Originally Posted by
princess9
I enjoy your posts, mostly Prettykeys. Thanks for your opinions. I don't "adore" Michelle. I'm rather objective. But she has had such stellar, moving skates. Actually, I prefer the balletic style of Sasha. But Sasha was no great competitor. I just cannot make a case for any other skater to do what Michelle did for 10 years. As a fan you must know how extraordinary it was. Yes, she was the crowd and insider fave. Some folks said she did not deserve all that. But it's pretty groundless, don't you think, Prettykeys? Love your avatar as that is a real smile on YuNa's face, BTW. Tara won in Nagano because she did two triple/triples and the most difficult one. Michelle skated earlier and the judges left room. Some think Chen Lu was far more exquisite. You may disagree but Tara was an incredible skater and very mature and polished. She was no flash in the pan. She had reasons for going pro and good ones. So did Sarah, yet they get bashed for not having the longevity of Kwan.
Sarah technically skated lights out and with great joy/freedom. She was very good for 16 though we never saw her mature as a skater. Her body was changing quite a bit still. It was very close in Nagano. Not close at all in SLC. Michelle fell. I don't think it would have mattered a bit if Carroll was there as MK said she felt she had gone as far as she could with him and implied she had learned all he could teach her. Was she arrogant to think she could win without a coach?? Not at all. She was a very experienced, very decorated compeitor at 21 in her second Olympics. Something else happened that we might never know. Doubtless someone here has an idea but I don't. Some say it was money issues. Michelle was wise not to just get any old coach to stand by the boards. She loves and trusts her dad. Makes sense to me Later on she went to Artunian as she knew she needed a jump coach. Her presentation/style was fixed and as matured as it would ever be long before Salt Lake. There are those who bashed Tara Lipinski to bits and Sarah for having the gaul to take away Michelle's gold. I saw an interview where Flemming says she was devastated Michelle lost to Tara and called her a "showoff." This was a private interview, not during her commentary, but still, it shows how Michelle was loved inside the community. It surprised me. The comment, I mean coming from PC Peggy.
I think you can feel or believe whatever, it's who you enjoy that matters most, and for any reason. That's valid. But if you watch Lyra Angelica at US Nastionals 98 and her Olympic performance of it, I think you might see a masterpiece. I do think if everyone is kissing your tuckus and saying that you are perfect, you won't improve. As Doris the mod said in another thread, no skater is above criticism. I don't have a great emotional attachment to Michelle and sometimes I felt she got the reputation mark. I don't have a great emotional attachment to any skater, but after so many years, so many amazing performances, I have to say Michelle had something, well several things no one else has. When she competed, MK forum was very big and active and her fans were legion on the net. Now it is YuNa for different reasons.
There is little doubt in my mind that had she won Nagano, she might have gone directly to college. It was her lack of that Gold Oly medal that kept her in, Having been beaten twice in the Olympics, she wanted to have more national titles and world titles. Michelle LOVED to compete. YuNa finds it stressful said she and likes show skating. There is the big difference. Kwan is like Yagudin and Plushenko. They loved to compete and want to win so badly. With the changes in the sport, we may see better jumper, better footwork, better dancers in singles , but Kwan had a little of everything and was a born competitor.
Kim is a softer lady, I think without the killer instinct that Tara, Sarah and Michelle displayed. She is a shyer person and I smile when I see her say she wants to eat and have a normal life. With the demands of CoP I don't think we will see anyone stay in competition for 10 years. It is just too difficult. And why bother if you already have the major medals? If Kwan had an equal in dominance in the modern era I guess it would be Plushenko. There simply are no females. Yes, 6.0 skaters. Did they have it easier? No, look at the jump requirements that won 10 years ago. Did Michelle get a big ego, i.e. believe her own hype? I don't know. I would say she is very, very confident but not arrogant. As far as feedback, Danny Kwan is one very knowledgeable guy re FS and a Michelle expert. She also had feedback I heard froom Karen Kwan and Peter Oppegard. Her parents kept her very grounded and MK was always saying, "this is just a sport, not brain surgery." Michelle performed well. She was prepared in SLC. It's still ice. Two others outskated her. Who knows, maybe she would have been worse with Frank there. There was tension between them. I can tell you one reason I heard at the time, was that Michelle felt Frank did not push her on her 3x3 as she usually won with a 3x2 with a clean performance. As Slutskaya matured and got better second marks, Michelle would lose to her based on the jumps and speed. There was a time when Irina beat her six out of eight meets. There were only 3 skaters who could beat her in a decade. All pushed the jumps.
Had Michelle a 3x3 as consistent/difficult as Kim's, no one could touch her. Michelle who came into the sport as a jumping bean child got her beautiful finesse from Lori and Frank. I hope when she writes her autobiography she gives them the credit they deserve.
). If artistry is painting images on the ice, I think Lu Chen did it just a little bit better. However, from what I can tell, Kwan has so far been the most transcendental skater. She didn't do it all the time, even when she won, but at her best she transcended the skating and the competition itself. It's something I wish YuNa had been able to do (and sometimes she looked so close to reaching that point; I fear that YuNa may give up skating competitively too soon); it's something I hope to see Mao achieve one day.
That, and her 1996 Worlds SP Romanza are my two fav programs she's done, I think.
Bookmarks