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By Alex, on March 26th, 2008%
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.
Aamulehti talked with Kiira at the race track:
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.
Source: Aamulehti
By Alex, on March 21st, 2008%
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).
Final results are available here:
http://static.sportresult.com/sports/figureskating/live/results/wc2008/CAT002RS.HTM
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.
Source: Aamulehti / Elina Paasonen
YLE sports news article with video-interviews: http://www.yle.fi/urheilu/muut/id101507.html
By takashi, on March 21st, 2008%
Let’s start　watching real time results! Thanks to a Turkish TV for streaming…
21:27 – Ashley Wagner from USA finished her skating.
Skaters from the last group started warming up.
Wow! Kiira wears her new costume!! Pretty in pink!!!
21:36 – Warming up was ended. Rochette started her free skating…
The latest results are the following:
1st MEIER, 2nd LEPISTO(nice!), 3rd SEBESTYEN, 4th MARCHEI, 5th GLEBOVA…
21:43 – Rochette got 1st overall with total 174.12 points.
Costner is coming…
21:49 – Costner finished… she got 1st with 184.68! Strong Carolina…
21:52 – Yes, Kiira Korpi is coming…!!!
Go, Kiira! Enjoy!!
21:58 – Wow… unbelievable. Kiira, keep smiling!
22:00 – Kiira got 6th overall now with total 145.73... just behind Laura!?
22:09 – Kim got 2nd overall with total 183.23 points. Asada is coming…
22:17 – Asada got 1st with total 185.56 points. The last skater Nakano is coming…
22:22 – Nakano finished her free skating… she got 4th overall with 177.40 points.
Kiira finished 9th overall at the Worlds 2008…
We’ll put further report later.
By Alex, on March 20th, 2008%
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.
| Pl. |
Name |
Nation |
TSS |
TES |
|
PCS |
SS |
TR |
PE |
CH |
IN |
Deduction |
StN. |
| 1 |
Carolina KOSTNER |
ITA |
64.28 |
36.34 |
|
27.94 |
7.07 |
6.64 |
7.07 |
6.96 |
7.18 |
0.00 |
#46 |
| 2 |
Mao ASADA |
JPN |
64.10 |
35.22 |
|
28.88 |
7.43 |
6.89 |
7.36 |
7.21 |
7.21 |
0.00 |
#45 |
| 3 |
Yukari NAKANO |
JPN |
61.10 |
34.83 |
|
26.27 |
6.68 |
6.21 |
6.64 |
6.68 |
6.64 |
0.00 |
#42 |
| 4 |
Kiira KORPI |
FIN |
60.58 |
34.22 |
|
26.36 |
6.68 |
6.29 |
6.68 |
6.64 |
6.68 |
0.00 |
#50 |
| 5 |
Yu-Na KIM |
KOR |
59.85 |
32.71 |
|
28.14 |
7.21 |
6.71 |
7.00 |
7.14 |
7.11 |
1.00 |
#48 |
| 6 |
Joannie ROCHETTE |
CAN |
59.53 |
32.99 |
|
26.54 |
6.68 |
6.25 |
6.71 |
6.75 |
6.79 |
0.00 |
#44 |
| 7 |
Sarah MEIER |
SUI |
59.49 |
32.17 |
|
27.32 |
6.86 |
6.54 |
6.96 |
6.86 |
6.93 |
0.00 |
#49 |
| 8 |
Miki ANDO |
JPN |
59.21 |
31.93 |
|
27.28 |
6.96 |
6.43 |
6.89 |
6.96 |
6.86 |
0.00 |
#43 |
| 9 |
Kimmie MEISSNER |
USA |
57.25 |
30.54 |
|
26.71 |
6.82 |
6.39 |
6.71 |
6.79 |
6.68 |
0.00 |
#53 |
| 10 |
Beatrisa LIANG |
USA |
52.81 |
30.30 |
|
22.51 |
5.79 |
5.32 |
5.68 |
5.71 |
5.64 |
0.00 |
#29 |
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.
Aamulehti / Elina Paasonen
YLE sports news on Wednesday (1:59): http://areena.yle.fi/toista?quality=hi&id=1155115
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.
Full starting orders and live results (which hopefully work this time) available here:
http://static.sportresult.com/sports/figureskating/live/results/wc2008/SEG004.HTM
By Alex, on March 19th, 2008%
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.
Full starting orders and live results will be available here:
http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2008/SEG003.HTM
Extra: News clip from tuesdays practice session
By Alex, on March 17th, 2008%
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.
YLE sports news interview on the airport before flying to Göteborg (also video):
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.
Update in the diary on Kiira’s official site:
School behind, World Championships ahead
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.
By takashi, on March 8th, 2008%
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