Japan Open 2008 (competition) and Carnival on Ice (gala) was just over.
In summary, Team Europe was 2nd place just few points behind Team Japan. Kiira skated to “Phantom” program with her glittering pink dress but was not so good at skating - fell once and missed jumps. You can see detailed results here (pdf file).
At the gala, she skated to “ABBA” program in a dreamy atmosphere with a little bit different costume than the Euros - a blue (or purple?) shirt and a pink short pants.
I succeeded to have a short interview with her before the competition. Just a moment to write the article.
Kiira is coming to Japan and she seems to look for something new and inspiring for her new Free Skating program.
So, if you have some impressions, suggestions, opinions etc. to her FS, please let me know it with comments here. Skating elements, choreography, music, costumes… everything will be welcomed. I’ll manage to tell her or her team about it.
Thanks,
P.S. When you recommend her such as songs, costumes or elements, if you know the URL (address) of YouTube (or something like that), please tell us to help identifying it easily.
Date: Sun. April 20th, 2008
Time: 13:00 (competition) 18:00 (exhibition)
Venue: Saitama Super Arena
Japan Open is an invitational team-competition between Europe, North America and Japan and Kiira will participate with Sarah Meier, Stephane Lambiel and Evgeni Plushenko as a member of Team Europe. See participants.
It’s the third time for Kiira to come to participate Japan Open.
After the competition, a Gala exhibition called “Carnival on Ice” will be held http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/coi2008/ and all the skaters will perform their exhibition programs.
Kiira didn’t mourn the substandard performance at Göteborg for too long. As the competition was over on her behalf, she packed her bags, flew home to switch luggages and travelled to Malaysia for a preplanned vacation. On Sunday she was spotted at the Sepang race track rooting for the Flying Finns.
Suprising sight at the Sepang pits was a young blond woman. Figure skater Kiira Korpi is more common sight at ice rinks than racing tracks.
- I’ve been following Formula 1 quite a lot, especially when Mika Häkkinen was driving. Nowadays I haven’t had that much time to follow it as I’m myself so busy and we don’t have the MTV Max -pay channel that shows races live.
On the week Kiira was still skating at Göteborg and popped almost directly from there to Malaysia.
- I went back to Finland just to switch luggages, I didn’t even have time to visit at home.
But Korpi didn’t come to Malaysia just for the Formula 1 race.
- I came to visit my sister Petra who’s an exchange student here in Kuala Lumpur. This was a planned trip, best time to have a vacation is now when the competition season is over, says Korpi who plans to stay ten days in Malaysia.
Korpi wandered in the Sepang pit-area wearing a Ferrari-shirt, but assured that she’s supporting equally both Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen.
- I’m supporting both sides, I just happened to have a Ferrari-shirt on. I have a Finnish flag here in the bag and I’m going to wave it for both, Korpi promised before the race.
The Maundy Thursday, which ironically is called ”Kiirastorstai” ("Kiiras-thursday") in Finnish, definitely was not Kiira’s day. After the stellar short program everything unravelled on yesterday night and unfortunately the outcome was probably the technically weakest performance Kiira has ever done. And after that she dropped from fourth to ninth place in the results. Kudos to Laura Lepistö for stepping up in the ranks, now the two spots for next year were easily secured (8+9 <= 26).
Some thoughts from Kiira after the free skate from Aamulehti:
New pink dress and roaring support from the audience couldn’t help Kiira Korpi into flying on the ice of Göteborg, she literally collapsed on her free skate.
Korpi’s performance was plagued by missed triplejumps and an unexpected fall in the spiral sequence.
- Maybe it was mentaly too tough spot for me, Korpi admits.
Korpi scored 145,73 points and was ninth in the final standings. After short program she was in fourth place.
- If everything can go wrong, then thats what happened tonight. It was all laid out for me and I was in good physical condition. Maybe I can learn something from this for the future, but now even my best ever placing in World Champs doesn’t make it feel any better. I’m really disappointed.
Kiira is in 4th place after a flawless short program. Differences inside top ten are extremely small so now would be great time for the first clean free skate of the season. But anyway, it’s been a long time since Finnish lady has skated in the final group.
Kiira’s thoughts after the short program on Aamulehti (including video interview):
Toepick to ice, hands forward, eyes to the end of rink and it’s go! Tango for Kiira Korpi played flawlesly already for fifth time during the season. The great short program was rewarded with a score of 60,58 which put the girl from Tampere on fourth place.
- Placing is just an extra. Above all I’m very satisfied on my performance. I almost got lost during the program Korpi reveals.
Korpi took a little misstep after the layback spin. In an unfamiliar arena the brains were strugling whether to continue left or right.
- I got totally disoriented for a moment. I didn’t know where the judges were sitting. Because of that there was a part of improvised choregraphy before the step sequence and I almost got late to the axel-jump.
Judges did not notice the little wandering because they marked only plusses to the score sheet. Also the component scores were consistently above six points.
- Differences in scores are extremely small. I just have to reset the current situation start gathering strength for tomorrow.
Behind Korpi are four skaters within two points, including reigning champion Miki Ando and bronze medalist Yu-Na Kim.
Free skate is due Thursday evening starting at 18:30 local time. Kiira is the third skater in the last group and takes on the ice around 21:50 local time.
Ladies short program competition takes place on Wednesday 19th of March. Because of the number of participants the competition is divided into two events and Kiira will be skating in the later one that starts at 14:00 local time (+1h in Finland). She is the third skater in the last warm-up group, I’m estimating it will be around 17:00 local time.
Update: According to the official schedule Kiira skates at 17:35 local time.
The 2008 Figure Skating World Championships start on monday. The interesting events are already on Wednesday and Thrusday when the ladies short program and freeskate -competitions are held.
Kiira Korpi who placed fifth in the European Championships has gone through a heavy training schedule before the World Championships in Göteborg and is aiming to do a seasons best in Sweden.
- I’m looking forward to the competition, it’s held right next door so I don’t have to travel very far. The standard of the competition is very high, but we’ll be doing our best.
- Training has concentrated on polishing the programs. Freeskate program has been slightly altered after the Euros, we have raised the difficulty levels and added a triple-triple combination. Also my choreographer came by so that side of the programs has been tweaked also. The triple-triples have worked well in practices so the conditions for success are very good.
Korpi is concentrating on performances and isn’t counting the points beforehand. She says the scale always depends on the competition, judges and the general level. After Göterborg Korpi takes a week to have a vacation, but during the spring there’s a lot of program.
- At the beginning of April we have the spring show of our club. After that begins the basic training season and it’s also time to start figuring the programs for next season. Then I have an invitational competition in Japan at the end of April. I’m also planning to apply for Tampere School of Economics in spring so there’s a lot of reading still to do, even if the matriculation exams are now over.
Preparations for the Worlds have gone well in whole. Somekind of stomach ailment has been bothering, but I haven’t needed to pass too many training sessions because of that. I’ve seen doctor several times but nothing serious has been found. We’ve tried to find the right medication for the ailment and right now it’s looking good. Now I’m heading to Göteborg in very confident mood.
My short program is the same as before. Freeskate program has undergone some changes and the opening jump will be a triple-triple. My goals are on clean performances.
As for school it’s now over with the English exam that was on friday. I used all six hours and left with a good feeling. Now we’re just waiting for the results.
Right after the Worlds I’ll be heading to Malaysia visiting my sister there. In April there’s an invitational competition Japan. I’m competing in Team Europe and the competition is more of a “cheesefest” which includes both competition and exhibition performances. I’ve participated in the competition twice before and the atmosphere has always been great in the sold-out arena.
Also, according to our knowledge, Kiira’s main coach Maaret Siromaa is not able to go to Sweden. Instead another member of Kiira’s coaching team, Susanna Haarala, will be travelling with her.
Here’s a short report on updates on Kiira Korpi’s official website www.kiirakorpi.fi. There’s some nice new wallpapers and updates on the diary section:
30.01.2008
The Euros are now behind and the week went really fast. Arrangements were flawless, our hotel was right next to the rink and I was lucky to get one person a Junior Suite all for myself. With all that space I could have done run throughs of the programs right there in the room.
Rink was renovated into good condition, although the age was showing. There wasn’t that many spectators, but there were a lot of Finns in the audience so the atmosphere was very cozy.
Right after the competition the disappointment was big. Now I’m thinking that as a whole the competition was good and I’m satisfied. Short program is working well and the the free skate wasn’t really that bad. This time the competition was really even and the differences small.
From here the training continues right away. There’s a camp at Vierumäki that includes tuning the free skate because the goal is to add some difficulty to the program by the Worlds.
11.02.2008
The English listening comprehension part of the matriculation exam is now done. It was challenging but comprehensible, results are due later but I won’t take stress about it. The training camp at Vierumäki went well although it felt exhausting right after the competition week. Now I’ve had time relax and take it easier.
Now that the training continues there has been some changes to the free skate program. My choreographer came by and we fixed some little details. It’s interesting how those little changes in things like turning your head and extending arms can make so much difference.
After the competition I have spent some time with friends but time keeps flying and it feels like you never have enough time for them. I’ve also wanted to go to the movies now that there are so many new Finnish films showing. Hope I have some time before the next competition.
And while you are browsing photos on Flicker, you might want to try this cool little tool called PicLens. It’s an extension available for most web-browsers that turns popular internet photo galleries like Flickr and Google Image Search into a scrollable 3d-wall that you can zoom in and out. See on the video demonstration how it works.
Figure skater and a slippery surface are usually a good combination, but Kiira Korpi decided to make an exception on Sunday. Winter storm had brought an awful driving weather to Pirkanmaa on the night before Sunday.
Instead of skates this time the tool was a car. Sponsor had invited Korpi to practice car handling on training track in Nokia.
- It has been interesting, useful and also fun, told Korpi after the first driving lesson.
Korpi, who has had her driver’s license for almost two years now, admitted that even a days course gave a lot of tips on car handling.
- You have to dare to push the brake with force, and calm but determined steering movements work best on slippery surfaces, recalled Korpi what she had learned during the day.
[photo caption] Both Kiira Korpi and Laura Lepistö are graduating from upper secondary school ("high school") this spring. Both are also aiming for further academic studies.
- I’m really happy to get there, World Championships are the highlight of the season. Now we are tuning the free skate program and making some changes to it, Korpi plans.
The toughest competitors are coming from Japan, USA and South-Korea.
- Goal is to make the best possible performances. Short program has been working well this season, but free skate need improving, Korpi continues.
Lepistö is a first timer on senior Worlds.
- Goal is solely on making good performances. Before that it’s just basic training, skating through programs and getting more confidence.
Figure skater Kiira Korpi’s free skate program will undergo some changes before March and the World Championships in Göteborg, she wants to raise the difficulty level of the program.
- Free skate program will probably be altered for the Worlds. At Euros in the practises I did the triple-triple combination and it went so well that we are trying get it in the program for the Worlds.
- Short program has gone so well this season so there won’t be any specific changes to that one, Korpi continues.
World Championships are the main goal for Korpi this season. She aims for a best possible result, but admits that there’s no way reaching the podium, atleast not yet.
Chairman of the Finnish Figure Skating Association, Susanna Rahkamo, told media about the goals set for 2008 European Championships in Helsinki Finland.
According to Rahkamo the goal includes two medals.
- We are aiming for two medals on home ice, and the other one would be golden.
Other goal for the association is to top the spectator count from the 1999 World Championships, which was 60 000 spectators. The Association also wants that the event is visible on the city’s street image.
On saturday Kiira wasn’t able to bring her performance on the same level as on friday, and dropped from second to fifth place missing the medal by only 3.43 points. Obviously she was disappointed on herself. Kiira’s thoughts after the free skate from Aamulehti:
Kiira Korpi could just swallow her disappointment and rejoice about her teammates great debute on the Euros. Korpi had all the chances for a second medal, but skater who otherwise was in top condition couldn’t keep her program in order.
- It started out well, but then…
Korpi popped the flip that flew away like a balloon. Program that had started with a good 3lutz-2toe-2toe and 3loop broke for a moment.
- I’m really disappointed. I don’t know what happened. It just happened.
In the final results Korpi was fifth with 162.22 points. She missed the medal by only 3.43 points, which is about one succesfull jump.
- Well. I can’t call it a flop: fifth place in Euros. I’m satisfied that I have also developed in interpretation, Korpi thinks.
- Performing is no more just about keeping up a smile.
The first international competition of their career for both Korpi and Lepistö was right here in Zagreb when they were 11 years old. From that trip Korpi learned that drinking too much soft drinks on a competition day is not a good idea, it makes your feet stiff.
- This time I drank just water. But we had fun then, Korpi bursted into laugher remembering the past in middle of all the disappointment.
But the season is not over yet! Main event of the season is 2008 World Championships which are held in Göteborg Sweden, and Kiira Korpi and Laura Lepistö are the Finnish ladies competing there. There are also the Nordic Championships (aka Nordics) in two weeks in Iceland, but neither Kiira or Laura are listed as participants. Either the competition overlaps with the matriculation exams which both have still one to take, or they are just preparing for the Worlds.
15:19 - GEDEVANISHVILI got 1st with total 147.09 points. Oh, Next is Jenni. Go Jenni!
15:26 - Jenni VAHAMAA is 2nd with total score 142.40. Her score of free skating is bit higher than GEDEVANISHVILI.
15:35 - Annette DYTRT from Germany is totally 3rd now.
15:43 - Jenna McCORKELL from the UK is 2nd now.
15:50 - Tugba KARADEMIR from Turky is 4th now.
15:58 - Ksenia DORONINA from Russia is 3rd now. All skaters of the 3rd group finished their free skating. 1st Elene, 2nd Jenna, 3rd Ksenia, 4th Jenni, 5th Tugba, 6th Annette now.
The last, 4th group is coming soon. The time has come! Carolina started her free skating.
16:14 - Carolina KOSTNER from Italy is 1st with as high as 171.28 points! Wow! Valentina MARCHEI from Italy is coming.
16:22 - Valentina is 2nd with 153.34 points. And yes! Kiira is coming!!!
16:30 - Kiira got 2nd with 162.22! Great! Laura LEPISTO from Finland is skating now…
16:38 - Laura is 2nd with 165.65 points and Kiira is 3rd now. How strong Finnish skaters are…
Sarah MEIER from Switzerland is coming.
16:46 - Sarah is 2nd! Carolina 1st, Laura 3rd and Kiira is 4th now! So, no possibility of Kiira on the podium… The last skater Julia SEBESTYEN from Hungary is coming.
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Photo ©Yuko Sudo
