Best ladies Rivalries?

Humm,
I think Irina and Michelle had the best rivalry why?

Because not only did each other's presence raise the other's performance level but they were both conducted themselves with highest degree of mutual respect. Needless to say I feel that the best rivalries are friendly ones.

Witt and Thomas was a great rivalry too but I always got the impression that they hated each other.

Lu Chen and Surya Bonaly had a rivalry of sorts...with lulu coming out on top most of the time.

Tara and Michelle had the best skated rivalry IMHO.

Hughes and Butryskaya often fought for 3rd after slute, and kwan.

Kwan an Cohen have a brewing rivalry....we'll see where this one goes!

Hmm

My picks

1. MK vs Tara
2. Debbie T vs K.Witt
3. Tonya vs Tonya
4. Brian B vs. Brian O
5. Plushy vs Alexi Y
6. Joubert vx Alexi vs Plushy...would be a fantasy.

Throughout the mid to late 1990s, Nicole Bobek and Tonia Kwiatkowski were touted as fierce rivals on the ice who (according to Brian Boitano's book), used to hang out together backstage during the C.O.I. tours.

Kwanisqueen81 said:

Humm,
I think Irina and Michelle had the best rivalry why?

Because not only did each other's presence raise the other's performance level but they were both conducted themselves with highest degree of mutual respect. Needless to say I feel that the best rivalries are friendly ones.

Witt and Thomas was a great rivalry too but I always got the impression that they hated each other.

Lu Chen and Surya Bonaly had a rivalry of sorts...with lulu coming out on top most of the time.

Tara and Michelle had the best skated rivalry IMHO.

Hughes and Butryskaya often fought for 3rd after slute, and kwan.

Kwan an Cohen have a brewing rivalry....we'll see where this one goes!

Click to expand...

I agree.
I also think that Michelle and lulu had the beginnings of a great rivalry had lulu not had to deal with the problems she has. After the 96' worlds many thought these two would be battling for gold
in Nagano.

Tenley Albright and up-and-comer Carole Heiss.

It's too early to tell, but I think in the future there could be an interesting rivalry between Sasha Cohen and Ann Patrice McDonough.

Mathman

I must agree with Mathman. Not really Sasha v Michelle, but AP v. Sasha. I'm
still bummed about Cup of Russia....AP had already beaten Sasha once, and
if she'd managed to do it in a GP, maybe she would've been given the correct
placement in the LP at Nationals.

Just a thought.

Laura

hmmmmmmmmmm

it'd be easier if this was "best mens rivalries" LOL

I liked the MK and TL rivalry.
I liked the Sarah/Sasha rivalry. (IMO, Sarah should've won silver at Nationals '00 with Sasha in 3rd place)
I like the potential SC/AP rivalry.

Michelle K/Irina S
Albright/Heiss

Witt + anybody.

Kat was never the one I was rooting for, but she sure made competitions exciting because of her fierce ambition and her ability to psyche everyone out.

Albright v. Heiss!!

Anybody know the history of figure skating.

Joe

Long before my time and certainly before VCRs, but it seems more theory than reality if you look at records.

AFAICT, they met up 8 times with Albright coming out on top 7 to 1.

56 seems to be the only year that Heiss was a serious threat, especially due to Albright's injury. At the Olys, Albright seems to have won the figures (60%) and Heiss the FS (40%) but when you look at the overall spread: ten judges for Albright, 1 for Heiss, it doesn't seem so close.

The one and only time Heiss finished ahead (56 worlds), Albright was injured.

Some could say that the pecking order kept Carol back, but it could equally be true that Heiss just wasn't as good and had to wait for Albright to mess up or retire to win.

I've never seen either of them skate.

Did Sarah and Angela have a rivalry?

99 Angela 3, Sarah 4
00 Sarah 3, Angela 4
01 Sarah 2, Angela 3 (should have been the oposite IMHO)
02 Sarah 3, Angela 4

berthes ghost said:

Did Sarah and Angela have a rivalry?

99 Angela 3, Sarah 4
00 Sarah 3, Angela 4
01 Sarah 2, Angela 3 (should have been the oposite IMHO)
02 Sarah 3, Angela 4

Click to expand...

ITA!
That was the best I've ever seen Nikodinov skate
and she really did deserve that silver medal.

-Plush vs Alexei is the best rivalry I have seen.

curious said:

-Plush vs Alexei is the best rivalry I have seen.

Click to expand...

I agree. I love to see them both go up against each other. Eventhough, I am a MAJOR ALEXEI fan. They just bring the best out of each other.

Carol Heiss and Tenley Albright were great rivals in the mid-1950s. They vied for the US, World, and Olympic medals. What made this rivalry so great, in my opinion, was that Heiss and Albright were the essence of highly trained, highly tuned athletes and great sportswomen as well. Heiss was the athletic, vivacious skater while Albright was graceful and elegant. Two contrasting styles, and both became US, World, and Olympic champions.

Linda Fratianne and Annet Poetszch were great rivals, too, as they exchanged World titles between 1977-1979, and they vied for the 1980 Olympic gold medal. We never really got to know Annet that well, perhaps because she seemed to be a quiet person, and she lived and trained in the former East Germany, where the media pretty much avoided.

Elaine Zayak and Rosalyn Sumners were great rivals, too, during the early 1980s. Both vied for US and World titles, and Sumners was in the hunt for the 1984 Olympic gold medal. Zayak was the athletic, super triple-jumper, while Sumners was graceful and powerful.

Debi Thomas and Katarina Witt were fierce rivals for the World title and Olympic gold medal during 1986-1988. They both chose to skate to cuts from "Carmen" for the 1988 Olympic long program. While I doubt if they actually hated each other, their rivalry was so intense - perhaps based upon the huge expectations thrust upon them by their respective countries and skating assocations - that they were hardly friends. I remember that Thomas did not acknowledge Witt on the 1988 Olympic podium - she just skated to the bronze-medal stand, accepted her medal, and did not congratulate Witt. Bad sportsmanship, I thought.

Kristi Yamaguchi and Nancy Kerrigan were friendly rivals during the early 1990s. They were friends and were 1992 Olympic roommates. It was nice to see that they could both train very hard and shoot for Olympic medals, yet still remain close buddies off the ice.

Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. UGH. Need we say more?
This was a rivalry that blew up in their faces. I think it was quite obvious that they were not friends - long before the 1994 knee bashing - and naturally, their "relationship", such as it was, tail-
spinned after Kerrigan was attacked. This was figure skating rivalry at its worst, as far as I'm concerned,

Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski - the artist (Kwan) and the athlete (Lipinski). While they did not appear to be friends, they showed respect for each other, and both of them became better skaters by being pushed by their rival. Kwan was a very gracious silver medalist at Nagano.

Michalle kwan and Irina Slutskaya. In my opinion, this is the essence of a great skating rivalry. Both shooting for the medals, and yet both sharing a nice, friendly relationshp off the ice. Kwan and Slutskaya hug each other back stage, they go out to dinner while they're on tour, and they exchange jokes and laughs.

YOU GO, LADIES!!

Yamaguchi vs. Ito was also wonderful. While not long-lived, it was exciting and unpredictable. I didn't follow skating until after Albertville and was surprised to see that Kristi was by no means considered the front runner for Gold in 1992. Didn't Midori give a spectacular performance at the 1991 Trophy Lalique and convincingly defeat Kristi? Kristi had such a flowing, fluid style and wonderful jumps...but Midori had an explosive quality that could rock an arena! I think that was an incredible rivalry.

Michelle vs. Irina is probably my favorite. They've really pushed each other to put down impressive and memorable skates. And for so many years now! I'm not ready to give this rivalry up yet...I want more! And adding Sasha, Fumie, Elena and others to the mix only makes it incredibly exciting.

Witt and Roz

Michelle and Irina

The Brian's

Plushy and Alexei

G&P vs K&O in ice dance. I wouldn't dare try to spell any of them.

B&S and S&P in pairs

I think it may be BeBe and AP in the near future.