It's a shame that B/S didn't win 2001 worlds....

eliza88 · Mar 7, 2005

I too was there and it was an incredible competition! S/P were totally and completely on--nothing shaky, everything smooth. They had the one mistake on Jamie's single axel. B/S were also wonderful and I absolutely LOVE this program of thiers! They had the 2 minor errors and I really could not have chosen between the two! I rewatched this competition recently and as close as it was to call it in the arena--it looked even closer to call on TV!! Perhaps the edge went to S/P because they really and truly were in the zone that night. A case could be made for either team winning.

eliza88

Casper · Mar 7, 2005

I was there as well and totally enjoyed that competition. I think that an argument can be made for either one. I personally went with S/P, but I wouldn't have stormed out if B/S had won.

clairecloutier · Mar 7, 2005

I definitely feel B/S should have won 2001 Worlds. Both pairs skated well that night, but B/S were better. Jamie did have that one miscue on the Axel, plus B/S had better speed, ice coverage, and flow. That night S/P seemed a little tight and nervous (understandable, considering what was at stake). I think S/P won mostly because they were skating in Canada and had such incredible support from the audience.

I remember during the Salt Lake scandal, Tamara Moskvina said that sometimes there are mistakes in judging, and as a competitior you either come out on the right or wrong side of the mistake, but that you just have to accept the situation graciously, and hope that the mistakes balance out in the long run. She made specific reference to the idea that B/S should have won Worlds in 2001, *didn't* win due to bad judging, and yet accepted their loss graciously. The implication was that S/P should have accepted their Olympic loss more graciously, since they'd essentially gotten a gift the year before at Worlds. Which is an interesting take on things.

kareliz · Mar 7, 2005

Toss up

I have watched this competition many, many times, and I change my mind about who should have won every time I see it.

At the time, I was very happy for Jamie and David. But in retrospect, I would go with Elena and Anton. I think the technical mistakes of each team cancel each other out (missed double axel vs. crash on 3twist and shakey throw landing)

So then we look at posture, speed, and choreography. Again, S/P were wonderful, but City Lights is the most sophisticated piece of pairs choreography I have every seen. There are no transitions. Every movement is important and meaningful. It is incredibly subtle, briliantly executed choreography. It suited them so very well. I have at least three or four different tapes of them skating this program, and I always marvel at the intricacy of the movement, and their beautiful connection to each other.

A really terrific competition, but if I had to judge, I would now go with the Russian team.

Hikaru · Mar 7, 2005

kareliz said:
I have watched this competition many, many times, and I change my mind about who should have won every time I see it.

At the time, I was very happy for Jamie and David. But in retrospect, I would go with Elena and Anton. I think the technical mistakes of each team cancel each other out (missed double axel vs. crash on 3twist and shakey throw landing)

So then we look at posture, speed, and choreography. Again, S/P were wonderful, but City Lights is the most sophisticated piece of pairs choreography I have every seen. There are no transitions. Every movement is important and meaningful. It is incredibly subtle, briliantly executed choreography. It suited them so very well. I have at least three or four different tapes of them skating this program, and I always marvel at the intricacy of the movement, and their beautiful connection to each other.

A really terrific competition, but if I had to judge, I would now go with the Russian team.

I agree with you, both their mistakes cancelled out for me. And don't get me wrong, S/P were awesome, great piece of music and lots of tension. But, the program I enjoyed the most was B/S. As Joe said, in the end it was which one did we liked the most.

nicole_l · Mar 7, 2005

I just watched both for the first time about 2 hours ago, and I greatly prefer B&S's.

Terri · Mar 7, 2005

I don't remember the crowd roaring with approval after Sale singled her axel. In fact, on the tape you can hear that the reaction was very subdued. Even without the replay I wondered how some judges couldn't realize that there was a mistake on the SBS 2-axels just due to the crowd reaction.

skatingfan5 · Mar 8, 2005

My opinion -- 4 years later

Since I have yet to see a tape of ANY of the 2001 performances (except for Michelle's which I received on a compilation tape of her programs), this is based entirely on my memory of seeing the event in Vancouver. I thought that it was a fantastic competition -- Shen & Zhao were really skating great -- until they botched their SBS spins, which totally took them out of contention. I thought that the judges "got it right" in awarding gold to S&P -- aside from Jamie singling the axel, they were just so completely "on" for all their elements and the program as a whole was mesmerizing. (I much preferred it to their "Love Story" -- especially as skated in SLC, but that's another story.) Maybe my opinion is affected by the fact that Elena's "crashy" landing on the 3twist was right in front of me and thus seemed more glaring an error. I also remember a less than perfect landing on one of the throw jumps. If S&P hadn't skated so well, B&S's performance was definitely gold-medal worthy, but on that night, I thought that S&P deserved to win. It's really weird how some moments from that week in Vancouver are still so clearly etched in my memory. There was a lot of great skating -- and nearly perfect weather, too. It was one of my favorite vacations of the past 10 years.

JonnyCoop · Mar 8, 2005

skatingfan5 said:
There was a lot of great skating -- and nearly perfect weather, too. It was one of my favorite vacations of the past 10 years.

NEARLY PERFECT WEATHER???? Tho I suppose that depends on your definition. I recall it raining the ENTIRE week (except for one gorgeous day when the program went on all day, so I was in GM Place all day), and I distinctly remember ducking out for a smoke break during ice resurfacing in the Mens Final and nearly freezing to death and thinking I was about to get blown out into the bay!!! :laugh:

There were some gorgeous days the following week, though. I LOVE Vancouver, I think it's the greatest city in the world, but every time I've been there it's been about six different climate zones -- often in one day. :laugh:

skatingfan5 · Mar 8, 2005

JonnyCoop said:
NEARLY PERFECT WEATHER???? Tho I suppose that depends on your definition. I recall it raining the ENTIRE week (except for one gorgeous day when the program went on all day, so I was in GM Place all day), and I distinctly remember ducking out for a smoke break during ice resurfacing in the Mens Final and nearly freezing to death and thinking I was about to get blown out into the bay!!! There were some gorgeous days the following week, though. I LOVE Vancouver, I think it's the greatest city in the world, but every time I've been there it's been about six different climate zones -- often in one day.

I had been told that it would be raining all week and the temps would be around 45 degrees F. So I was pleasantly surprised when it was closer to 60 degrees many days -- and I only recall one day that I would call a "rainy day" near the end of the week. Since I walked to and from the arena every day from my hotel (about 10-12 blocks away)I think I would remember if it had been "raining the ENTIRE week" -- I only used my umbrella once, and that was the last day (I can't remember if it was for the ladies FS or the exhibitions). I guess it really does depend on you perspective, because a slight shower in the morning or midday, then clearing up is quite nice. Where I come from, if it rains it is for the entire day -- and more likely several days straight. No glimpse of sun at all. And at that time of year, it's more likely to be snowing, rather than raining, with temps in the 20-30's. I remember flowers blooming all over the city (and have photos to prove it). The Monday after the event WAS particularly gorgeous and I wished that I had extended my stay for a couple more days -- especially since I found a nice hotel room for only $36!

mzheng · Mar 8, 2005

skatingfan5 said:
I thought that it was a fantastic competition -- Shen & Zhao were really skating great -- until they botched their SBS spins, which totally took them out of contention. .

It was not sbs spin they botched, it was last lift shen sliped a little. And according to Peter, that was the only mistake they had in that program and not affect the whole choreography, but nevertherless it was the last imagine that judge got to see which would hurt them.

Well, if you want to go nitpicking, besides Jammie's single axel, there was a sbs jump one of them landed tilted (a little forwarded), too which I thought would cancel Irina's scratch landing in a throw that someone mentioned above. But again the commentator diddn't explicitly mentione the tilted landing but Irina's 'hold on' throw landing was mentioned.

skatingfan5 · Mar 8, 2005

mzheng said:
It was not sbs spin they botched, it was last lift shen sliped a little. And according to Peter, that was the only mistake they had in that program and not affect the whole choreography, but nevertherless it was the last imagine that judge got to see which would hurt them.

After 4 years, I guess my mind could be going a bit, because I have a distinct "memory" of them getting out of sync in their SBS spins -- they were on the other side of the ice from where I was sitting. However, I certainly wouldn't claim that I couldn't be wrong about that. I really need to get a tape of 2001 Worlds, if only to see Yagudin's "Revolutionary Etude" SP, which I only caught on TV the night he performed it. I was bogged down in Customs at the airport and got into town about 1 hour too late to see the Men's SP.

dfj · Mar 8, 2005

skatingfan5 said:
I really need to get a tape of 2001 Worlds, if only to see Yagudin's "Revolutionary Etude" SP, which I only caught on TV the night he performed it.

I just have to say that I am not a Yagudin fan and was cheering for Evgeny in 2001, but I was there to see Yags skate that SP and have to admit that at its conclusion, the row I was sitting in was in tears (me included). Geez, he was something else!

What a Worlds competition that whole week was...fabulous!

mzheng · Mar 8, 2005

Talking about the Yagudin, I was rooting him all the way. I was almost in tears when he skated that SP.

And talk about his LP in 2001, the Gladiator was my most favorate LP from him. IMO, it is another shame that he had never skated that program cleanly with full loaded technicall contents. The best version I had seen was the one at some proarm (Japanese some thing? with Paul as commetator) where he was allowed to use faked knife when he skated. It was a masterpiece.

RIskatingfan · Mar 8, 2005

Yagudin's "Revolution Etude" performance in Vancouver is one of those moments I would gladly go back in time if I could, to be able to watch it live. It was chill inducing on tv, can't imagine watching it at the venue.

He skated Gladiator brilliantly a few times, but in competition, completely clean with quads, only in Skate Canada.

It's a shame that B/S didn't win 2001 worlds....

eliza88

Casper

clairecloutier

kareliz

Hikaru

nicole_l

Terri

skatingfan5

JonnyCoop

skatingfan5

mzheng

skatingfan5

dfj

mzheng

RIskatingfan

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