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The latest on Ryan

Ryan wins his first
Grand Prix medal

November 2, 2008

Ryan Bradley won his first Grand Prix medal and set personal bests in every scoring category as he earned the silver medal at Skate Canada this weekend at Ottawa in his first Grand Prix event this year.

Ryan just missed winning gold by 2.7 points behind Canada’s Patrick Chan. Ryan was second in the free skate and finished ahead of fellow countryman Evan Lysacek.

The overall 212.75 points was Ryan’s highest in his career. He also set personal highs in the free skate (140.25) and short program (72.50).

“It was a really good event today. A lot of people went out and skated very well, and it feels good to be one of them,” Ryan said.

“Shawn (Sawyer) did such an awesome job today, and I heard his score right before I stepped on to the ice. Such a big number coming up so early really shocked me. It was really motivating. I was like – all right, buckle up! I didn’t let myself get too excited after some of the big tricks got hit, and I think this was kind the key to it.”

Sawyer won the free skate but was fifth overall.

Ryan nailed his quad toe in the free skate as he performed to a Latin Medley by Perez Prado.

Ryan said he has been landing a quad for six years, but this season, for the first time, he can execute it consistently. "I feel so confident every time I step into the three-turn into it.”

He also landed a triple Axel-double toe combination another triple Axel as well as five more triples. He also was awarded a level four for the flying sit and a level three for the combination and flying camel spin.

Ryan put on the most entertaining program and a strong technical performance in the short program to an Elvis Presley medley.

"The crowd was great. It's always fun to come to Canada. It's a unique crowd," said Bradley, who ranked fifth nationally last season.

Ryan recovered from stumbling on his opening quadruple-triple toeloop combination, to land a triple Axel and a triple Lutz. His flying camel and combination spin were both graded a level four. Surprisingly he touched down with one hand on the combination spin.

“I was pretty happy with how things turned out today,” Ryan said. ‘They weren’t perfect, I left a lot of room for improvement, but (it’s good) just to start, to get my foot in the door for tomorrow. It’s a little tough to skate in that first group, then have to sit there. Everything is out of my hands. There were a lot of good skates, especially for so early in the season. It was really cool to be part of it.”

The outstanding performance by Ryan put him in position to be among the finalists at the Grand Prix Final scheduled at the end of the series. He competes at Trophee Eric Bompard Cachemire in Paris in two weeks.

Ryan to compete
in Canada, France

June 1, 2008

Ryan will be competing in two ISU events this season, Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard.

Skate Canada will be ehld Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Ottawa. Trophee Eric Bompard will be held Nov. 14-16 in Paris.

Ryan's 2008 programs

Ryan's short program is a medley of Elvis Presley tunes choreographed by Renee Roca. His long program is a medley of cowboy western music and was choreographed by Caterina Lindgren.