Johnny Weir: Showed in the SP at the 2012 Cup of Russia that he still has it. But, he needs a lot of practice to get it fully polished.
CaroLiza_fan
Laura Lepistö: Retired far too soon. If her injuries are fully sorted out, she should come back. She is a beautiful skater, and would still be able to finish around the middle of the top 10, just like she did at the 2010 Olympics.
Joannie Rochette: Love her. How could you not love her after putting in THOSE performances in THOSE circumstances at the 2010 Olympics?! Although Joannie won’t get on the podium like she did in 2010, she would still be around the middle of the top 10.
Miki Ando: Won’t be sent to Worlds or Olympics in 2013/14. But, if the current Ladies do all follow through on their threat to retire, Miki WILL be in the team in 2014/15.
Kevin van der Perren: One of my favourite male singles skaters of the past decade. When fully fit, he can beat everybody. But, when he gets injured, he gets badly injured. I only want Kevin back if he is fully fit.
Samuel Contesti: Although he would be one of the oldest skaters competing, Samuel is still good enough to threaten the podium. But, given how many skaters he is coaching, I can’t see him having enough time to practice himself.
Johnny Weir: Showed in the SP at the 2012 Cup of Russia that he still has it. But, he needs a lot of practice to get it fully polished.
Zhang Dan: Much as I like Peng Cheng, I would love to see Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao re-united. It was only a few years ago that China dominated pairs skating; now there are no Chinese pairs near the top. But, I believe that Dan and Hao would still be genuine podium contenders if she came back, even after a year or 2 away. Also, let’s be realistic: although Zhang Hao wants to continue competing now, at some stage in the near future he is going to decide to retire. And, when that time comes, Peng Cheng is going to have to find a new partner anyway. So, in the long run, I think it would be better to get Peng Cheng training with a new partner sooner rather than later.
The Kerrs: Although they were the oldest partnership out there when they retired, the Kerrs were starting to become genuine podium contenders. Unfortunately, injuries brought a premature end to that run. Given that they are doing “Stars On Ice”, I take it Sinead’s injuries are not causing any problems at the moment. If they did come back, it would probably be too much to ask for a podium at Worlds or Olympics, but they would certainly be fighting for a top 6 place.
So, there are my top choices for who I would like to see come back.
CaroLiza_fan
Kevin van der Perren can beat everybody when he's fully fit? Samuel Contesti can still threaten the podium? On what Bizarro world would these competitions being taking place on?
I think there is some huge overoptimism of this poster with skater(s) she happens to like.
The Kerrs- It was too bad they had to miss the 2011 Worlds. They might have won the bronze that year. I think they would be more of a case of a team just skating for the fun of it and the Olympic team would be easy to make so if they want to, why not I guess.
Ando- Her level of skating from the 2010-2011 season wouldnt be top 3 today, maybe top 5 at best. She already has a 5th place from the Olympics, and 2 appearances at the Olympics, so what is the point?
Delobel & Schoenfelder
Kimmie Meissner
Irina Slutskaya
Sato & Dungen
Johnny Weir: Showed in the SP at the 2012 Cup of Russia that he still has it. But, he needs a lot of practice to get it fully polished.
Johnny Weir: Showed in the SP at the 2012 Cup of Russia that he still has it. But, he needs a lot of practice to get it fully polished.
Um, Weir was dead last after the CoR SP. Heck, he even lost to Gachinski, which took a LOT of effort last season. (Sorry, Artur.)
I'll believe Weir's and Lysacek's comebacks when I see it. I doubt they'll eventuate. Neither of them will want to lose to the young guns and that's exactly where they're going.
When he appeared at the Cup of Russia, Johnny was no-where near the skater we are used to seeing. But, even though he was a shadow of his former self, you could still see a wee bit of that sparkle that made people love him and hate him in equal measure. As I said, he needs a lot of polishing, but the talent is not completely gone.
Oh, and I should add: I would not class myself as a Johnny fan. I loved what he could do on the ice, but his personality was just too overpowering for me.
Yeah, I like most of the skaters I picked. But, I would not say it's over-optimism.
(By the way, I am a "he", not a "she")
I admit, I am a big fan of Kevin van der Perren. And not just because he married a girl from down the road from me - I liked him for what he did on the ice long before I knew about him and Jenna.
Just to make clear why I chose Kevin and Samuel, my 5 favourite male skaters of the 2000-2010 decade would be:
- Plushenko
- Joubert
- Amodio
- van der Perren
- Contesti
When he appeared at the Cup of Russia, Johnny was no-where near the skater we are used to seeing. But, even though he was a shadow of his former self, you could still see a wee bit of that sparkle that made people love him and hate him in equal measure. As I said, he needs a lot of polishing, but the talent is not completely gone.
Oh, and I should add: I would not class myself as a Johnny fan. I loved what he could do on the ice, but his personality was just too overpowering for me.
The Kerrs - yes, with the way they were performing in what turned out to be their final season, I do believe they could make top 6. But only just! (I don't think they could make top 5, put it like that!)
Oh, and I should add: I am not the sort of person who blindly supports somebody just because they happen to be from the same part of the world as me. For goodness sake, I may be from Northern Ireland, but most of my favourite skaters are from Eastern Europe!!!
Hey, I never said Ando would be a medal contender! Or that she would be on the team next year. I was just saying that she should make it known that she is available for the following year, because the Japanese team are going to be desperate for Ladies skaters if Akiko, Mao and Kanako do all retire after Sochi! (Although, personally, I believe that Mao and Kanako will reconsider their decision. Or, at least I hope they do!!!)
As for your choices, in an ideal world I would like to see most of them back too! (Especially Irina - the first skater I was a fan of!) BUT, you are going too far back in time for most of them to be realistic for a comeback. Like, if you think Lepistö and Rochette have been out of action for too long, when they only stopped competing in 2010, then how can you suggest:
???
Of your choices, Shen & Zhao and Faeilla & Scali are the only ones recent enough to have the possibility of a comeback. And, I too would love to see both of those couples back!!!
As for Fumie, I was going to say her, but I decided not to because I knew the way the conversation in this thread would have gone if I did! (Why, oh why do so many people ridicule her for being so determined to get back to the top?! She won't do it, but she should be applauded for at least trying!)
Hope this clarifies why I chose the skaters that I did.
CaroLiza_fan
Please don't take this personally karne, but I think you're being a bit unfair using that particular quote of mine. A few comments later (in fact, the comment directly before your's), I elaborated about what I meant about Johnny:
Yeah, he finished last. But, what what do you expect from somebody who has barely practiced because he has so many other commitments?!