The Liberty summer competition in Aston, Pennsylvania has become an annual event for some of the world’s elite skaters to test new material before the fall international season begins.

Here are five stand-out skaters from this year’s competition:

Patrick Chan

The two-time world silver medalist accomplished a major first at Liberty – first quad landed in competition.

In the debut of his new short program to “Take Five,” Chan opened with an effortless quad toe.

He intended to add the element last season, but a series of injuries and illnesses prevented him from competing the quad in the Olympic season.

Now, with the jump planned in both programs, Chan could be difficult to beat. His ability to weave through a charismatic short program and re-choreographed free skate make a complex scoring system seem simple. Throw in a quad and Chan is in a class with few others.

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Patrick's visit to Mennen Sports Arena in NJ, Photo by www.universalsports.com

For a full slideshow, visit www.universalsports.com

When Patrick Chan hit the ice for the first time at Morristown, N.J.’s Mennen Sports Arena, his temporary home-away-from-home, he had more than 50 awestruck skaters for company.

For two 75-minute sessions the two-time world silver medalist, still just 19, took on the role of mentor to skaters working to get an Axel, up to competitors with all of their double jumps and a triple or two.

“He was like my coach, except a lot cooler and cuter,” Abby Kimmelman, 16, said.

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“I am proud to have finished fifth at my first Olympics in Vancouver and win the silver medal at worlds,” Chan said. He added, “I feel terrific and am looking forward to the upcoming season.” Chan’s season begins at the William G. Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown, N.J., where he will train for a week and has agreed to guest teach a freestyle clinic to local skaters at the Morris County Park Commission, County of Morris facility.

Mennen Sports Arena’s Director of Skating, Jacqueline Kulik Palawasta, a former Canadian competitor, could not be more excited. “Patrick will inspire skaters, and this is a great kick-off to Mennen Sports Arena’s Summer Figure Skating Camp. His accomplishments at the Olympics are still fresh in everyone’s mind.” She added, “To have Patrick train here before his next competition will be rewarding for all of our skaters and to watch him will only validate what it takes to master this sport.”

Next up for Chan is the Liberty Figure Skating Competition in Aston, Pa., in July. He will unveil a new short and revamped long program with a view to ISU rule changes. Chan continues to train with Christy Krall in Colorado Springs and longtime choreographer Lori Nichol in Toronto.

With family from California to New Jersey and destinations in between, Chan is no stranger to the US. He enjoys training here and may remain for college. During his visit to N.J., Chan will interact with business professionals in New York City via his uncle, Tan Chan, who is the COO for a hi-tech company called Gabriels Technology Solutions. Chan hopes to gain insight into the world of business and determine his future course after skating.

While his focus is the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Chan plans to enroll in college in September 2011. “There are so many excellent universities in the US,” Chan said. He added, “Maybe I will go to Stanford and skate with Rachel Flatt!” University of Colorado near where he trains is in the mix along with a number of other top schools, including institutions in Canada.

The question on everyone’s mind is who will be at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Right now Chan is taking it one year at a time and leaving all options open. As for the immediate future, the Mennen Sports Arena is thrilled to have Chan visit. Jack Lipkin, a 30-year recreational skating veteran who trained at Mennen made the connection after meeting Chan at the 2009 Worlds in Los Angeles. Palawasta said, “Just to watch and enjoy the complexity involved with Patrick’s effortless movements will be breathtaking.”

Chan’s practices will be open to public spectators. For times and more information about Chan’s clinic or the Mennen Sports Arena Summer Figure Skating Camp, please call 973-326-7651 or visit www.morrisparks.net.

They’ll be answering some questions from fans, so feel free to post questions in advance by commenting on this blog post, or ask them live on Friday.

1. Charlene Pan: Can you play a song on the piano for us on youtube?

2. Connie Tong:  Do you remember your first injury when you stepped on the ice and how do you cope mentally and physically to continue to skate?

3. Michelle: Do you have some sort of special diet to stay fit for figure skating? Is it difficult to stick to the diet and sometimes feel a craving for something you shouldn’t drink or eat? Is there any type of food or drink that you have before a competition/practice?

I know everyone is anxiously waiting for the results of the cheerios contest.  Patrick will be returning soon so we will announce a winner in the next two weeks.  Everyone can hold me accountable to that! Till he returns, I will write more later with updates on his trip to Asia!

Aivory

The event, hosted by the Ministry of Health Promotion and the Sport Alliance of Ontario, also recognized the outstanding contributions of coaches, officials, volunteers and corporate supporters to amateur sport in Ontario.

Award winners included:

• Male Athlete of the Year – Patrick Chan (Skating)
• Female Athlete of the Year – Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (Athletics)
• Male Athlete with a Disability of the Year – Stephen Jesso (Powerlifting)
• Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year – Erika Schmutz (Wheelchair Rugby)

The province provides support to high-performance athletes and coaches through the Quest for Gold program and committed $10 million towards the program in 2010-11.

Ontario’s athletes and coaches will have the opportunity to showcase their skills at home when the GTA hosts the Pan/Parapan American Games in summer 2015. The Games will create thousands of construction jobs, improve sports infrastructure, and bring 250,000 athletes, coaches and tourists to Ontario.

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So for the Cheerios Contest, the last day to submit your questions is this friday!  After that, Patrick and I will sit down and go through them all and pick which question is the most interesting.  Results will be posted soon after so stay tuned!  Hopefully Patrick took some photos in Turin as well that I will post up on his site.

More to come…

Aivory

figure skating

The 19-year-old skater from Toronto had to endure hardships all season -illness, his first major injury, being unprepared for the Skate Canada Grand Prix event last November, skating badly, and trying to play catch-up all Olympic season.

“From the beginning at Skate Canada, it got better and better,” Chan said. “I’ve been learning so much. I think this is by far the most challenging season. The season I’ll remember because I learned 80 per cent of what I have to learn in my competitive career in this one year. So next year will be a breeze.”

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