Skaters who'll be remembered with time as among the greats | Page 13 | Golden Skate

Skaters who'll be remembered with time as among the greats

dorispulaski

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
For those who asked:
Trolling is not acceptable on Golden Skate.
It is OK to passionately like or dislike one skater or another, as long as you do not insult those that disagree with you.
We do not test any opinions for truth or falsity, but we infract for unsourced rumors.

As to the GP Slam, its very rare, because top teams from major countries have to do their own GP (limiting their opportunities), and lower ranked teams don't get to pick where they go, they have to be invited.

Denkova & Staviyski were never invited to do Cup of Russia after they became a threat to win. Third is their highest placing there. They won the other 5 GPS of their time, including Bofrost.

Grishuk and Platov won every GP they had an invitation to, but were never at Skate Canada

Navka & Kostamarov only won 4 of the GPs (missing NHK & Skate America)

Davis & White have 4- they have never competed at Cup of China, and finished 3rd at TEB in 2007
 
Mathman

Mathman

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Is Yuna Kim all about the jumps, or are her performances characterized by the coming together of many disparate elements in a way that seems inevitable, effortless, intensely pleasing, beyond our expectations?

Yes, and yes.
 
P

pec0

Match Penalty
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Minze2001 said:
Even when I thought this thread couldnt get any worst than you called mao a nobody. Google mao because you obiously dont know anything about her. Is trolling accepted in this board now?
By the way name the posters who said Mao is a nobody.
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I just summerized the majority of this thread. Asada's performance will be remembered for relatively a long time, referenced by all student skaters, I think. But if that was said, enmity will restart. ISU favours Kim far more than Asada, so there is no rivalry between Kim and Asada.
 
Mathman

Mathman

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I think the skaters that are best remembered are those that managed to keep in the public eye after their competitive careers were done. Sonia Henie won a bunch of titles, but she hit the jackpot when she brought figure skating to Hollywood. Dick Button won two Olympic gold medals, but he is fondly remembered in the U.S. because he was the voice of figure skating for fifty years. Kurt Browning won four world championships as an amateur, but became all-time great by his professional career.

It also helps to be in the right place at the right time. Peggy Fleming was not better than Carol Heiss or Tenley Albright, but she was on television.

In the U.S. Ice dancers and pairs skaters have a tough way to go. :cry: If you ask the general public to identify Virtue, Moir, Davis and White, the answers would split between law firm and stock brokerage house. Elena and Anton and Jamie and David – wasn’t that a 1969 Natalie Wood movie? ;)
 
Buttercup

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Tonichelle said:
very cool... though isn't she before the winter olympics and figure skating being an actual olympic sport? (1908 and 1920 olympic games book end her success)
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She medalled in 1906 and 1907, but for whatever reason was not at the 1908 Olympics, which Madge Syers won. Like Syers, Kronberger also competed against men at times - she was the Hungarian champion when it was a coed event.

Opika von Méray Horváth, who won the three World titles after Kronberger, never had an opportunity to compete at the Olympics. I imagine she might have won Worlds again, but WWI ended her career.
 
K

karlowens2

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
This is a good thread. God, I realize how little I like the single skaters now adays. Pounding all those points into programs has taken much of the personality out of singles. Mao has been at it a long time but I don´t know what she´s added to the sport. Kim I suppose because of her success. But, she seems a good point getter - leaves me cold. None of the men. In pairs Voloszhar & Trankov because of the extrodinary athleticism - frightening, really. Savchenko & Szolkowy for their longevity. Davis and White - I don´t even like ice dancing but like to watch them.
 
seniorita

seniorita

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
So Plushy never took part in CoC? There was a van last week outside the office with a big sign saying Bofrost, I only then realised what Bofrost stood for, or I had just forgotten, i dont remember:laugh:
 
dorispulaski

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
When Tanith & Ben were skating, they always seemed to be at Cup of China, so Meryl & Charlie were not there. Since 2010 when they retired, Meryl & Charlie have been doing Skate America & Tessa & Scott have been doing Skate Canada Tessa & Scott like TEB. Meryl & Charlie like NHK. When each team has won Worlds, that's how they pick, except D&W did CoR in 2011 instead of NHK. Because D&W were 2nd in the US until 2010, they had a little freedom to do different events.

The only time Tessa & Scott did a GP event other than Skate Canada or TEB, it was 2007, and they competed at NHK. They were first in Canada since 2008. It's harder to get around when you're medalling at Worlds and your Fed wants you at their event, for sure.

Now that I think about it, I think I am not surprised that Charlie White might want nothing to do with competing at Cup of China-as an asthmatic, I bet he worries about air quality.

Thanks to Johnny Weir for reminding me what a big deal air quality is when competing.
 
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ice coverage

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
dorispulaski said:
... Since 2010 when they retired, Meryl & Charlie have been doing Skate America & Tessa & Scott have been doing Skate Canada Tessa & Scott like TEB. Meryl & Charlie like NHK. When each team has won Worlds, that's how they pick, except D&W did CoR in 2011 instead of NHK. ...

The only time Tessa & Scott did a GP event other than Skate Canada or TEB, it was 2007, and they competed at NHK. ...
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Re Virtue/Moir's GP history:

They won Rostelecom Cup in 2012.

After V/M won Worlds in 2012, they picked Rostelecom Cup as part of their early prep for Sochi.​
 
M

Matt K

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
golden411 said:
Re Virtue/Moir's GP history:

They won Rostelecom Cup in 2012.

After V/M won Worlds in 2012, they picked Rostelecom Cup as part of their early prep for Sochi.​
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No, that was because P/B won worlds Bronze in 2012 so V/M couldn't have been assigned to TEB that upcoming season (2012-13) as P/B were assigned to TEB. Had P and B not been on the worlds podium, V/M would probably had done TEB again.
 
ice coverage

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Matt K said:
No, that was because P/B won worlds Bronze in 2012 so V/M couldn't have been assigned to TEB that upcoming season (2012-13) as P/B were assigned to TEB. Had P and B not been on the worlds podium, V/M would probably had done TEB again.
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Ooops ... thanks, Matt. I had forgotten about Pechalat/Bourzat's bronze and natural choice of 2012 TEB. :eek:hwell:

Adding Rostelecom Cup to Doris' list of Virtue/Moir's past GP events remains in effect as the point of my post.

And gaining additional experience in Russia does explain why V/M chose Rostelecom instead of NHK as an alternative to TEB that season.
I just remember that V/M mentioned that reasoning more than once in interviews around the time of that trip to Russia.
 
skateluvr

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
thinspread said:
It's been obvious for some time that you hate to accept the realities when it comes to Kim, also that you are pretty determined in presenting your opinion as if it's a fact or a consensus view. The fact that you keep doing it tells that you are well aware that the general perception is exactly the opposite of what you want to believe. But your hollow repetition won't change anything.

Can't help but imagine what a nightmare it must have been for you, to witness Kim winning again and again, and getting showered by accolades time after time, for quite a loooong time now.
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What a stupid assumption.:rolleye:
 
skateluvr

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Robeye, you have the sensitivity of a lump of coal. I said she's not known for emotionally gut wrenching performances, and you decided to insult me. The Yuna fans are here and as usual, insulting anyone who has a criticism. I attacked no poster but the bots are breaking the rules. Not worth it-this thread was hijacked and again the racial tensions come up.

I'm done. If we have to put up with this Mao hate and Queen baloney, it will ruin the Oly season. Isn't there a bot board for fans of Yuna you can all go to? Please-go-enjoy each other. Mao Asada is nobody? We are all nobodies then.:disapp:
 
R

Robeye

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
skateluvr said:
Robeye, you have the sensitivity of a lump of coal. I said she's not known for emotionally gut wrenching performances, and you decided to insult me. The Yuna fans are here and as usual, insulting anyone who has a criticism. I attacked no poster but the bots are breaking the rules. Not worth it-this thread was hijacked and again the racial tensions come up.

I'm done. If we have to put up with this Mao hate and Queen baloney, it will ruin the Oly season. Isn't there a bot board for fans of Yuna you can all go to? Please-go-enjoy each other. Mao Asada is nobody? We are all nobodies then.:disapp:
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Aren't you the manipulative one.

What I called you on was not with regard to the nature of your individual opinions. I have seen them before, ad nauseum, and have managed to pass them by without comment. It is that you emphatically represented, as fact, that Yuna receives standing ovations or applause from crowds of thousands solely for "technical merits" or "jumps".

Logically, I can infer one of two things: a) that you lack facilities for reason, or b) that you were deliberately trolling to get a rise out of a particular Yuna fan, or perhaps her fans in general. I do not believe that you completely lack rational facilities. In fact, I believe that, in possessing rational faculties, you yourself knew that your statements were highly improbable on their face. I can therefore only conclude that it is b), that you were engaged in a deliberate act of sly, hit-and-run trolling, hoping to get away with it unscathed. Even now, you are busy trying to give your words an ex post facto spin in order to disguise all of this.

Are you familiar with Joe McCarthy, skateluvr? As a U.S. Senator, he, too, made sweeping statements of fact, that there were Communists in high places, and even claimed he had names. After creating great frenzy and much misery in this country, he was finally pressed for supporting evidence. When he was unable to provide it, he was politically finished. I would like to think he would have been finished even if he later claimed that his statements had merely been his personal opinions. You see, skateluvr, in my worldview, the difference between a fact and an opinion is one worth protecting, even if the issue at hand is not quite so grandiose. The reason being, that if the distinction between fact and opinion is not maintained, then all discussions, whatever their particular subject matter, will inevitably slide into undifferentiated muck.

And now you are waving the bloody shirt of "racial tensions", and playing the tribune of Mao's honor? Really? Seriously?

What I find especially galling and amusing is that, while you are engaged in these shenanigans publicly, you are simultaneously sending me a PM claiming that you "want no enmity".

I have said my piece, and was willing to leave it alone, but not if you keep trying to justify yourself.
 
B

Big Deal

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
To become "one of the greatest" has nothing to do with the number of medals or titles to win.
It is about an exceptional, unique, timeless quality which in some way or another brought something great into this sport and left its legacy for the future.
(Janet Lynn and Toller Cranston had never win anything big, but they are certainly in this list).

There are MANY eras (not to mention Olympic quadrennials) which did NOT give any "one of the greatest" figure skaters even if the Oympic medals always have been awarded.

I think that this present period is extremly lucky, because there are some "greatest ever" sportmen competing.
Not even one.

These are in my opinion:

Yu-Na Kim ( cold or not, but THIS crystal clear quality combined with this easyness never has been experienced before and since)

Mao Asada ( even if she won only a single bronze in the last 3 Worlds), because of the elegance, easyness and beauty of her skate- I think NOT because of her 3Axels for sure, it is only an added value.

Virtue/Moir .A completely new level of their discipline was surely created by them. They had a great influence (already)
on the others (included D/W). For me D/W aren't in this category, even if they win. Perfectionism is enough
to win with some background but not enough to be "all time great". In the other way around: the level of
the competition with D/W made V/M an even greater one.

All the other fantastic skaters of nowdays ( Chan, Lipnitskaya, Takahashi, Joubert, Kostner, Hanyu, Volosozhar/Trankov, Savchenko/Szolkowy, Pang/Tong) are great, winning or loosing a particular competition, but not (some of them maybe not YET) in THAT league.

Maybe it is strange but the only team I have a feeling "maybe" can do it, staying and having great propgrammes with their unique and interesting style is Weaver/Poje, or Lipnitskaya with some much better quality (not rotation, but QUALITY) of her jumps, which can happen. Some other great quality of hers are already visible one's.
 
shine

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Moment said:
DW can't dance.
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I agree... They are current favourites, the annointed ones in the CoP era. But I don't think a random fan would look up their videos 20 years down the road and think, wow, that was transcendental or exceedingly beautiful. There's just nothing "all-time" about them IMO.

I believe Stephane Lambiel will be remembered as one of the greatest artistic skaters. The fact that promising young skaters like Denis Ten and Tatsuki Machida, and even his contemporaries like Chan and Takahashi all look up to him and have spoken openly about how they wish to skate like him speaks great volume.
 
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