Dornbush reaches podium in first JGP Final
After strong JGP Series, California native looks towards nationals
(12/17/2008) - American Richard Dornbush has been making a splash lately in the junior men's division. The 17-year-old, who finished fourth at that level at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, won two Junior Grand Prix events this fall -- in Mexico City and South Africa -- to qualify for the SBS ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in South Korea. He won the bronze medal in his first appearance at the event.
"I was really excited, because I've never been here before, and it's in a foreign country," he said. "It's a big event, combined with the Senior Grand Prix Final, so all I felt was excitement going in. I've competed well at all my Junior Grand Prix events this year.
"My main goal for the year was to get to the Final. I always have different goals for different competitions, but placement is always second to how well I skate. I'd like to skate two clean programs at nationals and next year move up to seniors."
Dornbush started skating when he was six. "I started because I had to fulfill a physical education requirement for school, and my three older sisters were doing it," Dornbush related. "One of them is a coach now."
But it soon became more than just something to complete school requirements.
"At first I was just there," he noted. "But then I got to be more and more comfortable and started to enjoy it."
Tammy Gambill has coached Dornbush for his entire career. He trains for three hours a day, six days a week in Riverside, Calif.
"I'm mostly working on my second mark now," he said. "It still needs a lot of improvement. There's always something to work on."
He only does a few hours a week in off-ice training.
Dornbush had landed a triple Salchow by the age of 12 and landed his first triple Axel last spring. He started training on a quad toe loop but was deterred by injury.
"I broke my right fibula on a triple Axel in practice on March 1," he said. "I was off the ice for five weeks. I'm working on getting my triple Axel into my short program, but it's not consistent enough now."
Dornbush uses a triple flip-triple toe loop combination in the short program with a double Axel and triple Lutz.
For the long, he includes a triple flip-triple toe, triple Salchow-double toe and triple Lutz-double toe-double loop combinations. His solo jumps are a double and triple Axel, triple flip, triple loop and triple Lutz.
Braden Overett has choreographed Dornbush's programs for the last two years. This season, he used the same music for his short program as last year -- "La Virgen de la Macarena" by Genaro Nunez.
"Braden actually used to skate to it and thought it would be great if I did, and he thought that I would do well with it," Dornbush explained.
His new long program was to selections from the Backdraft motion picture soundtrack.
"I'm constantly looking for music," he said. "I first heard it a few years ago, but I wasn't ready for it and saved it for later. I bought the soundtrack because I saw that it had been composed by Hanz Zimmer, and I like some of his works."
For an exhibition program, Dornbush skates to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk. He choreographed the program with Overett.
His mother, Shelley, designs his costumes.
"I like to vary my music and show different sides of my skating," Dornbush stated. "I don't want to restrict myself."
Music is also an off-ice passion. "I listen to all sorts of music -- rock, classic rock, a few modern bands. I've been taking violin lessons for the last five years and am just learning the acoustic guitar. That helps me with my timing, and I can pay attention to the nuances in the music better for my programs."
Dornbush is home schooled through the Christian Heritage School, where he is a junior. "I like all my classes, but I plan to study business in college," he said. "There's several different directions I could go, but that's all in the future."
Zoltan Kelemen/Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat/Alena Leonova/ Anna Cappelini & Luca Lanotte/Florent Amodio/Aliona Savchebko & Robin Szolkowy/Alexander Majorov/
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