Bellbrook graduation 2012
Fairfield Senior 2012 graduation
Kroger Aquatic Center opens
Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2009 > January > 12 > Entry
On this date in area sports history…
On this day, Jan. 12, 2002, figure skater and former Springfield resident John Zimmerman, along with partner Kyoko Ina, won their third straight pairs title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and qualified for the Olympics.
Click the jump for the full story.
Published in the Jan. 13, 2002 edition of the Springfield News-Sun:
INA-ZIMMERMAN NAB THIRD U.S. TITLE, MAKE OLYMPICS
LOS ANGELES — Going to the Olympics never gets old.
One day after 30-year-old Todd Eldredge earned a spot in his third Olympics, 29-year-old Kyoko Ina matched him. And this time she’s bringing former Springfield resident John Zimmerman with her.
Ina and Zimmerman, far and away the best pair in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, won their third straight national title early Saturday morning with a workmanlike performance. Considering the mediocre level of competition, that was all they needed.
“It’s always exciting to make the Olympics,” Ina said. “You hear so much about being the home team, it’s just so exciting.”
Added Zimmerman, who is headed for his first games: “We’re where we anticipated being. We’ve had a pretty jam-packed year so far and we’ve had some pretty good performances. The performance tonight was a satisfactory performance going into the Games.”
Ina, who qualified for her third Olympic team, knows Friday’s performance at Staples Center won’t impress anyone.
“If we skate like this we won’t be a factor,” she said. “It was our worst performance to date.”
They will be joined in Salt Lake City by Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, who both leapt with elation when they saw their marks were good enough for an Olympic spot.
“Right now, I think I am dreaming. This is the happiest day for me,” Scott said.
Ina was ninth in the 1994 Olympics and fourth in 1998 with former partner Jason Dungjen.
“It’s great,” Ina said with a huge smile. “People always think, `Oh, you make your first one, you make your second one.’ It’s a thrill each time. It’s a special club and it’s always exciting.”
She and Zimmerman got together for the 1998-99 season and began training with renowned coach Tamara Moskvina, who has had three Olympic champion Russian pairs. They were second at the ‘99 nationals and have been unchallenged in America since.
Now, they get to challenge the top pairs from Canada, Russia, China, France and Poland at Salt Lake City. They will need a cleaner program at the Olympics after he stepped out of the landing of side-by-side triple toe loops _ she did only a double _ and she touched the ice with her hand on a throw-triple salchow.
Still, that overwhelmed the rest of a weak field as the judges were generous with the artistic marks, including six 5.9s.
“We’re not worried about them. We’re worried about ourselves,” Ina said of the rest of the world’s pairs.
“I still see the potential in which fields they can be better and to prepare them to become one of the best pairs teams in the world,” Moskvina said. “They can medal, but it depends not only on their skating, but how others will skate.”
Moskvina expects them to blossom in Salt Lake City. The secret to winning?
“I’ve told them how to respect each other, to work together,” she said.
American pairs in general frustrate Moskvina. She can’t understand how they split over the slightest of differences. In Russia, they would stay together because the coaches demand it, she said.
“I prepared special measures to keep them together,” she said of her U.S. team.
She talked to them separately about attitude and how to avoid hurt feelings.
Like a marriage counselor?
“Yes, that’s my next paid job,” she said. “The Russians are easier to keep together because they trust the coach.”
Longevity seems to lead to Olympic medals. Russian pairs have won the gold and silver in the last four Games. Ina finished fourth in the 1998 Nagano Games with partner Jason Dungjen.
Since then, she has been with Zimmerman.
Some American hopefuls cite Ina and Zimmerman as taking the right approach to reach the elite level.
“Everybody can do the stuff,” said Aaron Parchem, who placed third Friday with Stephanie Kalesavich. “It’s who looks pretty doing it.”
But to look pretty, teams must practice for years.
Pairs coach Mitch Moyer thought the United States was on verge of a breakthrough for the 2002 Games until injuries devastated some promising teams.
One pair’s hopes ended in 1999 after Paul Binnebose fell while lifting partner Laura Handy. He hit his head on the ice and fell into a month-long comma. He survived but had to retire. Handy joined with Jonathon Hunt last year. They finished sixth Friday.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: On this date
Comments