Gordeeva and Grinkov best team EVER.
The comments under the clips of Cherkasova/Shakrai are overwhelmingly negative though- does anyone know why? They did win an Olympic medal didn't they? My training mate and I were having this discussion because he's one of our coaches.
I always thought of gorilla and flea as not just a difference in size but a difference in age. The Soviets especially would choose a very young girl to be partnered by a tall, mature male skater. (This was before age limits.) The most egregious example was Marina Cherkasova and Sergei Shakrai. I think she was twelve their first international year. They did amazing throws, as you can imagine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1b8NF9MhYs
The minute she grew a bit, they lost their edge (pun not intended).
In a way, Brasseur and Eisler were a different evolution of "gorilla and flea," because he was a hulking ex-hockey player, while she was so petite. But she was pretty much fully grown, so although Lloyd didn't have the finesse of Russian male skaters, he didn't look weird and unsettling next to Isabelle the way Chakrai did with his pre-teen partner. They did, however, belong to the "big tricks" school of skating.
The comments under the clips of Cherkasova/Shakrai are overwhelmingly negative though- does anyone know why? They did win an Olympic medal didn't they? My training mate and I were having this discussion because he's one of our coaches.