to move up and down
This one is for all the marbles: Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir sit in second place heading into Saturday at the Grand Prix figure skating final in Russia after their performance on Friday.
Other photos: Japan’s Akiko Suzuki performs during her women’s short program, but at right, Japan’s Mao Asada leads. (Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images and YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images)
Canadian Kyle Croxall, the 2012 overall champion, kicked off the 2013 Red Bull Crashed Ice world championships with a win in Niagara Falls. Ottawa’s Fannie Desforges won the women’s event. (Photos: CNW Group/Red Bull Crashed Ice)
(Source: sports.nationalpost.com)
This weekend, 200 participants will be in Niagara Falls to take part a sport called ice cross downhill but known more widely known as Crashed Ice, which began as a marketing tool hatched by the makers of an energy drink. Participation has grown, and while it will not make the skaters rich, it does offer the promise of at least fleeting fame.
The premise: Four skaters begin at the top of an ice track, racing each other to the bottom in a race that mixes elements of ice skating, downhill skiing, luge and a general disregard for personal safety.
In Niagara Falls, which is staging the event for the first time, the track is 460 metres long, with a half-dozen jumps. It looks like an extra-wide bobsleigh track, and organizers say it took about 7,500 hours to assemble. (Photo: Jorg Mitter/Red Bull)
FLASHY: Elena Ilinykh (R) and Nikita Katsalapov (L) of Russia perform during their short ice dance event in the NHK Trophy, the last leg of the six-stage ISU figure skating Grand Prix series. (Photo: AFP PHOTO/Toru YAMANAKA)
BOTTOM: Mao Asada of Japan performs during women’s short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
(Source: nationalpost.com)
Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., were the ice dance victors at the Rostelecom Cup on Saturday.
Virtue and Moir also dominated with a season-best 173.99 points. It is the third time in four seasons that the Canadians have won the maximum two Grand Prix in a season.
“It was great, a really solid performance for us,” said Virtue. “From beginning until the end there was a little bit more intensity in every movement. Our goal this year was not to repeat any element we’ve done in the past; every lift, footwork and spin is new. That’s risky in ice dancing and at this point in the year we have to stay focused on the big goal and continue building to the worlds.”
STUNNING! Germany’s Nelli Zhiganshina and Alexander Gazsi perform during the ice dance free program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, November 10, 2012. Canada’s Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue won gold. (Photo: REUTERS/Grigory Dukor)
PHOTOBOMB! Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform during the ice dance short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup. They are currently in the lead. Canada’s Patrick Chan is also in the lead after the men’s short program.
Russia’s Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov perform during the pairs short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Moscow.
The real story of the day was American Gracie Gold, who started the day as the lowest-ranked skater in the Rostelecom Cup, and ended it in first place after a graceful and assured short program on Friday.
She has less than a two-point lead over the next two contenders for medals, Kiira Korpi of Finland and American Agnes Zawadzki.
Zijun Li of China performs during the Cup of China exhibition in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
Russian pairs skaters Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov’s free skate landed them a silver medal at the Cup of China. (Photo: Feng Li/Getty Images)
