Best Ladies' Spinner of the 80's and 90's | Golden Skate

Best Ladies' Spinner of the 80's and 90's

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
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Dec 16, 2006
Whom would you consider to be the best spinner (for their time) during the 80's and 90's? I understand that spinning, like jumping, has come a long way. Some who were considered good spinners then may not be considered good spinners now.

I'll start:

Krieg
Ruh

Although Biellmann had crazy positions, and at times, Baiul, did, too, I didn't think they had the speed and centering of these two. And I can't remember any woman from the 80's that had fast, centered spins.
 

blue_idealist

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Feb 25, 2006
Ruh's the best that I've seen. They were like so fast, you could barely even see her. I think she could have placed a little higher under CoP at Worlds because of the spins although she probably wouldn't have medalled still.
 

Layfan

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Nov 5, 2009
Ruh interview on her Guinness record for spinning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpmFcxDl1gg

and here's where Guinness recognizes the record 105 rotations (at the time)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6a-fNfIK9s&feature=related

And here's Lucinda at World Pros
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ_ou7cSY_I&feature=fvwrel

Wow!! And I thought Alissa's spins were amazing. Spins may have come a long way but today's ladies having nothing on Lucinda. That was lovely, thanks for sharing Doris!
 

jatale

On the Ice
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Feb 24, 2011
Lucinda is the greatest spinner in the history of figure skating hands down. There is no contest. In fact, Lucinda spun so fast she fractured her spine and could no longer skate competitively. Now she skates professionally and coaches some younger skaters on spinning technique.
 

skfan

Final Flight
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Jul 29, 2009
are you willing to count those who were amateurs in the 70's but skated in the cheesefests of the 90's? to me of the older generation (older defined as anybody before kadavy/trenary) dorothy hamill had the best of everything. dorothy's spins had great centering and position--not so much position variations or contortions, if you like those things. of course dorothy didn't spin like ruh but she had great posture, great flow, choreography that was not too busy with the flailing arms. i also liked the beautiful spin positions of caryn kadavy (minus that iffy donut spin), but her spins weren't even as fast as dorothy's, much less ruh's.

i remember liking debi thomas' spins and overall skating very much as well.
 

evangeline

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Nov 7, 2007
Although Biellmann had crazy positions, and at times, Baiul, did, too, I didn't think they had the speed and centering of these two. And I can't remember any woman from the 80's that had fast, centered spins.

No way could Baiul be put anywhere near the "best ladies' spinner" category. She had a pretty nice variations in her camel spins (a decent donut, and catchfoot, if I recall correctly) but frankly she recycled the same positions ad nauseum, showing a distinct lack of variation in her spins. Her positions in her death drop and sit spin were frankly mediocre and to be honest, I don't think she's ever displayed sufficient "sit" in her sit spins or even a layback that was properly in position.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
I'm with jatale. No offense to the OP but this thread is pointless! It should have been a Lucinda Ruh thread.

She was a beautiful, gracious skater, too, not just a spinning technician - that World Pros program that Doris posted is exquisite. She will always be remembered by skating fans.
 

Mafke

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Mar 22, 2004
I always thought that Krieg was the faster spinner (my personal favorite) though Ruh had the more interesting positions and was able to showcase her abilities better.
 

kwanatic

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May 19, 2011
My two are Ruh and Krieg. I think Oksana's donut spin became somewhat signature for her and she had nice spins, but she's not in the same category with Ruh and Krieg.

Ruh was freaking amazing! I really like Krieg though, especially this spin. I'd love to see a skater use this spin today. I think Mirai would be a good candidate to do this because she has amazing flexibility in her back which is what this spin requires.

This spin is awesome too.
 

Layfan

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Nov 5, 2009
My two are Ruh and Krieg. I think Oksana's donut spin became somewhat signature for her and she had nice spins, but she's not in the same category with Ruh and Krieg.

Ruh was freaking amazing! I really like Krieg though, especially this spin. I'd love to see a skater use this spin today. I think Mirai would be a good candidate to do this because she has amazing flexibility in her back which is what this spin requires.

This spin is awesome too.

Ouch!! Some of the little Russian ladies could certainly manage those two positions. But I haven't paid attention to whether they are good spinners in terms of speed and centering.
 

A.H.Black

Final Flight
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Feb 1, 2004
I remember sitting in the stands for practice at the Oakland 1992 Worlds. I had not seen Krieg nor was I aware of her. When her group came out on the ice, the first move she did was a "simple" scratch spin. It went on and on for easily 10-15 seconds - an eternity for a scratch spin - then she stuck her pick down and stopped on a dime. Amazing. I have always wanted to see that spin again - from her or from anyone. It's not just a matter of the new scoring system. It has always been rare to find someone who can really do a scratch spin.
 

pangtongfan

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Jun 16, 2010
I always prefered Kreig as a spinner to Ruh. She had many more positions in her spins I thought, and I liked every other aspect atleast as much.

Anyway after the obvious 3 best of Kreig, Ruh, and Denise Biellmann I would say:

80s- Elizabeth Manley had great spins, probably the best of all the top skaters of the 84-88 period. Kay Thomson had outstanding spins, probably even better than Manley, and the best of the 80s after Biellmann. Tiffany Chin had some excellent spins. Elaine Zayak by 84 had developed into a very good spinner. Debi Thomas had very strong spins as well. A young Midori Ito also had very good spins, better than when she got older. Kadavy was a better spinner as a pro than as an amateur.

90s- Irina Slutskaya was a very strong spinner, probably the best of the top skaters (Ruh was never a top amateur skater) of the Kwan-Lipinski generation. Yamaguchi was quite a good spinner. Harding had very good spins as well. Kwan, Lipinski, Butyrskaya, Gusmeroli were all decent. Nikidinov had a beautiful layback and was quite a strong spinner. Kwiatkowski had strong spins. Bonaly was considered a strong spinner in her prime.
 

gkelly

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Jul 26, 2003
I'd put Krieg and Ruh in a class by themselves, with maybe a slight edge to Krieg.

Others from that era who haven't been mentioned yet:
Kay Thomson
Jeri Campbell
Joanna Ng (had much of a senior career)
Yulia Vorobieva

Ann Patrice McDonough and Naomi Nari Nam were also quite strong spinners at young ages, not quite as fast when they finished growing (i.e., post 2000 anyway).
 

Jammers

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Nov 4, 2010
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Its sad watching Tonya when she was younger having all that potential and then just wasting it like she did. She was probably actually more artistic when she was younger too. Those spins were quite good but she never kept really improving as she should have. Not with the talent that she had.
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
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Dec 16, 2006
Its sad watching Tonya when she was younger having all that potential and then just wasting it like she did. She was probably actually more artistic when she was younger too. Those spins were quite good but she never kept really improving as she should have. Not with the talent that she had.

I wish USFS had encouraged Tonya to leave Portland and move to another coach, not because Diane and Dody were bad coaches, but it would've gotten her away from that environment. Of course there was the $$ issue, but there are scholarships and sponsors available. And from what her previous coaches had said, it's not that Tonya was hard to work with, it's that her mother and her first husband often got in the way.

With that said, Tonya was an amazing spinner for her time. The early nineties didn't have many good spinners.
 
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