Olympians arrive for skating, gymnastics spectacular Tuesday

Tickets still available

By Emilie Rusch, Journal staff | Sunday, December 21, 2008

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It's not every day Rapid City beats out big-time entertainment destinations like Las Vegas and Atlantic City to bring in a show.

But that's exactly what happened this fall when Disson Skating decided to bring its Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center's new ice arena this Tuesday.

"For us to bring this many Olympic champions and world champions under one roof is fantastic for Rapid City," Brian Maliske, the civic center's general manager, said. "It gives Rapid City and its 70,000 residents something they could usually only see if they traveled to a city of 2 or 3 million. It gives us a chance to show off Rapid City to the rest of America."

The show has been held in Oklahoma City the past few years but was bumped when the owner of the Seattle Supersonics moved the basketball team to Oklahoma, executive producer Steve Disson said.

During the search for a new site, Disson heard about the civic center's ice arena and got in touch with Maliske. What he heard impressed him.

"Not everyone knows that Rapid City is the home of Mount Rushmore. I thought it would make for great television," Disson said. "When we go to a smaller market, it's a much bigger deal. We were excited about it."

As of Saturday afternoon, there were between 500 and 700 tickets still available for the event, Maliske said. The arena can seat about 5,000.

The athletes, including Beijing Olympics gold medalists Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, were scheduled to trickle into Rapid City late Saturday night, as some of their flights planned for earlier in the day were delayed due to weather, according to Lynn Plage, publicist for Disson Skating.

The gymnasts and figure skaters will practice today and Monday at locations throughout Rapid City, Plage said.

For the show, the ice rink will be divided into "a three-ring circus on ice," Maliske said, with gymnastics at each end and skating in the middle. Musical guest Raven-Symone, best known for her roles as Olivia on "The Cosby Show" and Raven on "That's So Raven," will also perform.

The program will be produced by Comcast-Spectacor, in partnership with Disson Skating, which annually produces 10 events televised nationally on NBC. Past Olympic gold medalists Bart Conner, Nadia Comaneci and Peggy Fleming will host.

"We're going to have 10 cameras in place, 21 spotlights in place," Maliske said. "It's going to be a huge production."

Production crews will also shoot a vignette at Mount Rushmore to air during the NBC broadcast on Jan. 18, which Maliske hopes will attract more visitors to the Black Hills.

"I'm tired of hearing that Mount Rushmore is in North Dakota. I want them to know that Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota, and it's right outside of Rapid City," Maliske said. "I want them to see Rapid City. It's a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to visit."

If you go

What: Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Rushmore Plaza Civic Center ice arena

Tickets: $45-$125, available at the Civic Center box office, by calling at 800-468-6463, online at www.gotmine.com or at the Silverado Hotel in Deadwood.

If you watch

When: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 18

Where: NBC

About the athletes

The following gymnasts and figure skaters are scheduled to perform at the Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular on Tuesday night:

Gymnasts

* Nastia Liukin, 19, of Parker, Texas, won five medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including the all-around gold medal.

* Shawn Johnson, 16, of West Des Moines, Iowa, won the gold medal in balance beam at the Beijing Olympics.

* Samantha Peszek, 17, of McCordsville, Ind., was part of the U.S. women's team that claimed a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.

* Jonathan Horton, 22, of Houston, won the silver medal in high bar and was part of the U.S. men's team that won bronze at the Beijing Olympics. 

* Raj Bhavsar, 28, of Houston, was part of the U.S. men's team that won bronze at the Beijing Olympics.

* Justin Spring, 24, of Champaign, Ill., was part of the U.S. men's team that won bronze at the Beijing Olympics.

* Morgan Hamm, 26, of Waukesha, Wis., was part of the U.S. men's team that won silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

* Paul Hamm, 26, of Waukesha, Wis., won the all-around gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Figure skaters

* Todd Eldredge, 37, of Rochester, Mich., is a six-time U.S. men's champion and one-time world champion.

* Caroline Zhang, 15, of Brea, Calif., won the silver medal at the 2008 World Junior Championships. 

* Joannie Rochette, 22, of Quebec, is a four-time Canadian champion.

* Rachael Flatt, 16, of Del Mar, Calif., won the 2008 World Junior Championships and a silver medal at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

* Evan Lysacek, 23, of Los Angeles, is a two-time U.S. men's champion.

* Tanith Belbin, 24, of Quebec, won the silver medal in ice dancing with Ben Agosto at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Sources: Athletes' official Web sites, nbcolympics.com, and icenetwork.com, the Web site of U.S. Figure Skating.