| FIRENZE
2001 NEWS :
This
area is now complete.. [top] |
| Images
wanted... New skater interviews from Firenze here.. |
|
|
| If you
have any images from the World Championships and you would like to
send them, please do! We are dying to see them.. Please try to make
them no more than 500k. And send them here.. Much appreciated.. All
images will be on display here in the coming weeks..
|
| Six
finalists... One winner.. and the Grand Gala winner is.......... |
 The Firenze
Grand Gala (not 30mins but 3hours in length!!) was contested for the first time at the World
Championships this year and I am sure it will be an event that is
continued at future meets.. This years winner from the six finalists
is Patrick and Beatrice.. Heather Mulkey USA - performing to
Christina Agueliera's - 'Come On Over' was second and Luca
D'Alisera 3rd who performed his long program with different
choreography..
The three other finalists were: Daniel Arriola ARG, Leonardo
Pancani ITA & Josh Rhodes USA. You might like to know
that Joshua thrilled the audience with his performance by adding a
'little' touch of Italy.. He wore nothing but a pair of hotpants made
out of Michael Angelo printed fabric!!!
With some luck, in the next two weeks there
will be plenty of pictures!! Well done to all..
|
| Italians
'do it better' dont they?? |
 The
Closing Ceremony proved very interesting for all those there...
The Italian Team pleased the audience with their very own version of
the 'Full Monty'... How far it went I dont know but it was
entertaining and well received!! As you can imagine, there were many
young fans of the athletes who thought they really got their monies
worth that night...
Actually, news is... Sarah Jane from NZ was positive its the best
thing she has seen all week..
On another note.. Australian Team Gawaine
& Esthur have been extended a special invitiation to
participate in the Gala today. They will perform their OSP Original
Dance..
News on the gala will be posted 6.30am
Australian time Monday 26 Nov.
|
| Official
Medal Total shows Italy is Numero Uno again..... |
|
Luca
D'Alisera Italy
|
SENIOR
MEDAL TOTALS..
2001 FIRENZE |
| ITALIA |
6 |
7 |
2 |
| U.S.A |
2 |
- |
- |
| GERMANY |
1 |
1 |
- |
| PORTUGAL |
- |
- |
2 |
| ARGENTINA |
- |
- |
1 |
| SPAIN |
- |
- |
1 |
|
|
|
| The
Official Overall result of medals.. And now confirmed, Leonardo Pancani
was the winner of the mens combined event. Fantastic
result for Italy and some good results for the other countries
in the top 6. |
|
| Its
a wrap... now the Question is... who will win the $8000.00 |
 The
2001 World Artistic Championships are now over.. Its time to
party no doubt!! All athletes, coaches and supporters will be
enjoying the night for many hours to come I would think.. But the
million dollar question is, Who is going to win the Firenze Gala
tomorrow??? I would think, the skater who can cope with
a hangover and perform at the same time will be the one!!
Only the top 3 competitors will be permitted to contest the
Exclusive Gala tomorrow and there is great prize money for the first
3 contestants.. First prize will take home $8000.00. For more news
and conditions on the Gala, have a look in our Worldnews
section... Stay tuned for more...
Picture:
10 x World Champions - Patrick & Beatrice of Italy.. Our Sports
heroes...
|
| Pairs
results.. Patrick & Beatrice set to stay in the Guiness Book Of
Records... |
 Thanks
to Chris Baerg of the USA for sending me the results of the Pairs
event.
1. Patrick Venerucci & Beatrice Palazzi Rossi ITA, 2. Marika Zanforlin &
Federico Degli Esposti ITA, 3. Gaia
Grandi & Giovanni Dallarda ITA, 4. Candice Heiden &
William Crowder USA, 5. Danielle Dickey & Michael
Schauf USA (1999 World Junior Champions), 6. Theresa Dennis & Edrick
Stewart USA, 7. Mayra Ramos & Max Coelho
Santos BRA, 8. Priscila Caselta & Gabriel
Junior BRA, 9. Tzu Hsia Weng & Chau-Hui Huang
CHIN TAI Pictured: Gaia Grandi & Giovanni Dallarda
|
| White
& Quinn retain their Gold... |
 Confirmed:
Melissa
Quinn & Adam White have retained their title of World Dance
Champions from 2000. Second place to Italian brother and sister team
Emanuela & Marco Bornati. Australian Dance Team of Gawaine
Davis & Esthur Ambrus have achieved their goal of placing
insided the Top Ten following their Silver medal win at the recent
World Games in Japan back in August.. Surprise placing for Spanish
Team Soledad Martinez/Pedro Moreno, surely the first dance
Medal in history for Spain.
Official Placings: 1. Melissa Quinn &
Adam White USA, 2. Emanuela & Marco Bornati
ITA, 3. Soledad Martinez &
Pedro Moreno ESP, 4. Candi
Powderly & Ronald Brenn USA, 5. Michela Pizzi &
Fabio Grossi ITA, 8. Gawaine
Davis & Esthur Ambrus AUS.
|
| Victory
to Italy.... |
 Confirmed:
Luca Lallai
is the WINNER!! After what would have been an enormous
amount of pressure, Lallai has come
through triumphant. With the intensity of having the championships
in his own country - having won last year - and Luca D'Alisera
having won Italian Championships, Lallai has proven he is the
best.. Surprise moves in to the Top 10 are from ARG & ESP.
Other standings are as:
1. Luca Lallai
ITA, 2. Luca D'Alisera ITA, 3. Daniel Arriola
ARG, 4. Leonardo Pancani ITA, 5. Eric
Anderson USA, 6. Joshua Rhodes USA, 7.
Jordan Uriel Segovia ARG, 8. David Jacques
USA, 9. Neil Emms GB, 10. Jose Ramon Rodriguez
ESP.
|
| LALLAI
in No.1 again... |
 Luca
Lallai is the new World Champion (unconfirmed) but at this
stage, looks like Lallai has retained his title as the No.1
Male freeskater in the World.. Lallai scored high 9.7's
across.. This is now a tight knit match between Lallai and Arriola
of Argentina, though the money is on Lallai... No news of a re-skate
for D'Alisera ITA as yet. He apparently pulled out of triple
loop fell.. After such great training sessions this is a real
upset.. No news on whether or not Erica Anderson has held his No.3
position from the short..
|
| THE
ITALIAN'S ARE GOING WILD.. THIS IS THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS.. |
 Luca
D'Alisera has just skated, there is mayhem.. he had some
unfortunate errors and scored in the 9.3 region.. They are also
saying that he slipped on something on the floor.. It looks like
there may be a protest for a reskate.. stay tuned.. he also got one
9.8, which judge?????
Picture linked to image of Luca and Gabrielle
at the European Championships 2000.
|
| And
the battle continues... |
 Leonardo
Pancani ITA, just skated, 9.0 - 9.5s across. Eric
Anderson (favourite to medal) is skating as we speak and Im
sorry to report that he has
just pulled out on his triple lutz and taken a fall on his jump spin
change.. This will certainly open the door for Daniel Arriola from
Argentina.. [Keep refreshing this page.. more
updates every few minutes!!] Pictured:
Eric Anderson
|
| Standing
ovation for Argentina's finest... |
| Not
the usual standing ovation, just minutes ago, the capacity crowd was
on its feet for Daniel Arriola from Argentina.. He has put
the pressure on with a perfect performance receiving high 9.6 -
9.7's across the board not leaving much room for the other top 4.
And the crowd are NOT HAPPY.. as the stood to their feet and
applauded the performance the aslo gave the judges a right booing!
Italians know a good thing when they see it and they are not happy
with the scores.. Well done Daniel.. [Keep
refreshing this page.. more updates every few minutes!!]
|
| Real
Time updates from rink side in Firenze for the mens event!!! |
 Kristen
Slade is rink side at the championships having finished competed
yesterday and she is now enjoying the excitement of the Mens
event.. to add to the excitement, she is sending me updates via sms
text... So I can start reporting in real time what is going on, so
really... it's sort of like we are all there you know.. as you read
it, its happening!!
They are now approaching the top 5, the stadium is capacity with
over 3000 people and the atmosphere is amazing.. They are all there
to see the Italian dreams, Lallai & D'Alisera in action..
Jordan Uriel Segovia skated earlier, he averaged high 8's and a
few 9's, not enough to propell back to a No.1 position he enjoyed in
2000 in the Junior
division. Other performances including Joshua Rhodes were
good enough to hold their positions from the Short. Eric
Traonouez unfortunately had a bad run and will drop from the top
ten. Jose Ramon Rodriguez who last year blitzed the top ten
hasn't made the cut at all and is amongst the Top 15.
|
| PRECISION
TEAM RESULTS: |
The
Precision event was held earlier in the week and I had not been able
to get the information, though I am now happy to provide these
placements..
1. Dream Team Germany, 2. Skate Attack
Germany, 3. Team Supreme Germany, 4.
Argentina, 5. Italy, 6. Italy, 7. Crotia, 8.
Great Britain, 9. Italy.
Special Thanks to George Polowyk Brookpark
Skateland Ohio USA Elite Precision Team
|
| Only
TEN will do for the perfect team... |
 Not
only are Patrick Venerucci
and Beatrice Palazzi Rossi the most
successful skating team in history, winning 9 World Championships
consecutively, they have just made history yet again in Firenze by
earning themselves PERFECT scores of TEN across the board
for their B mark in the Long Program winning them their 10th World Championships and the most
spectacular pairs to date..
CONGRATULATIONS...
|
| The
battle has begun.. Luca Vs Luca Vs Mr. Anderson..... |
 The
battle of the century has begun, Luca
Lallai, Luca D'Alisera and Eric
Anderson. The short program has
been contested and what a night it was... As it stands Luca
Lallai is on top, followed closely by Luca D'Alisera and Eric
Anderson. Newcomer from Great Brittain Neil Emms, earns a
good spot in the top ten and French man, Eric
Traonouez slips in to no.9. USA's Joshua
Rhodes and David Jacques also hold strong in 6 & 7.
Argentina look good in fourth whilst Junior World Champion from 2000
Jordan Uriel Segovia unfortunately has a
bad run and sits in 14th. Other results from
the short are:
MENS SHORT PROGRAM: 1.
Luca Lallai ITA, 2. Luca D'Alisera ITA, 3. Eric Anderson USA, 4.
Daniel Arriola ARG, 5. Leonardo Pancani ITA, 6. Joshua Rhodes USA,
7. David Jacques USA, 8. Neil Emms GB, 9. Eric Traonouez FRA, 10.
Frank Albiez GERM, 14. Jordan Uriel Segovia
LADIES LONG PROGRAM FINAL: 1. Heather Mulkey USA, 2. Elisa Facciotti ITA, 3. Erika
Colaceci ITA, 4. Silvia Nohales Becerra ESP, 6. Laura Sanchez
Garcia ESP, 7. Laura Bourguignon
FRA,
9. Jennifer Orcutt USA, 15. Kristen Slade AUS,
19. Amy van Effrink
AUS, 24. Purdy Rawlison AUS.
LADIES COMBINED FIGURES/FS: 1. Elisa Facciotti ITA, 2.
Christina Bartolozzi ITA, 3. Liliana Andrade
POR
|
| AUSTRALIAN
UPDATE: 23 Nov |
 SENIOR
Ladies Short and Dance: Kristen Slade 12th, Amy van
Effrink 14th, Purdy Rawlison 24th (her first World
Championships). The girls have contested well amongst what looks
like was a very tough field. Good luck for the long program girls.
Meanwhile, Gawaine + Esthur hold well in the first round of
the dance compulsories, placing 8th of 13 exceptional teams, White
& Quinn take the lead with Bornati & Bornati in 2nd. The
mens are preparing for competition tonight and will be updated here
by morning.. Looking forward to that for sure...
|
| Ladies
Short program proves very intersting... |
 The
ladies
short program has proved very interesting indeed with some very
expected results for sure.. A full listing hasn't as yet been posted
though I do have the following rankings to report..
1. Elisa Facciotti ITA, 2. Laura Sanchez
Garcia ESP, 3. Silvia Nohales Becerra ESP, 4. Laura
Bourguignon FRA, 5. Heather Mulkey USA, 6. Erika
Colaceci ITA, 7. Cristina Bartolozzi ITA,
12. Kristen Slade AUS, 14. Amy van Effrink
AUS, 16. Jennifer Orcutt USA, 20. Jennifer Simmers
USA, 24. Purdy Rawlison AUS.
The full listing will be available within
the next hours I would think.. Pictured
left: Elisa Facciotti
|
| Italy
takes the gold in Ladies figures and round of the Top 3 in the
Pairs.. |
| Full
results for Ladies figures and the Pairs short program now updated
and added in the above links.. Italy take the Top 3 positions in the
Pairs short program with Patrick and Beatrice in the lead.
Gold in the ladies figures went to Elisa Facciotti with a
great result from Liliana Andrade of Portugal taking the
bronze. Portugal have enjoyed great success so far this
championships with 3 medals also in the Junior Events.. Fantastic.
More updates later on today..
|
| AUSTRALIAN
UPDATE: 22 Nov |
| SENIOR
Ladies Figures: I dont have the full listing from the Senior
Ladies figures as yet, though I can confirm that Australian Karen
Clough has placed 17th amongst the strong field of 35.
Congratulations Karen.
|
| New
VIDEOS and Images from SENIOR Firenze... the action has
started!! |
|
|
| Fashions
on the field!!! Could this be a turning point of no return? Let's
hope not! |
|
Always
gorgeous:
Christina Bartolozzi - Italia
|
It
seems that the traditional outfits for skating are some what
of a dying breed at this years World Championships or are
skaters just testing waters during the training sessions??
(one can hope!!)
Sightings of men in skating pants with full see through
inserts down one side of leg complete with sequins, multi
coloured fluro striped pants also covered in sequins, cut off
tops with lace and remnants of all sorts and all in one bright
coloured skins..
Good on them for experimenting, but maybe someone would like
to point out that simplicity is always the key.. Long gone are
the overdone, over sequined 80's looks and those fluro
colours.. hmmm! Let's see the end of them! |
A
touch of glamour:
Erica Colaceci - Italia
|
|
| AUSTRALIAN
UPDATE: 21 Nov |
 SENIOR
Ladies Figures: The first two figures have just been skated. Karen
Clough (pictured) is currently sitting in 20th position
amongst a very strong field. I will have an update on other placings
later on, along with the first of the Dance results for the Gawaine
+ Esthur in the Compulsories. The Pairs short program is
also skated tonight.
News via Australian athlete, Kristen Slade, tells of the
exceptional standard amongst the ladies and mens freeskating.
Kristen watched the first training session of the Mens FS lastnight
and couldn't believe what she was seeing! Apparently, triple loop
was as common place as a pair of wheels on skates!! Luca
D'Alisera is in fine form with combinations such as, triple
flip-loop,-triple loop-euler-triple salchow and also triple lutz-loop-triple
loop. Luca Lallai was impressing the crowds with his triple
loop-loop-triple loop comb. but it was Luca D'alisera's speed
on the floor in to the jumps that was leaving on lookers speechless.
In the ladies freeskating, triple flip is this years Prada classic
hand bag, the must have item of the year!! Kristen
skates 18th in the Short program and Purdy
Rawlison immediately follows in position 19 to perform. GOOD
LUCK team...
More news soon..
|
| Official
Medal Total shows Italy is Numero Uno... |
|
Katia
Bellini & Michele Furgeri
4th Junior Dance ITALY
|
JUNIOR
MEDAL TOTALS.. 2001 FIRENZE |
| ITALIA |
6 |
3 |
2 |
| U.S.A |
2 |
2 |
3 |
| PORTUGAL |
- |
2 |
1 |
| ARGENTINA |
- |
1 |
1 |
| SLOVENIA |
- |
- |
1 |
|
The
Official Medal tally for the Junior Championships giving Italy a
total Victory. It's great to see medals for Portugal, Argentina and
Slovenia. It certainly showing the amount of talent up and coming
from other countries outside of the U.S and Italy. It will be
interesting to see the tally from the Senior Events starting in two
days..
|
| Junior
Championships comes to a close... and in roll the Seniors.. |
 |
The
2001 Junior World Artistic Championships have now finished.
Italy took the Gold Medals in 6 of the 8 events contested. USA
winning the other two. Portugal got the bronze in the mens FS
with a great performance by
Manuel Magalhaes, he also took 2nd in the Mens combined. This
is the first medal for Portugal. The Senior training commenced
this morning and events get underway as of Wednesday. More
news soon.
Congratulations to all Aust. members |
 |
| Sonia
Traversa - Italy No.1 |
Images:
Freestyle Winners |
Andrea
Barbieri - Italy No.1 |
|
| AUSTRALIAN
UPDATE: 18 Nov |
 Long
Programs for the Junior World Championships are now completed - it
also brings us to the close of the Junior Championships. Full
results of the longs and Pairs final are not yet available but I can
tell you the following results:
Australia's Lauren Backrack broke in to the TOP TEN at only
her second appearance at a World Championships. Laurens final
position is 7th (Lad. F/S), a fantastic effort
and credit to her coach Linda Noble (formerly Linda A'Court)
of Western Australia. Fellow WA skater, Caitlyn Botica just
missed the Top Ten and earned herself a very credible 11th position,
up two positions from her short program placing of 13th - well done
Caitlyn, fantastic for your first World Championships and I am sure
we will see a great deal from you in the future. Caitlyn is coached
by Jonelle McKane. Italy took
the No.1 Sonia Traversa ITA, 2nd Melisa Linsalata ARG
and 3rd Lindsay Mann USA, in the ladies
event.
Our dance Team Aaron Young & Sarah Rohweder also put in
great performance for their first year and placed 7th. A tough field
and very competitive so they have really done a great job.
|
| New
Zealander Sarahjane goes Top 5... |
 Popular
New Zealander, young Sarahjane Jones has earned herself a Top 5
position for her efforts in the Junior Ladies figures and
freeskating events. Sarah took 17th in Figures and 13th in
Freestyle. Sarah was holding 10th in Free after the short, and 15th
in Figures, so she could have easily be in contention for a bronze
if she had of held her positions. Nonetheless, Sarahjane has done a
great job getting herself in the Top 5.
Her results would prove amongst the highest in history in NewZealand
in years, if not in history. Coached by Jacqui Innes in New
Zealand.. Great job guys, well done..
Sarah has her own website if you are interested in visiting.. here
|
| Firenze
Gala special offering top dollar in prize money... |
| The
finale of the World Artistic Championships will be the spectacular Florence
World Gala, in which the Top 3 Athletes from each event will
perform (excluding figure skaters) in a special 30 minute extravaganza.. This out of the
ordinary style event will is an effort to promote Artistic Roller
Sports and demonstrate what could be shown on TV in a span of
30mins.. A point scoring system will entitle athletes to win
$8000.00 for 1st prize, $5000.00 for 2nd & $2000.00 for 3rd.
|
| AUSTRALIAN
UPDATE: 17 Nov |
 NEWS
just in from the 2001 Junior World Artistic Roller Skating
Championships.
Australian Skaters Lauren Backrack and Caitlyn Botica just
completed their short programs. The girls put on a great
performance, so much so that LAUREN BACK is in 6th position!
FANTASTIC... Caitlyn, competing at her first Worlds, skated a
good short and is in 13th position. Pretty good for her first effort
and Im sure her long prog will be even better. Lauren will now
skate the top group for the Ladies event. This will be Laurens first
time in the Top 10, not to mention Top 6.. Well done girls.. this is
great.. GOOD LUCK FOR THE LONG PROGRAMS...
|
| AUSTRALIAN
UPDATE: |
Results:
Junior Ladies Figures - 33 competitors (full list available soon)
Congratulations to Samantha for a great effort at her first World
Champs. Tamara also made did a great job to move more than 11 places
up after the first figure to finish 15th. Well done girls..
Samantha Russell
Aust - 12th, Tamara
Dineen
Aust - 15th, Sarah
Jane - NZ - 17th.
The girls drew
GROUP 2, Left Foot.
|
| AUSTRALIAN
UPDATE: |
 NEWS
just in from the 2001 Junior World Artistic Roller Skating
Championships.
Australian Skaters Samantha Russell and Tamara
Dineen just completed their first two figures and so far we can
confirm that Samantha is sitting in 12th position and Tamara is in
22nd.. Our dancers Aaron & Sarah are now at the stadium
preparing for their Compulsory Dances.. Good Luck. The girls will be
back this afternoon for their 3rd + 4th figures. The girls drew
GROUP 2, Left Foot.
|
| Good
draw for the Aussie girls in Figs and Free... |
 The
Official draw has been done for the Junior competition and the only
draw I know of is the Junior Ladies F/S- 36
competitors (34 in Senior) and Lauren
Backrack has drawn No.9 to skate (following Brazil) and Caitlyn
Botica has drawn No.32 (following skater from Mexico). The two
Italian girls will skate after Caitlyn to finish the event.
|
| Full
list of competitors at the championships... |
 Minus
late nominating countries, the Official Worlds Site now has the
full listing. Only updated on the Italian section of the
site. However, this should make it easier for you if you dont know
any Italian!
OBBLIGATORI
=
Figures,
LIBERO
=
Singles,
COMBINATA=
Combined
COPPIE
ARTISTIC0
=
Pairs,
COPPIE
DANZA
=
Dance,
JUNIORES
=
Junior,
SENIORES
=
Senior
FEMMINILE
=
Ladies,
MASCHILE
=
Mens
|
| There
will be loads more news on the way.. stay tuned!!! |
