The Bridesmaid Syndrome

For every skater who becomes a champion, there are always a group of skaters who have to vie for the silver and bronze medals, and sometimes just finishing in the top ten. These skaters - very talented - have to contend with skating in the shadows of the ones who win the titles. It has to be frustrating, to say the least!

A partial list of the "bridesmaids" of the figure skating world could include:

US Women:
Tina Noyes - longtime runner-up to Peggy Fleming.

Julie Lynn Holmes - longtime runner-up (at Nationals) to Janet Lynn. (Although Holmes did outskate Lynn at the Worlds, winning silver and bronze medals).

Wendy Burge - runner-up to Dorothy Hamill.

Lisa-Marie Allen and Carrie Rugh - runners-up to Linda Fratianne.

Priscilla Hill - runner-up to Elaine Zayak.

Tiffany Chin - runner-up to Elaine Zayak and Rosalyn Sumners.

Tonia Kwiatkowski - runner-up to Michelle Kwan, Tara Lapinski, Nicole Bobek. Tonia competed at Nationals for a decade and never won the title, although the did win silver and bronze medals.

Nicole Bobek - runner-up to Michelle Kwan and Tara Lapinski. Nicole did win the US title in 1995.

Angela Nikodinov - runner-up to Michelle Kwan, Tara Lapinski, and Sarah Hughes. Angela perpetually finished in fourth or fifth place, always just missing the World and/or Olympic teams.

US Men:

David Santee - runner-up to Charlie Tickner and Scott Hamilton. David won the US silver medal and the World silver medal, but never the gold medal.

Scott Cramer - runner-up to Scott Hamilton.

Paul Wylie -- runner-up to Brian Boitano and Christopher Bowman. Paul won US silver and bronze medals, and he gained great acclaim (well deserved!!) with his 1992 Olympic silver medal.

The list can be very long.....what about pairs and ice dance?

You only need to get married once, eventually, right? Brian Orser was mostly a bridesmaid internationally with a string of Silvers, so was Patrick Chan before he claimed the Worlds crown. Nobunari Oda was the ultimate maid of honour last season, coming in second no matter how he skated, and then fell from the bridesmaid lineup at the last and most important event.

SkateFiguring said:

You only need to get married once, eventually, right? Brian Orser was mostly a bridesmaid internationally with a string of Silvers, so was Patrick Chan before he claimed the Worlds crown. Nobunari Oda was the ultimate maid of honour last season, coming in second no matter how he skated, and then fell from the bridesmaid lineup at the last and most important event.

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Absolutely, Brian Orser was the perpetual "bridesmaid" - with a slew of World silver medals and two Olympic silver medals. He won seven (I think) Canadian championships and was always a force at international competitions - just not the winner in most of them.

Elvis Stokjo was another bridesmaid, although he won a number of Canadian titles and one World title. He also won two Olympic silver medals. I still think he should have won in 1994 with his great "Karate Kid" program, but that's my opinion, of course.

Ladies- Surya Bonaly, Liz Manley
Men- Dan Hollander
Dance- Annenko/Sretenski
Pairs- Bechke/Petrov

I forgot to mention Nancy Kerrigan, who competed in the shadows of Jill Trenary, Debi Thomas, Tonya Harding (yikes), and Kristin Yamaguchi. Nancy won a full slate of medals at Nationals, and silver and bronze World and Olympic medals, but not the gold medal.

Too bad about Bonaly- couldn't even win over Yuka Sato!

I might argue that the ultimate maiden of honour was Sasha Cohen.

I was waiting for someone to say that. : (

silverpond said:

Tiffany Chin - runner-up to Elaine Zayak and Rosalyn Sumners...

Angela Nikodinov - runner-up to Michelle Kwan, Tara Lapinski, and Sarah Hughes. Angela perpetually finished in fourth or fifth place, always just missing the World and/or Olympic teams.

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To be accurate, Chin did win one national title in 1985. Also Nikodinov did not always finish 4th or 5th. She made it to Worlds three straight years and was third at Nationals twice (99, 01) in an incredibly deep era where the women who usually finished ahead of her won five Olympic medals 11 national titles and 6 world titles. She also won 4CC once.

silverpond said:

Absolutely, Brian Orser was the perpetual "bridesmaid" - with a slew of World silver medals and two Olympic silver medals. He won seven (I think) Canadian championships and was always a force at international competitions - just not the winner in most of them.

Elvis Stokjo was another bridesmaid, although he won a number of Canadian titles and one World title. He also won two Olympic silver medals. I still think he should have won in 1994 with his great "Karate Kid" program, but that's my opinion, of course.

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Elvis Stojko was not as much of a competitive bridesmaid as Orser (though not as good a skater). He won three world titles (1994, 1995, 1997), not one.

I would add Robert Wagenhoffer to the list. of US men at Nationals. Also, Mark Mitchell, who fell victim to medical byes to worlds/Olympics for higher ranked skaters more than once.

In dance,



In the old days, dance had a "wait your turn" structure, so that many top teams had a long stretch as the bridesmaid. I can only think of 2 teams that were really bridesmaidy:

Bourne and Kraatz, who were bridesmaids for years and years, and finally won their World Championship.


Usova & Zhulin who were bridesmaids to Klimova & Ponamarenko, were World Champions one year, and then were leapfrogged by Grishuk & Platov.

You could say Annenko & Sretensky were bridesmaids, but they never made it to maid of honor status.

blue dog said:

I might argue that the ultimate maiden of honour was Sasha Cohen.

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I suppose Kwan was the bride then?

Kwan-the bride who was jilted twice at the altar. In the first case, the groom ran away with Lipinski, in the second with Hughes

^
Maybe Kwan will finally run away with Richard Gere?

jcoates said:

Elvis Stojko was not as much of a competitive bridesmaid as Orser (though not as good a skater). He won three world titles (1994, 1995, 1997), not one.

I would add Robert Wagenhoffer to the list. of US men at Nationals. Also, Mark Mitchell, who fell victim to medical byes to worlds/Olympics for higher ranked skaters more than once.

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Right, Robert Wagenhoffer was a bridesmaid. And thanks for adding Mark Mitchell, who really did fall victim to medical byes at the 1992 season. Todd Eldredge was the defending US champion and World bronze medalist and had a back injury going into the 1992 season, and he was given a bye to the Olympic team, which left Mitchell off the team. Many thought Mitchell should have been named to the team instead of Paul Wylie, but that proved to be a good decision, if you take into account the great competition Wylie had that won him the silver medal.

Yes, Tiffany Chin won the 1985 US title and two World bronze medals. She still competed in the shadows of Debi Thomas the Jill Trenary.

Thanks for the clarification concerning Angela Nikodinov's record. Glad to hear she did make it to the Worlds! However, she still competed in the shadows of her compatriots.

Mark was also dumped in 1990 when he finished 3rd at Nationals, but lost his spot to Bowman who also had an injured back. Bowman justified that decision by medaling in Halifax. Eldredge fell on his 2A in the SP in Albertville and never recovered. When Mitchell finally got his chance to go to Worlds in 1992 as part of a compromise deal (He got Worlds, Wylie got the Olympics, Eldredge got both), he skated very well and was the top American finisher in 5th. He was 2nd in the SP the next year in Prague but fell to 4th and retired.

Also, Angela finished 5th in 2001 at Worlds with a brilliant showing behind four women who won 5 Olympic medals and 8 World championships. I really believe she would have ranked far higher in skating history had she skated in a different era.

How can we forget Sasha Cohen, almost always (nationally at least) in the shadow of Michelle Kwan.

Edited to say:
Blue Dog has already mentioned Sasha!

How about Yukari Nakano in Japan?

silverpond said:

For every skater who becomes a champion, there are always a group of skaters who have to vie for the silver and bronze medals, and sometimes just finishing in the top ten. These skaters - very talented - have to contend with skating in the shadows of the ones who win the titles. It has to be frustrating, to say the least!

A partial list of the "bridesmaids" of the figure skating world could include:

US Women:
Tina Noyes - longtime runner-up to Peggy Fleming.

Julie Lynn Holmes - longtime runner-up (at Nationals) to Janet Lynn. (Although Holmes did outskate Lynn at the Worlds, winning silver and bronze medals).

Wendy Burge - runner-up to Dorothy Hamill.

Lisa-Marie Allen and Carrie Rugh - runners-up to Linda Fratianne.

Priscilla Hill - runner-up to Elaine Zayak.

Tiffany Chin - runner-up to Elaine Zayak and Rosalyn Sumners.

Tonia Kwiatkowski - runner-up to Michelle Kwan, Tara Lapinski, Nicole Bobek. Tonia competed at Nationals for a decade and never won the title, although the did win silver and bronze medals.

Nicole Bobek - runner-up to Michelle Kwan and Tara Lapinski. Nicole did win the US title in 1995.

Angela Nikodinov - runner-up to Michelle Kwan, Tara Lapinski, and Sarah Hughes. Angela perpetually finished in fourth or fifth place, always just missing the World and/or Olympic teams.

US Men:

David Santee - runner-up to Charlie Tickner and Scott Hamilton. David won the US silver medal and the World silver medal, but never the gold medal.

Scott Cramer - runner-up to Scott Hamilton.

Paul Wylie -- runner-up to Brian Boitano and Christopher Bowman. Paul won US silver and bronze medals, and he gained great acclaim (well deserved!!) with his 1992 Olympic silver medal.

The list can be very long.....what about pairs and ice dance?

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I am sorry but most of those choices are redunant.

Tonia Kwiatkowski. She was only 2nd at Nationals once. Nobody ever seriously imagined her ever winning Nationals either.

Paul Wylie. Paul only came 2nd at Nationals twice, to Boitano in 88 and Eldredge in 90, and the only year he could have conceivably won was 1990. He had the ability to win a Nationals but most years he was so erratic he never even came close and often controversially snuck onto 3 man teams by the skin of his teeth.

Scott Cramer was never 2nd to Scott Hamilton at Nationals. Twice he was 2nd to Charlie Tickner, and he never qualified for an Olympic team.

Tiffany Chin did win Nationals in 1985.

Priscilla Hill. She was 2nd at Nationals only once and she was never someone people thought could win Nationals.

Nicole Bobek. She was never even 2nd at Nationals. Won U.S title in 1995, then was never close to winning it again. What is the point of listing her exactly.


Tina Noyes, Lisa Marie Allen, Julie Lynn Holmes, Sarah Hughes, Sasha Cohen (despite winning the Kwan-less title in 2006), are the best choices for women.

Here are some that come to mind:

Lu Chen- the bronze medal Queen at the World and Olympic medal. One controversial silver where many felt she should have beaten Michelle Kwan. Only 1 World title. Was an underappreciated skater who was often overlooked in favor of flashier names from stronger federations like Baiul, Kerrigan, Kwan, Lipinski, and Bonaly. Many also felt she could have been placed higher than 3rd at all of 92 Worlds, 93 Worlds, and 94 Olympics.

Surya Bonaly- just missed World title three times and Olympic medal twice.

Nancy Kerrigan- sort of I guess as she was 2nd and 3rd at the Olympics and 2nd and 3rd at Worlds. Really though her failure to win an Olympic and World title is all her own doing, except for the 94 Olympics where she was clearly robbed. The other times she self destructed, and often still won silver or bronze. Would have won the 94 Worlds easily if she went.

Elizabeth Manley- controversial runner up to Witt at both 88 Olympics and 88 Worlds. Many felt she deserved to win both events.

Gaby Seyfert- runner up to Peggy Fleming at 3 Worlds and Olympics. Won 69 and 70 Worlds, but early retirement prevented her from the Olympic Gold in 72 most everyone figured her to win.



Todd Eldredge- did win a World title but was in the shadow of Elvis Stojko and the Russian men. Was 2nd at Worlds 3 times, 3rd 2 times, and never won an Olympic medal. Elvis and the Russians prevented him from winning more World titles or an Olympic medal.

Brian Orser- the ultimate choice. 2nd at the Olympics or Worlds 6 times. Lost gold due to figures on most occasions.

Timothy Goebel- 2nd at Worlds to legends Yagudin and Plushenko, and 3rd behind both at the Olympics. Career was all but ended prematurely due to injuries.



Dance:

Usova & Zhulin- the ultimate bridesmaids in dance. 2nd at Worlds in 1989, 3rd at Worlds in 1990, a crazy 3rd at Worlds in 1991 despite leading after the CD and OP and having 4 1st place ordinals in the free dance, 3rd at the 92 Olympics, and 2nd at the 94 Olympics by .1 of a point. Skated in shadows of Klimova & Ponomarenko for years, in shadow of K&P and Duchensays rivalry in the early 90s, in the shadow of Torvill & Dean's return in 94, then in the shadow of Gritschuk & Platov who beat them at both the Europeans and Olympics that year. Did thankfully win one Worlds and Europeans in 1993.


Pairs:

Selezneva & Makarov- 3rd at 84 Olympics, 4th at 84 Worlds, 2nd at 85 Worlds, 4th at 86 and 87 Worlds, 4th at 88 Olympics, 3rd at 88 Worlds, 4th at 1990 Worlds. Never won a major title as they were caught in between the Valova & Vasiliev and Gordeeva & Grinkov eras in Russia.

Zhangs- 2nd at 2006 Olympics, 2nd at 2006 Worlds, 2nd at 2008 and 2009 Worlds. Were once thought of as the heir apparents and the future of pairs skating, now almost certain to retire without a major title.

pangtongfan said:

Paul Wylie. Paul only came 2nd at Nationals twice, to Boitano in 88 and Eldredge in 90, and the only year he could have conceivably won was 1990. He had the ability to win a Nationals but most years he was so erratic he never even came close and often controversially snuck onto 3 man teams by the skin of his teeth.

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Paul also was second in 1992.