Scandinavian skater's news thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter SmallFairy
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Veronica said:
This would be nice to know, and also which ladies are competing for the Olympic spot. Apart from Helgesson and Algotsson Anita Östlund is probably considered, and maybe Isabelle Olsson.
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I think the scores are 8th place at worlds 2017, but that is so crazy, should at least be 8th place at Euros, as it was for the German federation when Dytr didn't make it. There are four ladies going for that one spot: Joshi Helgesson, Isabelle Olsson, Matilda Algotsson and Anita Östlund. I cheer for Matilda, but Isabelle is god too
 
According to SOKs website there are two different criteria too qualify, the basic criteria and the future criteria.
From what I read the basic criteria is that the skater must prove that they are capable of finishing 8th at the Olympics.
If I understand it correctly, the future criteria says that a skater who doesnt fulfill the basic criteria can go as a learning experience if they:
1. Never have been to the Olympics before
2. Has shown potential to reach high results at a future Olympics.
3. Has shown that they still can perform well.

As none of the ladies have been to the Olympics they might fulfill the future criteria depending on how point 2 and 3 are judged.
 
So basically MCM better keep practicing with the Olympics and not just Worlds in mind.. If SOK sticks to their criteria with Alex, they will probably forfeit the spot.. that's so sad though.. You'd think SOK would want a return on their investment after all of these years..
 
I had to do a double take, but it appears twins Greta and John Crafoord switched from USA to Sweden starting just this season?
 
Denmark held their Nationals in early December (thread in Kiss & Cry includes results & video links) -- here's a recap article with photos (in Danish): http://www.danskate.dk/nyheder/rekordernes-dm/

Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen were the only Senior ice dance team (178.09).
SD (68.26): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pCgD32zRGM
FD (109.83): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhWD1QLT7OI

Senior ladies champ Pernille Sorensen earned the Euros FS minimum she needed at Santa Claus Cup in Budapest the week after Danish Nationals.

This Dec. 13th article on the fed. website confirms upcoming international assignments including a large group of Senior/Junior/Novice skaters for The Nordics in Finland in February 2018: http://www.danskate.dk/nyheder/udtagelser-til-international-konkurrence-deltagelse/

Europeans: Pernille Sørensen and Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sørensen
Worlds: Fournier Beaudry & Sørensen
 
Thanks, @SmallFairy! Link to the announcement: http://skatesweden.se/nyheter/algotsson-ostlund-och-majorov-sveriges-em-trupp-2018/
Their photos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc3_LYOh225/?taken-by=skatesweden.se
SmallFairy said:
Team Sweden:
Ice dance: Malin Malmberg/Thomas Nordahl
Men: Alexander Majorov
Ladies: Matilda Algotsson, Anita Östlund

Yay for Swedish ice dancers!
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Camilla Gjersem is the only Senior competitor listed for Norwegian Nationals in Stavanger, January 12-14, 2018. I assume this is because Anne Line Gjersem and Sondre Odvoll Boe will be competing at Europeans in Moscow the following week.
 
Iceland has named their team for The Nordics 2018: http://www.iceskate.is/2017/12/15/nordurlandamot-2018/

Senior:
1. Júlía Grétarsdóttir
2. Eva Dögg Sæmundsdóttir
3. Þuríður Björg Björgvinsdóttir

Junior:
1. Kristín Valdís Örnólfsdóttir
2. Marta María Jóhannsdóttir
3. Emilía Rós Ómarsdóttir
4. Margrét Sól Torfadóttir

Advanced Novice:
1. Ísold Fönn Vilhjálmsdóttir
2. Viktoría Lind Björnsdóttir
3. Rebekka Rós Ómarsdóttir
4. Aldís Kara Bergsdóttir
 
Sondre Oddvoll Bøe is leaving Oberstorf and Michael Huth. He's moving home to Asker to train there.

https://www.vg.no/sport/vintersport/norges-kunstloep-haap-flytter-hjem-foelte-seg-ensom/a/24213155/

Norway's figure skating hope is moving home - was feeling lonely

The figure skater Sondre Oddvoll Bøe (19) hasn't given up on his olympic dream. But after more than three years in Germany he's moving back home to Norway. He felt to lonely training with top coach Michael Huth in Oberstorf.

"It's been completely my own decision. I've been there for three years. There's been ups and downs. That's pretty common. This season has been the hardest. A lot of things has happened, I oftened had the feeling "Oh, now I have to go home alone again" Sondre explains.

Aiming for Olympics 2022
Despite his age he has been Norway's only male figure skater on international level for many years.

Neither he or Anne Line Gjersem was successful during the last Olympic qualification on home ice in Oberstorf in September. But he wants to continue for a new four year period, towards Olympics in Beijing 2022.

In the middle of January he's been selected to compete in the European championships, a few days after his 20th birthday.

This time it's with his boys room back in Asker as base, and with Berit Steigedal as his coach. (Camilla Gjersem's coach)

"I'm just as committed to skating as before. I'm moving home to make things work. I want to go home to be able to do other things on the side, like school. "

He has taken some subjects not following a class in Oberstorf. Now he needs to be more closely connected to a teacher. He thinks he will finish "college" (Norwegian videregående, not exactly the same) in two years time.

Money is also an important matter in the "abroad/home" - calculation. Figure skating isn't cheap. Sonde Oddvoll Bøe admits that mum and dad has been and is his only sponsors.

"It's fun"
"It's a lot more expensive to live in Oberstorf than to live at home. I don't know how much my parents have paid for Oberstorf. But it's a lot" he says.

When answering the question about what placement he can aim for at the European Championships in Moscow January 15. to 21. he answers "top 15".

That is "if everything works out to the max". Sondre Oddvoll Bøe points out that 24 skaters will advance to the final free skating from the short program and that it's "really close" between those being on place 24 to 15.

"Where do you get you motivation from every day? Top 15 at Europeans if everything works out to the max isn't exactly gold?"

"No it's not. But I think it's fun. Figure skating is what I like to do" says Sondre Oddvoll Bøe.



The article also has links to other related articles about Norwegian figure skating, and some videos.
 
Wishing Sondre all the best coming back home! I'm sure it's a hard decision, as he has improved a lot under Michael Huth. It will be great to have him here though, him and Camilla are a great inspiration for the younger skaters.

I think the article shows how hard it is to be a skater from a smaller nation, with few training mates, few facilities and little or no sponsoring. Still they keep going because they love skating. I remember an Instagram post from Dasa Grm saying how surprised and happy she was to be invited to a Grand Prix (Rostelecom 2015), something she never thought would happen, and it felt like a highlight of her career. I root for so many skaters from smaller nations. I really, really want them to succeed, as the odds are sort of against them from the start.

Of course, I'm so happy Norway even has a male skaters. When Sondre qualified for the final at Euros 2015, he was the first Norwegian male since 1995 to do so. At that time Sondre wasn't even born yet.
 
Anne Line Gjersem is landing triple lutzes!! :cheer2:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc4q2WRnnd3/?taken-by=annelinegjersem
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcuA6orBaBZ/?taken-by=annelinegjersem


Some lovely pictures from Asker figure skating club's christmas show, with Sondre, Camilla and Anne Line, (and our junior national team skaters Marianne Stålen, Frida Berge and Kari Sofie Tellefsen, and more).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcwlPPQBsUF/?taken-by=annelinegjersem
https://www.instagram.com/p/BczKFwsFBqP/?taken-by=camillagjersem
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcwiptHloXM/?taken-by=camillagjersem

Camilla practicing at her home rink in Asker:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcK169OFk_Z/?taken-by=camillagjersem
 
Sylvia said:
Thanks, @SmallFairy! Link to the announcement: http://skatesweden.se/nyheter/algotsson-ostlund-och-majorov-sveriges-em-trupp-2018/
Their photos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc3_LYOh225/?taken-by=skatesweden.se

Camilla Gjersem is the only Senior competitor listed for Norwegian Nationals in Stavanger, January 12-14, 2018. I assume this is because Anne Line Gjersem and Sondre Odvoll Boe will be competing at Europeans in Moscow the following week.
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Yes, I guess that's why. Other senior skaters Jemima Rasmuss and Juni Mari Benjaminsen has retired. I'm not sure what happened to Ingrid Katarina Bakke, who used to compete in seniors too. Ellen Yu, our best junior skater the past seasons was injured quite severely in practice some month ago (knee injury iirc) , and rumors says she is retiring too. :(
 
Isabelle Olsson has announced her retirement from competitive skating:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd14oXtBHOo/
After a long time of injury I have decided to quit skating as a professional athlete. It’s been a very hard decision but with all the amazing memories, places and people I’ve met I have become stronger than ever! Figure skating have given me so much in life and will always have a special place in my heart. In the future you’ll see me in a rink somewhere but mostly in a restaurant kitchen! See you soon ❤️⛸
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Here is one of her beautiful performances :encore:
SP to "I Was Here" by Beyoncé
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctLiaL_3sLY
 
Sonja Henje was the last Scandinavian skater to win a major Olympic/World title.
I would think Scandinavia would be a hot bed of figure skating. It seems like the environment would breed world-class skaters. Why it is that warm places like California, Florida and Texas seem to develop world-class skaters (Northern CA - Fleming, Boitano, Yamaguchi; Southern CA - Kwan, Texas - Lipinski, Florida- good US pairs and dance)?
 
tylersf said:
Sonja Henje was the last Scandinavian skater to win a major Olympic/World title.
I would think Scandinavia would be a hot bed of figure skating. It seems like the environment would breed world-class skaters. Why it is that warm places like California, Florida and Texas seem to develop world-class skaters (Northern CA - Fleming, Boitano, Yamaguchi; Southern CA - Kwan, Texas - Lipinski, Florida- good US pairs and dance)?
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It should, but we don't have enough ice. The fight for ice time is exhausting, Oslo's two figure skating clubs are moving from rink to rink, practicing at odd times in the morning and early afternoon. Now the main rink (from Olympics 1952) has been torn down. They're building a new and modern one that was supposed to be ready in the fall 2018, but now it's one year delayed. They have put up a temporary rink, but it's so cold there it's almost impossible to skate. When I practice there, my toes and feet freeze so much, it makes it impossible to jump. The poor kids. The club using it has a hard time. Still, they manage to teach Ellen Yu triple jumps and she's send to jgp. It shouldn't be possible under the conditions. The other club doesn't have a rink at all, and hockey is getting most of the ice in every rink, so, what to do?

No wonder Asker figure skating club has the most success, they have a rink (though most of the ice time still goes to hockey) with good facilities - a gym, huge dressing room that serves as a meeting place for the skaters, good coaches that have been there for ages... But it's not enough apparently. Figure skating is so hard. Norway is full of cross country skiers. That's the tradition. Everybody is skiing. And "everybody" can ski. There's snow outside, so just ski. There's not a frozen pond anywhere anymore, as it was when I was a kid, so you can't just go outside and skate. You need a rink, you need your parents to drive you etc etc. And we need more good coaches. Maybe we should co-operate even more with Sweden and Finland?
 
When I moved from the Detroit suburbs to the San Francisco Bay (East Bay) Area, I was searching for a rink for my daughter who was on her way to becoming a great skater. I was surprised at all the ice rinks in the East Bay alone. On top of that, I was told that they used to have even more rinks and that many had closed down. It is no surprise that there are many great skaters from the Bay Area because there are so many rinks from the North Bay (i.e. Marin) to the Silicon Valley, and in the East Bay.

Unfortunately, my daughter hung up her skates for soccer. I can no longer live vicariously through her. If I had the time, I would probably take lessons myself. If I'm good enough, I'm blowing a bunch of money to get Vera Wang to design my costume.

SmallFairy said:
It should, but we don't have enough ice. The fight for ice time is exhausting, Oslo's two figure skating clubs are moving from rink to rink, practicing at odd times in the morning and early afternoon. Now the main rink (from Olympics 1952) has been torn down. They're building a new and modern one that was supposed to be ready in the fall 2018, but now it's one year delayed. They have put up a temporary rink, but it's so cold there it's almost impossible to skate. When I practice there, my toes and feet freeze so much, it makes it impossible to jump. The poor kids. The club using it has a hard time. Still, they manage to teach Ellen Yu triple jumps and she's send to jgp. It shouldn't be possible under the conditions. The other club doesn't have a rink at all, and hockey is getting most of the ice in every rink, so, what to do?

No wonder Asker figure skating club has the most success, they have a rink (though most of the ice time still goes to hockey) with good facilities - a gym, huge dressing room that serves as a meeting place for the skaters, good coaches that have been there for ages... But it's not enough apparently. Figure skating is so hard. Norway is full of cross country skiers. That's the tradition. Everybody is skiing. And "everybody" can ski. There's snow outside, so just ski. There's not a frozen pond anywhere anymore, as it was when I was a kid, so you can't just go outside and skate. You need a rink, you need your parents to drive you etc etc. And we need more good coaches. Maybe we should co-operate even more with Sweden and Finland?
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I've never gotten Majorov's video to play.

Is the story that he needed to score 258 points -- he just scored 225.86 at Euros (7th place) -- unless the SOK changes its mind and sends him anyway? Only the podium scored 258+ points, and the bronze medalist just barely.
 
In swedish tv they just said SOC will announce Tuesday if Sweden will send any skaters and who if so.
A third citera has suddenly appaired something like, to actually use the spot the skaters earned even if the points requirements and top 8 at Worlds is not achieved by the skaters.

So more drama to come. Swed fed is doing everything they can to convice SOC to send Alexander and either Anita or Matilda. They will talk amd discuss with SOC tomorrow and monday....
 
A criterion of expecting an 8th place or higher finish at the Olympics is ridiculous, imo. That implies a field smaller than a GP event if everyone held to that standard -- certainly a far cry from the Olympic ideal.

I hope they seriously re-think their expectations.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
I've never gotten Majorov's video to play.
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Here's his FS and new ISU PB score of 154.58 at Euros (British Eurosport): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9cT6P2dDkE
Lis said:
Swed fed is doing everything they can to convice SOC to send Alexander and either Anita or Matilda. They will talk amd discuss with SOC tomorrow and monday....
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Fingers crossed for Alexander! I feel he deserves and has earned his second trip to the Olympics. I can understand if the SOC is not keen on sending a lady based on Euros... (a real shame if it happens).
 
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