Least Talented/Worthy Olympic Champion(s) ever? | Page 9 | Golden Skate

Least Talented/Worthy Olympic Champion(s) ever?

pangtongfan

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Jun 16, 2010
Christine Brennan was so desperate for a storyline several years ago she even tried to write about Tonya Harding again. What a know nothing loser, who never should have had anything to do with the sport, as my cat knows more about the sport of figure skating than she does.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Brennan would have been a 1 women army with everyone either ignoring or laughing at her like she is 99% of the time.

I think what would have fried Brennan's cookies, and also Phil Hersh's, was the thought that Irina Slutskaya could possibly beat anyone at anything. They thought that Irina's skating was ungraceful, graceless, and overall lacking in grace. ;) They were flabbergasted every time Irina beat Michelle, which started happening more and more often after 2000.

Still, I like them both. Even if I didn't, they are the only skating columnists we've got in a country of 300,000,000 people, so we have to take the bad with the good. :yes:
 

pangtongfan

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Jun 16, 2010
Probably, but despite that had Slutskaya been an American and not competing against their beloved Kwan they would have hypocritically worshiped her to the heavens anyway. Just look at the over the top never ending gushing they give Nancy Kerrigan who has neither any artistry, any impressive athleticsm, and isnt even consistent (yes probably deserved the 94 ladies gold, but just shows what a massive hole womens skating was in at the time).

As for Slutskaya she was lucky to hit her peak in this same all time worst 93-2003 period in ladies skating, and that after Tara retired they needed a rival for Michelle as the rest of the field was so weak. Also was lucky Michelle peaked in 96-98 and technically and artistically stagnated and even slowly declined from there, despite that she still stayed or near the top until 2003. Had she been in her prime today, Slutskaya would be getting results more on par with someone like Sotnikova's; and had she been in her prime in a previous era her results would be something like Kira Ivanova's at best.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I get a warm glow looking back at the 1998 Nagano ladies free skate event and knowing now that the 16-year-old Japanese representative at that Olympics would fail to make the team 4 years later, but come back EIGHT years later to win gold.

Since it's sad that Michelle, even with her long career, would no longer be at her best by 2006, it's incredible to me to realize that Arakawa was at Nagano and Torino.

And I am unapologetically off topic here.

Well, you may be off-topic, but it's a digression I like, and I'll happily follow you there. Yes, it's a wonderful thought to contemplate that Arakawa had such a span of excellence and strength. It's one of the aspects of her skating that makes me see her as such a deserving OGM winner in 2006, despite the fact that she skated so conservatively on the actual night. She had been doing triple-triples all week in the practices and clearly had them in her arsenal. And then she retained her triples for her pro career, even though by that time she was in her mid-twenties. The overall arc of her career puts her on the list of greats to me, though she didn't have the star-power wattage of some other skaters through those years. Whenever I make a list of my forever favorites, she's always there.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
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Feb 27, 2012
Questions for those who posted above regarding Christine Brennan:

- Are Lori Nichol and she still best friends?

- Would you say that in this Olympic season, Brennan has personal agendas re skating? What do you believe that they are?​
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
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As for Slutskaya she was lucky to hit her peak in this same all time worst 93-2003 period in ladies skating.

All time worst, LOL, what? This is the period where artistry in ladies skating really blossomed and it was combined with high technical content as well. Nothing that Midori or Yamaguchi (or Harding) did in the 1992 season would beat Tara or Michelle at the 1998 Olympics.
 

jenaj

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Aug 17, 2003
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Probably, but despite that had Slutskaya been an American and not competing against their beloved Kwan they would have hypocritically worshiped her to the heavens anyway.

I doubt it. The US had its own (better) version of Irina--Tonya Harding. The USFSA never supported her like the Russians supported and pushed Irina.
 

pangtongfan

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Jun 16, 2010
I doubt it. The US had its own (better) version of Irina--Tonya Harding. The USFSA never supported her like the Russians supported and pushed Irina.

Harding was only better than Irina when she had her shnit together which was like 10% of the time at most unfortunately.

As for the USFSA not supporting Harding, alot of that was her upbringing, not so much her skating. The whole trailer trash background, which unfortunately should have meant nothing, but always did. Tonya in fact claims that the USFSA forced her to get back with Gillooly right before the 94 Nationals. Slutskaya as far as I know had a normal family upbringing and did nothing that ruffled feathers with anyone.
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
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You may want to watch Midori at NHK before making that assertion ;)

Midori only landed 5 clean Triples at NHK that season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMe1tFPau_Y

Artistically the program was one of her worst. They tried to make her a Yamaguchi clone (with better jumps) and it didn't work.

or Kristi at 92 Nationals, or Harding at 91 Skate America. All would have easily beaten Tara and Michelle at the Nagano Olympics.

No they wouldn't have. Kristi didn't do the 3Lutz+3Toe combo at 92 Nationals and she didn't skate that performance with the same energy as later in the season. Harding was strong, but not perfect like at 1991 Nationals. She would have lost it on the presentation mark.
 

FlattFan

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Jan 4, 2010
Resurrecting the thread to add this little gem

http://morozombie.blogspot.com/2013/05/sturm-und-drang.html#more

One example of the very, very few skaters who I feel have done Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 justice is the great pairs team of Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev, specifically their performance to the Moderato and Adagio sostenuto movements of the concerto on the night of the long program performances at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, one of the greatest nights of pairs skating ever. The wily Tamara Moskvina, knowing that Miskutenok/Dmitriev were up against the technically proper and classically beautiful team of Gordeeva/Grinkov, chose the one piece of music that would display Mishkutenok/Dmitriev's comparatively wild, passionate and less orthodox style to their fullest advantage. "Perfection or passion," opined Scott Hamilton when comparing Gordeeva/Grinkov with Mishkutenok/Dmitriev, and for once he was correct. If there ever was a piece of music in which it felt artistically "right" for Mr. Dmitriev to fling Ms. Mishkutenok wildly into the air like a sack of potatoes in their throw jumps or have a small stumble on his footwork due to his complete emotional abandon in the performance, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 was it.

I of course adore the entire program, but my favorite part is the stormy conclusion. The closing choreography of this program is pure Moskvina Magic and is also one of my favorite bits of pairs choreography ever: Natalia spin, Mr. Dmitriev ripping open his costume to reveal a ~dramatic~ red panel (Yuko Kavaguti can only dream of ripping open her costume with the panache of Mr. Dmitriev), dual back arches, Mr. Dmitriev flinging himself into a wild flying leap into the air while Ms. Mishkutenok prostrates herself in the face of his gloriousness, before the pair comes together again in the final, slam-bang ending pose, all of this set in the midst of the sturm und drang of the Moderato's conclusion.

Perfection or passion? For me, I'd have to agree with Frost: From what I've tasted of desire/
I hold with those who favor fire.

Pairs are so boring today I don't even care who win anymore. Except B/L. I can't even look at them without getting annoyed.
 

nam57

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
Hey there is no such thing as untalented or unworthy Champions! If you think so you have no clue what it takes to even get to International level!
 
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