Phil Hersh on the Silver Anniversary of 1988 Olympics

[dorispulaski]

Phil Hersh, often excoriated as a grumpy old fellow with nothing good to say about skaters, has written what is a hymn of praise to the 1988 Olympics (now exactly 25 years past) in general, and to the life, career, and 1988 performances of Boitano, in particular.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...an-show-skater

It's a pleasant read for Boitano fans, and for fans of the 1988 Olympics (still my own all-time favorite Olympics).

Hersh names his top Olympic performances of all time in each discipline. You may want to see whether his list matches yours Hint-Boitano is the only American in that list. He also names a runnerup to Boitano; he is not American either.

[eyria]

I always like reading Hersh's articles, despite his sourpuss attitude.

But, Ilia Kulik for second-best Olympic men's performance of all time?? Practically all I remember about that program is the giraffe shirt.

[Brandenburg]

Practically all I remember about that program is the giraffe shirt.

Fortunately or unfortunately the shirt was indeed notable.

Watch it again - it was a complete and confident performance with (I believe I'm correct here) the first clean quad in an Olympic LP. It actually looked sort of effortless - and despite what Scott said about Ilia's 'ho-hum' attitude, Ilia has said (to the Krew and in interviews at the time) he was just doing his very best to contain his anxiety and emotion so he could perform his best.

I loved Phil's column and the video with it - Brian deserves it! Phil is so right (in the video) that Brian absolutely brought his best to the moment when the pressures and the stakes were the highest. It was quite an evening and exciting to remember - I'm happy that Phil gave it some real coverage.

[Skater Boy]

I would have picked Yagudin's win in 2002 as the skate of more recent times. For pure drama as to the evening maybe even Oksana Baiul's win. Or for perfection what about Yuna Kim in 2010. I understand Bolero predates this by Torvill and Dean. Klimova and Pomanrenko in 1992 is a worthy consideration too. Liz Manley's freeskate in 1988 also may have deserved the naud.

[Olympia]

It's a lovely article, and indeed it brings out the splendors of Boitano's skating (especially that night for the long program) as well as of his character off the ice. I always loved his constancy toward Lieber, and hers toward him, as well as his maturity. As for second place behind him in greatness, I think Kulik and Yagudin could be a tie for the position—they both were knockouts (despite that awful giraffe outfit). For me at the time, Yagudin had a little more fluidity to his skating. Kulik, though his jumps were textbook, seemed a big gangly in his other movements. I'd add one more men's Olympic performance at this peak—a tie with Boitano. That would be John Curry in 1976. Obviously he didn't do as many triple jumps, but his complete command of both technique and artistry, and the fact that he did one of his best programs ever on the night when it mattered the most, puts him at the top for me along with Boitano. Hersh may not have been covering the Olympics as far back as 1976, but that shouldn't prevent us from putting Curry on our lists.

It's always hard to choose anyone else over Torvill and Dean in any ranking for Olympic ice dancing. It's like saying some other band could top the Beatles in quality and depth. But I do love Klimova and Ponomarenko too. Hey, let's declare another tie.

In terms of glorious skaters who did a splendid skate on Olympics night who actually won, I'd have to agree that Kim takes the cake for ladies. And pairs—again it would be hard to put anyone over Gordeyeva and Grinkov.

[FSGMT]

G/G 1988 best Pairs performance ever? The best for me was actually Z/H's 2010 SP...

[Brandenburg]

again it would be hard to put anyone over Gordeyeva and Grinkov

Your are so right - they were breathtaking. It just doesn't get any better than that!

[Sk8Boi]

(I believe I'm correct here) the first clean quad in an Olympic LP.

No, the first clean quad in the Olympics was by Alexsei Urmanov in 1992. He was 17 and it looked like a triple.

[Buttercup]

Watch it again - it was a complete and confident performance with (I believe I'm correct here) the first clean quad in an Olympic LP.

No, the first clean quad in the Olympics was by Alexsei Urmanov in 1992. He was 17 and it looked like a triple.

IIRC, Kulik was the first OGM to land a quad in his winning program.

As for Hersh, it's nice to see such a positive article from him, though how anyone can write about the greatest Olympic performances and ignore Yagudin is beyond me. The context is also important: not only was this the peak of the Yagudin-Plushenko rivalry, but also, in an Olympics marred by controversy and protests, it was especially important to have an OGM go to someone who was unquestionably the best.

[Icey]

What about the most memorable or best short programs at the Olympics? For that I would nominate, Michelle's Rach.

[Icey]

No, the first clean quad in the Olympics was by Alexsei Urmanov in 1992. He was 17 and it looked like a triple.

Urmanov's quad in 1992 at the Olympics had a touch down with his right hand according to the history of the quad.

According to that same source Min Zhang (CHN) landed a quad toe cleanly at the Winter Olympics, Lillehammer. That would have been the first clean one as far as I can tell.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_(figure_skating)

[lavender]

All I remember is Ilia's shirt.

[TontoK]

Big "thumbs up" to the mention of John Curry in this thread of great Olympic performances. 1976 Innsbrook will forever be my favorite Olympics. No sporting event will ever be that thrilling again.

It was John Curry and Dorothy Hamill who introduced a young southern farm boy to artistic beauty. Our family had never seen anything like this at all. We were transfixed to the television on those winter nights, eagerly awaiting the broadcasts. Thenafter, we watched figure skating whenever it was on.

Of course, everything was on tape delay back then... so we had no idea of who had actually won before we saw it unfold on TV. When Dorothy Hamill completed her Free Skate, and the crowd leaped to its feet, and the flowers rained down to the ice for literally minutes... we were jumping up and down in our little living room like it had happened to family.

John Curry was from another planet altogether. Awe-inspiring. Also, Irina Rodnina won the pairs... but I don't remember that at all.

I remember watching the gala, and all the gold medalists had a planned encore... but Dorothy Hamill had TWO because the crowd demanded it, and she had to ad-lib to a snip of her first encore music.

[golden411]

Thanks for the thread. Always enjoy reading about Boitano.

FYI, the Hersh story has a hyperlink to the following San Francisco Chronicle article. As brief asides, the SF article includes mentions of two coming attractions for Boitano fans.

What can't Brian Boitano do?
Ann Killion
Updated 11:23 pm, Saturday, February 16, 2013
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article...do-4285261.php

(1) Boitano's renovation of his great-great-grandfather’s home outside Genoa (which Hersh also mentions) will be the subject of an HGTV series.

(2) Boitano is working on a routine for a televised show he will headline this summer in Brazil. I think it must be Disson's "Superstars of Skating" show in Sao Paolo, scheduled for August. (I had posted a random FYI about it in GS Announcements. http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sho...-Brazil-Aug-13)

[dorispulaski]

I hope someone will tell us when the HGTV series on Boitano's great great grandfather's home comes up. I really want to see that one. (I know someone will keep us up on the Disson show).