Olympic prospects for Davis and White

Judging by this seasons results thus far, it seems Davis and White are major medal contenders (perhaps even Gold!) for Vancouver. But I am just wondering, if they do win a medal at the Olympics, would they be the first skaters to win an Olympic medal BEFORE they have won a Worlds medal of any colour? I can't think of any other team or skater to have done so. Does anyone think a lack of Worlds medal will hurt their chances come Olympics?

berrycute said:

Judging by this seasons results thus far, it seems Davis and White are major medal contenders (perhaps even Gold!) for Vancouver. But I am just wondering, if they do win a medal at the Olympics, would they be the first skaters to win an Olympic medal BEFORE they have won a Worlds medal of any colour? I can't think of any other team or skater to have done so. Does anyone think a lack of Worlds medal will hurt their chances come Olympics?

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Klimova & Ponomorenko in 1984. Their first major competition was the Sarajevo Olympics. They won the Bronze over Blumberg & Seibert of the US. K/P won their first World medal (Silver) in 1985.

I don't think it will hurt their chances at all. They only missed the podium last year by .04 of a point. Plus their other results are stellar. Gold in every event this season, and actually they have won Gold at every competition they've been in (except for Worlds 09) since Nationals last year. Pretty great record. And with their scores this season, they are definitely contenders.

I don't feel that great about their chances to win, but I've been wrong before. I'd personally be pleased with a top 5 finish, hopefully top 4. I just don't think their POTO is the right vehicle for an Olympic win. Their OD, OTOH, is absolutely fantastic IMO and if they skate it perfectly I hope they get the marks (I hope everyone is marked fairly as well). I'd love to see them win the OD; I just don't see them winning overall.

They're still very young and I'd love to see them continue on to Sochi, and I think there is a better chance of that if they don't medal/win here. But in Sochi we will see a much better D/W; they have a lot going for them IMO but they could be even better, and that would be a real treat!

Klimova and Ponomarenko actually won bronze at Euros just before 84 Olys. There used to be a vid on youtube of the from the fall of 81 or 82 at the Ennia Cup. Marina had to be around 14 or 15 at the time. Even then, she looked like a grown woman and was perfectly matched to Sergei. They were extraordinary, but the Soviets were flush with talent including multiple Olympic and world medalists at the time. So the only appeared sporadically until 84.