Figure Skating News and Information Featuring Michelle Kwan, Sarah Hughes and More

The competitive figure skating season kicked off with the Campbell's International Figure Skating Classic that was broadcast by ABC Sports on October 9. I attended the event that was held in St. Paul, Minnesota, and got my first look at this season's programs. It was exciting to see the debut of new programs by Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen, especially since I was seeing it live.

The season got off to a shaky start as the skater's tried out their new steps. There were no clean programs skated by the men, but Tim Goebel had the fewest mistakes, and he captured the first place prize of $50,000. Goebel returns this season after problems with his boots kept him out of the limelight last year. He seemed genuinely happy with his program and commented to ABC Sports that he plans to improve this program by adding more difficult elements, including quadruple jumps.

Sasha Cohen beat Michelle Kwan at this same competition last year. This time Cohen skated a new program that had some wonderful elements in it, but also some major mistakes. She fell on a triple jump early in her program, and then singled another triple jump later on. Her performance was good enough to land her in third place. Shizuka Arakawa, the 2004 Worlds Champion, also competed at this event with a flawed program. She completed a couple of triple jumps that had messy landings, and she finished in second place.

Kimmie Meisner, the 14-year old from Maryland, skated a strong, clean program full of promise. Meisner found out two weeks ago that she would be competing at this event along with her skating idols, Kwan and Cohen. While Meisner's program lacked the polish that will come with time, she did extremely well for her first senior competition. Her excellent performance was rewarded with a fifth place finish.

Michelle Kwan skated her new program to "Bolero," a song that was made famous by the ice-dancing pair Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill at the 1984 Olympics. Dean worked with Kwan on the choreography for her program. She skated a wonderful program that included six triple jumps. The only noticeable error was a trip on a footwork sequence towards the end of her program, but the mistake didn't detract from the rest of the program which was skated with her signature style and grace. She seemed relaxed afterwards and even joked about her mistake. This season is definitely starting out on the right foot for Michelle. You can view photos from the event at the USFSA's website.

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