Forgotten Underrated Ladies Performances | Golden Skate

Forgotten Underrated Ladies Performances

TtonyV7

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
So it's the off-season, so I decided to watch some good ole tapes "when skating quality was better" and noticed many underrated performances by some ladies that have been forgotten.

Anna Rechnio - 1999 Worlds - 6th Place Overall
QUEEN OF EDGES!! So can sure teach a thing a two to these new jumping bean queens on what real strong edges are, and how to perform a strong spiral sequence without the needed super high leg position. Her SP was amazing and should have been rank 2nd like she was in 98 Worlds, and her FP was not worthy of a 7th place placement. A would have place her 4th ahead of Gusmeroli and Soldatova, which would have granted Malinina the Bronze.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pmHHUPYxc8&feature=related

Krisztina Czako - 1997 Worlds Short Program - 5th Place
T.Toe-T.Toe Combo with a T.Lutz, wonderful spins, interesting and inventive moves, and yet she was held back down to 5th. Butyrskaya was shaky, Kwan's step-out, and Lipinski juniorish skating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1tOf8uW1A

Jennifer Robinson - 2002 Worlds Free Program - 8th Place
Her forgotten masterpiece to Liberstraum. Beautiful program, beautiful skating, and jam pack with jumps. Indeed was had a bad SP, but this FP should have been rank 4th or 5th. Cohen blew it in the FP, Onda was sloppy, and Liashenko was so-so. Volchokova who finish 7th performed poorly yet edge her out. Can you believe a judge gave her a 5.1 for this? Honestly, this was Robinson best chance to medal...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfyl6DNvkyQ

Andrea Gardiner - 2000 US Nationals FP - 5th Place
Her break out performance, however got marks ranging all over place cause the judges didn't know what to do with her. She had strong jumps despite a crazy lutz, good spins, quality edges and some artistic flair. This was Nikodinov worst program that she ever did (come on...the mummy...!!!) prior to her transformation and her FP should have been ranks 5th, giving Gardiner the trip to Worlds and Grand Prix placements the following season.

Vanessa Gusmeroli - 2000 Europeans FP - 3rd Place (4th Overall)
Skater of her life with her highly regarded Legends of the Falls Program. Really strong by performances by Slutskaya and a solid one by Butyrskaya, however it was shaky and lack the quality that Gusmeroli had. 6/3 Split favoring Butyrskaya and sloppy Volchkova takes the bronze again at Euro's.

AND THE MOST FORGOTTEN PERFORMANCE IN MY OPINION:

Vanessa Gusmeroli - 1997 Worlds - Free Program - 2nd Place

Ok, it was well-recieved by the judges and brought her into the spot light. However, I believe this SP is probably the most interesting, inventive, and difficult program in the 90's period. I have very high regards for the program and believe that skaters today should take something from it. Should have won the SP ahead Lipinski...but it was a 5/4 split, costing Kwan a better chance of defending her title.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWa4ajz7KOM
 
Last edited:

rain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
I always thought this was Angela Nikodinov's finest performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5p3zrEI7N0

This was a great ladies SP competition, but this left her only 4th, and I thought it should have left her 1st. I thought it was a bit of a case of protocol judging, where those with bigger names and similar technical difficulty got given the edge. Her final layback spin is the finest classical position I've ever seen, and I far prefer it to some of the gumbee positions we get now. What makes a huge difference is the actual correct position of the free leg, something that seems to be all but ignored in preference to extreme back bend in today's judging.
 

TtonyV7

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Actually the judges placed her 3rd in this segment above Hughes. But I agree, her marks could have been much better.
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Vanessa Gusmeroli - 2000 Europeans FP - 3rd Place (4th Overall)
I remember this - it was ridiculous that Vanessa finished out of the medals. She was fantastic. When I started watching figure skating about a decade ago, the French skaters were consistently the most interesting to watch, even if they were not the best.

Anna Rechnio had some good performances, too.
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
I think Vanessa did even better at 2000 worlds, but was too far back after the QR and the SP =( She finished in 4th, I believe, just behind Maria Butyrskaya.
 
Top