Skaters You Feel Left The Scene Too Soon

[hockeyfan228]

I agree that Moskvina did about as much with Zimmerman and Ina, especially given how late in their career they came to her, as she could. According to them, they didn't even stop fighting each other until they sat down for lunch one day to actually discuss what they wanted from the partnership, which was after they started to train with Moskvina. If they had come to her as a pair rather than as a distant business partnership, they might have been able to take greater advantage of the opportunity to train with Moskvina in a short window. I think their skating skills improved a great deal under Moskvina's watch, and if Moskvina had dedicated herself to them day and night they wouldn't have come close to being the pair in eligible competition that Berezhnaia/Sikharulidze were. They had the privilege of having B/S as training partners.

As professionals, I think they've come into their own. I do think that their costuming, though, exaggerates even more the stylistic differences between them, with him in jeans and her in glossy skating dresses.

[76olympics]

No offense to Ina and Zimmerman fans, but he was so much more promising and artistic with Stephanie Stiegler, I really feel sad that the partnership ended without them realizing their full potential. Jason D -on the other hand- has really put together some beautiful programs with Yuka recently. I am still completely in awe that she could master pair skills to the extent she has so late in her career. It is really quite incredible.

[Joesitz]

If I had to pick one skater who is the most complete, it would be Yuka Sato.

Joe

[shine]

Krylova & Ovsiannikov - one of my favorite dance teams ever. They could have gone so much further and produced so many more masterpieces.
Deanna Stellato - I loved her skating - the best skater among the "baby ballerinas" when she still competed.
Mikkeline Kiekgaard - so much talent, but so weak the jumps.
Kristina Czako - I miss her skating a lot. She was such a unique presence on the ice.

Vash: Yukina has not completely left the eligible competitions. People have said that she's still recovering and waiting for a come back.

[dorispulaski]

YeBin Mok -Her injuries apparently became too much for her to recover.

Rusty Fein & Tiffany Scott. I didn't care for the way she and Dulebohn performed, but Scott & Fein's nationals performance this year was very special, and very commendable for a first year pair.

Robert Wagenhoffer and Vicki Heasley as a pair, and then Robert as a single. Thank goodness he had such a brilliant career as a pro!!

ITA about Spitz and Gregory. They had such verve and energy.

As to Denise Beillman, I had heard that she went pro because she couldn't afford to keep training, especially as Worlds 1981 champion, she could get a good pro contract. And it was 3 years to Olympics...

Wachsman and Waggoner had lovely skating skills, but were incredibly inconsistent always. I believe they left skating because they had gone to Olympics and weren't that crazy about the competing part of competition
anyway.

You can get some clips of Brian Pockar at fsvids and/or rinkside. You can also hear him commentating on the Canadian coverage of the 1988 Olympics.

Mark Mitchell. Would have been interesting to see what would have happened on both National and World levels had he stayed around a couple of seasons longer. He did have some pretty good results at his brief time near the top.

Mark couldn't really get his 3A. He was a gorgeous looking skater, and quite a good skater, but it became clear he wasn't going anywhere.

[JonnyCoop]

Wachsman and Waggoner had lovely skating skills, but were incredibly inconsistent always. I believe they left skating because they had gone to Olympics and weren't that crazy about the competing part of competition
anyway.

I believe Todd Waggoner went into the army afterwards as well. Sometime in the mid 90s (I think 95), I seem to remember seeing his wedding announcement in SKATING magazine, and he had a military designation before his name, like PFC Todd Waggoner, but it was a bit higher than PFC.

[Jaana]

Generally speaking I would say that no skater leaves too early. They leave when they feel that it is the right time for them to leave. A wise person listens to one´s body...

If e.g. a skater is fortunate enough to win the Olympic gold medal during her/his first Olympiade, that is just wonderful. Why stay after one has won a gold medal that is the best of all gold medals? The jumps are so hard these days, that injuries do happen even during one Olympiade. E.g. Ilia Kulik started to suffer from back problems in season 1997-1998. It was a wise decision to turn pro, because as a pro his skating and jumping still continues being amazing. If he had stayed in eligible skating, things could be very different.

[Vash01]

No offense to Ina and Zimmerman fans, but he was so much more promising and artistic with Stephanie Stiegler, I really feel sad that the partnership ended without them realizing their full potential. Jason D -on the other hand- has really put together some beautiful programs with Yuka recently. I am still completely in awe that she could master pair skills to the extent she has so late in her career. It is really quite incredible.

ITA. Jason is actually a better pairs skater with Yuka (of course it helps that the technical difficulty is low in the pros). Yuka is truly amazing.

Ina & Zimmerman have come a long way as pro skaters, but it's a pity that Stephanie did not get the opportunity for a successful pairs career.

Vash

[Vash01]

Trivia: Scott Gregory is married to Kimmie Meissner's coach, Pamela Duane Gregory (both coach at UDel), and they have a young daughter.


I believe Yukina Ota may be trying to make a comeback in eligible skating *if* she can recover fully from her injury (fingers crossed!).

More trivia: Selezneva & Makarov are married, coach in N.Y., and have a talented skater daughter who's currently competing at the Novice level.

Thanks for the info. What is the name of S&M's daughter?

Glad to hear that Yukina may make a come back. She is the one I have missed the most.

Vash

[dorancatlin]

Add to the list-


M&D- They were great and they could have been even greater. What a pity that they split.


Vash

I (and I'm pretty sure Dick Button) agree! Natalia and Artur were at the top of their game when they retired. It was such a loss for the sport. Although Artur won the 98 OGM with another partner I never felt that M&D's magic was recreated.

[southwest wind]

ITA with M and D. OK. was surely in hte right place at the right time, had great flexibility , but I always though Natalia Mishatuna had more passion and fire to balance off Artur . He always seem to be walking over Oksana.

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the info. What is the name of S&M's [Selezneva & Makarov's] daughter?

Ksenia Makarova. She competed in Intermediate last season and qualified for Nationals at that level. However, she didn't skate nearly as well in her Nationals qualifying round as she did in winning her Regional title, and did not make the Final round. I believe she included a double axel and 2 triples (salchow and loop) in her Intermediate free skate last season.

[sk8addict]

OK, I know I'm a broken record on this but Don & Hunt. They could have been looking at a championship this coming season. I'm still trying to get Jenny back to pairs. I sure miss her beautiful smile.

[rob43]

I think we have to give Oppegard some of the credit for our Steigler/Zimmerman love. Moskvina seemed to be going for showy with a pair that to me was athlete (Ina) vs grace/flow (Z). They're Oly Lp kicked infinite *** but that was really the performance- I never felt Moskvina gave them appropriate programs themes to develop (like I/D's drums sp which suited them.)

I wish Debbi Thomas had stayed longer. Absolutely loved her. And I wish Harding had stayed in shape- well trained longer (she gipped herself.)

[slutskayafan21]

I agree that Moskvina did about as much with Zimmerman and Ina, especially given how late in their career they came to her, as she could. According to them, they didn't even stop fighting each other until they sat down for lunch one day to actually discuss what they wanted from the partnership, which was after they started to train with Moskvina. If they had come to her as a pair rather than as a distant business partnership, they might have been able to take greater advantage of the opportunity to train with Moskvina in a short window. I think their skating skills improved a great deal under Moskvina's watch, and if Moskvina had dedicated herself to them day and night they wouldn't have come close to being the pair in eligible competition that Berezhnaia/Sikharulidze were. They had the privilege of having B/S as training partners.

As professionals, I think they've come into their own. I do think that their costuming, though, exaggerates even more the stylistic differences between them, with him in jeans and her in glossy skating dresses.

Do you think she gave them equal consideration to Berezhnaya/Sikharlidze though? That is one thing I always wondered about.