1999 Sparkassen Cup on Ice

November 11-14, 1999, Gelsenkirchen/GER

Winkler/Lohse win first Silver Medal at Grand Prix event!

Kati Winkler/Rene Lohse won their first Silver Medal at a Grand Prix event at Sparkassen Cup on Ice in Gelsenkirchen (November 11 to 14). They started the competition with a nice Quickstep Compulsory Dance and received marks up to 5,3 for technique and up to 5,6 for timing and expression. "It was a decent performance", commented Rene. "I was holding back a little, because I don't feel so well. I think, I caught a cold." However, he didn't seem to hold back anymore during the Original Dance that followed later the same day. Their fast paced, lively Latin Combination (Samba, Rhumba, Mambo) caught the attention of the spectators right away. Both skaters were very pleased with their OD. All with exception of the Italian judge put them second.

In the Free Dance, Kati and Rene once more excited the crowd in the arena with their original and new elements and spectacular lifts. Their "Time goes Millennium" routine, a hommage to the start of a new millennium, also contained nice spins and step sequences and had good speed. The marks ranged from 5,4 to 5,7 for technical merit and from 5,4 to 5,8 for presentation. All but the French judge put them second. The French judge had the Germans third.

"We are really happy about the second rank. Of course, we need to work on certain things, but we have still six weeks until German Nationals. We probably didn't make the Grand Prix Final, but the 18 000 US Dollar prize money are welcomed very much", said Rene. Winkler/Lohse have 14 points in the Grand Prix standings and are currently on the top of the list, but other couples didn't yet have two scoring events or even didn't yet start their Grand Prix competitions.

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