Breaking Up is Hard to Do | Golden Skate

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
I was viewing my videotapes from the 1990 US Nationals and Worlds and again enjoyed watching Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudi Galindo's performances as US National champions. At that time, Yamaguchi was also competing in ladies' singles. She finished fourth in ladies' singles at Worlds and she and Galindo finished fifth in pairs, for the second year in a row. After Worlds, Yamaguchi decided to concentrate solely on singles, and she and Galindo dissolved their pairs partnership. While Yamaguchi's decision proved to be an excellent one for her, Rudi was left to flounder for several years as a singles skater. His victory at the 1996 US Nationals was all the more outstanding because it was so unexpected.

Does anyone remember Natasha Kuchiki and Todd Sand? Despite their age differences - 13 years or so - they were US champions and won the World bronze medal in 1991. Sand met Jenny Meno, who was then skating with Scott Wendland, at the 1992 Winter Olympics, sparks started to fly, and they both dropped their respective partners so they could skate together. Meno and Sand got married several years thereafter and have enjoyed a long, successful pro career. Wendland coached several promising figure skaters. Kuchiki continued to skate as a singles skater but never achieved greatness.

I am not criticizing any of the skaters for dissolving their partnerships. I'm sure the decisions were not made lightly. I do feel sorry, however, for the skater who was "dumped" from the partnership. It's not as though you can find a partner and instantly develop the chemistry and team work that took years to develop with your previous partner.
 

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Don't forget Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulanov and Kyoko Ina & Jason Dungjen, two famous cases from the "ugly break-up hall of fame".
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
berthes ghost said:
Don't forget Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulanov and Kyoko Ina & Jason Dungjen, two famous cases from the "ugly break-up hall of fame".

Absolutely! I just named two break-ups, but there are a number of them.
Rodnina and Ulanov's was very dramatic, to say the least, as Ulanov had fallen in love with Ludmilla Smirnova (sp?), the Soviet silver-medal winning pair team, and he broke up with Rodnina so he could skate with Smirnova. At the 1972 Worlds, Rodnina broke down in tears after they skated their long program, as that was their final skate together. She then auditioned a number of partners and chose Alexandr Zaitsev, with whom she won seven Worlds championships and the 1976 and 1980 Olympic gold medals. Not bad for being on the rebound.

As for Ina/Dungjen, this pair never seemed to really jell as a team. There was a constant aura of disharmony between them, or so I thought. I wasn't surprised when they broke up, to be honest.
 

STL_Blues_fan

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
How about Marina and Ilya?? I always felt bad for her that she had to switch countries in order to find a partner. I hsve to admit, it was always a pleasure when she and Gwendal beat L&A at big events (and on more than a few occasions :))

Yana


PS - as far as Rodnina is concerned - didn't she also marry Zaitsev?
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
STL_Blues_fan said:
PS - as far as Rodnina is concerned - didn't she also marry Zaitsev?

Yes, married and divorced. They have a child together, too. The year she gave birth was the year she did not compete at Worlds. Tai & Randy won gold that year.
 

thisthingcalledlove

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
SkateFan4Life said:
Absolutely! I just named two break-ups, but there are a number of them.
Rodnina and Ulanov's was very dramatic, to say the least, as Ulanov had fallen in love with Ludmilla Smirnova (sp?), the Soviet silver-medal winning pair team, and he broke up with Rodnina so he could skate with Smirnova. At the 1972 Worlds, Rodnina broke down in tears after they skated their long program, as that was their final skate together. She then auditioned a number of partners and chose Alexandr Zaitsev, with whom she won seven Worlds championships and the 1976 and 1980 Olympic gold medals. Not bad for being on the rebound.
.
OMG i would break down in tears, too. She was in love with the guy!

Here's something that isn't mentioned too much- Michkoutienok was in love with Dmitriev, and everyone but HER knew during the 1992 Olympics that he was getting married to the rhythmic gymnast :(
 

VIETgrlTerifa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
thisthingcalledlove said:
OMG i would break down in tears, too. She was in love with the guy!

Here's something that isn't mentioned too much- Michkoutienok was in love with Dmitriev, and everyone but HER knew during the 1992 Olympics that he was getting married to the rhythmic gymnast :(

Wow..I never knew that Rodnina was in love with Ulanov, nor did I know about Mishkoutienok being inlove with Dmitriev...:(

Are there any more interesting break-ups? .
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
SkateFan4Life said:
I was viewing my videotapes from the 1990 US Nationals and Worlds and again enjoyed watching Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudi Galindo's performances as US National champions. At that time, Yamaguchi was also competing in ladies' singles. She finished fourth in ladies' singles at Worlds and she and Galindo finished fifth in pairs, for the second year in a row. After Worlds, Yamaguchi decided to concentrate solely on singles, and she and Galindo dissolved their pairs partnership. While Yamaguchi's decision proved to be an excellent one for her, Rudi was left to flounder for several years as a singles skater. His victory at the 1996 US Nationals was all the more outstanding because it was so unexpected.

I think that was absolutely the right decision for Kristi to do! Besides way too exhausting to practice and to compete in two disciplines. One has to make a choice. Sad for Rudi of course, but she had no other choice. One´s own success is more important than to remain with a partner, if the success does not look probable. I´m happy that Rudi won the Nationals and a bronze in 1996 Worlds! It looks like they both kind of wasted time by competing as a pair.

Marjaana
 

sk8m8

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I´m happy that Rudi won the Nationals and a bronze in 1996 Worlds! It looks like they both kind of wasted time by competing as a pair.
_________________________________________________________________

I may have to respectfully disagree with you on that one, M. Yuka said that she thought she became a much better singles skater at her age by taking up pairs skating with Jason after they married. She stated that her back and upper body strength increased dramatically because of the lifts and holds required of the dicipline.

Though Rudi had many obsticles thrown his way during AND after his split with Kristi, she continued to improve and excel. Perhaps it was EXACTLY her pairs training that helped her to develop into a better singles skater. I would imagine, since Kristi herself has stated that she had trouble learning and perfecting her jumps that flying above someone's head while twisting and turning and blazing across the ice while being held aloft above someone's head who basically has knives strapped to the bottom of his boots may have even helped her confidence a little :eek:
From my own experience, "failures" can urge you in the direction of giving up or they can spur you on to be better....all depends on your mindset. Just my own opinion on the subject
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
I agree with you, especially in the sense that one normally learns something from everything... Generally speaking I would though assume that most of all Kristi benefitted from having more time for her singles skating. We all do have only 24 hours in a day, and practices take time, especially for two different disciplines that each had a short programme and freeskate. And of course exhibition numbers.

Marjaana
 
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berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Let's not forget that in addition to pairs free skating and singles free skating, they also had to practice figures, so yeah, they definately had a lot more time to concentrate on singles free skating after their 1990 break-up. I'm not sure that Kristi would have persued singles so soon or so agressivley if figures had remained until 92.

While I agree that we learn something from everything, I also agree that, while talented at pairs, Y&G would have been lucky to get world bronze at best. They just weren't as good at pairs as they were at singles.

I also think that getting dumped was the best thing that ever happend to Rudi, as his comments about pairs skating are kinda scary and I think that going it alone provided for tremendous personal growth.
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
berthes ghost said:
Let's not forget that in addition to pairs free skating and singles free skating, they also had to practice figures, so yeah, they definately had a lot more time to concentrate on singles free skating after their 1990 break-up. I'm not sure that Kristi would have persued singles so soon or so agressivley if figures had remained until 92.

Of course school figures were abolished after the 1990 World Championships, so had Galido and Yamaguchi remained as pairs skaters, Kristi would still have had more free time, as she would not have to practice the figures. Still, I think they would have had a very difficult time winning a World or Olympic pair medals. IMHO, they simply weren't as good or as much of a "pair" as the then-
medal-winning pairs teams.

However, I believe that Kristi definitely benefited from skating with Rudi. She gained a great deal of physical strength, and her stroking and jumping were enhanced with her partnership. The triple salchow was her nemesis jump, yet she landed her jumps beautifully when Rudi threw her into them.

What about Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler, the young US ice dance team who won silver at the 1998 US Nationals and skated at the Nagano Olympics? I thought they were going to be national champions at some point, and they were excellent skaters. I was sad to see them dissolve their partnership.

Whatever happened to Jamie Silverstein? She was a gorgeous ice dancer, and she's disappeared from the radar.
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
thisthingcalledlove said:
OMG i would break down in tears, too. She was in love with the guy!

Here's something that isn't mentioned too much- Michkoutienok was in love with Dmitriev, and everyone but HER knew during the 1992 Olympics that he was getting married to the rhythmic gymnast :(


Actually, Moskvina didn't know either. ;)
So, it wasn't like Natasha was the ONLY one who didn't know about the baby/engangement.
His son was born in September of 1992.

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure M&D were ever in love. It has been speculated a lot on the internet; but I haven't seen any articles/interviews actually saying so. Not saying it's not true, just that all I've heard are rumors & internet stuff-which is not exactly the best source. :laugh:

Natasha dated Alexei Urmanov sometime in the 1990s. I do know that she gave him a car. Not sure how long they dated-it they're both involved with other people now.
They would have made such a cute couple. :D :love:

According to an interview on http://www.velena.ru Artur said he fell in love with Tanya(wife) the moment he saw her. :love:
He also mentions how much he appreciates her support-and that she gives him advice on skating ideas, and he trusts her judgements a lot.

She was a very cool gymnast back in the day. Very "Olga Korbutish" in terms of personality. :laugh: :p
 

clairecloutier

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
I've always wondered, too, if the rumors about M&D were true. I hope not--only because I always liked Natasha, and it would be sad if Artur broke her heart. Before his marriage, there was never any suggestion in the press that he and Natasha were involved, or that she was in love with him. But, then again, why would he bother to keep the marriage a secret unless there *was* something between them? It's a mystery.

Does anyone know what's happened with Natasha in recent years? Is she still married to Craig Shepherd, the hockey skater? Is she coaching or anything?
 

Eeyora

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
As I can recall there was an article in IFS in whic Ulanov revealed that it was their coach Zhuk who was responsible for his breakup with Irina Rodnina. Which is not surpising considering Zhuk's track record.
 

lulu

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
eyria said:
I've always wondered, too, if the rumors about M&D were true. I hope not--only because I always liked Natasha, and it would be sad if Artur broke her heart. Before his marriage, there was never any suggestion in the press that he and Natasha were involved, or that she was in love with him. But, then again, why would he bother to keep the marriage a secret unless there *was* something between them? It's a mystery.

Does anyone know what's happened with Natasha in recent years? Is she still married to Craig Shepherd, the hockey skater? Is she coaching or anything?

There seems to be so many rumors and assumptions, that it is hard to know what is true or not; and not just stuff from the internet. :eek:

Artur was not married in February of 1992 only recently engaged.
His son was born in September of 1992-so he probably only found out about the baby a few weeks before.

While I feel bad for Natalia if she had a crush on Artur; it's not his fault if he didn't love her, or even if he didn't realize that she had a crush on him-if she even did.
Natasha & Artur are both still married to their spouses-and have both worked with them off/on the ice.
They both seem happy with their current life.

Natasha is still married to Craig Shepard; they did some pro shows/comps back in the 1990s.
They also did some coaching together. Natalia during the coaching & Craig doing the off ice training.
Natalia now coaches/head of a figure skating program in Texas; she's a US citizen.
 

Linny

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
In Love?

Even if Natasha were in love with Artur, methinks she had a lot of other problems back then that would have interfered with a relationship. It was actually quite gentlemanly of Artur to not reciprocate - it would have made matters worse for her. It sounds, though, as if Natasha has gotten her life on track since then. Good for her!
Linny
 

Chi-TownDale

Spectator
Joined
Sep 15, 2004
You bet this is true

Eeyora said:
As I can recall there was an article in IFS in whic Ulanov revealed that it was their coach Zhuk who was responsible for his breakup with Irina Rodnina. Which is not surpising considering Zhuk's track record.

As a personal friend of Aleksei Ulanov's, I can confirm this is the case. Aleksei quit Zhuk because Zhuk was taking all of the credit for the routines that Aleksei had developed. Aleksei has an extensive background in choreography, ballet and classical music while attending universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg in addition to being an outstanding skater.

Zhuk was not nearly creative enough to come up with the kind of choreography that Aleksei had developed. Irina had nothing to do with Aleksei's quitting, except perhaps in her own mind. He also didn't deliberatly drop her in one of their routines in which she suffered a concussion. This was also another rumor that was totally baseless. He didn't need to injure Irina in order to quit.

To say that would be the same as saying that Aleksei's daughter's pairs partner deliberately dropped her in order to get a new partner. Aleksei's daughter and her partner were Russian Junior Champions in pairs prior to the last Olympics which meant that they would have made the Olympic team if one of the pairs on the Olympic team had to drop out for any reason. She injured her knee when he dropped her and couldn't skate for six months, which has probably ruined her Olympic career since she grew so tall while she was mending that she has had tremendous problems getting her skills back.
 
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