Favorite Ladies Pewter Medalist

krenseby · Sep 25, 2006

A 4th place finish for a lady at Worlds is just one spot away from the podium. For that reason, it must be frustrating to be within reach of the podium, but have the bronze medal slip away from you anyhow.

Skating fans, however, sometimes remember a skater who's come to close to the podium but failed because their SP and LP were still great.

So which of the fourth place finishes among ladies at Worlds do you think had an amazing performance that deserves to be talked about many years later, a performance that transcended the off-the-podium finish?

Mathman · Sep 25, 2006

I voted for Miki Ando. Some of the others deserve credit for a valiant comeback attempt after a disastrous qualifying skate, and a couple of them skated well but were on their way down at that point of their careers.

Miki came out like gangbusters in 2004 and only a mistake or two in her short program kept her off the podium. Overall, it was a thrilling Worlds for Miki, and it set the skating world abuzz about her chances at the Olympic gold medal two years thence.

Unfortunately, she was not able to keep up the momentum.

But at that moment, the feeling was,

"♫ She's sixteen, ♪ she's beautiful, and she's ours! ♫♪"

antmanb · Sep 25, 2006

Can I...

Be a pain and ask for an "other" tab to be added because there are two that stick in my mind...the first will be obvious, the second perhaps less so.

My absolute favourite fourth place finish (in terms of liking both SP and LP) and arguably should have won the bronze or even the silver ...

1995 Michelle Kwan - she went out in the SP and substituted her triple toe out of steps for a triple flip on the basis that she needed all the tehcnical given the other ladies in the field would likely out present her. On jump count alone 3Lz/2T, 3F from steps and 2A. Then went on to put down a 7 triple progam with two double axels and the lutz combo coming off the seond triple lutz. Barry Davies' commentary on the BBC coverage is quite hilarious as his voice gets higher pitched with every triple michelle lands until he's practically squealing at the end!

My second favourite is 1997 Irina Slutskaya - She ended up in 4th because of a bad short but i think (unless i'm confusing my years) she came out and aced the LP which included a 3sal/3loop combo and i think she did come in second in the LP but was too far behind in the SP to affect the podium.

Ant

JonnyCoop · Sep 25, 2006

Michelle was indeed absolutely out of this world in '95; her long program in Birmingham ranks as one of my all time favorite Kwan performances; and I think the "piece de resistance" of the whole thing was when she came off the ice telling Frank Carroll "I was so nervous!!". Ah, if only she had been able to skate like that in subsequent years during other "nervous" occasions, i.e, Salt Lake City.

BUT --

I've always had a soft spot for Tatiana Malinina, so given the opportunity to vote for her, I went with her. She certainly went on a tear for a while there, coming from obscurity to a surprise 8th place showing in Nagano, which she parlayed into winning her first NHK, the GP Series Final, and the first Four Continents championship in late 98-early 99; had it not been for a slightly off short program in Helsinki, she would have made the podium. And I've always loved that "Aladdin" long program. I just wish she'd been able to maintain that momentum; other than winning a second NHK title a couple of seasons later, she kind of dropped off the radar.

dancindiva03 · Sep 27, 2006

Sokolova in 2006. IMHO she should have been on the podium instead of Cohen.

Lanie · Sep 28, 2006

dancindiva03 said:
Sokolova in 2006. IMHO she should have been on the podium instead of Cohen.

According to you, ANYONE should be on the podium instead of Cohen. :rofl:

Kasey · Sep 28, 2006

dancindiva03 said:
Sokolova in 2006. IMHO she should have been on the podium instead of Cohen.

Agreed.

dancindiva03 · Sep 28, 2006

Lanie said:
According to you, ANYONE should be on the podium instead of Cohen.

Anyone who can stay on their feet, at least.

krenseby · Sep 29, 2006

I've noticed

I've noticed that Cohen and Kwan got quite a few votes for an amazing and memorable 4th place finish.

Unfortunately, those who voted that way haven't stepped up to explain their choice. Neither Cohen or Kwan had a single post to vie for the brilliance of their pewter finish. But the voters are there ;-). So be brave, step up to the bat, and give us your reasoning!

Teresa Dawn · Sep 30, 2006

I voted Tatiana Malinina

AlissaCzisnyFan · Oct 3, 2006

krenseby said:
I've noticed that Cohen and Kwan got quite a few votes for an amazing and memorable 4th place finish.

Unfortunately, those who voted that way haven't stepped up to explain their choice. Neither Cohen or Kwan had a single post to vie for the brilliance of their pewter finish. But the voters are there ;-). So be brave, step up to the bat, and give us your reasoning!

Okay I voted for Michelle.
I hadn't seen the videos for awhile when I voted. And I voted for Michelle because
1) Her LP Technically Pretty Good (And Better than SP and QR)
2) Footwork Sequence
3) And I Was Thinking Hello!!! She's Michelle Kwan she should have been on the podium :biggrin:

But I just watched both Carolina and Michelle skate their LPs.
Michelle fell once on a triple salchow I believe.
Carolina fell our of a combination, doubled a triple, and another mistake I think.
But then, Carolina did a triple/triple/double combination.

It just seems like Carolina had to many mistakes. Michelle didn't do too well in the qualifying or short which is what hurt her.

So that's just my opinion.

krenseby · Oct 3, 2006

Re:

AlissaCzisnyFan said:
Okay I voted for Michelle.
I hadn't seen the videos for awhile when I voted. And I voted for Michelle because
1) Her LP Technically Pretty Good (And Better than SP and QR)
2) Footwork Sequence
3) And I Was Thinking Hello!!! She's Michelle Kwan she should have been on the podium

But I just watched both Carolina and Michelle skate their LPs.
Michelle fell once on a triple salchow I believe.
Carolina fell our of a combination, doubled a triple, and another mistake I think.
But then, Carolina did a triple/triple/double combination.

It just seems like Carolina had to many mistakes. Michelle didn't do too well in the qualifying or short which is what hurt her.

So that's just my opinion.

Actually, if I remember it correctly, Michelle beat Carolina in the LP, though not by much. But she was ahead by a few points. It's the QR that held her back.

Favorite Ladies Pewter Medalist

Best 4th place/pewter Ladies performance at Worlds

1998 - Laetitia Hubert

1999 - Tatiana Malinina

2000 - Vanessa Gusmeroli

2001 - Maria Butyrskaya

2002 - Sasha Cohen

2003 - Sasha Cohen

2004 - Miki Ando

2005 - Michelle Kwan

2006 - Elena Sokolova

krenseby

Mathman

antmanb

JonnyCoop

dancindiva03

Match Penalty

Lanie

Kasey

dancindiva03

Match Penalty

krenseby

Teresa Dawn

AlissaCzisnyFan

krenseby

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