World Ice Challenge

Since its inception in 1994, the Olay presents the World Ice Challenge (known as Ice Wars for its first seven years) brought the concept of team competition to figure skating, with a team of U.S. skaters taking on a team of skaters from the world.

Perhaps never has the team concept been more apparent than in the 2001 version, when each of the four members of the U.S. Team contributed in a big way to the narrow Team USA victory over Team World (589-588.5).

The USA Team men - Brian Boitano and Rudy Galindo - went 1-2, respectively, in the technical program competition, and teammate Kristi Yamaguchi won the women's portion of the technical programs, as well, staking the U.S. team more than two-point lead.

In the artistic program competition, the only U.S. team member to finish behind a World Team member in the technical programs - Tara Lipinski - was the only U.S. skater to win a head-to-head matchup, helping the team again build a lead that held up for the victory.

For that matter, the World Team illustrated the team concept, too, with the two men - Kurt Browning and Philippe Candelero - winning artistic program head-to-head matchups after finishing well down in the technical programs. Yuka Sato was second in the technical programs and tied her head-to-head matchup with Yamaguchi, and Surya Bonaly came up with two good performances with no major errors.

"I'm really happy tonight," said Yamaguchi, who fell twice in last year's Team USA loss, but hit everything this year. "As I'm sure Brian would tell you, every year it gets harder and harder, but we were both determined to come back strong and help the team this year."

"I really like the team stuff," added Boitano, who also took a fall in last year's competition, but had two near-perfect performances in this year's victory. "I feel like I skated great tonight - everything felt so solid."

While the two Team USA stalwarts were satisfied with their contributions to the victory, Browning, who has competed in all but one of the eight USA vs. The World competitions, was upset with himself for making mistakes in his technical program.

It was effect of the mistakes on his team that bothered him most.

"I was so frustrated because I knew I blew the night for the World Team," said Browning, who fell hard on a triple axel attempt and then downgraded the remaining jumps in the program after the fall. "There's just a moment in a program when you know it's over. It happens now just like it used to happen in the amateurs - you miss something and you know it's over and you still have four minutes left. Everyone was skating so well, and I knew when I fell that it was over for the World Team. We all had to hit. I was here to do a job and I didn't. And after that, the better the World Team skated the worse I felt. I'm like, 'Oh, find me a bigger hole to crawl in to.' I almost wanted someone else to botch something so I wouldn't be the only one to make a mistake."

There weren't many mistakes made by anyone, as the competitors gave the large audience a fine night of skating.

In the technical competition, Bonaly, skating her Birds program, has been troubled with a hip injury, and cut down on the usual array of jumps. Lipinski, who tweaked an ankle in September and was also limited in jumps, followed with Tribute to America, but she added a long, impressive footwork sequence. She topped Bonaly by .5. Sato performed to Song of the Homeland (Izzy Ascotta), and scored .5 higher than Lipinski to give the World Team a boost.

Yamaguchi wrapped up the women's technical competition to Dance With Me Slow (Beth Chapman Hart), hitting a beautiful triple Lutz. She got two 10s and bested Sato's scores by .3, so the U.S. team led 98.3-97.5.

Candelero opened the men's competition dressed in funny pants with suspenders and sporting dark glasses. Unfortunately, his program to Love is All (Roger Glover) didn't have much choreograph to go along with the charming "nerdy" personality he portrayed. He scored a 48.3.

By contrast, Boitano's self-choreographed program to You're Still You (Josh Groban) was full of spins, spirals, spread eagles and connecting elements. Boitano nailed a Tano triple Lutz and a triple toe out of footwork, and received two 9.9s and five 9.8s for 49.1.

Browning performed to Am I the Only One (Barenaked Ladies) and hit a triple Salchow, then tried the only triple Axel of the day and crashed. But he performed some of his usual great footwork and a couple of good spins. "I did exactly what I didnt' want to do - I went straight up, and I wanted to go out. I really WWF-ed myself into the ice," Browning said. "And then, it just ruined the rest of the program - the triple-triple went, and the loop and the double Axel. I should have hit it - I've been doing them in practice." Browning got a mix of 9.6, 9.7 and 9.8 for a 48.5 total.

Galindo finished the technical programs to Elephant Love Song (Moulin Rouge). After struggling in practices with jumps (reportedly due to a bad sharpening job on his blades), he decided not to try the triple Axel, instead doing a double Axel-double toe, a couple of triple jumps, along with a Charlotte spiral and a nice spin combination. He got two 9.9s and totaled 49.0.

The U.S. led 196.4 to 194.3 after the technical programs.

The artistic head-to-head matchups started with the two top point-getters in the technical programs, Sato and Yamaguchi. Sato did another lovely, flowing number to Color of Roses (Susan Anton), while Yamaguchi danced to Janet Jackson's Trust a Try, displaying upbeat choreography and hitting triple flip, triple toe, and double Axel. The two tied with 98.4 each (totals in artistic programs were doubled), so the U.S. lead remained the same.

Galindo chose to go first in his matchup with Candelero. Skating to Gaiete Parisien, he used the more than five minutes of his program to include three triple toe loops (he fell on one), a double Axel-double toe and another double Axel, along with a double flip, several good "in character" spins and some footwork. He also donned a chiffon skirt to Can Can and returned to the ice for an "encore" sporting a shorts jumpsuit. The program was packed, but seemed to go on too long.

But then, so did Candelero's. The French star re-created the movie Cast Away, skating to Mascagni (Andrea Bocelli). After being "washed up" on an island he found his "friend" the soccer ball (complete with a red handprint). He spent a lot of time emoting to the building, "building a fire" and sprawled on the beach. Most of the judges gave the Frenchman two-tenths higher than Galindo. That tightened the competition, as the U.S. led only 392.0 to 391.7.

Bonaly performed to Madame Butterfly, trying for a more graceful look than usual, and generally succeeding. She hit triple loop and toe but put a hand down on a double Axel. She had some expressive spins and spirals, too. Lipinski also skated to Color of Roses (Beth Nielsen Chapman), with a voiceover telling the audience why she was skating to this song. She hit two triple Salchows and held on to a triple toe and skated with a lot of emotion. She beat Bonaly across the board, mostly a one-tenth difference, and won by more than a point to give the U.S. a comfortable lead heading into the final showdown of the night.

The Browning-Boitano matchup has been a highlight of this competition for yyears. It didn't disappoint this year. Browning performed his highly praised program from last season's Stars on Ice (Nyah, Hans Zimmer), beefed up with a triple Salchow out of a spread eagle, double Axel-into-back lunge and triple toe. He had wonderful tension and flamenco style, and the audience rebounded with big applause when he finished.

Boitano tried something completely different, bringing a human prop with him for Girl from Ipanema, (Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto). Jennifer Hamilton, an assistant to Marguerite Derricks, who choreographed the program with Boitano, played the part of the girl, dancing on a small platform at one end of the rink during portions of the program, often echoing the choreography Boitano was doing on the ice. One of the most interesting moments was Boitano doing a series of combination spins as Hamilton echoed some of his positions while spinning on the platform.

"Yeah, I knew it was kind of a risk, but that's what you do as a pro," said Boitano, who cleared the "prop" with referee Kerry Leitch when he came up with the idea. "I really loved this concept and this program and I wanted to do it. Jennifer's a great dancer and I just really enjoyed doing this program.".

The judges were less excited about the idea than Boitano and Hamilton. Browning won every judge by one-tenth - pulling the only other 10 of the night. But it wasn't enough for the World Team to overtake Team USA.

Boitano was just happy that the U.S. team regained the title after last year's World Team win.

"In this competition, I want to skate well and help my team, but I also want to try new things," he said. "i felt I was able to do that tonight."

"It's always nice to win," Yamaguchi said. "Competition isn't the same as a show, there's always a little extra tension. Maybe even more now then there was as an amateur, because I always felt prepared as an amateur, but now, my schedule is so busy that I usually don't feel quite as prepared as I'd like to. I'd love to have the practice time I did as an amateur."

The U.S. Team has now won six of the eight matchups between the two teams.

Judges: Charlie Tickner, Karen Torkelson, Oleg Vassiliev, Marylynn Gelderman, Bernard Ford, Christine Hough, Ron Ludington.
Scores: Technical
Team USA 196.4, Team World 194.3
Artistic program head-to-heads (scores doubled)
Team USA 589.0, Team World, 588.5.

Boitano, Yamaguchi, and Browning were all in the original Ice Wars in 1994. Boitano has competed in all eight USA vs. the World competitions, Browning has been in seven and Yamaguchi in five. Galindo has been in the event since 1996. Both Boitano and Browning have been coping with injuries lately. Browning suffered a partial tear in anterior cruciate ligament and the meniscus in his knee early in the year. Some of hte biggest problems that caused was in landing toe loops and axels. He said that after dealing with it during the Canadian Stars on Ice tour, he had considered surgery, but decided against it and opted for therapy and other things. "I'm doing pretty well with it now," he said. Meanwhile, Boitano is still troubled by the left knee injury he suffered during the 2001 Winter Champions on Ice Tour, which limited his ability to do toe loops, Salchows and Axels. In the intervening months, he's back to doing double Axels, but the other two jumps are still problematical. He had no Salchows and did exactly two toe loops during Wednesday practice, one in the runthrough of each program, then didn't do any more until the actual performance. "Yeah, I didn't even warm them up (before the competition)," Boitano said. "But the good news is, neither one of them hurt in the performances. So, maybe I'll be able to start trying Salchows again pretty soon."

How much do the skaters want to win in these pro competitions? Browning, still upset over his mistakes well after the competition was over, gave this explanation of his feelings about his competitors and the competition: "We're very friendly, because we love each other so much. It's an honor to lose to any of these people, because we all have a deep respect for each other. There is no residual feelings when we walk away from here, because there's so much respect involved. But you hate to not do your job. You want to skate well."

Area newspapers were indicating that this year's competition might be the farewell for two of the U.S. team members. A preview story in one paper said the event "could be the swan song of six-time professional skating champion Brian Boitano," reporting that "rumor" had it this was to be Boitano's final competition. A post-event article in another paper indicated that it might be Yamaguchi's last competition, as well. When asked about that, both skaters said they weren't making plans in that direction. "My last one? I don't think so," Boitano said. "If they have this competition again next year, I'd probably do it. I like this competition. I'm not interested in head-to-head competitions anymore - I'm off that circuit - but I like team stuff." Yamaguchi had a similar reaction, saying touring with Stars On Ice may be done, but not necessarily competition. "It's my 10th year and I'm looking at is as being my last one on Stars," she said. "I hate to say that, but after this year, it may be time to focus on family and other things. But if they had this competition again nexxt year, I'd think about doing it. I like this one."

Last year, the ice surface wasn't just smaller than usual, it was also not very good, according to the skaters, who complained that the surface was crusty and brittle. There were several falls and some slopp movements and Boitano hit cement toeing in on his lutz in his artistic program. This year, officials indicated they had discovered part of the problem was a warm breeze blowing down from above onto part of the ice. They corrected that problem and worked very hard to make the ice surface as good as possible. The surface was great this year and nobody had any complaints.

The name was changed from Ice Wars to Olay Presents the World Ice Challenge this year because of happenings of Sept. 11 and the U.S.'s subsequent reaction. Senior vice president of ClearChannel Entertainment, Fred Boucherle said that ClearChannel and Olay wanted to be sensitive to everything that was happening. "We hope to be able to go back to the name of Ice Wars sometime, as soon as it's appropriate. Maybe next year," Boucherle said. So, will there be a next year for this competition, which, with the absence of the World Pro this year becomes the longest continually running pro competition. "We hope so," said Christy Carras of ClearChannel. "That's up to CBS."