Everything is new and same as ever for record-breaking Bradie Tennell

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Everything is new and same as ever for record-breaking Bradie Tennell

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Bradie Tennell's life has changed dramatically over the last six weeks.

But she doesn't seem to have changed at all.

The Tennell who won Wednesday night's short program at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose by delivering a record score was unruffled by suddenly being in the spotlight, nerveless when it shone on her and buoyed again by a consistency of execution that even she struggles to understand or explain.

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As Winter Games loom, skier and skater were world's best in an odd 2017

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As Winter Games loom, skier and skater were world's best in an odd 2017

The Olympic cycle, like the calendar, has odd years and even years.

The even years, like 2018, include an Olympics, in this case the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The odd years, like the one that just ended, are not devoid of big events in international sports.  And 2017 was full of them, but the overriding feeling was of a year that was just plain odd – and, at times, depressingly sad.

For the second annus horribilis in a row, athletes have saved Olympic sport from itself and its feckless leaders.  Celebrating their excellence is the best way to express hope for a better 2018.

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Skate judge under investigation resigns; status of inquiry uncertain. Was Spanish Olympic dance selection affected?

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Skate judge under investigation resigns; status of inquiry uncertain. Was Spanish Olympic dance selection affected?

Alexandre Gorojdanov, the Belarusian under investigation for questionable actions at a December figure skating competition, has resigned from his positions as an international judge and referee.

Gordojadnov’s resignation was confirmed in a Saturday email by Alexander Lakernik of Russia, the International Skating Union’s top figure skating official.

Lakernik, ISU vice-president for figure skating, would not comment on the reason for Gorojdanov’s resignation or whether it meant the investigation was over.

"I can confirm the rest only after the formal decision is taken," Lakernik wrote.

Globetrotting reported exclusively Dec. 20 that Gorojdanov, who served a 6 1/2-month suspension earlier in 2017 for violating the ISU code of ethics as a pairs referee at a 2016 event, was under investigation again for his behavior at the Golden Spin of Zagreb, an ISU Challenger Series event Dec. 6-9 in Zagreb, Croatia.

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In "I, Tonya," truth is slippery as ice

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In "I, Tonya," truth is slippery as ice

The screen is black.  There is a cough.  And then another.  This is the first 30 seconds of “I, Tonya.”  It is all the time necessary for those of us familiar with anecdotal details about Tonya Harding’s life to know that the screenwriter and filmmakers had done their homework.

Tonya Harding, a living series of contradictions, is an asthmatic who undermined her athletic career by smoking and, consequently, coughing.  Coughing is the first sound – and smoking the first view – of Margot Robbie portraying Harding on the screen.   

In watching the rest of the movie, knowing this story as well as those of us who covered it know this story led to a number of issues.

The first time I saw it, in a theater at October’s Chicago International Film Festival, I got hung up on trying to reconcile the film’s narrative with the facts.

My next three viewings, on a screener provided by the film’s distributors, Neon and 30West, allowed me to see “I, Tonya” for what it is as a movie:  a clever, farcical, sarcastic, wonderfully acted comic tragedy (or tragic comedy?).  But I came away feeling the film had mistakenly fallen in love with Tonya, making it prey to the temptation to pardon Harding for her missteps, her irresponsible behavior and her willful waste of a generational talent. 

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With time on her side, Alina Zagitova, a young woman vibrant in red, catches' judges fancy

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With time on her side, Alina Zagitova, a young woman vibrant in red, catches' judges fancy

As the Olympic figure skating season moves into the national championship phase, a few more observations about the Grand Prix season and Grand Prix Final:

1.  All you Alina Zagitova detractors (that includes you, CBC) aren’t going to like this: the new Grand Prix Final winner, age 15, looks better every time I see her.

Part of it owes to the costuming and free skate program pattern that emphasize her strengths, which are jumps.

The vibrant red in the tutu-qua-dress and long gloves Zagitova wears grabs the eye, says she is portraying a ballerina and limns her movement so beautifully it is easy to forget she does no jumps in the first half of the four-minute free skate to the Russian ballet classic, “Don Quixote.”  And while I hope the rules are changed to eliminate such 100 percent back loading, who can fault her coaches for taking advantage of the point bonus that comes with those jumps?

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