Skaters' biggest contributions

[lulu]

Yes it is officially the off season, and it is time for one of the 'best of lists' that help keep us occupied during the off season

What are some of the biggest/best contributions skaters have made to FS?



John Curry: incredible skating and combined musicality with jumping

Toller Cranston: Originality

Igor Bobrin: May not be very remembered as a skater, but an awesome choreographer.

Rodnina: The Protopopovs brought ballet to the ice, Rodnina/Ulanov Rodnina/Zaitsev brought athleticism. Incredible speed, great lifts.

V&V: First pairs to do sbs triples. Started to incorporate ballet moves into skating.

Tonya H/Nancy: The "whack" that got me hooked on skating.
Tonya was also an incredible jumper

Midori: Uped the ladies technical content into the stratesphere

G&G: Katia was the skating version of Olga Koburt. Combined technical excellence with a very subtle romantic style of skating. Will probably always be remembered more for their "story" than their skating by many people. Which is too bad.

Dmitriev and Partners: Revolutionized pairs skating with unique choreography. He also contributed to male pair skaters being more equal in the presentation side of skating.

G&P: Well not only did Grishuk take create a memorable night for the patrons at the Spago Resteraunt, but G&P were the first dance team to incorporate incredible speed into their programs.

Scott Hamilton: Besides bad commentary he did contribute to skaters having something to do after turning pros back in the 80s.

T&D: Revolutionized ice dance, in many ways still the 'public face' of ice dancing.

B&S: Despite their inconsistancies, they combined the technique of the "Moscow school" with artistry of the "St. Petersburg" school.

Yagudin: A great influence on Brian Joubert . Populized Morozov's footwork.

S&Z: Put China on the map in pairs.

[Antilles]

Hmm, good list. What to add.....

B&K's hydroblading
A&P's reverse lifts. There are more teams doing that now.
I think Underhill and Martini added a lot of sizzle to pairs skating when they turned pro.
Kurt Browning really revolutionized foot work and the art of performing.
Sasha and her spirals

[lulu]

Originally posted by Antilles

Kurt Browning really revolutionized foot work and the art of performing.

I agree about Browning and the footwork. He was the "Yagudin" before there was a Yagudin on the international stage.

[soogar]

I'm not an MK fan, but her biggest contribution to the sport was bringing back cool moves such as the Charlotte, forward inside spiral etc. Now a lot of girls are doing a Charlotte and I thank her for it (though maybe I should than Lori Nichol, either way Thanks)

Plushy: Amazing combo sequences which I think are way more interesting than the typical combo.

[show 42]

.........John Curry.....artistic and balletic line for the men skaters
.........Brian B. and Paul Wylie........gorgeous spread eagles
.........Brasseur and Eisler....Innovative power lifts
.........Michelle.....split falling leaf to die for
.........Tonya Harding.......first landed triple axel by a lady in the U.S.
.........Denise Beilman........her famous and often repeated spins

42

[A.H.Black]

Dick Button - 1st 2axel, 1st triple jump, invented flying camel. Whether you like him or not, he is responsible for about 90% of what most Americans know about figure skating.

[BronzeisGolden]

Oksana Baiul - Just look at all the girls trying to do the doughnut
spin post-Lillehammer!

Kristi Yamaguchi - One of the very best at combining superb
technical ability with flawless artistry. One of the best examples of a "complete package" skater.

[hockeyfan228]

Originally posted by Antilles
Hmm, good list. What to add.....
A&P's reverse lifts. There are more teams doing that now.

Torville and Dean's predate A&P's, as do the Duschenays' choreographed by Dean.

[Kasey]

I think Nicole Bobek upped the ante on spirals, proving they can be beautiful and exciting and important in a program. I also think that Yagudin helped bring back the importance and excitement of footwork in eligible programs that had been lacking some since Browning. And skaters like Nikodinov and Hughes helped bring back the beauty of a classic layback.

Kasey

[jesslily]

For classic layback, I think besides Angelar N., NNN and Sasha played more important roles to bring it back. In 1999 national, NNN really astonished the nation with her layback and bielmann spin. At 2000 national, young Sasha shocked USA with her layback, spiral, and superb artistry. Back then Sarah's placement were lower than them, and her layback was not as good as NNN and Sasha's. Sure later on Sarah catched up.

[Joesitz]

I believe that Innovation is not quite the same as contribution.

John Curry contributed to the Sport by changing the way skaters perform their Free Style skate. He took it out of the standard mode which everyone was skating to the original style mode which we are seeing in today's more stylistic presentations. He is, imo, the father of the 'Whole Package'

(Toller, for me, took Curry"s whole package and moved it into specialized moves. A great innovation.)

The Duchesnays changed Dance forever.

The Protopopovs changed Pairs foreveer

Just my take on contributions.

Joe

[eyria]

Midori Ito--Raised the bar technically for the ladies. Made it necessary for any top lady to include all 5 triples (except the Axel) in her programs. Before that, some top ladies (Katarina, Jill) had been able to win without having all the triples. Not after Midori.

Kristi Yamaguchi--Raised the bar by combining very difficult triples with great artistry. In the aftermath of Midori and Tonya, there was legitimate concern that the ladies' competition was becoming simply a jumpfest. Kristi stopped all that. Because of her artistry, made it necessary for top ladies to be great both technically and artistically in the post-figures era. Paved the way for other "complete-package" skaters like Yuka Sato, Lu Chen, Kwan.

Michelle Kwan--In her time, raised the bar technically for the ladies. Because of her famed consistency, made it necessary for the top ladies to skate 6- and 7-triple programs in order to win. Before that, many ladies (Kristi, Tonya, Nancy, Oksana) won championships and medals with 5-triple or even 4-triple programs.

Tara Lipinski--Raised the bar technically. With her famous 3loop/3loop, she showed that the way to beat Michelle was triple/triple combinations. A simple concept that Irina, Sarah, and Shizuka copied with great success. Other ladies (Kristi, Midori, Nancy) had used triple/triples, but Tara was the first to make them absolutely integral and central to her success. As we saw this year, that effect is now starting to trickle down even to junior-level skaters. For better or worse.

Nicole Bobek--Raised the bar in spirals (as someone else on this thread noted). Forced other US women to improve their spirals in order to compete.

[Joesitz]

Not to be argumentive, but I do not see 'rasing the bar' as a contribution. I do see it as an innovation. It's just one more air rotation. For me, it is just making one trick harder than before. And who doesn't want that, but the trick itself doesn't change a lutz to another lutz except for the air turns.

Lambiel's innovative spins are a good examle of others mimicking what he started but it didn't change the sport, imo.

For me a contribution radically changes the Sport from what it was to what it is now.

Henie made the sport popular! And the others I listed changed the sport, imo - not just added an extra air turn.

Joe

[diamondqueen]

The Protopopovs' the greatest paris every. With their beautiful ballet and true elegance on the ice they brought pairs to a higher level. They still give me chills even now in the 60's.

Shen/Zhao they have everything, jumps, artistry and grace on ice. They have raised the bar and do it with great style.

Brian Boitano, to me, is the perfect skater. He combines great jumps with the artistry and it works.

John Curry was the perfect artist. He raised the artitstic bar. Every move was done with grace, style and elegance.

Michelle Kwan, the greatest woman skater does everything well. She is a great technical skater and the greatest artistic skater. She raised the bar by bringing good sportsmanship along with her great skating talent.

Peggy Fleming brought skating to TV. She did everything well, figures, which she excelled in, technical, artistry, music and style.
Peggy is truly one of the worlds greatest figure skaters.

Janet Lynn, was a skaters skater, it that makes any sense. She never won a world championship, but what she had as a skater was pure raw talent. Skaters today should take a page or two from Janet Lynn's book.

Dothory Hamill brought energy vitality and great atheltic ability. She has wonderful connecting moves and one of the best layback in the sport.

diamond

[diamondqueen]

I can't believe I forgot the greatest Ice Dancers of all time. Torvill/Dean brought everything to Ice Dancing. They have everything that makes it exciting to watch. There will never be a pair to bring that kind of emotion and joy to Ice Dancing the way Torvill/Dean did. They will remain my all time favorites that no others can match.

diamond