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Joannie Rochette earned a personal best score of 70.00 points in the short program. (Getty Images)

By Lois Elfman, special to icenetwork.com

(10/31/2009) - Skating in the first warm-up group for the free skate isn't a familiar position for Canadian ladies champion and reigning world silver medalist Joannie Rochette, but she managed to earn a spot on the podium at Cup of China, her first Grand Prix assignment this season.

"It was a bit harder...to skate that early in the event," said Rochette, who was seventh in the short program and second in the long, finishing third overall. "Of course, this was not the beginning of the season I was looking for, but on the other side it's kind of good to get that [out of the way at the] beginning of the season, especially an Olympic season.

"I'm fully motivated to work really hard on those programs."

Something Rochette will also be working on is taking on less special requests tied to the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. In the days before she left for Cup of China, she was involved in various media commitments, which she admits was distracting.

"This is just telling me that I need to learn to say no and be an egoist in the Olympic season, think of myself first and my health and take care of myself," she noted. She said going forward training will be her first priority. "I need to learn from it, go home and focus on my job."

She is also taking in the feedback she received from the judges on her short program and free skate. Although she made two costly technical mistakes in the short, she received good feedback on the choreography and presentation. In the long, she also got good artistic marks, but was downgraded on levels in spirals and spins because she was a bit behind the music. She'll think about the pacing in the program prior to her next Grand Prix event, Skate Canada in Kitchener Nov. 19-22.

Although she said prior to Cup of China that she would not do any triple/triple combinations, she decided to go for the triple/triple in the short because it was going well in practice.

"I wanted to do it in the program. I got a little bit too fast on the rhythm," she said. "I think I need to focus on the overall package of the program instead of just one element.

"Here is a good place to try. It's not Olympics yet. It's a practice for the Olympics."

Rochette sees the 2009-10 season as being in two parts. The Grand Prix season is part one and part two starts in January. She still hopes to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.

"Of course, this event wasn't my best, but it's one to put in the bag and remember how I felt and make sure I don't repeat the same mistakes," she said.

Skate Canada high performance director Michael Slipchuk traveled with the Canadian team to Cup of China. Either he or Skate Canada CEO William Thompson will accompany the top Canadian skaters to their Grand Prix events.

"We're going to be traveling with the medal potential ones," Slipchuk said. "This is through our On the Podium. We built this into our plan for the season. We're here more in a support role, but also just to make sure that we're not caught off guard with anything in regards to skater preparation or rules or how the international judges are perceiving programs. It's just more of a precaution.

"We're here to reassure our skaters that this is a long season and we're building towards the Olympics. These are just building blocks."

Rochette was the only Canadian competitor to medal. Ladies skater Diane Szmiett completed six triples in free skate, finishing eighth overall. Men's competitor Kevin Reynolds was also eighth. The pair team of Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin finished fourth. Ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were sixth.