:yay::yay:
See - just when I think I've gotten to a place of complete maturity and objective review, you start trouble... every. single. time.
I tried. I failed. Michelle Kwan is the best figure skater of all time and everybody wants to be her when they grow up. Period. (Blades - you broke me. Are you happy now?)
Yuna hooked me with this performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjdMwMvd35g
"Mind-boggling" is the call from the Euro announcers
I was going to say whoever saw such skating from a 16 year old?
Michelle was already great at 15 - but I really don't need to compare them because both are not only great but also special to me.
Different skaters have different strengths and although I am not necessarily as jump oriented as many posters here - the 3x3 is simply "mind-boggling."
Sometimes I wish Yuna would start to perform the "Roxanne" again because her skating is more refined now. But I am not sure if she could match the the feelings she expressed the same way.... I dunno, something about seeing a 16 year old skating so well is more than enough for me.
I won't go into various explanations as to why, but I will say that head-to-head with age matching, Michelle was a more "complete" skater than YuNa, but YuNa has my heart.Its difficult to compare the two in objective kinda way because they are from different eras and compete under very different rules... but since both are the greatest of their "generation" and it would've been cool to see a 19 year old Kwan go head to head against a 19 year old Kim.
Yes, I agree that Michelle and her team would have changed their programs to make CoP-friendly programs that would've succeeded, but I think it is unfair and non-objective to not say YuNa and her team would have done the same if they had competed under the ordinal system. I repeat, time and again, YuNa continued practicing her triple Loop even this past season when she didn't have it in either SP or LP (there is a clip of her doing it beautifully), and with her rigorous standards and strong technique, I am almost certain that if there was a stronger push/need to do it, she could have practiced it more and done it fine; ESPECIALLY given that 6.0 was less demanding of the busy-ness that her CoP programs have.At 19, I'm sure Michelle would've had a similar approach used by Team Yuna in squeezing out each and every point - but we would've missed out on that sick COE spiral gliding across the ice. Under the ordinal system, we'd missed Yuna's greatness altogether because she doesn't have a complete set of triples, which would've killed her. Also, she probably would've suffered by the inability of S. Korea to effectively lobby for her witin the ISU.
I suggest stop trying to compare the two and just worship each for the talent and passion they bring to the ice.
Michelle is still my favorite. I think I've retired that trophy. But I'm happy with the skaters we have now, and that's a great thing. Now, if only we could get more skating shown on TV....
I won't go into various explanations as to why, but I will say that head-to-head with age matching, Michelle was a more "complete" skater than YuNa, but YuNa has my heart.
Yes, I agree that Michelle and her team would have changed their programs to make CoP-friendly programs that would've succeeded, but I think it is unfair and non-objective to not say YuNa and her team would have done the same if they had competed under the ordinal system. I repeat, time and again, YuNa continued practicing her triple Loop even this past season when she didn't have it in either SP or LP (there is a clip of her doing it beautifully), and with her rigorous standards and strong technique, I am almost certain that if there was a stronger push/need to do it, she could have practiced it more and done it fine; ESPECIALLY given that 6.0 was less demanding of the busy-ness that her CoP programs have.
I echo Blades of Passion when he says that YuNa may also be stifled under the rigidity of CoP, while Michelle was able to take advantage of the greater freedom that 6.0 granted.
[/B] Perhaps this is correct in a way but Kwan has 10 years of great skates and several masterpeices. Kim is not, IMO in her league. Sorry, I see she is someone you adore. I find her very appealing as a person but overscored. Her three "wow factors" per Kwan are speed, ice coverage and her "humongous" per Kwan 3x3's. I still am waiting for her deficits to be corrected. Given her win at Oly's and her 23 point win, no one on her team is going to push her. And she does not seem like she will be in much longer. If we have seen her best eligible skating, and I think her Oly's were her best ever skates, then she is far from the Kwan medal count and I find only Bond and Gershwin to be near Michelle's artistry. Michelle never bombed at Worlds like that. She was the most reliable, consistent skater. Ever. And completely elegant while doing 7 triples. No offense to you or her adorers. If she wins most of the next four years and perfects her positions then she is arguably the best in history. But I highly doubt she could do this or will even try.
[/B] Perhaps this is correct in a way but Kwan has 10 years of great skates and several masterpeices. Kim is not, IMO in her league. Sorry, I see she is someone you adore. I find her very appealing as a person but overscored. Her three "wow factors" per Kwan are speed, ice coverage and her "humongous" per Kwan 3x3's. I still am waiting for her deficits to be corrected. Given her win at Oly's and her 23 point win, no one on her team is going to push her. And she does not seem like she will be in much longer. If we have seen her best eligible skating, and I think her Oly's were her best ever skates, then she is far from the Kwan medal count and I find only Bond and Gershwin to be near Michelle's artistry. Michelle never bombed at Worlds like that. She was the most reliable, consistent skater. Ever. And completely elegant while doing 7 triples. No offense to you or her adorers. If she wins most of the next four years and perfects her positions then she is arguably the best in history. But I highly doubt she could do this or will even try.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Michelle had won the gold in Nagano. Maybe she would have struggled to find the motivation to continue, like Yuna did at worlds. And then she wouldn't have gone on to win four more world titles and seven more national titles. She would not really be Michelle as we think of her today.
It's true Yuna messed up at worlds. (although I think most skaters in the world would be thrilled to "bomb" their way to a world silver medal.) But Michelle was never in Yuna's position, never having competed at worlds after winning a OGM. I admire Yuna just for going - the first lady Olympic Champion to do so since Kristi Yamaguchi.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Michelle had won the gold in Nagano. Maybe she would have struggled to find the motivation to continue, like Yuna did at worlds. And then she wouldn't have gone on to win four more world titles and seven more national titles. She would not really be Michelle as we think of her today.
It's true Yuna messed up at worlds. (although I think most skaters in the world would be thrilled to "bomb" their way to a world silver medal.) But Michelle was never in Yuna's position, never having competed at worlds after winning a OGM. I admire Yuna just for going - the first lady Olympic Champion to do so since Kristi Yamaguchi.
No, it was a fractured toe that hampered her training leading up to the Olympics that blocked Michelle from pushing herself. She had to rearrange jumps to land what she did and that left out the 3t/3t because the toe jump caused the most pain. Had Michelle been able to do a 3t/3t in that same exact so-called "reserved" skate, or had she either not fallen or landed the 3t/3t in 2002, I have no doubt she'd be an OGM.prettykeys said:could say it was Michelle's and her team's belief in her own hype that blocked her from pushing herself just a little bit more in order to win definitively over Tara Lipinski in 1998
I do believe had Michelle grown up under COP like Yu-Na did, she would've had a more consistent/difficult 3/3. As it was, in her day, 7 triple LPs were considered ideal and Michelle was able to achieve that. I have no doubt Yu-Na would've excelled under 6.0 as well and I bet we would've seen a more in depth artistic side to her skating, if she was given the freedom 6.0 allowed. And I do believe Michelle would've had great success under COP, just not the longevity.princess9 said:Had Michelle a 3x3 as consistent/difficult as Kim's, no one could touch her.
MKFSfan, which performances of MK had her sucessfully completing the 3t/3t?