All the competitors. All the time. To the best of my ability. Here they are.

When I speak of edges, this is what I mean. Have fun. Hope it helps.


ARMENIA: Krasiltseva/Chestnikh -- Wow. Really good. They have the pop and spring that characterize great figure skaters. Their tech edges may not be there, but that's coming. They found two skaters like this? Not afraid of the jumps, not afraid of the low maneuvers like low spins and such? These two are going to be good in a few years' time! Just give them some time. Their basics, like love of edgework and love of connecting things smoothly together on the ice (without which you have no real skating, just throwing some elements out there on the ice and hoping they look good -- skating has to be smooth from start to finish), are really there. They're emerging. Give them time. Is a world medal at some point too much to expect? I don't think so.

AUSTRALIA: McGrath/Carr -- These kids could be really good with a little more work on projection to the audience and a deeper bit of realization of what kind of program they're trying to achieve. It sort of looks like they're moving around on the ice without any clear idea of what effect they're trying to achieve with their program. Skating has to come from the inside out or it isn't really skating, just moving around on the ice. Every motion has to be tied together by a deeper notion. Once these kids get that, they'll be fine. Details can take time, but these kids will basically have it together when they do.

AZERBAIJAN: Rodionova/Anichenko -- A little afraid of the ice. Probably shouldn't even be here. It looks like it's more her than him, but it's infected them both, and probably the coach too. You can't protect these kids too hard. Make them do some throw triples, break that wall, go for it, and not be afraid of themselves. The only way you learn is by trying. Go for it!

BELARUS: Katsiaryna/Guennadi -- Really good. Why are all these great little couples languishing down in the bottom ranks? Just because they don't carry Russian passports? C'mon. An emphasis a little more on line and that crucial pushing of the line of the foot stroke all the way back with her -- give it that little flip up to complete the stroke movement -- and she'll be fine. Which will give him the confidence to skate more. Yes, you picked the right person. Just more spin practice would help. Emphasize that mental keeping up with each other -- just basic pair technique. Jumps will come later when they're ready. You build it step by step and then it takes off up into the air by itself.

BULGARIA: Dimova/Tourlakov -- Gorgeous couple. Need to emphasize unison a little bit more. What will help is drawing a line on the ice, or starting from a hockey line in the center of the rink, and practicing those pushoffs for unison moves like pair jumps and (especially with these guys) spins. There is so much potential here...they should be twin twirling speed demons. Excellent line and blending artistically. Back edges will help. Especially her. Practice mirroring each other, first on the floor in a dance studio, then on the ice. That will help. Maintain that eye contact, two-three times during pair spins, once during jumps -- it can be done. A great technical couple potentially. I'd love to watch them when they get themselves together a little bit more. Coach not been focusing on them real hard?

CANADA:

• Sargeant/Wirtz -- Give it time. These two could be good. The main problem I'm seeing here is that neither one of these two has ever really adapted their edges to pair work. They're both still thinking they're alone on the ice, and they're skating around each other like the other is some sort of immovable post. The partner is a person you interact with, and you adjust your edges (which produce your motions on the ice) to match where the other person is going. Once these two learn to think as a couple, they should be able to do better. Give them time.
• Savard-Gagnon/Bradet -- Why bother? These two shouldn't even be out there. The Land of the Frozen North can't come up with two Olympic-worthy pairs? They're not ready for World competition. Her edges aren't straight. His are indecisive -- good way to kill a pair. Okay, girl. This is your outside edge. This is your inside edge. Now remember that. And boy, please do some strength training and go out and do some of those moves by yourself before you take a 120-pound girl out there with you. On top of you. Relying on you. I've seen pairs killed that way. Please pull them off the ice. Now! And edge training -- I think I'm going to open an edge-training school. Might help some people keep from getting killed....

CHINA: Shen/Zhao -- Nice! These guys obviously have a little ways to go with their edges and somewhat with their polishing of positions, but the positions I have always found come more naturally when you work on your positions on the ice (edgework, basic stroking, etc.) and how you relate to each other. Give these kids time. I think they'll do it! Sign me up for the fan club! They seem to have a real sense of elegance and of line, and I think that'll develop over the next five to six years. Give them time. They'll get there. Edges come naturally when you care about each other.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Berankova/Diabola -- They'll be all right. Just need some edge training. Especially her. What is it with these girls who can't control their edges? But they'll be all right - the Soviet system tradition still supports them (sometimes memory can serve as well as a present coach) and they look like they've got a coach who's whipping their skinny little rear ends on positioning. Only way to do it. Just don't be afraid to jump. To fly. To stand up for yourself. Remember, Eastern Europe can be proud! Look at what you gave us....Oh, for some Soviet edges....

ESTONIA: Nekrassova/Mintals -- Very good. Obviously building themselves up from the basics, but that is good if the basics are taught correctly. Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze film 24 hours a day. Even in your sleep. And practice jumping like them. Watch their takeoffs -- very elegant and smooth, and very, very self-confident. That'll help you guys nail it. Take them as your idols. Get their autographs. Put their pictures on your walls. Live at their practices. They can teach you much. Especially watch her. She is excellent.

FRANCE:

• Abitbol/Bernadis -- I would really like to see these kids doing better. I know they're trying.... Edge technique is not learned in a day. You have to concentrate for hours and hours, going back to even the very basics of stroking and maneuvering around the ice. I won't pick on one or the other, because they both need it. Once they get that, then they should be able to start to live up to some of these dramatic dance maneuvers they're doing. They've got the potential. They've just got to get back to the basics. You can see edge slippages and wrong positions on the blade all over the place with these two. Keep an eye on it. They'll get better. I think they want to too badly. Go for it, kids!
• Lefrancois/Osseland -- I really don't want to shortchange these kids, but it looks like they've spent a little too long polishing their routines and not enough time getting to know each other, which is really the basis of all pair figure skating. It's nice to know the routines and have all the pretty flourishes and stuff, but if you don't understand each other from the heart up, there's really no point. You are working together on the ice. You are not working with a snowman out there. It is a real person. Get to know each other, and then those pretty blades and prettier costumes will mean something. Polish them up for us, the way it should be: From the heart, from the edge of the blade, and from the mystery. Thank you. A good friend of mine once said that marriage is a spiritual journey. So is pairs skating. Even more so. Most marriages don't have lives on the line the way you do with pair lifts and throws. Meow. I've said enough.

GERMANY:

• Schwarz/Muller -- La di da. What is going on with these kids? Trying to be like Wotzel and Steuer? You can't ever imitate somebody else. You have to be yourself. It is your own understanding of the ice that you're putting out there. You can't just videotape somebody else's performance and make it work. You have to know the ice yourself, how you handle your edges (everybody handles their blades differently, sort of like different handwriting -- which is why different skaters are good at different things), and then, when you have it all together, then you are creating a look that is all your own and a prized routine with your partner that you won't give up for anything. Edges tend to sharpen when you understand what you're doing. But you can't copy somebody else's handwriting (at least not on a long-term, fluent basis, as all the Gordeeva and Grinkov imitators found out yea these many years ago, and are still finding out because everybody else deifies them so much -- stop it, fans! Let these other skaters be themselves!) and you can't copy somebody else's routine. You have to be yourself. And if your coach is telling you that, they're lying. Find someone else. And be yourselves.
• Wotzel/Steuer -- Wow. These two could be really good if they paid more attention to each other and to the fact that they're skating, not just dancing. Their movements seem to be attuned a little bit more toward motion on the ground, e.g. ballet or something else. As soon as they really learn to think that the ice is where they are and they don't have to pretend they're on the side of the rink any more, they'll be all right. Very much. A little more extension for her, a little more throw power for him, and they'll be all right. You'd be amazed what extension can do to help a pair, as well as basic edge work, the kind you thought you left behind a long time ago.

GREAT BRITAIN: Poluliaschenko/Seabrook -- Wow. She is obviously better than he is. Native line and training. But he is paired appropriately with her, if he'll work over the last two years. I am going to hand you the basic Great Britain training program: Torvill and Dean. You are more similar than you are different. Watch their interaction on the ice, especially '82-'83. They were one, they skated as one, he helped her and she moved along and occasionally helped him. This is not a power play. This is a skating team. Watch your edges and make sure they move together. Talk to Chris and Jayne and sit in on a couple of those crazy little practices of theirs. Do ya good. Get some autographs and watch some shows. But the basis of their work is their pre-Olympic years. Devour tape. It will help.

GREECE: Asanaki/Schulten -- Why haven't these kids moved up further? They're technically awfully damned good. Watch their pair spins. Anything where they have to do anything in unison, they're virtually roped to each other. They are scary as hell. Sure, their lines get off a bit and their jumps and, more obviously, their speed, could use some work, so why don't they have the help they need? This is a top five couple that's rotting down there. Get your butt to some good training and someone who can help you fly through the air. Move it!

JAPAN: Arai/Amano -- Now here the girl's better. Good solid technical training. The boy is kind of weak, but he can keep up with her if he tries. And he'd better. This girl may be the best thing that comes along for him. They have the potential to make the podium (skating talk for placing first, second, or third, or other place for which medals are awarded (competitions differ). You get to stand on the podium to receive your medals) here in a couple of years if they'll try. Especially the girl. Not to let this boy hold her back. And get to the podium. He probably whines in practice, but he'll do it if she makes him. To the podium! Now! (Whap) Good old Japanese tradition, and in fact a good old tradition anywhere in the world. Use that iron skillet, girl. Make him do it. Sometimes the coach is helpless, but a well-placed skate blade (I didn't say that, did I?)... Oh well. Sometimes it's what it takes.

KAZAKHSTAN: Khalturina/Kroukov -- Go for it! These kids could be really good if they tried. What's the matter? Coach holding them back, maybe a little nervous? Conditions in the home country not the best? Nobody believing in them? So what? Dive forward; never mind the terain. You can do it if you want to. Nice balletic line, nice sense of class -- nothing holding them back except their own edges. And the edges are influenced most by the mind. Reasonable, since the mind controls the entire body. Go for it, kids! And don't let anybody stop you!

LATVIA: -- Sirohvatova/Salmanov -- Wow. Good. These kids are technically excellent. They could be technically superior if they learned to push that little more into the jumps -- wait until I get Elvis' quad analysis up. It will help. There are techniques there that can help any skater. For now, don't be afraid to lever yourself into the air and just go. Feel the flow around you. Jump into the air and back down onto the ice. That's the best way I can put it. Play around with each other. Don't take this as a job. Reserve a couple of hours just to play with each other, experiment with technique, and just have some fun with this partnership. This will bring some very, very deep results because these are very, very deep skaters. Keep your eyes on these kids. They just need a few hints here and there to go around scaring everyone else.

POLAND: Zagorska/Siudek -- Sigh. These kids could be good if they really tried. Lack of edgework on her part reveals the truth -- they don't really want to. She'd have cleaned up some of those second-class slops if her partner had really sat on her. And without decent edges, how do you get in position for lifts? How do you do jumps? How do you even do spins? Never mind keep them straight and together. It's there; she just doesn't want to do it. Quit wasting your parents' money or the rink time or whatever. Get those edges cleaned up or get off the ice. Now. So someone else can have it. Who will polish their edges. They're just lazy, to me.

SLOVAK REPUBLIC: Bestandigova/Bestandig -- If only all of you guys skated with this degree of unity. Their feet match in the oddest places. There is the depth of form and quality here required for a really first-class team. Unison needs some work; look at each other when you go up for those crazy moves and jumps and such! Click in with each other with the eyes before and after, and you'll even learn how to do it during. It happens. Almost automatically. Better skates. Please. Fast. Better costumes to show off that line. These two carry a lot of the old couples training tradition. Learn from them. Please.

RUSSIA:

• Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze -- A very, very good couple and one that I expect to see more from in the future. I would hope that they would polish their edges a little bit more, especially hers -- she looks like she slips a little on her inside edges occasionally, especially the right. He is more balletic and she looks like she's more a pure skater, as in that's where their primary emphasis is. Give them a couple of years to work together and possibly emphasize for both of them that the ice is where they're both working now, even if they do do ballet classes occasionally. If you figure skate, your emphasis needs to be on the ice, not in the other disciplines you practice, whether or not they are helpful.
• Eltsova/Bushkov -- These two have some problems. She is not stretching as high on lifts as she could be, and he is not supporting her enough, in the lifts or anywhere else. Pairs needs to be a partnership, and neither of them is really extending that extra hand toward the other to make it work. He could use more technical training, as emphasis on the edges of the blade (inner and outer for both feet) and how to stroke and turn. You never get too good to go back to the basics. For her, perhaps a little more ballet class and emphasis on how to interact with her partner. She still seems like she wants to perform alone half the time -- she forgets her partner is on the ice. They'll be good as long as they can learn to think together.
• Kazakova/Dmitriev -- Very good, but not as good as I'd like to see. They really have some problems in keeping up with each other. I suspect this is because she is not as experienced a skater and not as good at adapting to partners. He has obviously been around the rink a few times and is willing to make the accommodations needed here. Give her time. She is growing up into his strength. He can learn to relax into her femininity, which is really what she projects on the ice. But she will have to build up the strength if they expect to work together well. Give them time. They'll do it.

UKRAINE: Filonenko/Marchenko -- Why bother saying anything? These kids will keep working and getting better no matter what we say. And they'll win when they want to. Get the lifts straight (as in his back on entry), get the lifts higher (as in her arms on takeoff and landing -- that tends to put them superhigh in the air), and everything else should be fine. A couple's lifts and spins tell about the rest of their work. Ain't nothing wrong with these kids' spins. They'll do fine.

USA:

• Ina/Dungjen -- Very good, as long as they can learn to work together more as a team. It's little things, like spacing on jumps and such, but they're not thinking as one quite as much as they could. That just takes time on the ice and relating to each other. It takes practice. Her edges are not quite strong enough to compete with his, but with a little work this could be taken care of. And I do mean a little work. They basically flow together very well. Watch the edges of their blades -- they basically think in synchronicity, but they just need to improve it if they really want to compete with some of the best out there. It'll take some time. Maybe not right now, but later. If they keep working.
• Meno/Sand -- Wow. These two are good. Maybe not as good as they could be, but very good indeed. It's a wonder they haven't cracked the podium yet. I would suggest more emphasis on the internal side of skating: how they feel on the ice, what they expect to get out of the partnership, what they want out of each other. That is always crucial for top partnerships. These two could really be good if they took some time, and then went back and polished up those last little noodges of edge problems -- a toepick sliding this way, a back end of a blade heading that way occasionally. It just takes time and practice. He is going to have to learn to give in to her and help her be what she can be especially if they want to do well. Give it time. They may do it.

UZBEKISTAN: Ponomareva/Sviridov -- Wow. Such an explosive couple. Do you realize what you have there in her? A virtual Tonya Harding of the pairs scene. And he is such a Paul Wylie, so laid back and flowing...it will be a major choreographic experience to get these two functioning together over the next couple of years, with those so-divergent styles, but wow. What you have now. And what you could have then. Let them speak from their hearts, both in choreographic sessions and in putting it together on the ice themselves. Please. You have a great couple here. Harnessing fire and ice...such an experience....can you imagine what a show team they'd make?

Welcome aboard!