CLEVELAND — Alissa Czisny showed the youngsters, including Cheyenne Mountain High School junior Rachael Flatt, how it should be done, winning the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Thursday night.
Czisny showed none of the nerves that have done her in so many times in the past, skating to “That Swan” in a beautiful program that earned her 65.75 points. Not only is that seven points better than her previous personal best, it gives her a five-point lead over Flatt, the reigning world junior champion, going into Saturday afternoon’s free skate.
“I’ve done a lot of work, so I expected to do well,” Czisny said, “but I’m really happy to have skated that well.”
Flatt, whose bio says her two Old English sheepdogs, Lucy and Ethel, get into as much mischief as their “I Love Lucy” namesakes, scored 60.19 points.
“I think I did pretty well in the program, but it wasn’t my best,” Flatt said.
Caroline Zhang, who won the world junior title in 2007, was third at 58.91.
Colorado Springs skaters Alexe Gilles and Tatyana Khazova were 11th and 22nd, respectively.
Defending champion Mirai Nagasu hit the boards on the landing of her opening triple lutz, dropping her to a disappointing sixth place.
Czisny, 21, has long been considered one of the most talented skaters in the United States. But she has a long history of crumbling under the pressure — especially in the short program, where skaters have a required to-do list. This is her eighth senior nationals, but she has just one medal to show for the trips. And that bronze she won in 2007? She followed with a ninth-place debacle last year.
“Last year didn’t go so well,” Czisny said. “After nationals, I took some time off. After I looked back and decided I still wanted to skate, I decided to make some changes and enjoy skating instead of worrying about the outcome.”
In pairs, Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett scored a major upset with their win in the short program. Only reunited in June after a brief partnership two years ago, they skated flawlessly to beat defending champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker and veterans Rena Inoue and John Baldwin. The three couples are within four-tenths of each other, meaning the free skate will be a winner-takes-all affair.
Joubert wins third Euro title
HELSINKI, Finland — Brian Joubert of France won the European championship for the third time with a convincing 11-point victory over Italy’s Samuel Contesti.
