UPON FURTHER REVIEW: LIANG GROWS UP, ON AND OFF THE ICE.Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. This would seem to be the year Beatrisa Liang Beatrisa "Bebe" Liang (梁靖賢 born March 31, 1988 in Tarzana, California), is an American figure skater. She trains at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California. Her coaches are Frank Carroll and Ken Congemi. started to grow up. Sure, she's still got braces, freckles freckles Ephilides Brown macules, often exacerbated on sun-exposed zones of the skin surface, which disappear during the winter, and most commonly affecting the fair-skinned, especially of Celtic stock. See Macule. Cf Nevus. and the refreshing exuberance found in such abundance by those making their first trip to the national spotlight. But in the past 12 months, she's been making some pretty adult decisions. The 17-year-old figure skating figure skating Sport in which ice skaters, singly or in pairs, perform various jumps, spins, and footwork. The figure skate blade has a special serrated toe pick, or toe rake, at the front. phenom from Granada Hills has switched coaches to spend more time with her ailing grandmother; adjusted her training leading up to this weekend's U.S. Figure Skating U.S. Figure Skating (USFS), officially called the United States Figure Skating Association or USFSA, is the national sport governing body for figure skating in the United States. Championships in St. Louis to let a painful ankle injury heal; and chosen home schooling home schooling, the practice of teaching children in the home as an alternative to attending public or private elementary or high school. In most cases, one or both of the children's parents serve as the teachers. over the school she has attended most of her life - Faith Baptist of Canoga Park - in order to focus more on skating. After a dazzling performance in Thursday's short program, which left her in third place behind Sasha Cohen
Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26 1984) is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 U.S. National Champion, 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and 2006 Olympic silver medalist. and Emily Hughes Emily Hughes (born January 26, 1989) is an American figure skater. She is the 2007 U.S. National silver medalist. She is the younger sister of Sarah Hughes, who won a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. going into tonight's long program, the adult decisions are getting more challenging. Through no fault of her own, Liang's performance has left her in the middle of controversy. Normally, the top three finishers at this weekend's event would earn a spot to the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. But nine-time U.S. champion Michelle Kwan Michelle Wing Kwan (關穎珊) (born 7 July 1980) is an American figure skater and media celebrity who has won nine U.S. championships, five world championships, and two Olympic medals. has petitioned for one of those spots because she is unable to compete in St. Louis due to a groin injury. There's a precedent for Kwan's petition. In 1994, Nancy Kerrigan Nancy Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969 in Stoneham, Massachusetts) is a two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion. Biography Kerrigan began skating at age six. She grew up with brothers who played hockey, and often joined in herself. successfully petitioned for a spot in the Winter Olympics after being attacked by associates of her rival, Tonya Harding Tonya Maxine Harding (born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater. Despite a tough childhood in an unstable family, as well as being plagued by asthma (aggravated by smoking), she became an elite figure skater. She won the U.S. . The young skater who was left off in favor of Kerrigan: a 13-year old named Michelle Kwan. Only in figure skating could the controversy be so deliciously ironic. Kwan's petition has been the topic of discussion in St. Louis this week. Even male figure skaters are being asked to weigh in. But because of her third-place finish Noun 1. third-place finish - a finish in third place (as in a race) finish - designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race); "excitement grew as the finish neared"; "my horse was several lengths behind at the finish"; "the winner is the team with the Thursday, it's Liang who stands to be most affected by the controversy. So far, she's handling the situation like an experienced pro, telling reporters that she can only control what she does on the ice, that she can't worry about the judging, and that she's not focusing on the controversy. Such aplomb a·plomb n. Self-confident assurance; poise. See Synonyms at confidence. [French, from Old French a plomb, perpendicularly : a, according to (from Latin ad-; see is rare in a 17-year-old. But Liang, nicknamed Bebe by her friends and family, is no average 17-year-old. Aside from her figure skating talent, she's an accomplished pianist, a straight-A student and a voracious reader. She's been making adult decisions like this for over a decade. According to her mother Alice, it was Bebe who decided to forgo a promising gymnastics career and switch to figure skating. ``Even though she was young, I wanted it to be her that made the decision,'' Alice Liang said. ``She was very good at gymnastics. My sister even said, 'I think you might've made a mistake,' but it was her choice. And she chose figure skating.'' Of course, Alice Liang isn't sure Bebe's thinking on that decision was as mature as it is now. ``I'm still not sure if she chose figure skating because they had fancier outfits,'' she joked. ``At the time, the leotards in gymnastics were pretty boring and the figure skating costumes were very pretty.'' Still, it took a lot of guts to entrust an 8-year-old with such an important decision. By choosing figure skating, Bebe was giving up on a promising gymnastics career. She'd been trained by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Li Ming and offered a scholarship to train in China. Bebe was just as decisive in her decision to switch coaches two years ago. She'd trained for nine years with Tiffany Chin in Simi Valley, but felt she needed a change to take her career to an Olympic level. Although she was close with Chin, Bebe made the switch to Christy Ness, an Oakland-based trainer who used to train another skating darling, Kristy Yamaguchi. The decision was a good one in terms of career development, but driving to Oakland every week wasn't easy. Bebe and her mother would leave Sunday night and return the following Friday. Bebe would have the weekend at home to hang out with her two sisters and friends, but during the week, she was all business. When her grandmother started having kidney problems, however, Bebe decided it was better to switch coaches so she and her mother could be at home more. In April, she began training with well-respected El Segundo-based trainers Ken Cogemi and Frank Carroll. It can be jarring for a young athlete to make so many changes in such a short period, even more so when that short period falls right before the biggest competition of her life. But Liang didn't hesitate. ``As I get older, I see more of what I need to do and how I can bring it about,'' she said. ``It's good to be able to make your own decisions. You're the one who knows yourself the best.'' If she competes as well tonight as she did Thursday and makes the Olympic team, hopefully the rest of the world will get a chance to know her as well. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Beatrisa Liang of Granada Hills is in third place heading into tonight's ladies' free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Eric Gay/Associated Press Box: U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS |
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