Abbott is USA Today's Athlete of the Week! | Golden Skate

Abbott is USA Today's Athlete of the Week!

Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Great for Jeremy, and he's the first American to win the GPF. That doesn't say much for the male American skaters for the past - how many years is the GP in action?
 

Sylvia

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
ISU Grand Prix Final Men's Champions to date:
2008-2009: Jeremy Abbott USA
2007-2008: Stephane Lambiel SUI
2006-2007: Brian Joubert FRA
2005-2006: Stephane Lambiel SUI
2004-2005: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
2003-2004: Emanuel Sandhu CAN
2002-2003: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
2001-2002: Alexei Yagudin RUS
2000-2001: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
1999-2000: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
1998-1999: Alexei Yagudin RUS (first season it was renamed the "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating")
1997-1998: Ilia Kulik RUS
1996-1997: Elvis Stojko CAN
1995-1996: Alexei Urmanov RUS (called the "ISU Champions Series" in its first season)
 

zephyrskates

On the Ice
Joined
May 2, 2007
ISU Grand Prix Final Men's Champions to date:
2008-2009: Jeremy Abbott USA
2007-2008: Stephane Lambiel SUI
2006-2007: Brian Joubert FRA
2005-2006: Stephane Lambiel SUI
2004-2005: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
2003-2004: Emanuel Sandhu CAN
2002-2003: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
2001-2002: Alexei Yagudin RUS
2000-2001: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
1999-2000: Evgeni Plushenko RUS
1998-1999: Alexei Yagudin RUS (first season it was renamed the "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating")
1997-1998: Ilia Kulik RUS
1996-1997: Elvis Stojko CAN
1995-1996: Alexei Urmanov RUS (called the "ISU Champions Series" in its first season)
He's in wonderful company. :)(Hi Sandhu!)
 

yelyoh

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Ha ha. Who said FSing is dead. Good for Jeremy. I've really liked him since last year when his LP was my favorite of all of the men. Nicer also that at Nationals this will switch the focus away from the so-called Johnny/Evan rivalry. At least I hope so.
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
This is fantastic. Where is Phil Hersh now?

^ Phil is busy drafting a grumpy article about the US ladies. :laugh:
Hersh's latest column, Abbott wins, skating loses, Chicago keeps word (and seven other things I know) is online, and addresses three points related to figure skating: he credits Abbott for doing so well at GPF, and in a season that has the judges really cracking down on errors; he refers to the injury/illness bug that has led to B/A, DelSchoe and Joubert being sidelined; and he criticizes Speedy and the ISU for not being concerned that "the new judging system has overtaxed skaters' bodies to the point that they either retire prematurely, like Switzerland's Stephane Lambiel and Canada's Jeffrey Buttle, or miss competitions with one injury after another."

Nothing on the US ladies, and IMO all three points are appropriate under the circumstances.
 
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Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
didn't Stephane's injuries happen BEFORE the CoP was mainstreamed?
You are correct. But people always need a scapegoat. Lambiel suffered from knee problems for a long long time and people suspect that his way of training spins could have been one of the contributing factors.

Hersh also seems to forget that Buttle retired at the age of 25 after a long career - loads of guys retire at that age, before and after COP. Plus Buttle wasn't suffering from any massive injuries at that point as far as we know.

Hersh also seems to forget that Yagudin retired at 22, without COP. Abt suffered from countless injuries - without COP. Kwan suffered from injuries without COP. Baiul, Lipinski and Hughes all retired before officially coming of age.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Browning also seemed to have some pretty big injuries when he was competing... granted he was one of the more 'technical' skaters... but still... I think you can list just as many BIG INJURIES in 6.0 skaters who didn't touch the CoP.

And Jeff retired on a high note. You can't fault him for that. He's not the first skater to "take the gold and run" worlds or olympics. There's nothing wrong with that.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Setting aside who or what is to blame for sports injuries, I think Hersh's criticism of the ISU is valid. The ISU seems to have little concern for this problem or interest in addressing it. Stuff happens, too bad, you knew the world was a dangerous place when you signed up.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
but clubs do that on their own... why should it just be the ISU's responsibility?
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
A while ago there was a discussion of whether CoP was contributing to injuries, and someone suggested that the emphasis on flexibility and positions might lead to injuries specifically related to that. Obviously jumping and landing on a blade is not something the human body is designed to do over time; but where I do think CoP is problematic is that skaters no longer have any time for a breather during their programs - they always have to put in something or their score will drop - and in overemphasizing flexibility.

I guess most of the injuries pre-CoP were related to jumps, whether repetitive stress injuries (e.g. Yagudin, I imagine, or Lambiel) or injuries caused by falls and bad landings (didn't Alexander Abt had a really awful injury from a fall?). Now skaters are still getting those type of injuries but I'm fairly certain there are also injuries from the strain of training for all that high-felixibility stuff, which can make the accumulated damage to a skater's body even worse.

Just thinking out loud, and totally OT for the actual subject of the thread, I wonder if it might not be better to do away completely with steps and spins levels and differentiate the skaters based on execution, by increasing the value of GOEs for these elements.
 
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