GELSEN REPORT

First international competition of the season for us:
Sparkassen Cup on Ice 2001

Introduction

Finally it had come the time for the Gran Prix of Figure Skating to land in Europe, and thus for us to attend an international competition. This was really the kick start of the Olympic season for us - and, yes, of course for our skaters too!
We had been organizing this trip for quite a long time, and we were definitely prepared: flags and banners,whistles and bells, presents and stuffed toys to throw on the ice... this year we even had a sweatshirt made for us, to wear as an organized group;
this is mine, with my lovely cat Michelle sitting on top of it, half-decorated with the skate I embroidered (the base and the inscription is the same for everyone, but we all found our way of personalizing it with embroideries, pins, flags and other things). I even took out the flag I had mad for Bratislava, and which I had Barbara & Maurizio sign again at the national competition in September after the golden fabric had absorbed all the ink of my marker, and added some sequins and pearls all around the golden heart.

Thursday night, it was time to leave for Gelsenkirchen!!

Francesca, Melania and I started our trip on Thursday night on a train leaving Milan at 9.35 pm. We were also happy to discover that also the rest of our group was leaving with us, with Emanuele and Angela in our very same carriage and all the other girls in another one. The first shock came straight away: Manu marched up the corridor towards us with a very grave face, and I immediadely felt a shiver down my spine: what had happened? Barbara and Maurizio had something wrong? Thankfully it was not about them, but it still was a very bad thing: in the morning, during practice, Kati and René had had a fall, and René had torn the ligaments of a knee - out of the competition, of the season, of the Olympics... what a pity! Melania was very brave in this occasion - no tears, no anything (or was it that she simply didn't realize?). This put a bad shadow on the ice-dancing competition; an accident is never pleasant, and now, with the russians not coming too... we were almost having a 12-hours trip to see Babi and Mauri (it takes 20 minutes to me to go & see them in Milan...), Fabrizio & Valentina and very little more! Well, at least there where the other disciplines too... I was really looking forward seeing the Chinese couple in Pairs, and John Zimmerman, Abt, Elvis Stoyko, Plushenko's Micheal Jackson short program...
We were travelling by night, so after chatting a little we just went to bed, and when we woke up we were almost at our destination (well, the second time we woke up, after that Francesca's alarm clock had rung at 6.30 am). We had breakfast, got our documents and tickets back, and we got off the train in Duisburg, where we had very little to wait for the train that was going to take us to Gelsenkirchen. At this point the group was almost reunited, and we happily set off for our final destination.
In Gelsenkirchen we had to divide, as some of the girls were staying at a hotel near the station, the Ibis, while others had a room booked at the hotel Maritim - the one were the skaters were staying too. Melania, Francesca and I had a room at the Ibis for the first night, and on Saturday we were supposed to check in at the Maritim. We were in this situation because we had organized our trip on a wrong calendar of the competitions, we thought of coming in on Saturday to see the original dance. When we discovered that it was on Friday we decided to extend our trip for a day, but the Maritim wouldn't confirm the extension of our booking, so we had to look for one night in another place. We went to check in at the Ibis, and luckily our room was ready, so we could get in and rest a little before going to the arena for the first competitions.
We found the time to have a walk in town, mainly to find something to eat for the day. I have to admit that the comments I heard from the girls before leaving had given me a very bad idea of the city, but actually I found it better that their tales. Okay, I wouldn't trade my hometown with Gelsen (even if Cusano is far from a metropolis), but I was ready for something worse. In the end we found ourselves having lunch at McDonald's - at least the quite scary things you get to eat are the same everywhere (almost... thankfully in Italy there is no Chinese food at McD.! We saw it in Gelsen, and I really really don't want to know what was into those meals!)
Getting to the arena was not that easy, though, because we discovered that the charts at the bus stop were quite unintelligible, and after asking unsuccessfully to a couple of drivers if they were going to the ice rink, we finally found the right one. After a little walk among some beautiful fall-coloured trees, we finally were there: the Emsher-Lippe-Halle was right in front of us! When we got in we immediately noticed that the rest of the group had come in before us, as most of the space where it was possible to hang banner was occupied by the ones we had brought for Barbara & Maurizio, Fabrizio & Valentina, Silvia and for Kati & René (my friends had decided to put it on even after René's injury, as a way of expressing them their support - as we found it had happened for Elena & Anton, as some fans had brought a banner for them and had later corrected it with a "get well soon"). While we were getting to our places we also met Barbara & Valentina warming up for the compulsories, and the group of the skater's parents complaining in the very bad seats that had been reserved for them.
Our seats were very good indeed: first and second row, immediately on the ice, and pretty centered too! The arena is also quite small, and there's no space between the tribunes and the ice, so we are really close to the skaters. I tried to take some pics, but again they were almost a disaster... in Lausann I will definitely give up taking pics on ice and I will concentrate on the off-ice section, especially the banquet night! The atmosphere is quite relaxed too, and it is easy to spot skaters warming up befor their event all around the arena... it seems so much easier to approach them, in comparison to some bigger competitions... We all took out our "cheering equipment": flags, bells, flowers, toys... and surely our sweatshirts! We put them on and ran up the stairs to show them to Barbara, as we had prepared everything in secret - and she was very pleased by our little surprise and our organisation - of course our thoughts went to the very organized French fans we met in Bratislava, and we suddendly remembered that it is quite likely that we'll end up sitting right under the French fans in Lausanne... will they try stabbing us right in the middle of the word "Italy"? ;p We also met Maurizio on the stairs when we were coming back - and immediately we all turned and showed him the embroideries on out backs!
Before sitting down for the Compulsory Dance, we also spotted Kati Winkler sitting in the arena, on the short side of the rink, and we went to say hello to her, to tell her how sorry we were, to ask about René's conditions and to wish her good luck for the future. I have to admit I was really heartbroken when I saw her sad face - she's such a nice girl, and her pain, disappointment and worries for the future were clearly visible. René was in Berlin at the moment, undergoing surgery right as we were speaking, and she was waiting to know the results. I really felt a knot in my stomach, it was so sad...

Anyway, we went back at our places, preparing to enjoy all the good skating that we were hoping to see:
it was finally the time for the competition to start!

Go to the next page:
Friday's competitions