|Sportsgeist| 2017 Nebelhorn Trophy – Pairs Long Program

Friday started with some unsteady weather but we went on top of Nebelhorn, anyway (we had „mountain cablecar included“ tickets from our holiday flat). At least, we learnt why it’s called „Nebelhorn“ (Nebel = fog) because it was totally clouded on the summit.

Beklemiscseva & Magyar are coached by Robin Szolkowy and there is still a lot they need to learn. Their lifts were very scary, for example.

Barquero & Maestu are my discovery of the event. Or, to be more precise, Laura is my discovery of the event. She’s just made to be a pairs skaters. I love the way she gracefully glides through the air. She has such a great posture. It was also fun to hear one of the coaches scream after their throws.

Kim & Kim looked powerful skating to music from the Beatles (including „Hey Jude“ – BTW, if you hate the Beatles there is a hard season lying ahead of you because it seems to be the no. 1 choice of music). Too bad she has such hunched shoulders.

Jones & Boyadij had a good skate (including her landing both throws) to „Who Wants to Live Forever“ and it was very emotional watching them.

Suto & Boudreau-Audet had another cute program to music by the Beatles which was unfortunately marred by several mistakes.

Danilova & Kamianchuk chose some dramatic music and rather ugly costumes. But they had a solid skate.

Conners & Krasnopolski skated to music from „Schindler’s List“. Their performance was almost flawless and had their coach going crazy by the boards.

Cain & Leduc’s long program was one of the most entertaining and fun programs I’ve seen in a looong time. They are just made for skating to „A Little Party Never Killed Nobody“. Especially Timothy is totally selling it. I sooo want them to go to the Olympics. But they are not just super entertaining, their long lines are also to die for. I just hope they will stick together and not go down the usual path of US pairs and splitting up after two or three years together.

I have to mention it again: I was so positively surprised by the way Hocke & Blommaert performed here at Nebelhorn. I just hope they will keep up the good and concentrated work and not start stagnating. I loved her hair and she just looks very happy out there on the ice.

Duskova & Bidar have lost some of their juvenile carelessness from last season. Their skate looked messy, including an aborted lift. Martin looked to be in pain at the end of their performance.

Ryom & Kim had a very powerful skate to a French chanson. I’m happy they were able to qualify for the Olympics (as the only athletes from North Korea, if I’m not mistaken). I wonder what they think when they see a mountain village like Oberstdorf. Does it look like something out of a movie to them?

Ruest & Wolfe’s costumes made me think of „Nutcracker“ when they actually skated to music by Michael Jackson. They made the most mistakes of all the skaters from the last group.

Alexandrovskaya & Windsor are so consistent already. They had a flawless skate to „This Business of Love“ (which made me think of Viktor Petrenko…) but need to work on their expression.

I was very happy about Ziegler & Kiefer not having a melt-down in the LP. I just think there music was a bit too depressive. I definitely prefer their SP (which I found very cool).

Savchenko & Massot had another flawed skate. Usually, Aliona and whichever partner have had ONE bad performance at Nebelhorn. This time, they managed to mess up both programs. Still, this program has a lot of potential. I liked the music and all those special moves they were doing which nobody has ever done before (like small lifts etc.).

I was also very impressed by Tarasova & Morozov’s long program to „Candy Man“/Rock’n Roll. What an exhausting program! I hope they do not overburden themselves with it. Apart from this fear, I think it suits them so well and they do a fabulous job interpreting the music. And the way she floats out of the throws is just to die for.