Obscure figure skaters you remember even if no one else does | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Obscure figure skaters you remember even if no one else does

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Holy cow that girl can spin better than Alissa!!!

And that's saying something, Alissa is an amazing spinner!

I don't know what it is but all the Swiss skaters are amazing spinners: Denise Biellman, Nathalie Krieg, Lucinda, Sarah Meier, Stephane Lambiel. All of them. Lucinda is the best, IMO. I think it's her height she can use her long limbs to create all sorts of beautiful and difficult spins. Lucinda never finished in the top ten, but she was great to watch, such joy and appeal. Her height made jumping difficult, but I could watch her do nothing but spin all day. She holds the world record.
 

Sasha'sSpins

Medalist
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Country
United-States
You're welcome! I loved Jessica Mills. I never saw her sister, however.

Phoebe Mills was the 1988 Olympic gymnastics co-bronze medallist on balance beam (along with Romania's Gabriela Potorac). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58YQ4jcaUwA
She placed behind gold medallist Daniela Silivas of Romania and Yelena Shushunova of the former Soviet Union. :)

My sort of 'obscure' skater that I remember never went elite but she was memorable - Katherine Healy! She went professional at just 11 and also went on to a successful career in ballet as a prima ballerina. I used to have the book "A Very Young Skater" by Jill Krementz featuring Katherine. I'm a huge fan of hers to this day. :biggrin:

Katherine Healy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WumPvDo1lwg

Here's Katherine in a ballet performance of - her version of the "Black Swan" coda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANo-uE8wtdI
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
:laugh: Thanks for all the info! I wasn't sure whether to put Kevin in the "obscure" category or not. He had a long and relatively successful competitive career and appears to have been well liked in the skating community. I decided to ask about him here anyway. He certainly is obscure to non-diehard fans. Then again, the majority of skaters are obscure to non-diehard fans.

That's why I have a problem with people using the phrase "obscure skater" on this forum.

Earlier in the year, some members were criticising me for starting a thread about an "obscure skater" getting married. The thing is, Karla Quinn is the best known Ladies skater in Northern Ireland after Jenna McCorkell. So, although she might be "obscure" to skating fans in North America, she is a household name to skating fans here in Ireland.

So, obscurity is totally subjective.

Then there's Lucinda Ruh, World Spinning Champion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq8lOm0LJ0A

Holy cow that girl can spin better than Alissa!!!

And that's saying something, Alissa is an amazing spinner!

I don't know what it is but all the Swiss skaters are amazing spinners: Denise Biellman, Nathalie Krieg, Lucinda, Sarah Meier, Stephane Lambiel. All of them. Lucinda is the best, IMO. I think it's her height she can use her long limbs to create all sorts of beautiful and difficult spins. Lucinda never finished in the top ten, but she was great to watch, such joy and appeal. Her height made jumping difficult, but I could watch her do nothing but spin all day. She holds the world record.

I'm friends with Lucinda on Facebook, and she is a really lovely girl! And a VERY talented skater!

Unfortunately for me, Lucinda retired around the time I started watching skating, so I didn't see her in action at the time. But, I too enjoy watching old videos of her, in total amazement! (If I tried to spin at even a 10th of the speed she does, I would fall in a heap... and that's not even trying to do it on ice! :laugh: )

About a year-and-a-half ago, Lucinda had twin daughters. She is forever posting photos and videos of the twins on Facebook (and even some on YouTube). And I don't blame her one bit - they are absolutely adorable!!!

Mind you, Lucinda and her husband will have their hands full with 2 girls growing up at the same time! So, I wouldn't trade places with either of them! ;) :laugh:

CaroLiza_fan
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
I'm friends with Lucinda on Facebook, and she is a really lovely girl! And a VERY talented skater!

Unfortunately for me, Lucinda retired around the time I started watching skating, so I didn't see her in action at the time. But, I too enjoy watching old videos of her, in total amazement! (If I tried to spin at even a 10th of the speed she does, I would fall in a heap... and that's not even trying to do it on ice! :laugh: )

About a year-and-a-half ago, Lucinda had twin daughters. She is forever posting photos and videos of the twins on Facebook (and even some on YouTube). And I don't blame her one bit - they are absolutely adorable!!!

Mind you, Lucinda and her husband will have their hands full with 2 girls growing up at the same time! So, I wouldn't trade places with either of them! ;) :laugh:

CaroLiza_fan

That's awesome! I can't even get into a full spin, she was a great skater, just had trouble jumping due to her height, I expect. She made up for it with her spins, too bad the 6.0 system didn't really give spins credit. Under the IJS she'd rack up huge points with the quality, the difficulty, etc. She skated because she loved it, marks didn't matter to her.

Thanks for letting us know what she's doing. She is going to be busy!

I agree about obscure being subjective. We all have skaters we remember well who we love, and some that we consider more obscure.
 

BlackPack

Medalist
Joined
Mar 20, 2013
I remember Dick mentioned how Lucinda's spinning ability actually hindered her jumping ability. She had an ability to spin on the ground but it's too much for the air.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Thanks for the update on Lucinda, CaroLiza_fan. I remember her with great delight. Fortunately she had a bit of a pro career while the well-televised Landover competition was still ongoing, and so home audiences in the U.S. got to watch her at her best without worrying whether she needed to make a particular jump. Yes, even Alissa can't match what this lady could do. Sidenote: because Lucinda's father traveled all over for business, she lived in many countries and became fluent in several languages. At one point she trained alongside Yuka Sato under Yuka's parents. Yuka said in a televised feature that Lucinda was fluent enough in Japanese so they could converse in the language.

Sasha'sSpins
: Katherine Healy is a fave of mine as well, and I too have the book that features her, A Very Young Skater.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
I remember Dick mentioned how Lucinda's spinning ability actually hindered her jumping ability. She had an ability to spin on the ground but it's too much for the air.

Again, I wonder if that was her height. Easy for her to use her long limbs to be creative for spins and flexibility, but hard to control in the air. I remember her training with Yuka Sato. She also trained in China, too. I looked up her book today, when doing my Christmas shopping but I couldn't find it. Maybe I'll get it for Christmas?
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
You may already be aware of this, Coppertop, but just in case, keep in mind that Ruh's book has a certain amount of sad stuff in it. She didn't have an easy time of it earlier on, apparently--another reason I'm glad to hear that her current life, including kids, is so happy. I'd suggest reading a review of it on Amazon or somewhere before searching it out.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
You may already be aware of this, Coppertop, but just in case, keep in mind that Ruh's book has a certain amount of sad stuff in it. She didn't have an easy time of it earlier on, apparently--another reason I'm glad to hear that her current life, including kids, is so happy. I'd suggest reading a review of it on Amazon or somewhere before searching it out.

Someone else (maybe it was you) said much the same, esp about her mother.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
From what someone said on here, her mother would wake her up, make her run around, drill her really hard.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
When the book came out, there was enough discussion on a GS thread somewhere to make me very sad for Lucinda. I deliberately didn't read the book, though I'm glad she was able to write it because it clearly gave her some sort of solace to get things out in the open. I know it made me want to hug my own mother out of gratitude.

But we fans got to experience the best part of Lucinda's life. Her skating was truly poetry in motion, and she proved the point that a skater doesn't need awesome jumps to be either innovative or memorable. Thank goodness she peaked at a time when there was a viable pro circuit, so she could have an opportunity to use the parts of skating she was good at and leave out the jumps. Though even in her competitive career, she drew eyes to her. Here's her 1999 world long program, to a ravishing piece of music, Reinhold Gliere's Harp Concerto, to which she does complete justice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0fvU4wnp34

Even disregarding her spins (as if we could!), look at how she flows from position to position and uses her whole body to express the mood. People, this is how to skate to music.

Notice also how enthusiastic Dick Button and Peggy Fleming are about her. This is their commentary at its best, not just boosting an American skater but praising someone unusual and pointing out important details in that skater's work.
 

Frenchie

I'm gonna customize the CRAP out of this title!
Medalist
Joined
May 4, 2013
First, thanks to everyone for these great flashbacks, this thread is a real treasure chest! :)

I wouldn't call her an "obscure skater" (hey, she made it to 3 Olympic Games!), but of those who didn't medal at big events, she's one of those I believe are really worth remembering: Mojca Kopač from Slovenia.

Here's her 1997 Worlds SP to the Pulp Fiction OST where she placed 13th.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfZFbzJe4s4
- Dick Button was positively surprised: "She's pretty spiffy(?)! You know? Got nice quality to her skating!"
- Notice the uproar from the audience when they announce her marks: Slovenia didn't exactly have a "big lobby"!
- The 2002 Salt Lake Judging Scandal could have been avoided!!! :eek: The French Judge gave her a 27th place. She was the second last to skate, and Chen Lu (who I love) had a really poor performance and ended up as 25th, meaning not qualified for the free and not (yet) qualified for the 98 Olympics. So the french judge disregarded all reality and gave her almost the lowest score of all competitors, since she wanted Chen qualified. Yes, you guessed it: The french judge was Marie-Reine Le Gougne, THE French Judge from Salt Lake. :think:

She fought successfully against the odds in many regards: In the early 90's, she had a really rough time to go through as she wasn't able to practice in Slovenia since Serb Tanks were... in the way, so she had to go creative ways, like train in Oberstdorf, Germany, whenever possible.
I'm a fan of how much thought she put into her programmes, not just doing a "random programme to random music to fit in all the jumps without tiring choreography" like many elite skaters did...

I loved her quality of "gliding", with deep edges - particularly in her last seasons. Those are unfortunately not represented on youtube. Only this, but with Chris Isaak music(?!?), you can see what Mojca's "gliding" abilities have become after a few years. (this was in 2004)
Her music then was - Kojiki by Kitaro (Orochi)/Once upon a time in America (modern arrangement from Apollo Four Fourty - the version Bobrova/Soloviev used last year)/Kojiki by Kitaro (Matsuri)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HIQjmnBF4

She later earned a university degree in journalism and is now head coach of Uschi Keszler's "team excel national bridge program" at Ice Works in Aston, Pa. She got married and had a little daughter in 2009 :)
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
First, thanks to everyone for these great flashbacks, this thread is a real treasure chest! :)

I wouldn't call her an "obscure skater" (hey, she made it to 3 Olympic Games!), but of those who didn't medal at big events, she's one of those I believe are really worth remembering: Mojca Kopač from Slovenia.

Here's her 1997 Worlds SP to the Pulp Fiction OST where she placed 13th.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfZFbzJe4s4
- Dick Button was positively surprised: "She's pretty spiffy(?)! You know? Got nice quality to her skating!"
- Notice the uproar from the audience when they announce her marks: Slovenia didn't exactly have a "big lobby"!
- The 2002 Salt Lake Judging Scandal could have been avoided!!! :eek: The French Judge gave her a 27th place. She was the second last to skate, and Chen Lu (who I love) had a really poor performance and ended up as 25th, meaning not qualified for the free and not (yet) qualified for the 98 Olympics. So the french judge disregarded all reality and gave her almost the lowest score of all competitors, since she wanted Chen qualified. Yes, you guessed it: The french judge was Marie-Reine Le Gougne, THE French Judge from Salt Lake. :think:

She fought successfully against the odds in many regards: In the early 90's, she had a really rough time to go through as she wasn't able to practice in Slovenia since Serb Tanks were... in the way, so she had to go creative ways, like train in Oberstdorf, Germany, whenever possible.
I'm a fan of how much thought she put into her programmes, not just doing a "random programme to random music to fit in all the jumps without tiring choreography" like many elite skaters did...

I loved her quality of "gliding", with deep edges - particularly in her last seasons. Those are unfortunately not represented on youtube. Only this, but with Chris Isaak music(?!?), you can see what Mojca's "gliding" abilities have become after a few years. (this was in 2004)
Her music then was - Kojiki by Kitaro (Orochi)/Once upon a time in America (modern arrangement from Apollo Four Fourty - the version Bobrova/Soloviev used last year)/Kojiki by Kitaro (Matsuri)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HIQjmnBF4

She later earned a university degree in journalism and is now head coach of Uschi Keszler's "team excel national bridge program" at Ice Works in Aston, Pa. She got married and had a little daughter in 2009 :)

She was undermarked at Worlds in 1997,with so many contenders falling, she skated cleanly and also and with nice attention to detail. I would have had her in the top ten. Ahh, the politicking of the old 6.0 system.

The French drops shows us a preview of what's yet to come. 27th. I love Chen Lu but yeah, it was NOT a good year for her (and understandably so considering what she was going through), to place Kopac below Chen was ridiculous.
 

lcd

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
WENDY BURGE

She had wonderful flow, strong jumps and even did a variation on the back camel spin to back sit transition that was frankly more 'creative' (as she lingered in the position just before the sit in almost a lay-back style) but was not given the 'naming credit' that Dorothy did with her similar Hamill Camel.

Another of the talented ladies in deep American fields, where and when the "champion" was anointed, carried the day (or was carried) through an Olympic cycle, and the others played 'brides maid' throughout, even if they had world beating talent.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I remember Wendy Burge. She was indeed wonderful. I think she was described as someone who could jump almost as high as she was tall.

Funnily, I once met a romance author named Wendy Burge, but she assured me that she was not "that" Wendy. So I told her about her namesake, and I hope she looked up the skater and learned a bit about her. Thanks for reminding me of this excellent competitor!
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
I love seeing all these skaters who may not have made it big but still make an impression. I remember at the 1996 Canadians, there was S Stephanie Morrisette. I remember her because she skated to One man's dream by Yanni, one of my favourite pieces of music :) Just goes to show how to figure skating fans, medals aren't the only thing that matter.

Joanne Carter of Australia. She stands out because Australia is not a country you think of when it comes to skating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar_ES6_636c
 
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