Queen Jennifer's castle
It's still Robinson's until someone dethrones her
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
Jennifer Robinson wants kids. And a career. But they just won't let her. They keep letting her stay as queen of the castle.
As long as you can still win, you might as well stay in.
"It encourages you," is how she put it.
"I'd like to have the most Canadian titles."
Robinson was reminded she took care of that last year when she broke Karen Magnussen's record of five after she won her sixth in Saskatoon.
"You can always add more," she said.
Yes, there are times, Jennifer Robinson admits, when she thinks maybe she should stay around winning crown after crown until somebody takes her down.
Trouble is, she could have blue hair, false teeth and a walker by then.
Then again ...
This may be the year somebody takes her down. Maybe it'll be Rocket Rochette.
Yesterday, Robinson did everything she could do open the door for the skaters in Group A to win the day as the Canadian Figure Skating Championships opened at Rexall Place. Nobody even knocked on the door. They didn't even find the house.
But Joannie Rochette made herself the best bet to beat the champ with the skate of the day, to easily top 18 absolutely appalling efforts in Group B of the qualifying competition, including Edmonton's Michelle Currie who did diddly and ended up second.
It would mean so much to Canadian figure skating if a girl came along and actually dethroned the champ instead of eventually claimed a vacant title the year after Robinson retired.
Maybe something like that was telegraphed yesterday. Or maybe it was the usual false alarm. This was Robinson on her worst day. And Rochette on her best yet.
Robinson is refreshingly candid about her performances. She doesn't cry much for a Canadian even though she's finished 7th, 8th, 9th, 9th, 15th, 18th, 19th and 21st at her world championships and seventh at the Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games.
'A PRETTY GIRL'
She's been at this so long she knows you might as well laugh as cry. After she made a mess of things at Four Continents in Salt Lake City the year before the Olympics and faced reporters in the mixed zone with not a single positive to provide she said, "I'm still a pretty girl."
Yesterday she basically itemized her butcher bill.
"Way below average," she began.
"That was not good at all.
"In training I might make one mistake. Two on a very bad day.
"Triple-triple? Didn't do it. Did triple Salchow/triple Lutz and I just did the Sal. Two-footed a flip. Two-footed a Lutz. Singled the Axel! "
That's figure skating for "Marc-Andre Fleury had a better day."
Judges gave her 5.0 to 5.5 on the technical line and 5.4 to 5.7 on the artistic line. And there wasn't a Russian or French judge on the property. Skate like that in the world championship qualifying and ... you don't qualify. But she goes into the short program tied with Rochette for first while Annie Bellemare sits tied with Currie for third with both talking about being ready to take the Canadian flag and carry it despite what we watched.
"For sure I can do it," said Bellemare. "I'm ready."
Robinson beat her by landing only three clean triples and was telling herself something different.
"I can not do that again," Robinson said of the short and long programs later in the week when they turn the TV cameras on and have actual fans in the stands.
Qualifying usually draws a few dozen fans. Yesterday there were a few hundred. And Rochette was good enough to bring them to their feet.
"That's my first standing ovation ever," said the 17-year-old from Ile Dupas, Que., who was 17th in her first trip to Worlds last year. "There weren't too many people. But there were enough. It was something special to me."
Rochette is certainly not going to stir anything up with Robinson, who, at 27, is a full decade older.
"She's a very good role model. I've learned a lot from her. She's been like a babysitter."
Her coach suggested maybe babysitter was not the expression she wanted.
Whatever, you could see the Rocket's red glare yesterday.
"I was skating with fire," she said.
"I was skating with both my heart and fire. It was like when you're young and you skate just for fun and the feeling of skating."
Women don't do that in Canada.
"She was great," said Robinson.
"She was real solid. Technically she was real solid. Mentally she was very solid."
That could not be said for anybody else on the ice this day.
The recently married Ms. Robinson, who won the junior title the last time Canadians were here back in '94, makes no secret about being ready to move aside and let somebody carry the flag.
"It's been a long road. I really have to step back and analyse. I'm at a crossroads of my life. I'd like to start a family and a new career."
But no pitter patter of little feet. No new broadcast journalist on the beat. Not yet. She can't win for winning.
