2000 World Figure Skating Championships, Nice
Pairs Free Programme, Wednesday 29th March

Warm-up Group 1.

They were the last to skate in this group, Eurosport broadcast started just as they came on the ice, we missed Shklover/Mintals, Bestandigova/Bestandig, Danko/Emeljenenko. Really frustrating as S/M and B/B are two of my favourite teams.

Group 2.

Pang/Tong (CHN) - 3twist, huge; sbs3toes, she doubled out; throw3sal, impossibly high; BO death spiral; sbs flying camels, pretty good; lasso change to hip lift; sbs2axel; throw2loop fall; pair spin; lasso lift, twisted dismount; straight steps; sbs2axel, he fell, underrotated, she singled and carried on to 2toe, big break in the programme; hip lift with legs together a la Shklover/Mintals; pair spin. Pair spins were fast, but really messy, they kind of yank each other round and their skates are all over the place. Lifts were scary, almost out of control. Dress had strange circles cut out of the top of the sleeves, with flesh fabric in, and pink fluff round the edges. Yuk. 4.6 to 4.8, 4.6 to 4.7.

Rodionova/Krukov (AZE) - perfect sbs3toe; 3tw underrotated, she was facing forwards when he caught her; thr3sal; lasso lift; 2axel, he put a hand down, turns into 2toes, a long way apart because of his difficulty; hiplift; thr2axel fall; upside down split lift, where he holds her waist; straight steps; sbs spins, major problems, both seemed to have trouble on the entry, couldn't centre and started travelling towards each other; FI death spiral; pair spin. I really like the music, kind of medieval/fairytale/fantasy. Nice costumes, too. 4.6 to 4.9, 4.6 to 4.9.

Berankova/Dlabola (CZE) - love the start with a little cartwheel thing; sbs3toe, she doubled; 3tw underrotated, caught forward as with the last team; thr3sal; lasso lift, she gets a lovely position, big split; sbs2axel, he singled; backspin with her foot over her head from her, he spirals round her; serpentine spirals, again she gets a great position; thr3toe fall; pair spin; starlift, again with great split, then she bends her leg and grabs the ankle; sbs something 2toe; FI death spiral, something went wrong on the entry, she skimmed the ice with her body and he came out of the pivot, not really sure what went wrong; sbs spins; loop lift, another with a big split from her; circular steps; BI death spiral, kind of straight position but with her bum sticking up; pair spin. These two look so stylish, both in skating and appearance with lovely costumes. 4.7 to 5.0, 4.8 to 5.2.

Khalturina/Artyuchov (KAZ) - 3tw, messy catch, she kicked his leg; sbs3sal perfect; thr3loop; 2axel half loop turn 2toe; sbs flying camel; incredible lift, impossible to explain, lots of positions, ending up with him holding one hip and her hand, she's upside down facing the ice with her legs in the air, I think Shklover/Mintals also do a lift in this final position; fell out of thr3sal; sbs2axel she singles; BOdeath spiral, nice position; pair spin; serpentine spirals; straight steps; lasso lift, she twist round with her legs facing in the same direction; star lift; swinging her around thing which I thought was illegal. 4.8 to 5.1, 4.9 to 5.2.

Group 3.

Interesting warm-up. Discussion about ice, spotting famous people in the crowd. Yulia Obertas landed a throw double axel and almost crashed into another skater, he caught her hands to stop her and it was quite sweet! Kautz and Jeschke were doing just plain forward crossovers, hand in hand, to warm up and it was wonderful to watch, such deep edges. The crowd counted down the last few seconds of the warm-up!

Kautz/Jeschke (GER) - 2tw; sbs3toe not together, he went way before her; lasso lift; thr2 something, timing looked wrong, no height; pair spin; sbs2axel he spun out; thr3toe step out; lift kind of loop entry, then she leans right back almost horizontally; FI death spiral; straight steps; sbs 2toe turns 2loop; hip lift, position like Dmitriev and partners' lift but without strange dismount; pair spin; sbs flying camels perfect. 4.6 to 5.2, 4.7 to 5.0, lots of whistles.

Obertas/Palamarchuk (UKR) - sbs3toe; huge thr2axel; sbs2axel she singled; 2tw; lasso lift; BI death spiral, good; pair spin; FI death spiral; lasso lift one-handed dismount; thr3salchow; sbs flying camel, quite slow; sbs2 turn sbs 2toe; huge fall on lasso lift, he was knocked out, couldn't stand, she was in tears. So was I. I don't think she was injured, she fell on him. He was obvioously protecting her. Camera zoomed in on Cinquanta and he looked less than concerned. Some announcement received applause but it was in French, I don't know what they were saying. Oh, it was that they can skate at the end of the group! Yeah, right. He caught an edge, they just showed it again. Simon says they won't be ready by the end of the group, they won't be ready by the weekend!

Sargeant/Wirtz (CAN) - poor them, she looked tense. I'm still shaking. It must be terrible to go out after that. They were given quite a long time to warm up. I am so glad it's not up-tempo music - Clair de Lune, Debussy. Sbs3toe, he stepped out she doubled, single twist, they've stopped, they can't do it. They're talking to the judges. I think they're starting again. He now looks to be the upset one. He shakes his head, she says OK...what's happening? they're starting from where they stopped. Applause when they start skating again, lasso lift, he didn't look secure; thr3salchow, gorgeous, lovely death spiral; sbs spins very good; sbs2axel turns 2toe, perfect; lift, can't explain it, one handed; thr2axel, too big for her to hold, step out; pair spin; straight steps; star lift, looked like he put her down pretty early, though hard to tell; BO death spiral, gorgeous. they actually skated very well, but there was no life in it and they looked so strange at the end, as if they didn't know how to feel. Simon says he looks stunned - that's the right word for it. Judges taking a long time, it's a strange situation. 4.5 to 5.1, 4.9 to 5.4.

Still shaking.

Scott/Dulebohn (USA) - sbs3toe perfect; 3tw; lasso lift, twisted dismount; 2axel; sbs spins also perfect; pair spin; serpentine spirals with a kind of mini-lift in the middle, just up and down again; thr3sal; lift, she grabs his wrists, leans back, up to sitting position; sbs2axel she falls; lasso lift with changes of leg position; sbs something turns 2toe; BO death spiral, very nice. Seems strange to see them smiling even though they skated so very well. 5.3s except one 5.4, 5.3 to 5.5.

An announcement - Dmitri Palamarchuk has been taken to hospital for a check-up.

Group 4.

Totmianina/Marinin (RUS) - sbs3salchows, timing slightly off; 3twist, messy catch; thr3loop from nowhere; lasso lift, didn't switch to one hand; sbs3toe2toe, great; FI death spiral, low but no arch; lift where he holds her by waist and leg, I'm sure holding by the leg is illegal; thr3sal; sbs spins, timing ever so slightly off, only marginally; serpentine spirals; long spiral thing holding hands, as if to go into an element - did they leave out a lift? there didn't seem many; pair spin. Disturbed by earlier events? That would be my guess. 5.4 to 5.6, 5.3 to 5.6. They didn't look terribly happy.

Just showed Yulia Obertas walking past the podium backstage, not crying or anything but just looking as you'd expect, pretty miserable.

Schwarz/Muller (GER) -3tw, messy catch and she fell as he put her down; sbs3toe; upside down lift; sbs2axel, he was practically landed before she took off, she fell out, he did 2toe she didn't; thr3sal; pair spin; thr2axel; swallow-type lift - is it called a platter?; BO death spiral; sbs2toe; missed a lasso lift, managed to get her back down safely; sbs spins; circular steps. She looked just awful at the end. So very sad. This evening was going to be wonderful, but it's not just the mood that's been affected, it's the skating, everyone looks terrified on the lifts. Such a pity, I love this programme, I really wanted to see a good performance of it. 5.0 to 5.3, 5.3 to 5.6, third on the night, second overrall.

I hate this, I hate it, it feels horrible.

Zagorska/Siudek (POL) - thr2axel absolutely enormous; sbs3toe; 3tw; 2axel she singles it, turns 2toe; steps into 2toe; sbs spins, mostly very well together; "their" lift; head-drop lift, you could almost hear the crowd hold their breath; spread eagle into 2axel, one of my favourite moves; thr3sal hands down; the big lift with lots of changes of position; BO death spiral, good position, very fast; pair spin; helicopter lift. It was good to have a pair with such safe lifts at this point. New costumes are a beautiful wine colour, but a strange design with flesh fabric round the neck. 5.5 to 5.85.5 to 5.7. They're delighted.

I still don't feel entirely comfortable, says Simon. It's a very strange atmosphere, says Chris.

Ina/Zimmerman (USA) - sbs3toe she fell out; 3tw, caught her on his chest; sbs2axel he fell out and tripped onto his knees; lasso lift; thr3sal great; sbs spins very slight timing problems; lift with twisted dismount, missed most of it, my mind was wandering; besti squats; thr3loop; pair spin ending with "Natalia" position; circular steps without many steps; no-handed star lift; BO death spiral, very good. Hate that music and those costumes. 5.2 to 5.6, 5.3 to 5.7. French judge has them first, very strange.

Group 5.

Apparently there were eight security guards round Stephane Bernadis when he came onto the ice for the warm-up. Commentators say he was sat down taking deep breaths before going on the ice, and that he looked terrified. News - Sargeant/Wirtz wanted a complete restart but weren't allowed.

Abitbol/Bernadis (FRA) - huge roar, but they look really, really nervous. I so hope they can hold it together. - sbs3toe; sbs2axel2toe; 3tw; thr2axel, huge; star lift with swing through the legs entry; 3loop fall, so nearly held; another one of those strange leaning-back lifts; FI death spiral; straight steps; sbs death drops, minor timing problems; lasso lift, switched to one hand very early; besti squat death spiral; pair spin. Oh, I'd forgotten she has to stab him at the end, rather ironic! He's crying. They looked very uncomfortable out there, not quite as smooth as usual. Standing ovation from the French. They were out there taking the applause for ages! She's changed from the white tights to flesh-coloured ones, with sparkles on the boot part! 5.6 to 5.7, 5.6 to 5.8, a couple of second places. Crowd were pleased with the marks for once!

Petrova/Tikhonov (RUS) - sbs3toes, she only just held hers; 2axel turns 2toe, problems for her again on the toe, but clean; 3tw slightly messy catch; thr3sal lovely, held the landing for ever; loop lift with the somersault dismount and flip back up, cleaner than at Euros; lasso lift; BI death spiral, she doesn't have a great position, looks kind of floppy; thr3toe; no-handed star lift, absolutely perfect, not the slightest wobble; sbs flying camels very good synchronisation; pair spin; straight steps; that thing at the end. He, particularly, looks delighted. 5.8 except one 5.7, 5.6 to 5.8, American and Canadian judges have them second. Holding them down to give S/P a chance? Surely not...

Shen/Zhao (CHN) - sbs2axel he stepped out, turns, 3toe; 3tw, huge; thr3loop massive; lasso type lift; sbs3toe she doubled say I, he doubled says Chris, not quite sure what happened; star lift; thr3sal too big for her to hold, stepped out; sbs spins not together; pair spin; lovely spiral; FI death spiral; FO death spiral; straight steps; inverted star lift. 5.7 to 5.8, 5.7 to 5.8. American and Canadian have them first!?! French and Polish have them third.

Sale/Pelletier (CAN) - I know already that the Canadian judge will have them first with anything that's not a total splatfest; sbs3toe she landed forwards; lasso lift, lovely little twist on dismount; 3tw very nice; thr3sal; sbs2axel she singled; star, platter, hip changing lift; steps; sbs2axel she singles again; sbs deathdrops; FI death spiral with that flip around entry; thr3loop; swallow/platter lift (wish I knew its name for sure); BI death spiral; pair spin. Those pops on the axels were really messy. She was crying in K&C. 5.4 to 5.6, 5.7 to 5.8. American judge had them first, Canadian second. Commentators say it's a shocking performance from those judges, snide comment from Simon "Well the cheerleaders in the middle did their best"

Results come up and a huge scream from the crowd as they see Abitbol and Bernadis get the bronze! A & B find out backstage and the two of them hug and burst into tears. Jamie Sale sobs against the curtain in the K & C, backstage Xue Shen wipes her eyes, Hongbo Zhao comforts her and tries to protect her from the camera. Wow. I didn't think I, the crowd, or the skaters, could recover from that awful accident, but it certainly didn't detract from the final group. I think it was good to have a French pair go first in the final group, to have that break for resurfacing and then the crowd really having something to cheer for and hope for, it was so exciting. 5minutes on, A&B still sobbing. Commentators just said Palamarchuk lost consciousness for five minutes. Now they say everyone is on mobile phones! The fanfare plays, the skaters are by the ice, the medal-bearers walk out...and Stephane is still lacing his boots! "There's Ottavio Cinquanta, even he looks stunned, and he's never short of a word or two" say Simon. LOL! Petrova and Tikhonov step up onto the podium, and they don't look that happy. Shen and Zhao come out, she tries to smile but is barely keeping from crying. Abitbol and Bernadis come out, and there's an impssibly huge cheer. Stephane is in tears again, she has a beaming smile. they skate right to the boards to take their applause. Now she looks about to cry again. They mispronounced Cinquanta's name, yay! An announcement of the judges and they boo them what's happening? And Cinquanta smiles...It's quite sad for P&T, no-one seems to like them all that much. Whistling, don't know who for, domestic politics says Simon, Stephane puts his fingers to his lips to silence them! Glad we don't have to write about it says Simon, imagine condensing this into 500 words. P&T keep looking around, I don't think they know where the flags are. More whistles, but we're watching replays, so I don't know what it's about.