A clip from the past | Golden Skate

A clip from the past

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
While browsing skating from youtube, I ran across a fascinating clip of Jenny Kirk's 2000 World Junior Championships LP (she won gold in that competition.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx-lzJfufBA

Anyhow, I found it a joy to see Jenny as a 16 year old because I didn't follow her when she was that young. And the program itself was great to watch: she completed all her triples and she had a lot of zest, meaning that she was in tune with the music and "effervescent." That clip makes it seem like she had a lot more potential than she managed to fulfill, seeing that she later became a lot more inconsistent in he rjumping
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Beautiful posture and very much the ballet-like skater. Unfortunately, she appeared in the Kwan/Cohen era and did not get the judges' attention.

Joe
 

CzarinaAnya

Medalist
Joined
Aug 29, 2003
IMO, she lost alot of that passion for skating after her Mom passed away. The spark just wasn't as bright, anymore.

Also, her legs seemed stronger than what I was used to seeing from her.
 

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
What do you mean

What do you mean by "Sasha Cohen was impressed." All I know is that Sasha placed 6th at that same Junior Worlds in 2000, well below Jenny.
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
Now this clip was a delight to watch! :clap: Another one I would recommend is her 2003 Skate America performance ("Die Fledermaus"). She finished second to Sasha (and had to skate right after her), but she brought down the house. :bow:
 
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MKFSfan

Medalist
Joined
Mar 15, 2006
I thought that was Sasha they showed at the end too, but after rewinding, I'm wondering if the girl on her right was Jenny's sister, so maybe that was a Sasha look a like?

Anyway, I had a not known it was Jenny, I don't think I would have recognized her! So many changes from the 2000 Jenny to the 2003 Jenny. You watch Michelle in her Jr. Worlds win and you know it was Michelle. I think Jenny lost some attack and spark as she grew more into a delicate ballerina type skater-she was always beautiful and charming, but something changed. Maybe she did lose some passion after her mother's death.

Regardless, thank you for sharing! I never saw it before. Such a shame she wasn't able to build on that. There was lots of hope for her, but as Joesitz said-she had to come up in the Kwan/Cohen era and she also would have had to fight off Hughes, AP and Angela for some claim to fame.

I agree, luvtodd, Jenny was amazing at SA that year, I thought she should have won.
 

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
re: MKFan

MKFan, I really appreciate your observation of how Jenny lost her spark and attack and became a more tame and ballerina-like skater.

I wonder if her coaches and choreographers pushed her to go for a more gentle, dainty, ballerina-type style over her natural athletically aggressive style. Why do coaches always have to reshape skaters into something else instead of letting them skate with their own personality?
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Sometimes, too, I think young skaters just gradually lose intensity as they grow up. To a twelve-year-old, hitting a home run in Little League is the most important thing in his life. Later on, maybe not so much.

I believe this is what happened to Ann Patrice McDonough. As she reached college age, skating just wasn't the all-consuming passion that it had been when she was younger.
 

nymkfan51

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
This was wonderful to watch ... thanks for posting the link! :rock:

Didn't Jenny also suffer some injuries? Was it the hip, I can't remember.

Also ... Gail ... I was also at SA 2003, and it was a spectacular competition for Jenny. She had the performance of the night, and I actually thought she might springboard from that. Unfortunately, whether due to nagging injuries or loss of spark, she just couldn't seem to gain much consistency.
Regardless, she was a pleasure to watch, and I sincerely hope she is happy with what she is doing now. She went through an awful lot ... it would just be nice to see her settled and happy with her life now.
 

IDLERACER

Medalist
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
What do you mean by "Sasha Cohen was impressed." All I know is that Sasha placed 6th at that same Junior Worlds in 2000, well below Jenny.
That was definitely Sasha Cohen they showed clapping for her at the end. I don't recognize the girl that was next to her. It did not look like Jenny's sister.
 
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