U.S. figure skating teams leave Vancouver behind and head to Torino, Italy

ELLENTON – The Winter Olympics’ figure skating Pairs Free Skating program ended with China winning the gold and silver medals, and Germany taking a bronze medal, last night in Vancouver.

U.S. Olympic figure skaters Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig maintained their middle ranking score, an average of their short program performance on Feb. 14 and their free skating score on Feb. 15, placing them in the top 10 out of 20 Olympic figure skating teams.

”They did a really good job representing the U.S.,“ said Brett Kaplan, a spokesman for Ellenton Ice and Sports.

Ellenton Ice and Sports was the official training facility for both U.S. figure skating teams.

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett moved up one ranking after their free skating performance to place 13 out of 20. Their final score was 158.33.

Evora and Ladwig’s final figure skating score was 171.92.

”It’s tough going up against the Germans and Chinese,“ Kaplan said. ”Placing in the top 10 is one of the best things we could ever ask for.“

The Chinese figure skating team of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo was awarded the gold medal last night after a combined figure skating score of 216.57.

Although the Winter Olympics are over for figure skating pairs, both U.S. teams are now hitting the ice to prepare for an even bigger competition in Torino, Italy.

”They are now training for Worlds (2010 World Figure Skating Championships) in mid-March,“ Kaplan said. ”After that they get a break.“

The World Championships is a different kind of competition, since a positive result in Torino could result in the U.S. having the option to send more teams to the next Winter Olympics.

”If you ask a figure skater, although it’s a great honor to be part of an Olympic team, they want to do better at Worlds,“ he said.

Erica Newport is a daily reporter for The Bradenton Times. She covers art, culture and community. If you have a story that might interest Erica, please e-mail her using erica.newport@thebradentontimes.com address.  She also takes your questions related to our weekly theme days and provides advice and opinions for our readers.

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