Disappointment on Ice

The US had disappointing results at the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships held in Tokyo, Japan. The US Ladies didn't even medal, which has not happen since 1994. That was because13- year-old Michelle Kwan was the highest US lady in 8^th place.

The ladies had an incredible competition, 2006 World Champion and 2007 US National Champion Kimmie Meissner completed a triple axel and a triple-triple combination, and she only made very small mistakes. But this year at World's a two-footed landing and a poor execution of a jump combination could knock you off the podium. Meissner ended up only finishing 4^th.

The winner, Miki Ando, completed 7 triples in front of a home crowd. Ando also just edged out her Japanese teammate, Mao Asado. Asado captured the attention of the audience with a brilliant free skate, but she only landed 6 triples and that was the difference between 1st and 2nd.

Emily Hughes and Alissa Czisny both fell in their program and had other mistakes. Hughes finished 9^th overall and Czisny finished 15^th.

The US men did not finish any better. American favorite, Evan Lysacek, finished 5^th after his program failed to have the high energy audiences are used to seeing from him.

French skater Brian Joubert captured the men's title. He was the first Frenchman to do so in the 42 years. Daisuke Takahashi, from Japan, won the free skate and the audience's applause, but because of a lower short program score, he ended up 2^nd. Former World Champion, Stephane Lambiel, took the bronze medal.

American Johnny Weir had another lackluster performance and moved from 5^th after the short program to 8^th place. Ryan Bradley, also from the US, finished 15^th after falling once in the long program.

The US Pair's teams also were kept off the podium. The highest finish for the US was by skating veteran's Rena Inoue and her partner John Baldwin. After failing to land their trademark throw triple axel and falling on a jump, Inoue and Baldwin ended up 8^th overall.

A bright spot in the Pair's competition came from 2007 US National Champions, Brooke Castile and Benjamin Okolski at their first trip to the Senior World's. Brooke had been battling the stomach flu. She decided that she was healthy enough to compete. The couple landed side-by-side double axels and a throw triple Salchow despite Brooke's illness. Brooke competed because they wanted to get their name out in front of the international skating world. They ended up 12^th overall.

The only medal for the US was captured by Ice Dancing Team Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. The pair grabbed the bronze medal in a talent filled Ice Dancing competition. Tanith missed a twizzle sequence, which is very uncharacteristic for her. But the duo regrouped and ended up third. The other two American dance teams ended up in 7^th and 10^th place, which is fantastic for US ice dancing.