- Joined
- Jun 3, 2008
All is not lost but i can hardly imagine him in blue gold dress doing a spiral that grecefully.:thumbsup: Very nice. All is not lost.
All is not lost but i can hardly imagine him in blue gold dress doing a spiral that grecefully.:thumbsup: Very nice. All is not lost.
All is not lost but i can hardly imagine him in blue gold dress doing a spiral that grecefully.
The whole point of figure skating is blades on ice. Watch her blade work. This is not only art, it is now a lost art. No current skater can come close to Michelle's blade control -- most don't even know that such an art once existed.
I think this the root of her artistry that nobody seems to be able to put their finger on. That "it" factor that people can't seem to define. I think in Michelle's case it all comes done to such good technique. And that's why she was able to be so breathtakingly calm and in control. That was her true genius.
Skaters often look to former skaters as models, and choose them as their favorite. Many choose Michelle, Sasha or Tara. Does anyone know of a skater who chose Sarah as their favorite?
Emily chose Sarah
And who did Michelle model her skating after?
I like that idea, that Michelle is so reliable. The neat thing is that she's also mysterious and profound. Somehow she combines the two poles and becomes more than the sum of those parts. Usually, "reliable" skaters are a bit dull, while artistic skaters have a bit of the head-case about them. It's rare that you find the two traits at their best in one person. I think Peggy Fleming was another one who had both sides to her. She was a poetically beautiful skater, very musical--John Curry skated with her a few times, and he wouldn't choose just anyone as a partner--but she was also a master of school figures. In fact, in the 1968 Olympics, she won partly because of the lead she had built up in school figures. And of course Curry himself was both. He trained like a demon with Gus Lussi on his jumps, so that by 1976, he had technique to back up his artistic vision.
Tonya Harding
janetfan said:
Are you sure you didn't mean Rudy Galindo?
Actually, Tonya Harding was Michelle's idol and role model back when Michelle was a young jumping bean of 11 or 12. There is a famous clip somewhere of Tonya doing a triple Axel in practice right in front of Michelle, and Michelle is going, WOW! (Maybe 1991 Nationals, if Michelle was there as a novice?)
When Michelle started to work with Lori Nichol, Nichol wanted her to look at some tapes of Janet Lynn skating. Michelle's first response was, "Who's Janet Lynn?" (In Christine Brennan's book on Michelle and the 1998 Olympics, that's one of the chapter titles, "Who's Janet Lynn?" to describe that stage in Michelle's journey.)
Anyway, the young Michelle found out who Janet Lynn was (and the rest is history. ) But. yeah, Michelle's first dream was to jump like Tonya Harding and have a spiral like Nicole Bobek.
Tonya Harding was Michelle's idol and role model back when Michelle was a young jumping bean of 11 or 12.
Anyone know who was Michelle's favorite before Tanya.