GS Olympians

If you are lucky enough to have been to an Olympics, what would be the most amazing moment you witnessed in figure skating on or off the competition ice?

Also, are there other thrilling moments you could share from An Olympic/World Championship that might not be skating related.

I know some here have been to Olympics, or at least I'm guessing. What was the thrilling experiences you could share with us tv viewers?

Anyone ever get close enough to Kiss and Cry to hear some amazing chatter? What does it feel like to be in an Olympic skating venue, I can only dream...:think::think:

Oh, man, I hope some people are able to answer. What a wonderful question. The closest I've gotten to the Olympics is a T-shirt and a pin, and I'm thrilled to have those. (From Salt Lake; the blue and orange color scheme is lovely.)

Olympia said:

Oh, man, I hope some people are able to answer. What a wonderful question. The closest I've gotten to the Olympics is a T-shirt and a pin, and I'm thrilled to have those. (From Salt Lake; the blue and orange color scheme is lovely.)

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All you miss is an "n" to be an Olympian.

cute Skatefiguring, just an "n" and Olympia can go to Sochi! I will buy her the n. Bon Voyage, LOL.

Man, what a grand thought! Let's all go.

Just some highlights:
1988 Calgary - Battle of the Brians, Battle of the Carmen's G&G's first gold medal. I froze at Opening Ceremonies and had to go into the women's restroom every hour to keep warm.

1992 Albertville. My first OWG working for TV. Had my own apartment and car. My job was to watch all practices, pre interview skaters/coaches and do element sheets for TV. Highlights include Kristi vs. Midori. I sat with Kurt Browning at one practice to watch Ito
tack on a triple toe loop to every single triple or double jump - even the triple Axel. Kurt said she could enter men's event and probably win. Paul Wylie's silver medal performance, Mishkutenok & Dmitriev's gold medal performance, the entire dance event with Klimova/Ponomarenko, Duchesnays and Usova/Zhulin.

1994 Lillehammer - Still working for TV. Had to share 3 bedroom digs with TV crew who played loud music all night long. Got zero sleep.
Everything cold, even coffee. Northern lights lovely. This was Kerrigan/Harding OWG, so press was oppressive - couldn't even find a seat in smaller practice rink. Highlights - return of G&G and Mishkutenok/Dmitriev, Torvill & Dean's rhumba. Baiul/Kerrigan Long Program.

1998 Nagano - Last OWG working for TV. Stayed an hour away from venue. Little English spoken here. Smell of sushi in elevator in the early morning made me a little ill. Ate mostly Chinese food when I had time. Pizza was awful and I mostly lived on noodle soup. 18 hour long days because of the travel time. Tara/Michelle/Chen Lu ladies competition very exciting. Kulik's win, Kazakova & Dmitriev and Bereznaya/Sikharulidze were the hot new pair team with a great background story. Fun Dance event.

2002 Salt Lake City, Great to be home, but security very, very tight after 9/11. Highlights incljude A&P's Flamenco/Tango OD, men's competition Yagudin/Plushenko/Goebel. Hughes surprising win over Slutskaya and Kwan. Sale/Pelletier and Bereznaya/Sikharulidze tie and of course the pairs/dance controversy that changed the sport.

^ My gosh, that Albertville experience sounds amazing. You've seen some giants. I guess you also saw Sasha's Olympic debut even if it didn't make that big an impression. (It did on me.)

I attended the 1994 Olympics -- men's LP, OD and free dance, and ladies' SP only. I'd say the most amazing moment was Torvill&Dean's rhumba.

It was my second live elite event and it was the first time I saw or heard of many of the skaters beyond the top 8 or 10. So it was great to discover the diversity of the field. The men's event was great all around.

In the free dance, after T&D skated I remember thinking "Just show me something that can beat that!" and then Grishuk and Platov came out and were even stronger, so my thought was "OK, you showed me!"

Sadly no Winter Games for me yet. Went to Atlanta in 1996 for the equestrian event (cross-country and show jumping). Anyone who says that is not a sport need to see it up close. Those horses are huge and the riders are relatively small. Maneuvering another living creature into negotiating those barriers is quite a feat.

I have been to worlds once in 2003 in my home town of DC. Saw the men's and ladies' LPs. While I'm no fan of Plushenko, I respect and even admire his talent. I can also safely say that I saw more quads in that event than most fans see these days. Goebel was far more entertaining than fans give him credit for now. Honda was super fast across the ice. So was Fumie back then. Shizuka was an obvious rising talent. Kwan was the hands down winner. I was sorry to see Hughes not have her best skatem but admired the effort.

wow, so interesting...kkonas do you still cover skating on some level?

What a treat to read these accounts! I feel lucky just getting to hear about them. Just hearing the names gives me gooseflesh. Klimova/Ponomarenko...Michelle of course...Annissina/Piezerat...Wylie. And so many more. >yearn<

I think I can presume to speak for Tonichelle as well as for myself that we most envy KKonas for the opportunity to sit and chat with Kurt Browning.

And jcoates, you watched one of my favorite recent Worlds events, the 2003. Lucky duck!

skateluvr said:

wow, so interesting...kkonas do you still cover skating on some level?

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Yes, I do, although less and less the older I get. I know pretty much everybody who is anybody in skating, all the top stars fom 1984 to even today. I am usually in the press room so I also know Hersh, Brennan, and other major sportswriters quite well. Worked with Peggy Fleming, Dick Button, Tracy Wilson, Peter Carruthers during my 10 years working for TV. There are many more highlights from my 30+ years covering the sport, but it would take way too long to enumerate.

You could write a book.

He SHOULD write a book. I'd buy it and one for my mom.

I would love to comment on this but the closest that I have gotten to the Olympics is going to Lake Placid for skate america in 2009. It was the home of the 1932 and 1980 winter olympics!

How about getting to compete on Olympic ice (but not during the Olympics). I've competed at Lake Placis on both the 32 and 80 rink and in SLC on the practice ice venue.

pretty awesome.