"Heartbreak" Ice Moments | Page 2 | Golden Skate

"Heartbreak" Ice Moments

icenut84

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
thisthingcalledlove said:
I thought it was heartbreaking, too, that the singer died of Leukemia before the Olympics...and because of the exposure given to her music by Michelle, and Kristi, she'd become even more famous in death :cry:

I don't know if you read about what happened on the COI tour that summer, when Michelle was performing FOG. I remember reading about it at the time. Apparently, Eva Cassidy's parents/family went to one of the shows, and afterwards they went backstage to meet Michelle. They gave her one of those framed discs (like some singers/bands get when a record goes gold/platinum, etc), and thanked her personally for using Eva's music, because nobody had ever used her music like that before, and they were really touched.
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Kurt Browning's devastatingly heartbreaking short program at the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he fell on his triple flip and singled a planned double axel. He mouthed "Unbelieveable" to the audience after his skate, and in the kiss 'n cry area, he said, "I guess the Olympics just isn't my thing".

Nicole Bobek was a skater who had more than her share of heartbreak competitive moments, mostly due to injuries that prevented her from skating her best, while other times her lack of adequate training/preparation resulted in those unfortunate moments.

Bobek was the defending US champion and World bronze medalist as she headed into the 1996 US Nationals. She had injured her ankle during the fall of 1995, but opted to participate in a 22-city "Nutcracker" tour, while her injured ankle. Her "up close and personal" bio piece that was aired at Nationals showed her sitting on the floor, speaking about her ankle injury. She said she would have liked to rest the ankle, but she couldn't do that. She could have sat out the "Nutcracker" tour, but she chose not to do so. Nicole managed to skate through the injury in the short program, but she reinjured her ankle during the long program warmup, and she withdrew from the competition. The cameras showed her crying rinkside, and crying as she walked back to the locker room.
 

KwanFan1212

Joey Votto Fangirl
Final Flight
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Oh wow, I can't believe I forgot about Katia's first skating without Sergei. That was definitely a Kleenex moment for me! :cry:

Another one would have to be Todd in the 1998 Olys because he was SO close to realizing his dream of an Olys medal and it slipped away during his freeskate. And I did cry after his SP in SLC too because I knew his dream would not be realized again. Sigh. :(
 

Glacierskater

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
There are so many quotes on here that I could reply to, but I am not sure if I can do multiple quotesso I will ad my 2 cents:

Bobek's skate after Carlo Fassi passed away

The competition where Bobek withdrew after doing the lutz, I think, after her coach told her not to and she did it anyway. (I either read this or it was on the t.v.)

Katia's skate after Sergei passed away

Michelle's FOG exhibition skate tore me up when I saw the tears own her own face...I still cry just as much when I watch it and know what to expect

One other noteworthy mention: I was watching a Sonja Henie video about her life, and one of the people that they interviewed (her assistant, I think) said that when Sonja was getting older toward her retirement from shows, she was in South America somewhere and would fall sometimes during her show, and they would laugh at her. (yes, that was a seriously long runon sentence.) Crowds would get restless, and not really pay attention. The person telling the story mentioned something to the affect of them not having the kind of appreciation of skating, at that time, the she was used to. It made me sad for her.
 

Gipson

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
KwanFan1212 said:
Oh wow, I can't believe I forgot about Katia's first skating without Sergei.
I forgot about that too before reading this thread. It reminded me also of Oksana Baiul's touching Sergei tribute.
 

nuggetr

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 20, 2004
thisthingcalledlove said:
The moment that broke my "skating heart" most was Michelle's exhibition at the 2002 Olympics. At the very end, I had tears in my eyes, just as she had...
I could not feel sorry for her then. If you think about it she set herself up for that. She was so sure she would win the gold she choose a gold dress and Fields of Gold to skate to...
 

bronxgirl

Medalist
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
nuggetr said:
I could not feel sorry for her then. If you think about it she set herself up for that. She was so sure she would win the gold she choose a gold dress and Fields of Gold to skate to...

That's rather cold. She had used that exhibition and dress prior to SLC IIRC.
 

nuggetr

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 20, 2004
bronxgirl said:
That's rather cold. She had used that exhibition and dress prior to SLC IIRC.
It dosen't matter if she used it ten times prier to the oplymics, she still set her self up by doing that. It might be cold in your eyes and others but that's the way I see it. Sorry if you don't agree!!!But then, you don't have to!!!
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I can't really say that I felt sorry for Michelle, either. She had just won her second Olympic medal, to go along with 4 (now 5) World Championships and 6 (now 8) US Championships. What was heartrending to me about her Fields of Gold exhibition was simply the beauty of the performance, how she put her heart and soul into it and drew the audience into the experience with her. To me, it was like she was consoling us, not the other way around. Like she was saying, "Don't feel bad, y'all, I'm still your Michelle."

And a couple of months later when she performed it at Marshalls, it was even better!:love:

Mathman
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
Mathman said:
I can't really say that I felt sorry for Michelle, either. She had just won her second Olympic medal, to go along with 4 (now 5) World Championships and 6 (now 8) US Championships. What was heartrending to me about her Fields of Gold exhibition was simply the beauty of the performance, how she put her heart and soul into it and drew the audience into the experience with her. To me, it was like she was consoling us, not the other way around. Like she was saying, "Don't feel bad, y'all, I'm still your Michelle."
Mathman

With all due respect to Michelle, I thought her choice of exhibition music - "Fields of Gold", with a lovely golden costume - was almost presumptive - as if she expected to win the gold medal at Salt Lake. With all the problems she had recently had in dropping Frank Carroll, it was a bit amazing to me that she made this musical/costume choice. IMHO, of course.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Oh, I didn't feel that way at all. Fields of Gold was the exhibition program that she had prepared, months before. That was the dress she commissioned. When it came time to skate, she skated the program she had prepared, like everybody else.

I didn't expect her to rush out and buy a bronze dress just because she had a falling out with Frank Carroll.

MM:)
 

nuggetr

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 20, 2004
SkateFan4Life said:
With all due respect to Michelle, I thought her choice of exhibition music - "Fields of Gold", with a lovely golden costume - was almost presumptive - as if she expected to win the gold medal at Salt Lake. With all the problems she had recently had in dropping Frank Carroll, it was a bit amazing to me that she made this musical/costume choice. IMHO, of course.
Thank you SkateFan4Life! That is exactly what I was trying to say. It was not meant to be cold!! The past two olympics she thought she would win (and I am not saying that she should not have won) because I do feel she is a much better skater than either Tara or Sarah but what counts are the scores at the time and she did not come through when it counted...
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I'm sorry. I have to disagree. I don't think Michelle ever thought or knew she would win the Olympic Gold. I think she very much WANTED to. There is a big difference. Michelle herself was no fool heading into SLC. She hadn't defeated Slutskaya all season and she had also been beaten by fellow U.S. teammate Sarah Hughes at Skate Canada....I don't think she knew anything but that she wanted to skate well and that she had a chance. She didn't and she missed her chance. I also have to disagree and say that I don't think "Fields of Gold" was meant as a pre-victory or victory lap. That isn't even what the song is about! The song is very fitting as a tribute piece and that is just what it was. As for the color of her dress? She also wore a gold costume for her exhibition at the 2001 Worlds, her SP at 2002 Skate America, and on and on....it really is silly to assert that Michelle's choice in costume color was an early declaration of her self-proclaimed anointment as Olympic champion. She obviously liked gold and that costume and wore it several times before and after. It was a decision based on personal preference.
 

Verbalgirl77

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think the context and intent for which the outfit and program were conceived (for the 1961 tribute performance also post 9/11) are so far away from, "I want gold 5 months from now, so I'll wear a gold outfit. I'm soooo the favorite. Check me out."

I thought that was a beautiful outfit, and yes, if you're skating to a song called Fields of Gold, a gold outfit strikes me as somewhat logical. It would have been weirder to me if she'd changed outfits after the losing gold, actually.
 

Glacierskater

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
PrincessLeppard said:
It was also a tribute to the 1961 Worlds team, who were all killed in plane crash.

Laura

What was? MK's FOG? I did not know that if that is what you are referring to. Double sadness.
 

Germanice

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I know there are more, but right now these are all I can think of:

The face of Brian Orser on the podium at Oly's 1988 in Calgary.

Irina crying after the LP in SLC 2002 after a close comp. in the LP and a at least disputed decision in the SP. She could've been Olympic Champion.

Sasha, when he didn't make the podium (again) at Worlds 2002 in Nagano.

Alexei in the KnC after an unfortunate LP in Nagano 1998. His coach has treaten him like a dog.

Evgeny in the KnC after his fall in the SP in SLC 2002. His coach has treaten him like a dog ...

Anke
 
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Yazmeen

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
FOG was originally choregraphed and performed when Michelle was still coached by Frank. It was performed in October of 2001 for a skating tribute to the memories of the 61 US team, tragically lost in a plane crash. Michelle and Frank specifically picked the music for this event as her exhibition piece for the season. Then came 9/11, and the tribute became more than just payed respects to lost skaters--instead, it also memorialized those lost to the tragedy in September. If you listen to the words of the song, it can be interpreted as a memorial to someone.

I don't know why she chose a gold dress, but to say she picked the song because she thought she was a shoo-in for the OGM is just plain wrong. She originally used a lavendar dress that was too fussy for the music. That plain but sparkly gold dress simply worked for the number, which is probably the best skating Michelle has ever done. I always assumed she chose it because of the title of the song, not because of the Olympics. To say she set herself up deliberately for disappointment with the choice of a dress color, IMO, is rather silly. I, too believe, that she wanted the OGM but did not think she was necessarily destined to have it, but we're each entitled to our own opinion.
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I'd add Maria Butyrskaya at 2002 Worlds -- she totally bombed in QR and retired on the spot. Whatever you think of her, she was an excellent skater; seeing her retire in such desperation was heartbreaking.
 
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