- Joined
- Sep 24, 2003
SkateFan4Life said:Whatever happened to Dagmar, anyway? Is she coaching and/or skating in Europe?
Dagmar Prott (nee. Lurz) is now a judge. Most recently, she judged the 2003 World Junior Figure Skating championships
SkateFan4Life said:Whatever happened to Dagmar, anyway? Is she coaching and/or skating in Europe?
thisthingcalledlove said:Dagmar Prott (nee. Lurz) is now a judge. Most recently, she judged the 2003 World Junior Figure Skating championships
TwizzlerS said:The 1980 Olympics was the first one I watched. I loved Denise Biellmann.
It also inspired me to take up ice skating. I did roller skating as a kid. And, when I watched the compulsories (the Kilian was one), I decided to try ice dancing. I've loved it ever since.
floskate said:I have to agree with your assessment SkateFan4Life.
Although to be fair to the likes of Robin, the skaters in those days did what they had to do to win. Robin had a triple axel - no wonder when you see the size of his double, a triple lutz and a triple flip but never needed them in competition to win. He was barely defeated in the last 2 years of his career when it came to free skating.
ChiSk8Fan said:In the Men's event, I remember Robin Cousins fell in the SP on his straight line step. I recall his speed and line and his being a big, grand skater.
Lois said:Very close, Floskate. Actually, Robin was undefeated in free skating for the last three years of his career, quite an accomplishment then or now! "Free skating" was the short and long program combined, and in those days figures and free skating received separate, smaller medals at competitions (other than the Olympics)--nowadays, "free skating" would be the whole competition. Lois
SkateFan4Life said:The men's World competitions between 1977 - 1980 were tightly contested meets between the top four men - Robin Cousins, Jan Hoffman, Charlie Tickner, and Vladimir Kovalev. Hoffman won one title, Kovalev won two titles, and Tickner won one title during those years. The 1978 Worlds was virtually a three-way tie, with Tickner winning by the narrowest of margins.
SkateFan4Life said:As wonderful a free skater as Cousins was, his comparatively weak school figures - and occasional errors in his free skating - prevented him from ever winning a World title. Of course, he won the grand prize - Olympic gold.
Lois said:. During the 70s, it was quite common for the winner of the free skating not to win the overall title, and often to fail to even medal overall, as when Denise in Lake Placid won the long but finished 4th overall. Lois
Lois said:Regarding Poetzsch, from what I've read she was an extremely good figures skater, and as far as I can tell was undefeated in figures for about four years, so she probably deserved her figures wins, unlike (from what I've read) Katarina Witt winning figures at '88 Worlds, after years of reportedly lousy figures and lower figure placements, which was written off as a gift for the newly crowned 2-time Olympic champion that year.
Lois
SkateFan4Life said:And when Annet Poetzsch stood at the boards, preparing to start her Olympic long program, her coach, Jutta Muller, took both of her hands and said to her, "You must be strong. You must go for the jumps. You must win."
That's not putting too much pressure on your skater, is it? :sheesh:
RealtorGal said:Yeah, but apparently it worked! Then it worked AGAIN in 1984 and 1988 with Katarina Witt!
Maybe that's what Sasha and other skaters who tend to crumble at major competitions need to win: a good dose of in-your-faceness instead of coaches trying to delicately "handle" their fragile psyches.
SkateFan4Life said:Well, Janet Lynn won the free skate in her World Championship appearances of 1971, 1972, and 1973, with mixed results. She finished fourth in 1971, third in 1972 (and at the Olympics that year), and second in 1973. Janet had the misfortune of sharing the ice with Austrian Trixi Schuba, who was one of the greatest school figures skaters of all time. Trixi built up such a massive lead in that discipline that the rest of the skaters had little, if any, chance to defeat her for the gold medal. And, until 1973, the competition was comprised of the school figures and the long program. If you messed up in the school figures, there wasn't much opportunity to get back in the hunt for medals.
I remember watching Trixi Schuba's 1972 Olympic and World long program, and both times I had to shake my head in dismay and wonder, "How in the heck did that girl win the gold medal with such a lame free skate?" :sheesh: Her free skating, compared with the other top women, was nothing short of an embarrassment. Trixi finished seventh in the free skate at the 1972 Worlds, but her outstanding first-place in the school figures clinched the title for her.
Dorothy Hamill won the long program at the 1974, 1975, and 1976 Worlds, but she won silver in 74 and 75 and gold in 76. Dorothy made mistakes in her short programs in 74 and 75, and because the competitions were very closely contested between Hamill, Holland's Diane de Leeuw, and East Germany's Christine Errath, any mistake could, and did, cost her the title.
Linda Fratianne won the long program at the 1977, 1978, and 1979 Worlds, but she won gold in 1977 and 1979 and had to settle for silver in 1978. Linda's school figures were not as strong as East Germany's Annet Poetzsch - or at least they were not scored as high by the judges - so she was constantly in the position of working herself back after the school figures.
* 1973 World Figure Skating Championships were held in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia and Karen placed first in all three categories: overall, freestyle and compulsory figures.
* 1971 World Bronze Medalist and 1972 World Silver Medallist
* Silver medalist at the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo Japan
Ladskater said:Actually in 1973, Karen Magnussen of Canada won the Worlds - in all three disciplines - figures, short program and long program. Karen came second in the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.
Both Karen and Janet were overshadowed by the strength Trixi Schuba had in the school figures. Of course, figures counted for up to 60% of the marks until the introduction of the short program. Still, Trixi deserves our respect. She gained her titles when figure skating was about figures - not jumping. Trixi was in a class of her own when it came to tracing figures. I saw her trace figures once - they were perfect. Beleive me, no small feat if you have ever had to trace figures. Her tracings were one on top of the other, no wobbles and perect symmetrically.
It used to bug me as well when it came down to the free skate that Karen would be first in the free skate, but had to concede to Trixi Schuba because of her huge lead in the figures. There was no comparison in their skating styles. I am sure any of the young local skaters from a club level could have outskated Trixi; however, no one could match her superb figures. As Trixi once observed after some harsh criticism over winning the World title: "After all it is figure skating."
Matt said:This is slightly off topic, but whatever happened to Annett Poetzsch? Of all the Winter Olympic Gold Medallists of the past 20 years, she's the one I seem to hear the least/almost nothing about. The only time I've ever seen her was at an exhibition many years ago on TV, where the past OGM-winning ladies (through 1994) did a group number together, and the final pose was the final pose each of them took in her OGM winning LP
Also (and again, off topic), but Dianne de Leeuw of the Netherlands was mentioned earlier; did she switch nationalities in her career? I have seen her listed in FS tables as representing Netherlands/USA
Ladskater said:Actually in 1973, Karen Magnussen of Canada won the Worlds - in all three disciplines - figures, short program and long program. Karen came second in the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.
Both Karen and Janet were overshadowed by the strength Trixi Schuba had in the school figures. Of course, figures counted for up to 60% of the marks until the introduction of the short program. Still, Trixi deserves our respect. She gained her titles when figure skating was about figures - not jumping. Trixi was in a class of her own when it came to tracing figures. I saw her trace figures once - they were perfect. Beleive me, no small feat if you have ever had to trace figures. Her tracings were one on top of the other, no wobbles and perect symmetrically. "