 Skate
Today has teamed up with Barry Mittan to provide you an insight into
the personalities of the people in this wonderful sport and to give
you a more personal connection when you watch them on television or
see them at an event. Mr. Mittan is the author or editor of several
books and hundreds of figure skating articles. All of Barry's stories
are reviewed by the skaters, and their coaches or others if requested,
before publication to ensure the greatest accuracy.
All current
articles and many previous articles may be read in their entirety by
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Archived Articles
2008
January - March 2008
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April 24, 2008
© J. Barry Mittan
 About one hundred years ago, Japan and Russia were at war. Now they are at peace and two of their athletes have joined hands to compete in pairs figure skating. They are 26-year-old Yuko Kawaguchi, who was born in Aichi, Japan and 23-year-old Alexander Smirnov, who is from Tver in Russia. This is not the first Japanese-Russian team to compete in pairs, but this is the first such team to compete for Russia.
The couple, who have been together since May 2006, won the Coupe de Nice in both 2006 and 2007 and took the bronze medal at the Cup of Russia in both of those years as well as a bronze at Skate Canada in 2007.
Their goals for the 2007-08 season were to make the Grand Prix Final, win first or second place at Europeans, and to fight for a spot on the podium at Worlds. They placed fifth at the ISU Grand Prix Final and won the bronze medal at Europeans. They were fourth at the World Championships in 2008, up from ninth in 2007... |
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April 23, 2008
© J. Barry Mittan
 For U. S. pairs skaters MeeRan Trombley and Laureano Ibarra, traveling is not a novelty. Trombley, who was born in South Korea, was adopted as an infant by an American couple and lived in Peru, New York for several years before moving to Canada to train and compete. Ibarra was born in Miami, Florida, but moved to Venezuela with his family when he was a child and stayed there for several years. Now they are both competing for the United States, finishing 11th in senior pairs at Nationals in 2007 and tenth in 2008.
Ibarra didn't begin skating when he was eleven. "I saw skating on television and there was a new skating rink in a giant parking lot near my home so I thought it would be a fun thing to do," he recalled. He started in freestyle, landing his first triple salchow within four years. Eventually he reached Sectionals in novice men at 18, and then stopped to concentrate on pairs.
The 24-year-old actually started skating while his family was living in Venezuela. When he moved back to Miami at the age of 12, he began skating pairs in addition to freestyle. "My coach had the idea of teaming me up with my first partner, Yesenia Camero," Ibarra explained. "We went to the Junior Olympics in 1997 in Anaheim and won the juvenile pairs. Then we went to Junior Nationals in 1998 in Texas and placed ninth in intermediate pairs." |
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