 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
following the links below. Mr. Mittan retains all copyrights for these
articles and they may not be reproduced without permission. Please visit
www.jbmittan.com for more details.
Archived Articles
2008
January - March 2008
2007
2006
2005
2004 |
February 17, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Sarah Flesher and Jamie Forsythe, both 21, were the newest dancers to compete in senior dance at Canadian Nationals in Saskatoon in January. The team's goal for the 2008-09 season was to make the top ten in senior dance at Nationals and they just missed, finishing 11th.
"My personal goal for this season was to simply skate and get noticed," Forsythe said. "I want to become known as Jamie Forsythe the ice dancer instead of 'that guy who switched and went to senior dance'."
Flesher is the more experienced ice dancer with five years more dance time than Forsythe. She reached as high as 13th in junior dance at Canadian Nationals with Yannicak Long-Dupont in 2006.
She started skating when she was six or seven. "My parents put me in a lot of sports when I was little but then I had to choose one and I like skating the best," she said. "I did gymnastics, ballet, and swimming. I never really started competing until I was ten."
From 1993 to 1999, Flesher was also a competitive swimmer, reaching the provincial level. |
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February 04, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Joannie Rochette won her fifth consecutive gold medal in senior ladies at the 2009 Canadian Championships in January, coming from behind in the short program to beat 2004 champion Cynthia Phaneuf. Rochette scored 131.77 points in the long and 185.35 points overall.
"I need to get a better short program score," Rochette stated. "The short has always been harder for me. It's more of a mental barrier I have to get past. My goal is to do both programs cleanly at Worlds."
That continued a positive season for Rochette, who won two ISU Grand Prix events, Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard, to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix Final. She placed fourth at the Final.
Rochette does a triple flip-triple toe loop combination in her short program as well as a triple Lutz and double Axel. Her long program elements include a triple Lutz-double toe-double loop combination and two sequences (double Axel-double Axel and triple toe-triple Salchow). Her four solo triple jumps are a flip,loop, Lutz and Salchow. |
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