World Champions!

A first world title for Oksana and Maxim! Congratulations to them! And congratulations to Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto and Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir for winning silver and bronze.

On what became a very thrilling evening - or early morning for those fans watching from Europe - Oksana and Maxim skated beautifully and won the Free Dance and with that the world title. They hadn't scored more than 100 points this season, but tonight they did: 100.85. It is a big improvement on their earlier scores and the changes they made to the dance really paid off here.
Maxim admitted in the interview after the FD that his knee had still been hurting him a bit, but it didn't show in his skating, which looked strong and steady tonight. It is the end of a long and tough season with quite some lows but a really big high: a World Title!

Complete results>>

28 March 2009

top

Original Dance Result

Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto won the Original Dance tonight with a score of 65.16. With that score they were just ahead of Oksana and Maxim who scored 64.68 (33.40/31.28), which is a seasons' best. Oksana looked good in her new dress and the dance looked much improved from earlier on in the season. Only a mistake on the combination spin costs them some points. The one point gap between them and Belbin/Agosto has closed a little but Oksana and Maxim are still in the lead after the Original Dance. We hope that they can remain there throughout tomorrow's Free Dance as well!

Complete results>>

26 March 2009

top

Original Dance Draw

Lets hope that starting number 24 will prove to be Oksana and Maxim's lucky number, because once again they have drawn to skate 24th. They are in warm-up group 5 again, together with Khokhlova/Novitski. The rest of the top 5 is in warm-up group 6. Oksana and Maxim will skate at 15:58:15 PDT (GMT -7 hours).The complete starting order can be found here.

24 March 2009

top

Compulsory Dance Paso Doble

An excellent lead for Oksana and Maxim after the compulsory dance. They skated a solid Paso Doble and were awarded a seasons' best score of 40.77 (21.10/19.67) which is also a personal best for them. Oksana and Maxim are now more than a point ahead of Belbin/Agosto who are in second place with a score of 39.65. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are in third place with a score of 39.37.
The ice dance competition will continue on Thursday with the Original Dance.

Complete results>>

24 March 2009

top

Compulsory Dance Draw

Oksana and Maxim have drawn starting number 24 in the Compulsory Dance. This means that they are in warm-up group 5 and will skate the Paso Doble at 15:48:40 PDT (GMT -7 hours). The complete starting order can be found here.
This will be the first time Oksana and Maxim perform the Paso Doble together in an international competition and we hope this will be a lucky dance for them!

23 March 2009

top

Reports from the World Championships

Some members of the Official English Fan Forum are in Los Angeles and have promised to keep us updated with news and reports from the competition. So don't forget to check in regularly and contribute to the discussions.

22 March 2009

top

English version of Official Website

The English version of Oksana and Maxim's Official Website is now online. It's great! Check it out!

22 March 2009

top

Video Pages

The site has been updated with links to the video pages of the Official Website. There is some great material there, especially some early videos of Oksana and Maxim's first season together, as well as videos of them skating with other partners. Watching these videos is a good way of warming up for the World Championships which will start next week!

18 March 2009

top

Messages from Oksana part#1

Oksana has been very actively replying to messages posted by fans in the guestbook last month.The webmasters of the Official Website have provided a translation for those fans who do not understand Russian.

About the messages of fans on the website:
My heart fills with joy when I come to the website and I see how many people support us, care for us and love us. A huge thank to everyone!!!

In reply to a question about their OD:
We had been looking for the right music for a long time, because the OD has certain limitations but we didn't want to go with something that everybody else would have chosen like quickstep, charleston, blues, we didn't want that. We wanted to be different and I think we succeeded. We stumbled upon the Jazz Waltz which was written in 1934, and we started thinking all together about how to coreograph it so that it wasn't a waltz anymore but at dance from the 30's. We tried to recreate the character of the dance through the feel and spirit of the times. Coreography is by Natalia Linichuk.

About their costumes:
This season's costumes were made in St Petersbourg and Moscow. The one for the OD and the first one for the FD were made by REST in St. Petersbourg. The second one for the FD was made by Natalia Bolshakova in Moscow. The costume for the Finnstep was made by Natalia Pokrovskaja, once again in Moscow. We are currently working on the costumes for the Paso Doble and on the new dress for the OD.

About choosing music and going for different styles and roles:
Ell, very interesting question! We always feel like trying something new. Every year we start looking for new music. "We have to change our style completely, choose something different" Then, after listening to hundreds of CDs, we always go back to a very small choice of melodies that can suit us, work for the ice and are beautiful and strong! Actually, there doesn't seem to be a lot of good music. Yet, it is all about the music! Of course I would love to be Carmen or Joan of Arc, and many other characters. Unfortunately our true wishes don't usually match what we can do! They always tend to see me in romantic roles. Who knows, maybe the new hair color will change that?

About the draw of Paso Doble for Worlds:
I'm very happy to see so many interesting questions that I will gladly answer! As far as the CD: we are really happy that the Paso Doble was drawn. It's a very passionate dance, full of emotion, and we still haven't skated it this year. Sure I really like Waltz, but it really gets too much when you have skated to that so many times before. The Paso Doble may look very easy at first: it has few steps and it's over pretty quickly, but when you start working at it, you understand that it has edges that you need to work at really carefully. I like long and diffucult CDs better, no matter if they are slow or fast, because you can stand out when you skate them, you can tell immediately who can skate or not. Series after series they are always the same, but they are really useful!

About Maxim's OD costume and a new exhibition:
Maxim's costume will remain the same, it's hard to find one that fits the character better! We will have a new exhibition program. You should have seen it at the Euros already, but that didn't happen! You will see it soon!

About future plans:
Ell, we have a good relationship with our new coaches. Little by little we are all getting used to oneanother and we have found the right balance. But it's only a working relationship with them. With our former coach Alexei Gorshkov we had a wonderful relationship both on and off the ice. He was helping me with everything, he was almost like a father to me. With our new coaches it can never be the same.
Plans for the future: I don't have any. I live day by day, I don't know whether that's the right way to go about things. At the moment mygoal is the Olympic gold, we'll see after that what life has in store for me.

Want to read more? Keep checking the guestbook regularly and look for translations on the English Fan Forum. I will post a selection of the messages here every month. Keep posting messages and questions for Oksana and Maxim and maybe they will reply to your question as well. Messages in English will be translated if necessary!

8 March 2009

top

World Junior Championships results

1. Madison Chock/Greg Zuerlein USA 172.55
2. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani USA 162.15
3. Ekaterina Riazanova/Jonathan Guerreiro RUS 161.80

Complete results

1 March 2009

top

Four Continents results

1. Meryl Davis/Charlie White USA 192.39
2. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir CAN 191.81
3. Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates USA 180.79

Complete results

10 February 2009

top

European Championships

Oksana and Maxim have had to withdraw from the European Championships in Helsinki after the CD because of an aggravation of Maxim's knee injury.

The competition started with a new compulsory dance: The Finnstep. Because it was a new dance every couple interpreted this dance differently. Oksana and Maxim had chosen to start the dance with a "opening of a champagne bottle"-routine, which instantly became a classic joke among the fans present in the arena. Whether or not the champagne can be attributed to Maxim's fall during the last segment of the dance we will leave to the judgement of the observer. What is fact is that the fall made Maxim's knee injury worse, so much that Oksana and Maxim could not continue in the competition to the horror and depression of the fans.
The Russian Fanclub had sent two banners to cheer on Oksana and Max, but after their withdrawel they only added to the depression of the fans, especially because the Finnish organisation had put them up so high in the arena that they were never even visible on TV.
We wish Maxim a speedy recovery and we hope that his knee will be healed before the World Championships in LA in March.

The final results of ice dance of the European Championships are as follows:

1. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitksi RUS 196.91
2. Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali ITA 186.17
3. Sinead Kerr/John Kerr GBR 185.20

Complete results

1 February 2009

top

Russian Nationals

Oksana and Maxim had to withdraw from Nationals on doctors' orders. Therefore the results of the Russian National Championships in Ice Dance are as follows:

1. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitksi
2. Ekaterina Rubleva/Ivan Shefer
3. Kristina Gorshkova/Vitali Butikov

Khokhlova/Novitski and Rubleva/Shefer will be Oksana and Maxim's team mates for the European Championships in Helsinki in January.

Complete results

28 December 2008

top

Grand Prix Final result

1. Isabel Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder FRA
2. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS
3. Meryl Davis/Charlie White USA

Complete results

13 December 2008

top

Grand Prix Final Free Dance

1. Isabel Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder FRA 95.75 (47.00/48.75)
2. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS 93.62 (46.30/47.32)
3. Meryl Davis/Charlie White USA 92.15 (47.70/44.45)

Oksana and Maxim scored a seasons best in Korea, but they still seemed tentative on the ice. It is to be hoped that Maxim is not overstraining his knee and making things worse. The SB shows that they have been able to improve the levels of their elements since CoR and we hope they can keep improving for Russian Nationals, which will be held over Christmas, and the European Championships in Helsinki in January.
Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto USA had to withdraw after the OD because he suffered from an older back injury.

Complete results

13 December 2008

top

Grand Prix Final Original Dance

1. Isabel Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder FRA 60.35 (29.80/30.55)
2. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS 59.33 (29.80/29.53)
3. Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali ITA 57.89 (29.90/27.99)

Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski RUS had to withdraw just before the start of the competition because he suffered from a stomach problems.

Complete results

12 December 2008

top

Cup of Russia result

1. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski RUS
2. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS
3. Meryl Davis/Charlie White USA

Complete results

23 November 2008

top

Cup of Russia Free Dance

1. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski RUS 92.10 (46.40/45.70)
2. Meryl Davis/Charlie White USA 91.16 (47.20/43.96)
3. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS 87.25 (41.50/45.75)

A difficult outing in the Free Dance today for Oksana and Maxim as their levels were considerably lower than those of Davis/White and Khokhlova/Novitski. They seemed slow and tentative throughout the dance to Spartacus by Katchaturian and even though they wore lovely new costumes Oksana and Maxim could not improve upon their performance in the Cup of China two weeks ago where they received a higher technical score as well as an higher PCS score (91.19(44.20/46.99)). The lower TES score was partly the result of a problem during the last Combination Spin which received a level 2 here whereas it was graded a level 4 in China. Other differences were that the first Straight-Line Lift was graded level 2 here and level 3 in China and that both their step sequences got a level 3 in China and a level 2 here.
With their second place overall Oksana and Maxim have qualified for the Grand Prix Final, which will be held in Goyang City, Korea in December. We hope that they will be able to improve their levels there and that Maxim will be able to make a further step towards a full recovery from his knee injury.

Complete results

23 November 2008

top

Cup of Russia Original Dance

1. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski RUS 59.33 (31.00/28.33)
2. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS 58.64 (29.10/29.54)
3. Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte ITA 54.25 (28.70/25.55)

Oksana and Maxim lead in the overall standings by 1.89 points, ahead of Khokhlova/Novitski. Cappellini and Lanotte are currently in third place. They moved up a spot because Davis and White had a disastrous original dance today in which he fell two times and also had problems with the twizzles.

Complete results

22 November 2008

top

Cup of Russia Compulsory Dance

1. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS 38.77 (20.00/18.77)
2. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski RUS 36.19 (18.40/17.79)
3. Meryl Davis/Charlie White USA 35.77 (18.16/17.61)

Complete results

21 November 2008

top

Trophee Eric Bompard result

1. Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder FRA
2. Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali ITA
3. Sinead Kerr/John Kerr GBR

Complete results

15 November 2008

top

Cup of China result

1. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS
2. Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto USA
3. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski RUS

Complete results

8 November 2008

top

Cup of China Free Dance

Oksana and Maxim debuted their new free dance to Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian with a narrow victory over training mates Belbin and Agosto. The judges awarded them a total of 91.19 points while Belbin and Agosto collected 91.18. The Americans might have won if Belbin hadn't made a mistake in the twizzles, but lucky enough this result was enough for Oksana and Maxim to collect their first gold medal of the season.
Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski remained firmly in third in the Free Dance and won the bronze medal.

Complete results

8 November 2008

top

Cup of China Original Dance

1. Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto USA 58.08
2. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS 57.24
3. Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte ITA 55.22

Oksana and Maxim still lead in the overall standings. They are .35 ahead of Belbin/Agosto and 4.22 of Khokhlova/Novitski. If you haven't seen Oksana and Maxim's performances yet, or if you would like to watch them again be sure to visit the Youtube Channel. Some photographs of Cup of China have been uploaded to the picture pages too!

Complete results

7 November 2008

top

Cup of China Compulsory Dance

1. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin RUS 38.34
2. Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto USA 37.15
3. Jana Khokhlov/Sergei Novitski RUS 35.68

Complete results

6 November 2008

top

Skate Canada results

1. Meryl Davis/Charlie White USA
2. Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirer CAN
3. Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat FRA

Complete results

2 November 2008

top

Skate America results

1. Isabel Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder FRA
2. Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto USA
3. Sinead Kerr/John Kerr GBR

Complete results

27 October 2008

top

Programs for the 2008-2009 season

In an interview with a Russian Newspaper Oksana has announced that they will skate to the following music for the OD and FD:

OD - Valse from Jazz Suites by D. Shostakovich.
FD - Adagio from Spartacus by A. Khachaturian.

You can read the complete, translated interview on the message board.

11 October 2008

top

Ready for the new season

The new season is about to begin with the Junior Grand Prix already fully underway, with some great competitions such as Nebelhorn Trophy and Karl Schaefer Memorial about to begin and with Skate America, the first Grand Prix of the season, only a couple of weeks away.
Oksana and Maxim are scheduled to begin their season in Beijing at the Cup of China. It is the beginning of a new era for them with a new coach, Natalia Linichuk, living and practising in a new country, and hopefully no more knee injuries and surgeries for Maxim.

The site has been updated for the new season so keep coming back for news and information about our favourite skaters. A brand new feature is the Youtube Channel that a fan from Mexico has created for you and which will show you events and interviews from the current season and also from previous seasons. So be sure to check that out under the Vids section!

1 October 2008

top