Remarkable Demonstrations of Mental Strength | Golden Skate

Remarkable Demonstrations of Mental Strength

Ambivalent

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Just looking back on my short time as a figure skating fan, I've witnessed several instances of remarkable mental strength displayed by several skaters. I wanted to create a thread to celebrate performances which were perhaps given when odds were stacked against their favour, or where a skater had to overcome their mental demons to achieve what they - and indeed their fans - thought may have been impossible.

When I think about this topic I am immediately drawn to several skates from the 2010 Olympics. Kim Yu Na performed two spectacular routines in spite of what must have been overwhelming pressure. South Korea's stockmarket visibly dropped for the 10 or so minutes it took between her performance and her scores. That she performed so flawlessly was amazing (yes, we might nitpick - her 3-3 wasn't as good as she'd done it previously, her salchow was a bit tilted sure - but the overall presentation and technical aspects were absolutely wonderful nonetheless).

What about Joannie Rochette, to skate so well after the sudden and tragic loss of her mother was just so moving. This was a different type of pressure. The pressure of fulfilling shared dreams that had suddenly become the dreams of only one. To perform as if nothing had happened. To perform with a heart so heavy it must have felt like falling to the ground. Yes she did make some errors, but who cares. Both her SP and LP are skates I'll be watching for a long time to come.

What about Rudy Galindo's 1996 performance at Nationals? I am new to figure skating but was watching some mid-1990s performances. I learned about the sad circumstances in which Galindo had skated, and to skate as he did to Dick Button's unbridled admiration was spine-tingling. To be the last skater skating at your Nationals held in your own town, and to perform under such circumstances was just remarkable.
 

Interspectator

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
This one is quite funny.
Many remarked on Hanyu's mental strength during the team event of the Sochi Olympics, amid the calls of 'Russia! Russia!'...when asked about it he said this.
Source

—How was the audience’s atmosphere? The atmosphere was very unique during the Team Event.

Yes. But I actually thought they were chanting my name, not “Russia”, so I was really happy (laughs). Nothing could feel better than being chanted for before I entered (the rink).

—You didn’t think that intentionally? You really didn’t know?

I really didn’t know (laughs). I was nervous, but even a minute before my skate, I thought it was definitely my name they were chanting, and I was really happy. Then I was able to skate well, and when I got back and re-watched it, it only sounded like “Russia”, so I thought, “That’s strange.” (laughs) That was when I realized.

—It’s good you realized only later.

Oh yes! If I knew it was “Russia”, I may have had a different mentality. I was under the pressure of being the leadoff hitter in my first team event, and I was very happy I was able to skate well.
Full translation can be found here: http://ice-kingfisher.tumblr.com/post/108232945898/special-interview-yuzuru-hanyu-the-19-year-old

A trick of the subconscious mind kept him from even realizing the crowd wasn't on his side, and a kind of cheerful egotism helped him be calm at his first Olympics. :p
 
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Ambivalent

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Oh yes I completely forgot about Mao's 2014 Sochi LP, which should have won the segment if not for the completely erroneous judging (just my opinion).
 

Interspectator

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Oh, and Jeremy Abbot getting up and finishing his program after a very hard and painful fall...also at Sochi.
 

oriquey

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 10, 2014
This one is quite funny.
Many remarked on Hanyu's mental strength during the team event of the Sochi Olympics, amid the calls of 'Russia! Russia!'...when asked about it he said this.
Source

A trick of the subconscious mind kept him from even realizing the crowd wasn't on his side, and a kind of cheerful egotism helped him be calm at his first Olympics. :p

Mao's Sochi FS (how she gave it her all and the tears later T,T) and Yuzuru's mentality during the Team Event definitely came to mind. He's the first to skate for his team, too. It must have been daunting considering it was his first Olympics. Yuzuru has always been regarded by a number of skaters as mentally strong, which goes with how objective and stubborn he can be.
 

sabinfire

Doing the needful
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 30, 2014
My vote goes for Jeremy Abbott's epic fall during the Sochi Olympics, and getting up to perform one of the better programs of his career... incredible!
 
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kresslia

Medalist
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Joannie. The woman lost her mother 2 days prior. I have no idea how she was able to perform as well as she did.
 

kiara_bleu

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 14, 2014
Mao doing two triple axels, with one in combination, in the long program of Vancouver right after hearing all that loud applause and world record score for Yuna. Historic in its own right. That whole Olympics was just a remarkable time for figure skating, so many special performances.
 

oriquey

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 10, 2014
I want to add Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin into the mix. With all the drama post-Worlds, the humiliation of getting dumped by their respective partners and the odds stacked against them, they've managed to prove a lot of people wrong.
 
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peg

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Joannie's SP at the Olympics was absolutely incredible. Technically, it was as good as she's ever skated it, but she was also so in the moment. There was so much emotion - no thought - just pure emotion. It's like her ability to feel the music was heightened by the emotion of losing her mother. She had small mistakes in the FS, probably at least partly due to emotional exhaustion. But that SP was perfection.
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
I want to add Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin into the mix. With all the drama post-Worlds, the humiliation of getting dumped by their respective partners and the odds stacked against them, they've managed to prove a lot of people wrong.
Absolutely right!!! I/Z even skated right after S/K at CoR.
 
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FSGMT

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
I would add Liza this season at GPF: she knew that she had to be perfect in order to beat a clean Radiomova (or, anyway, she at least imagined it) and skating last she managed to pull out the only clean performance of her FS without popped jumps this season :clap:
 

cooper

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Yuna Kim at Sochi.

this..

back to back clean performances after back to back clean performances in vancouver olympics.. she never crumbled.. last skater.. for OGM.. never crumbled.. with the whole judging and the stingy atmosphere never crumbled..

if you want to demonstrate mental strength in the biggest event i'll put yuna at the top because of the pressure that she will always carry..
 

BlackPack

Medalist
Joined
Mar 20, 2013
-Totmianina and Marinin after a frightening accident where he dropped her and she was knocked out
-Mao Asada skating after her mother's death and in Sochi
-Berezhnaya overcoming her injury and paralysis, going on to win gold in SLC, only to have to endure a scandal
-Elvis Stojko's LP in Nagano, skating through cleanly and painfully with a groin injury, most people didn't know about it until after the event
-Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo in 2003 Worlds, epic! One of the greatest performances of all time
-Oksana Domnina skating in 2007(?) Worlds after her father's suicide
-Trankov competing after his father's death
-Gordeeva skating solo after the death of Grinkov
-Slutskaya in 2005 Worlds after threatening illness, goosebumps
-Mishkuteniok and Dmitriev: Natalia was in love with Artur who didn't love her back, she gained a lot of weight, depression, etc. but fought back in Lillehammer

It's really the moments of remarkable strength that inspire me to continue watching this sport, so I really like this topic.
 

Perdita

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 15, 2014
Mao's Sochi FS is by far the best, but I also have to add her 2008 Worlds FS. The way she performed after that awful fall was epic too.
And Yuzuru's 2012 Worlds FS. That was phenomenal. I've never seen a performance that is driven by a sheer will power like that.
 
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