brian's in the much publicized "Battle of the Brians"-- the name that the press dubbed the showdown between Orser and Brian Boitano in the 1988 Olympic Games. Orser entered that competition as the reigning World Champion, a title he had taken away from Boitano on Boitano's home soil in Cincinnati the year before. Since the Olympics were taking place on Orser's home soil in Calgary, much was made of the rivalry between the two skaters. Would Boitano redeem himself from losing his World Title to Orser? Would Orser, with his home-crowd advantage, hold off Boitano? To top it all off, both skaters were skating to military-themed programs. The drama and tension built as the competition drew nearer. In the end, Boitano placed ahead of Orser in the compulsory figures, Orser defeated Boitano in the short program (and even earned a perfect score of 6.0), but Boitano reigned supreme in the freeskate, capturing the gold medal. While it must have been bitterly disappointing for Orser-- and I believe I read somewhere that he felt he had let his country down-- he was terrific in the freeskate, none the less. He wasn't as clean as Boitano, though, making one minor mistake on a triple flip, and that may have been the difference.

Weeks later at the World Championships in Budapest, Orser was back in fighting form. He actually defeated Boitano in the freeskate, but still finished second overall based on his results in the other portions of the competition. Orser's freeskate is featured below. It is a stunning final amateur effort, capping a fantastic skating career. Canadian commentator Toller Cranston (a skating trailblazer himself), who calls the event in the video, said that Orser's performance, in his opinion, was one of the best in skating history. Stay tuned after the freeskate to see Brian's scores in the Kiss & Cry: 6.0!

I agree with Toller Cranston that Brian's freeskating performance was exceptional, only adding to the great amount of respect and appreciation that I have for him as an athlete, skater, and person. I have greatly enjoyed and admired Brian's skating since I started watching skating more than 17 years ago, and I continue to enjoy his influence on the skaters that he coaches today. It's wonderful seeing Brian at the boards and in the Kiss & Cry with the new generation of skaters. I know, for sure, that they're in good hands! The future of the skating world is bright with Brian Orser as a contributing member!

Enjoy this performance from a true Canadian skating legend!

Brian Orser's 1988 World Championship freeskate:

O Canada! A tribute to Canadian Skating

Canada has given the skating world some of its greatest, most memorable skaters in the history of the sport. In my week-long tribute to Canadian skaters, which begins today, I will highlight some of my favorite Canadian skaters, whose competitive successes, artistic contributions and warm personalities have not only made the sport better, but given skating fans countless years of enjoyment.

O Canada!

A Holiday Bonus: Jeffrey Buttle's "Ave Maria"

Jeffrey Buttle, the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist and the 2008 World Champion, is one of the most beautiful, inventive artistic skaters in recent years. Under the new judging system, which rewards a skater's transitions, connections, footwork, and execution of elements, Jeffrey thrived, challenging others to rise to his standards of intricate, smooth, artistic skating. He's one of my all-time favorite Canadian skaters.

Enjoy this holiday "Ave Maria" exhibition from the 2005 Holiday on Ice show.

Jeffrey's "Ave Maria" :

A Holiday Bonus: Daisuke Takahashi's "Phantom of the Opera"

At the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Daisuke Takahashi turned in this stunning performance. Though he finished second to Brian Joubert of France (whose winning performance I highlighted on a previous blog post), many felt that he deserved to win. Her certainly won the hearts of the audience, and set himself up as one of the best skaters in the world.

Daisuke is the reigning Olympic bronze medalist and World Champion--the first ever male World Champion from Japan. He continues to be a hot skater in the world circuit, electrifying audiences and judges with his showmanship and technical ability. What's not to love?

Enjoy!!

Takahashi's "Phantom of the Opera":

12 Days of Christmas: Day 1: Michelle Kwan's "Tosca"

What better way to say Merry Christmas than to post Michelle Kwan's "Tosca" program from the 2004 U.S. Figure Skating Championships? It is the epitome of brilliance! I get chills and tears every single time I watch it. Michelle Kwan brought it technically, and with plenty of heart and raw emotions to boot. She earned 7 perfect scores of 6.0 and her 8th National championship.

I've never seen a performance like this since. NO ONE can skate like this. Michelle is the one and only. She is simply the best! Magnificent!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!


Michelle's "Tosca":

12 Days of Christmas: Day 2: Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov's "Vocalise" by Rachmaninoff

Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov's "Vocalise" by Rachmaninoff is poetry in motion.
The exquisite program, choreographed by their long-time choreographer, the talented Marina Zoueva, is based on Rodin's sculptures.

Auguste Rodin, a French marble sculptor created sculptors, such as, "The Kiss," (above) depicting a sensual relationship between man and woman. "The Kiss" was originally called "Francesca da Rimini," as it depicts 13th century Italian noblewoman, Francesca da Rimini, immortalized in Dante's Inferno (Circle 2, Canto 5) for falling in love with her husband's younger brother, Paolo. Having fallen in love while reading the story of Lancelot and Guienevere, Paolo and Fancesca gave in to their passions, and were caught by Francesca's husband, who killed them. In the sculpture, the book can be seen in Paolo's hands, and the lover's lips aren't actually touching, suggesting that they've been interrupted in the midst of their passions.

Gordeeva and Grinkov never had a forbidden-love situation, and rather, they had a fairy tale romance, until Sergei's untimely death in 1995 at the age of 28, but I believe what their program to "Vocalise" represents is just sheer beauty, romance, and passion. If Rodin's sculptures could skate and tell their story, surely, they would look as Gordeeva and Grinkov do in this seamless fusion of art and movement, where sensuality mingles with strength, gentility, and pure love.

Merry Christmas Eve!

G&G's "Vocalise" :