Blades of Courage

Last updated
Blades of Courage
Directed by Randy Bradshaw
Written by Suzette Couture
Produced byAlan Burkey
Starring
Cinematography
Music by Eric N. Robertson
Distributed byAcademy Entertainment
Release date
  • 1987 (1987)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Blades of Courage (also known as Skate!) is a 1987 Canadian made-for-television movie written by Suzette Couture and directed by Randy Bradshaw. The film was released under the name Skate! and first aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network. It won the 1988 Gemini Award for Best TV Movie. [1]

Contents

Plot

The film is about Lori Laroche, a young figure skater from Peterborough, Ontario. In her debut at the 1985 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Laroche (Christianne Hirt) places third. At the banquet to announce the team that will attend the World Figure Skating Championships, Stuart Carmody (Cec Linder) the president of the Canadian Figure Skating Association, decides to send Christa Simmons, the Canadian champion, and Laroche instead of the silver medalist, Tara Lynn (Owens Shelley-Lynn Owens).

Tara Lynn's coach, Bruce Gainor (Colm Feore) is furious, and pulls Carmody aside. Carmody assures Gainor this is a good idea. Carmody also tells Gainor the CFSA would like to team up Gainor and Laroche.

After a rough start in the compulsories, Laroche places 10th overall at the worlds after the freeskate. The Canadian Figure Skating Association offers to pay for her training costs and new coach, Bruce Gainor, in Toronto. Laroche's overbearing mom, Carla (Rosemary Dunsmore) is excited, while her dad, Ron (Tom Butler) is less than thrilled at the idea of their young daughter moving away from home in the middle of the school year. Reluctantly, Ron agrees. At the Peterborough Arena, Carla tells Anna Petrie (Patricia Hamilton) about the coaching change. Anna is upset, and she tells Carla both of them have been fired and the CFSA is in charge now.

Gainor's coaching techniques are tough compared to how Laroche was treated by her old coach. No matter what Gainor does, nothing will make Laroche cave to his training methods. He tells David Frye (Stuart Hughes) he's going to "nuke" her. Gainor signs Laroche up for Skate Hamilton. After Laroche skaters, Gainor starts to point out the flaws in her program and character until Laroche is crying and screaming. He comforts Laroche after his outburst.

Gainor and choreographer, Denise, come up with a plan for Laroche to do a triple Salchow in her program for Canadians. Even though Laroche protests, Gainor is adamant she does it. When Laroche falls, Gainor tells her, "if you fall, you repeat the jump again and again until you get it right." As Denise is about to leave the ice, Gainor says he'd like to see her in his office.

Laroche meets Donny Hackett (Stephen Marshall) in school. Laroche is walking out of a classroom after a teacher is reprimanding her for falling asleep in class. Hackett asks Laroche for an autograph, and she scribes down a profane note. Despite Laroche's snubs, Hackett keeps trying to flirt with Laroche.

Laroche finds out her parents are splitting up after a visit with Carla. Laroche blames her mom for the divorce, and returns to the arena. Laroche walks into Gainor's office and tells him about the divorce. Gainor uses the fact that Laroche is vulnerable to his advantage. He kisses her and makes Laroche believe he is interested in her. Frye catches them just as Laroche is leaving Gainor's office.

Laroche continues to have trouble with the triple Salchow, and eventually gets injured. Gainor yells at Laroche to try it again, and "show me some guts for a change." Laroche lands it and is showered with attention by Gainor. Tara Lynn sees this and turns away. Tara Lynn compliments Laroche on the program. Then make a comment about Denise and Gainor, and their meetings, indicating they are of an intimate nature. Laroche goes to investigate, and finds Gainor and Denise fooling around. Laroche starts to lose focus and is unable to land her triple Salchow. She shows up at Hackett's garage late one night and kisses him. The next day Laroche is again unable to land her triple Salchow. Gainor starts to yell at Laroche, and Laroche screams back hysterically. After the session, Frye chasing after Gainor, and Gainor ends up firing Frye.

Before Canadian, Laroche must make it through sectionals. Members of the CFSA board are concerned about Laroche; however, Gainor calms their nerves about her health and the program. Hackett is in the audience with a friend. Laroche takes to the ice and enters her triple Salchow and falls. She goes away from her choreography, and repeats the jump. Again, she falls. She repeats the jump, again and again until the end of her music.

Gainor storms into the changing room and yells at Laroche. She is stone faced. He tells her she is finished, and nobody will touch her. Tara Lynn comes into the changing room and questions how Laroche could do that. Tara Lynn tells Laroche not to end her career like this. Laroche is greeted on the ice by Hackett driving through the back entrance of the arena. They drive to a motel. At the motel, it's indicated they have sex and smoke pot. The owner of the hotel calls the cops on them, and Hackett and Laroche are allegedly arrest. Gainor and Carmody wait outside the police station arguing about what happened with Laroche's career. Laroche exits the police station, and Carmody begs her not to quit skating. Laroche says just wants to go home.

Laroche moves back home to live with Carla and her sister, Kyra (Alyson Court) in a two-bedroom apartment. Laroche visits Anne at the Peterborough Arena and tells her what happened. Anne tells Laroche "they loved the gift, but not the gifted one." Laroche eventually goes through a depression and tells Carla it's her fault she doesn't have anything else in her life but figure skating. Carla tells Laroche figure skating destroyed her marriage, so she doesn't have anything else either. Eventually, Laroche starts to work and become herself again. Hackett shows up at the donut show where she works to see if she still is interested in him. They get back together.

After watching the 1986 World Figure Skating Championships, Laroche apologizes to her mom for everything. One night, Laroche goes to the Peterborough Arena to try and skate again. She realizes how much she misses it. Laroche asks Frye to be her coach. He agrees.

At sectionals, even though Laroche can land a triple Salchow, she falls on her first jump, a double Axel, in the beginning of her program and becomes injured. As a result, Laroche doesn't qualify for the Canadians. Frye meets with Carmody and Betty Widmer (Wanda Cannon) of the CFSA to see if she can get a bye. Widmer wants her to have the bye; however, Carmody is not so sure.

Laroche is given the bye and attends the 1987 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. She meets up with Tara Lynn, who is current Canadian champion. Tara Lynn tells Laroche she doesn't stand a chance. Laroche is the last skater, and she is waiting in the changing room when Gainor walks in. At first, he says he's there to wish her luck. Then, Gainor tries to mentally sabotage her. She tells him it won't work and he lost out with one of Canada's top skaters. Laroche tells him after she skates nobody will want anything to do with him. Laroche leaves Gainor in the changing room.

Frye prepares Laroche to take the ice as Carmody, Widmer, Carla, Kyra, Ron, Anna, and Donny look on from the audience. Gainor, Denise and Tara Lynn are watching Laroche from the Kiss and Cry. Laroche skates her program, and Gainor looks on in amazement at her improvement. Laroche's final jump is a one-foot axel – split jump – triple Salchow sequence. Tara Lynn is shown crying into Gainor's jacket while he consoles. Laroche wins the 1987 Canadian championships.

Cast

Recognition

Awards and nominations

The film received recognition in 1988 by Gemini Awards, receiving Gemini nominations for Christianne Hirt for "Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series" and for Rosemary Dunsmore for "Best Performance by a Supporting Actress", and Gemini wins for "Best TV Movie", "Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series", and "Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series".

Reception

The Video Movie Guide 1998 gave Blades of Courage three and a half stars and said that "Aside from the stereotyped pushy mother, this is a realistic film that reveals the effort involved in developing a champion." [2]

Related Research Articles

Figure skating jumps are an element of three competitive figure skating disciplines: men's singles, women's singles, and pair skating – but not ice dancing. Jumping in figure skating is "relatively recent". They were originally individual compulsory figures, and sometimes special figures; many jumps were named after the skaters who invented them or from the figures from which they were developed. It was not until the early part of the 20th century, well after the establishment of organized skating competitions, when jumps with the potential of being completed with multiple revolutions were invented and when jumps were formally categorized. In the 1920s Austrian skaters began to perform the first double jumps in practice. Skaters experimented with jumps, and by the end of the period, the modern repertoire of jumps had been developed. Jumps did not have a major role in free skating programs during international competitions until the 1930s. During the post-war period and into the 1950s and early 1960s, triple jumps became more common for both male and female skaters, and a full repertoire of two-revolution jumps had been fully developed. In the 1980s men were expected to complete four or five difficult triple jumps, and women had to perform the easier triples. By the 1990s, after compulsory figures were removed from competitions, multi-revolution jumps became more important in figure skating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara Lipinski</span> American figure skater, television commentator, and actress

Tara Kristen Lipinski is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator, and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World champion, a two-time Champions Series Final champion (1997–1998) and the 1997 U.S. national champion. Until 2019, she was the youngest single skater to win a U.S. Nationals and the youngest to become an Olympic and World champion in figure skating history. She is the first woman to complete a triple loop-triple loop combination, her signature jump element, in competition. Starting in 1997, Lipinski had a rivalry with fellow skater Michelle Kwan, which was played up by the American press, and culminated when Lipinski won the gold medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surya Bonaly</span> French figure skater (born 1973)

Surya Varuna Claudine Bonaly is a French-born retired competitive figure skater. She is a three-time World silver medalist (1993–1995), a five-time European champion (1991–1995), the 1991 World Junior Champion, and a nine-time French national champion (1989–1997).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midori Ito</span> Japanese figure skater

Midori Ito is a retired Japanese figure skater. She is the 1989 World champion and the 1992 Olympic silver medalist. She is the first woman to land a triple-triple jump combination and a triple Axel in competition. At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, she became the first woman to land seven triple jumps in an Olympic free skating competition. She is widely recognised as one of the best figure skaters of all time.

The Salchow jump is an edge jump in figure skating. It was named after its inventor, Ulrich Salchow, in 1909. The Salchow is accomplished with a takeoff from the back inside edge of one foot and a landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. It is "usually the first jump that skaters learn to double, and the first or second to triple". Timing is critical because both the takeoff and landing must be on the backward edge. A Salchow is deemed cheated if the skate blade starts to turn forward before the takeoff, or if it has not turned completely backward when the skater lands back on the ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Lynn</span> American figure skater

Janet Lynn Nowicki is an American figure skater. She is the 1972 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time world championships medalist, and a five-time senior Ladies U.S. national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimmie Meissner</span> American figure skater (born 1989)

Kimberly Claire Meissner is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2006 World champion, the 2007 Four Continents champion, and the 2007 U.S. national champion. She is the first American and the first woman to simultaneously hold the World, Four Continents, and national titles. In 2005, Meissner became the second American woman to land the triple Axel jump in national competition. She was the youngest American athlete to compete at the 2006 Olympics, coming in sixth place. She won the World Championships the following month, and the U.S. Nationals the following season. She was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2020.

The figure skating events at the 1972 Winter Olympics were held at the Makomanai Skating Rink and the Mikaho Indoor Skating Rink.

Elaine Kathryn Zayak is an American former figure skater. She is the 1982 World champion and 1981 U.S. national champion. She competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics, placing 6th.

Jill Ann Trenary is an American former figure skater. She is the 1990 World champion and a three-time U.S. national champion. She was inducted to the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuna Kim</span> South Korean figure skater (born 1990)

Yuna Kim, also credited in eastern name order as Kim Yuna or Kim Yeon-a, is a South Korean retired competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time World champion the 2009 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion, the 2006 World Junior champion, the 2005 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and a six-time South Korean national champion.

Kay Thomson is a Canadian former figure skater who competed in ladies' singles. She is the 1981 Prize of Moscow News champion, the 1983 Skate Canada International silver medallist, and a three-time Canadian national champion. Her rise to dominance of Canadian ladies figure skating was unexpected as young phenom Tracy Wainmann had been expected to dominate Canadian ladies skating throughout this quadrennial, and beyond, but Thomson dethroned Wainmann at the 1982 Canadian Championships, and was only challenged by rising future superstar Elizabeth Manley thereafter as Wainmann fell off the map for a few years with personal issues and a growth spurt. She represented Canada at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, placing 12th, and at three World Championships, achieving her best result, fifth, in 1984 (Ottawa). She also finished a strong 6th at both the 82 and 83 worlds. At this event she had perhaps her best shot ever of a world podium finish in a heavily weakened post Olympic field and a respectable initial finish in compulsory figures which were never her strength, but a turn between her triple lutz-double toe combination in the short, and a miss on her triple flip in the long, was enough to keep her behind silver medallist Anna Kondrashova, bronze medallist Elaine Zayak, and 4th-place finisher Kira Ivanova.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadruple jump</span> Jump with four full revolutions

A quadruple jump or quad is a figure skating jump with at least four revolutions. All quadruple jumps have four revolutions, except for the quadruple Axel, which has four and a half revolutions. The quadruple toe loop and quadruple Salchow are the two most commonly performed quads. Quadruple jumps have become increasingly common among World and Olympic level men's single skaters, to the point that not performing a quad in a program has come to be seen as a severe handicap. This phenomenon is often referred to as the "quad revolution". Since 2018, quadruple jumps have also become an increasingly common feature of women's skating, although they are not allowed under the International Skating Union ("ISU") rules in the ladies' short program. The first person to land a ratified quadruple jump in competition was Canadian Kurt Browning in 1988. Japanese skater Miki Ando became the first female to do so, in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabet Tursynbaeva</span> Kazakh retired figure skater

Elizabet Tursynbaeva is a Kazakh retired figure skater. She is the 2019 World silver medalist, the 2019 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2017 CS Ice Star champion, the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy silver medalist, the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb silver medalist, the 2019 Winter Universiade silver medalist, and a three-time Kazakhstani national champion (2015-2017). She placed 12th at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Having successfully landed a quadruple Salchow at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships, Tursynbaeva is the first female skater to land a quadruple jump in senior international competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Calalang</span> American pair skater

Jessica Noelle Calalang is an American pair skater. With her current partner Brian Johnson, she is a three-time U.S. national silver medalist (2020–22) and a three-time Challenger series medalist, including gold at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup. Earlier in her career, she skated with Zack Sidhu, winning three medals on the ISU Challenger Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradie Tennell</span>

Bradie Tennell is an American figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic team event bronze medalist, the 2020 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2018 CS Autumn Classic champion, the 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rika Kihira</span> Japanese figure skater

Rika Kihira is a Japanese figure skater. She is a two-time Four Continents champion, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion, a four-time Grand Prix series medalist, a two-time International Challenge Cup champion, and a two-time Japanese national champion. As of 25 March 2022, Kihira is the twelfth highest ranked women's singles skater in the world by the International Skating Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Trusova</span> Russian figure skater (born 2004)

Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Trusova is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, the 2021 World bronze medalist, a European silver (2022) and bronze (2020) medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, the 2021 U.S. Classic champion, and the 2021 Skate America champion. Domestically, she is the 2022 Russian national champion, the 2019 silver medalist, and the 2020 and 2021 bronze medalist. At the junior level, she is a two-time Junior World Champion, the 2018 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a four-time champion on the Junior Grand Prix series, and a two-time Russian Junior national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 World Figure Skating Championships</span>

The 2019 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Saitama, Japan, from March 18–24, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alysa Liu</span> American former figure skater

Alysa Liu is an American competitive figure skater. She is the 2022 World bronze medalist, the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champion, the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion. At age 16, she competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics, placing seventh. At the junior level, Liu is the 2020 World Junior bronze medalist, the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a two-time Junior Grand Prix champion, and the 2018 U.S. junior national champion.

References

  1. ↑ Pratley, Gerald (2003). A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images Inc. p. 199. ISBN   978-1894073219.
  2. ↑ Martin, Mick; Porter, Marsha (October 1997). Video Movie Guide 1998 . Ballantine Books. p.  107. ISBN   0345424239.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.