2017 GRAND PRIX SERIES PREVIEW & LINEUPS A Walk Down Memory Lane with NATALIA MISHKUTIONOK Lubov Ilyushechkina & Dylan Moscovitch SET SIGHTS ON 2018 OLYMPIC GAMES DABIN CHOI COMES THROUGH Gabriella WHEN IT COUNTS PAPADAKIS MEET THE & Guillaume NEW KIDS ON THE CIZERON BLOCK OCTOBER 2017 DECEMBER 2016 Senior Debuts Russia‘s Alina Zagitova ruled the junior circuit last season, winning the Grand Prix Final and the World Junior Championships. She will open her first senior Jun-Hwan Cha from Grand Prix season at South Korea will make Cup of China, then his senior Grand Prix head to France for her debut at Skate Canada. second event. Skate America is his second assignment. Adam Rippon and Ashley Wagner caught some of the action at the 2017 Glacier Falls Summer Classic in Anaheim, California, which took place in late July. Photo: Robin Ritoss Contents 30 Features VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 5 | OCTOBER 2017 NATALIA MISHKUTIONOK 12 A Walk Down Memory Lane With the 1992 Olympic Pairs Champion DABIN CHOI 18 Comes Through When it Counts OLYMPIC INSPIRATION 20 Lubov Ilyushechkina & Dylan Moscovitch Aiming for an Olympic Berth ELIZAVETA TUKTAMYSHEVA 22 Training No Longer a Labor Camp NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK 24 Meet the Rising Stars That Will Hit the Senior Grand Prix Stages This Season 2017 GRAND PRIX SHOWDOWNS 26 Preview and Lineups for Rostelecom Cup, Skate Canada and Cup of China ON THE GABRIELLA PAPADAKIS COVER Ê 30 & GUILLAUME CIZERON Going For Olympic Gold BRIDES & GROOMS 36 Skate Into Matrimony Departments 5 FROM THE EDITOR 44 TRANSITIONS Quicksteps; The Yao Dynasty 6 SHORT PROGRAM Jeremy Abbott, Tiffany Zahorski 46 INSIDE EDGE and Jonathan Guerreiro, Vincent Zhou 48 SKATING INTO THE OLYMPICS Last Chance for Olympic Qualification; 40 INNER LOOP Synchro Gets a Boost; New Generation 2018 Championships Confirmed COVER PHOTO: COURTESY IMG/PHLIPPE RENAULT 2 IFSMAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2017 SAVE-THE-DATES BENEFIT GALA: October 30, 2017 Guest Artist Olympic Champion Evgeni Plushenko HOME SEASON: October 27, 28 & 30, 2017 Keeping this art form alive is dependent upon generous donors like you. To support Ice Theatre of New York visit: icetheatre.org/tickets Photo: www.foto-schramm.de America’s Grant Hochstein plans to enjoy every moment of his eighth and final senior competitive season. He and his fiancé, Caroline Zhang, have a 2018 wedding scheduled. PHOTO: ROBIN RITOSS PUBLISHER Susan D. Russell [email protected] NORTH AMERICAN EDITOR Robert Brodie EUROPEAN EDITOR Tatjana Flade DESIGNED BY Laurea Media EDITORIAL Elina Paasonen, Elvin Walker, Akiko Tamura PHOTOGRAPHY Vicki S. Luy, Elina Paasonen, Robin Ritoss INTERN Brooklee Han ADVERTISING/SALES [email protected] CORPORATE OFFICE International Figure Skating/Laurea Media 264 Queens Quay West, Suite 205, Toronto, ON M5J 1B5 Please include your name, mailing and e-mail addresses and a telephone number with all correspondence to International Figure Skating. SUBSCRIPTIONS (U.S./Canada) 844-357-2044 International: 973-627-5162 WEBSITE www.ifsmagazine.com International Figure Skating is published bimonthly by Laurea Media, 270 Queens Quay West, Suite 1301, Toronto, ON M5J 2N4. Subscriptions: US$29.99 Canada US$34.99, International US$54.99. Subscribers should allow 4 to 6 weeks for change of address to become effective. POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to International Figure Skating, PO Box 4300, Big Sandy, TX 75755-4300. Subscriptions ordered are nonrefundable unless otherwise promoted. Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings and photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials. All rights to letters sent to International Figure Skating will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and as subject to unrestricted right to edit and to comment editorially. Requests for permission to reprint should be sent to the Permissions and Reprints Department. The title International Figure Skating is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Contents copyright © 2016 by Laurea Media. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Printed in U.S.A. CPC PUB #0913103. 4 IFSMAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2017 Jason Brown, and his choreographer, Rohene Ward, had some fun in the sun before the men's free program at the Glacier Falls Summer Classic. PHOTO: ROBIN RITOSS OCTOBER 2017 IFSMAGAZINE.COM 5 ShortPROGRAM Abbott Choreographs His Exit fter two years of deliberation, Jeremy Abbott finally concluded Ait was time to call an end to his competitive career. The four-time U.S. champion, who announced his decision in mid-June, said it felt like the right time to move his skating career in new directions. Abbott had been a fixture on the senior U.S. figure skating team for a decade, which began with his international debut at 2005 Nebelhorn Trophy, where he placed 18th. Throughout the subsequent years, there were many highs and lows. The highlight of his career on the international circuit was the night he made history in Goyang, South Korea, by capturing the 2008 Grand Prix Final title. Abbott was the first American man — and only one of two — to have ever claimed a Final crown. It was a moment he described at the time as “incredible.” Abbott ranked ninth at his Olympic debut in Vancouver in 2010. Four years later, he finished 12th in Sochi, Russia but, as a member of the U.S. contingent that captured the bronze medal in the Team Event, he did not go home empty-handed. Though Abbott initially planned to retire after the Games, he returned the following season, placing fifth at the three events he contested — 2014 Skate America and NHK Trophy and the 2015 U.S. Championships. Now 32, Abbott is content with his decision and is looking forward to pursuing other avenues in skating as he heads into a new era. “It certainly was a hard decision and it was one that I had been stewing over for PHOTO: VICKI S. LUY the last two years,” he explained. “But it kind of came down to the wire and I really I want to accomplish as a skater moving cards at this time. Abbott said that while he had to make a decision. I either had to start forward. It really felt like it was the right enjoys hosting seminars, that is not where really training and creating my programs time for me to move on. his passion lies. “I am more interested for the season or I had to move on. “My whole reasoning for wanting to in pursuing choreography. I still love to “I had to be really, brutally honest with go to the Olympics and be an Olympic perform and, as long as I am still invited myself about what my goals were and why medalist was so that I could do shows and to shows and as long as my body can hold I wanted to continue, and when it came perform in Stars on Ice and all those TV up, that is what I plan to do. down to it, I felt that my reasons were too specials that I saw as a kid.” “That is really what I have always wanted superficial and no longer necessary for what A full-time coaching role is not in the to do and has been my ultimate goal since I 6 IFSMAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2017 WILLY BIETAK PRODUCTIONS, INC. CASTING was little. At the moment, I am not too interested in pursuing coaching full time.” Abbott recently went to Perth, Australia, where he and his former coach, Yuka Satō, conducted a four-day seminar. “It was long hours and really intense, but the kids were really awesome,” Abbott said. “It was a really good seminar overall and I felt that I got a lot out of it. I really felt that the kids got a lot out of it as well. “And of course, Australia is so beautiful. I really enjoyed it. The winter there is excellent; it is basically just like our summer. I didn’t have a ton of time for sightseeing, but what I did see NOW CASTING: was really beautiful and I really enjoyed my time there.” • Male and Female Soloists In late June, he captained the “Abbott’s All Stars” team at • Pair/Adagio Skaters • Dance Teams the Aerial Challenge competition, which took place at his • Comedy and Variety Acts former training venue in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His For our worldwide award- team ranked second overall. winning productions and “The team captains — Ryan Bradley, Timothy Dolensky Royal Caribbean cruise ships and myself — were all chosen because we can do backflips and we all competed our backflips,” Abbott explained. “It was really entertaining and audience friendly — a really fun, Please send a current skating video, resume and photo to: Sylvia Froescher, Producer high-energy event.” — BROOKLEE HAN [email protected] 1404 Third St. Promenade, Ste. 200 Santa Monica, CA 90401 For more information, visit Phone: (310) 576-2400 BietakProductions.com/casting Fresh Start for SILVER BLADE TOURS, INC. Skating Tour Experts for Zahorski/Guerreiro 37 Years! DELUXE TOUR PACKAGES TO SKATING EVENTS IN THE U.S. & AROUND THE WORLD! iffany Zahorski and Jonathan Guerreiro are one of the many international ice dance teams currently com- 2017 SKATE 2018 WORLD Tpeting on the global circuit. Born in Great Britain, CANADA CHAMPIONSHIPS Zahorski represented France before moving to Russia in REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN MILAN, ITALY 2014. Guerreiro was born and raised in Sydney, Australia OCTOBER 26-29, 2017 MARCH 19-25, 2018 until the age of 14, when he and his family moved to Russia, 2017 SKATE 2018 GRAND PRIX his mother’s homeland. AMERICA FINAL The duo teamed up in 2014 but was unable to compete in- LAKE PLACID, N.Y.