Post-Olympic Letdown Plagues Skaters

After I returned from vacation last week, I managed to catch some of the World Figure Skating Championships in Turin, Italy. Was it my imagination, or did this competition seem lackluster? Some of the medalists of the Vancouver Games opted not to participate at Worlds this year, including gold medalists Evan Lysacek, and Shen and Zhou in pairs, as well as Johnny Weir and Stephane Lambiel. Understandably, Joannie Rochette begged off after performing two emotionally charged programs in Vancouver after her mother died suddenly, and Evengi Plushenko bowed out due to injury.

According to the USA Today, many of the skaters who participated in the worlds this past week complained of fatigue, and others appeared to be sleepwalking through their performances. Yu-Na Kim, gold medalist from Vancouver and reigning world champion, was especially disappointing, missing three of the elements in her short program which put her in tenth place. She finished second overall, but even her free skate was less than dazzling. Kim admitted later that she lacked motivation.

Other skaters seemed unaffected by a post-Olympic letdown and provided outstanding performances -- Mao Asada’s free skate, Daisake Takahashi, Mirai Nagasu’s short program, to name a few. It begs the question whether there should be a world championships held so soon after the Olympics, or if there should be one at all?

The last time all four Olympic champions competed at the worlds was in 1992, and all four champions went on to collect world golds. Skier Lindsay Vonn and speedskater Shani Davis competed at their world championships within a few short weeks after the Vancouver Olympics, and performed well.

So why then is it so difficult for skaters to stay motivated to compete at worlds? Granted, there are more competitions for skaters today than there were in 1992, but the training and conditioning methods have improved so much over the years that skaters should be able to handle the added workload.

A lot of this has to do with having the right mindset. If athletes train only for the Olympics, they won’t have much left in the tank to compete for post-Olympic events. If they train for the entire season, they are able to pace themselves through the long grueling season. Asada and Takahashi proved that last week when both performed better and looked stronger than at any other time during the season. Ice dance medalists Virtue/Moir and Davis/White also performed as well in Turin as they did in Vancouver.

Abandoning the World championships altogether is not the answer. It’s a great platform for younger skaters to gain experience and show what they can do on the world stage. I think it’s important to keep the level of interest up for the sport.

One possibility is moving the world championships to January, which of course means, moving the U.S. and Canadian national championships to December. In the Olympic year, you could probably cancel the European and Four Continents since neither event has any bearing on which skaters go to the Olympics; that’s done at the respective national events. Having the worlds in January would provide a sneak preview of the Olympic Games and generate more interest from viewers and fans. And I think the top skaters would be more likely to participate in the event, although they may hold back somewhat in their performance. But as a skating fan, I'd much rather see that than a no-show.

It’ll be interesting to see if the International Skating Union addresses this issue when it convenes in June.

The World Title That Almost Wasn't

I was thrilled to see Naperville native Evan Lysacek win the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships last week in Los Angeles (no, I was not there in person, but watched it on the Oxygen network). Both his short program and free skate were brilliant.

And to think, Lysacek may not have won this title had it not been for Johnnie Weir.

By International Skating Union rules, the top two placements by American skaters at the world championships must total 13 or less to keep three spots on the team. Weir's third-place finish at the 2008 championships combined with a 10th-place finish by Steven Carriere equaled 13, which gave the U.S. three spots for this year's team.

Imagine what might have happened if they had earned only two spots. The U.S. men's team would have consisted of Jeremy Abbott and Brandon Mroz, who finished first and second at the U.S. championships in January. Lysacek, who finished third at nationals, would not have made the team and the world title would have gone to someone else.

Sobering thought, isn't it?