Trophee Lalique/Paris, France/Nov. 24-26 2000
This time in Paris there was a big group of us - Sharon, Anne, Kat, Ida, Clara and I had been the group at the Master's Miko, but at Lalique there were also Anya and her mother, Rona, Anna, Kathrin, Anke and Ana. Of course, we were again staying at the official hotel, the Novotel, right across from the Bercy-Arena!
Day One -Sunday - November 24:
This first day started rather quiet: We'd decided to meet downstairs for breakfast at 9 AM. The first skaters I met were the polish couple of Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek, who got off the elevator when I stepped in - the first smiling faces I saw that day, LOL!!! After breakfast some of us took a walk to a nearby grocery store to get some food and beverages for the weekend. The rest of the morning was mostly spent on talking! We went over to the arena in the afternoon, and at 4 PM the competition started with the pairs short program. The first warm-up group consisted of Berezhnaya/ Sikharulidze from Russia, Zagorska/Siudek from Poland and Pang/Tong from China. Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were first to go, and they delivered a clean program, that eventually put them in the second place after the SP. Next up were Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek, who skated nicely except for one fall (and I am ashamed to say that I don't remember which one of them fell). The Chinese couple, Pang and Tong, had a rough time. They did a Tango program (I think it is the same as last year), and during one lift Quing Pang fell down - it looked like it must have hurt, but they finished their program nevertheless. The next two pairs - Marcoux/Marcotte (CAN) and Shklover/Mintals (EST) - didn't really hold my interest, but after them Jamie Sale and David Pelletier took the ice, and they skated a beautiful program, that was a joy to watch. It also put them in first place after the SP!!! The third warm-up group had two of my favorite pairs in it: Sarah Abitbol & Stephane Bernadis, and Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman. There was also another french couple, but I didn't like them. Sarah and Stephane skated a magnificent SP with a kind of Samurai theme - very interesting to watch!!! I liked it a lot, and if it hadn't been for Stephane's fall, they probably would have ended up in second or third place after the SP - but that one fall put them in fourth place. Kyoko and John were last to skate, and boy, was I nervous. They skated their Truman Show SP, the same as last year, but they have become a lot more confident on the ice, thus allowing them to skate clean and take third place after the SP! I really, really wanted them to do good, and they did!!! :o)
MORE TO COME REALLY SOON!!!
Alexei at the fan meeting on Sunday
And another one from the meeting
And yet another one ... LOL
