 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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May 27, 2008
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Quebec dancers Karen Routhier, 17, and Eric Saucke-Lacelle, who will be 19 in June, had a successful debut season in 2007-08 on the international junior circuit. The couple, who have been together only two years, finished tenth at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria in their first ISU championships. They placed fifth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the same city and eighth in Vienna, Austria.
"Our goal was to make it to Junior Worlds," Routhier said. "Next season, we'll stay junior and hope to improve our placements."
Saucke-Lacelle started skating when he was three. "My older sister, Amy, was skating and my mom took me to the rink with her," he related. "She threw me on skates and said, 'go'. I stopped doing singles when I was eight or nine. My coach said that my expression and skating skills were not that great and I started dance to fix it, but then I liked dance more." Saucke-Lacelle previously skated with Christina Gignac, winning pre-novice dance in 2005 and novice dance in 2006.
Routhier first went on the ice at the age of six. "My mother is a skating teacher and she took me on the ice," Routhier said. "I competed in ladies until three years ago and had up to a triple salchow, but I had a lot of injuries. So I went into dance." She competed with Nicholas Nadon, placing sixth in novice at Divisionals in their first year, but he quit soon afterwards... |
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May 12, 2008
© J. Barry Mittan
 Although the Olympic Games originated in Greece, historically the country has not had as much of a presence in the Winter Games than in the Summer Games. This is especially true in figure skating, where Greek athletes frequently didn't even compete in the European and World Championships.
In the last few years, federation officials in Greece have tried to change that situation, fielding entries in ladies, men and ice dancing. But until 2008, there had been no recent entries in pairs. That changed at the 2008 European Championships with the entry of Ariel Fay Gagnon and Chad Tsagris into the pairs field.
Although the couple only finished 15th at Europeans and 19th at Worlds, it was not a bad debut for the young team, which had been together for less than a year and were competing in their first event. Both of the skaters were born in Canada and competed at Canadian Nationals at lower levels.
"We just wanted to go out and show we could compete with everyone else," Tsagris said. "Greece has a spot with the others at the championships." The skaters had no trouble getting a release from Canada to skate for Greece since they and not competed internationally. "I had talked with Chantal and Arseny about competing for Greece when they were working with Krista in dance," Tsagris noted. "I talked to my father about it and completed the paperwork in a few months."... |
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