Figure skating champions take competition to St. Paul
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The nation's top figure skaters are in St. Paul for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships through this weekend.
Two champions expected to dominate in the short program Thursday faltered, but 17-year-old Polina Edmunds performed flawlessly to take first place in the competition.
Skating to Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," Edmunds, of San Jose, Calif., landed smoothly on her opening triple lutz/triple toe loop combination, scoring 70.19 points heading into Saturday night's free skate.
Gracie Gold, the 2014 U.S. champion, took second place. Defending champion Ashley Wagner, 24 — who fell on her opening combination — came in a close fourth.
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After seeing her score of 62.41, Wagner said she hopes to make up the deficit Saturday night in the free skate.
"I think that, unlike in nationals past, I really didn't dig myself that deep of a hole," she said, "so it's nice to know that I can do my job in the long program and the rest will follow through."
Edmunds said she didn't pay attention to all the pre-competition hype about Gold versus Wagner.
"I've never had the chance to be in this position before. So I'm really excited and happy that I'm finally here. Really it comes down to who skates best on the ice, and I'm glad that what I put down today was my best and I was rewarded for it," Edmunds said.
In the pairs competition Thursday, Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea took first place.
The competition runs through Sunday at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center. And while the next winter Olympics are two years away, the event helps to establish possible contenders for medals. It also draws fans of the sport from around the country.
Andy Depew, of Las Vegas, traces the roots of his decades-long figure skating fandom to the 1968 Olympics and a certain U.S. champion. The 68-year-old recalls buying his first color TV set so he could see Peggy Fleming's famous lime-green dress. But after watching skating competitions at home, Depew said he finally had enough of the TV commentators.
"I didn't like the talking while the skating was happening on TV. I think we were folding laundry or something, and I had a sock ball, and I threw it at the TV. And my wife says, 'If it upsets you, why don't we just go in person?'"
So they did. Andy and Evelyn Depew's visit to St. Paul this week marks the 30th consecutive year the couple has been to the national championships.
On Friday, the championship short dance competition is set for 2:30 p.m. The men take the ice for their championship short program at 7:30 p.m.
