Yu-Na Kim of South Korea set a record in the short program Friday night. (Getty Images)Los Angeles Impresses
U.S. figure skating executive director David Raith told Around the Rings that he couldn't be more pleased with Los Angeles as the host city and the Staples Center venue.
"We're ecstatic over this World Championships." Raith said. "Nobody has said, 'This one stinks.' They've only come up and said positive things and this makes us feel good because we have planned on doing this strategically for 2 1/2 years."
The Worlds come to the U.S. about every six years, with an informal rotation between Asia, Canada, the U.S. and three European stops.
Raith said he would seriously consider coming back to LA on the next go-round, although the U.S. Figure Skating Association would still have a bid process.
"We need a gateway city," he said. "People want to fly directly into it. This is a big event. It should have a big city. Los Angeles has a lot of things going. It's the entertainment capital of the world, and that's what our event is. It's entertaining. It's a great fit here."
Korean Dominates, U.S. Falls Short
Yu-Na Kim of South Korea set a world record of 76.12 in the ladies short program Friday night with a flawless performance.
"It's one of the moments in skating people will always remember," said Brian Orser, Kim's coach. "She was fierce and she was on the attack."
Orser said Kim's rivalry with Canadian Joannie Rochette and Japan's Mao Asada is reminiscent of the "Battle of the Brians," which reached a fever pitch in Calgary in 1988.
"That's good for the sport," he said.
Orser, a Canadian, lost the 1988 gold to U.S. skater Brian Boitano, and is getting a small measure of payback 20 years later. Boitano's pupil at Worlds, U.S. champion Alissa Czisny, fell flat in her short program and is in 14th place.
That means the U.S. will probably only qualify two female singles skaters for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The U.S. ladies also may be shut out of the medals for the third straight year, the first time this has happened since 1964, three years after the plane crash that decimated the U.S. team en route to the 1961 World Championships.
In Saturday's free skate, Kim could set another record by posting the first 200-point performance by a female skater. The 18-year-old's previous best score in a free skate is 133.70 at the 2007 Cup of Russia. Asada holds the current combined total record of 199.52 points set at the 2006 NHK Trophy.
Fans Buying Plenty of Tickets, Merchandise
Doug Zeghibe, executive director of the World Championships, said the event is thriving despite the economic downturn. The Staples Center. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)
"The crazy thing is, there's a recession going on, but we're exceeding projections for merchandise and for ticket sales," Zeghibe told Around the Rings. "Things are going very well. It's a popular event because it only comes to the U.S. every five or six years, there's demand and folks know that opportunity's not a lengthy visitor."
He declined to disclose dollar figures for tickets or merchandise.
Although the Staples Center has not been full for any of the events so far, the upcoming ladies free skate Saturday night and the exhibition Sunday are usually the top draws.
The pairs final on Wednesday night had 11,332 spectators, followed by the pairs short program on Tuesday with 10,587, the men's free skate on Thursday night with 10,134 and the ladies short program Friday afternoon with 9,257. The ice dancing compulsories on Tuesday afternoon drew only 5,873 people and the men's short program Wednesday afternoon had 6,092.
Kim was greeted by loud cheering froma large Korean contingent. Zeghibe said organizers targeted LA's sizeable Korean, Japanese and Chinese communities. "We did specific advertising," he said. "We did a lot of ads in Korean and Japanese, worked with a consultant to make sure we had the translations correct and so forth, and I think it certainly showed in ladies short program sales and ladies free skate sales."
The merchandise booths quickly sold out of pins, but have $15 T-shirts, hoodies for $60, baseball caps for $15 and teddy bears - popular for throwing on the ice to a favorite skater - for $20.
Zeghibe said the variety of souvenirs is greater than that at the annual U.S. Championships.
"I think folks are really responding to what we've put out there," he said.
Skater Experience
A record number of 216 skaters from 52 countries entered the World Championships. Montenegro is represented for the first time at an ISU championship while Brazil and Ireland are represented for the first time at ISU World Championships. Russian ice dancers Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin win their first gold medal at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships. (Getty Images)
The ladies event had 54 skaters from 48 countries, the men's event had 52 skaters from 42 countries, the pairs event had 25 entries from 17 countries and the ice dancing event had 30 couples from 22 countries.
The practice rink is in the LA Convention Center, which is adjacent to the Staples Center. This is not only convenient for skaters who sometimes have had to take long bus rides to practice rinks, but also for coaches who have to move quickly if they have skaters in several events.
However, for the first time, there is no closing banquet for the skaters due to the expense.
Press Operations
About 700 members of the media are covering the World Championships. This year, there are more Asian media than those from North America and Europe, said Susan Polakoff Shaw, event press director.
The proof is not only on paper, but in the hot water in the media lounge area.
"We've had to call for more hot water, because the Asians are drinking the tea up," she said.
Shaw, a veteran public relations professional from the United States, was brought in three weeks ago to help organize the press operation and has smoothed out potential problem areas.
Some media have grumbled that the press center is in the adjacent L.A. Convention Center, so they have to make a short walk outside and go through mag-and-bag security each time they enter the Staples Center. The media work room next door to the Staples Center. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)
That doesn't bother Sandra Stevenson of London's Daily Telegraph, who has been covering the Worlds since 1968. "It's wonderful to be in a place where there's no snow," she aid "There's never been weather this nice."
The press seats have good sight lines and plenty of tabled seats at one end of the arena. However, it's a long walk down stairs and a very long corridor - including the uniform storage area for Staples Center staff - to the mixed zone and press conference room.
There is no free food available in the press center -- only the tea and coffee - which some journalists have come to take for granted.
Media must pay at least $12.95 for Internet services. The WiFi stopped working in the arena, possibly the result of photographers taking too much of the bandwidth, so organizers hard-wired it.
There is also a delay in getting results and the lights go out for awards presentations, which make it hard to see notes.
The ISU has provided good flash quotes from the skaters, but for some reason, did not provide a transcript or any quotes from ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta's state-of-the-sport press conference Friday.
And, in a move which didn't endear the ISU to media, there were no press gift bags or other swag.
Written by Karen Rosen
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