Skater(s) of the Year 2005

Now that the WCs are officially over, I thought I might take the opportunity to poll the GS members as to which skater (or skaters if it's a pairs/dance team) would be most likely for a "Skater(s) of the Year Award" for 2005 (à la Time magazine's Person of the Year)

The nominees I have come up with and why are:

Stéphane Lambiel : for finally putting it together and skating like we know he can, for making the fantasies of the posters at GoldenSkate come true (well, one of the fantasies ) by winning the WC, bringing Switzerland its first medal since 1947, and being the first person since Evita Perón to wear an up-do in front of thousands of people and actually pull it off.

Carolina Kostner : for finally skating like we know she can, winning Italy's first ladies' medal since 1978, and putting herself in good position for the 2006 Olympics in her backyard.

Irina Slutskaya : for overcoming vasculitis and the death of her mother-in-law, skating a flawless programme to win the WC at home, and by pledging the prize money from Worlds to go to funding a kidney transplant for her mother

Totmianina/ Marinin : for enduring both sides of the coin after a horrific fall on a lift (a concussion for her, psychological trauma for him), coming back to train 10 days later, skating one of the best pairs SPs ever to the music of "Ave Maria" (you really need to see that one!!), and winning their second gold medal at home

Navka/Kostomarov : for arguably the best and most authentic programme to "Tosca" I have yet seen (IMHO, mind you) and setting the best ice dance score ever seen in the two years of CoP

Kevin van der Perren : for skating two strong performances to finish 8th and being the best and probably only skater you will ever see produced by the country of Belgium

Other : please explain

My choices:

Irina all the way. I didn't even know who she was (beyond minor name recognition) a week ago, but she totally stole my heart at worlds. I could not have been happier for her.

Runner up: Kostner, for a very gutsy and well done showing at Worlds, and setting herself up well for the Olys next year.

Sentemental pick: Jeff Buttle, for taking up the mantle of Canadian Men's Figure Skating and really doing it proud

#1, Irina- this was certainly her year

#2. T&M- after that fall in SA who would have thought they would be at the top of the podium at worlds this year?

#3. Belbin-Agosto for the USA's first ice dance silver medal since 1975.

#1 Irina Slutskaya: With everything she's been through, I don't think anyone expected her to come back with the season she had and with such an amazing FP skate to win.

#2 Stéphane Lambiel: Even with Plushy withdrawing from the competition, his victory (and his consistency with the quad) was still a surprise to a lot of people

#3 T/M: To come back after the fall at SA and turn out two amazing programmes (I still can get over how incredible their SP is) to become "the comeback kids" of the year

Honourable Mention: KVDP: OK, so I'm biased because he's my favourite male skater, but the man is single-handedly keeping Belgium on the FS map. And that 3-3-3 is something else

I've got the actuall poll up and running now. Sorry about that, guys!

If we are talking about skater of the 'year' Lambiel does not qualify in my opinion because he only skated two major competitions and got lucky that Plushenko was out. I like his skating but he actually had 3 major mistakes in his LP, and that makes me believe that although he has mastered the quad, he has not mastered a complete performance. He was the skater of the world championships but not of the year, IMO.

Actually Plushenko could be considered for that honor too. His presence alone ignites his competitors to skate great. We saw that. He won his 4th GPF and 4th European. But for his injury he might have won his 4th world.

Johnny Weir had a wonderful year. He really established himself as one of the top male skaters.

Michelle Kwan could be considered, because she won her 9th US title and tied Maribel Vinson Owen's record. She certainly stayed in the news by choosing Bolero for her LP. However-

When you consider the whole year, two skaters really stand out.

1. Irina- she did not lose a competition all year, while she was still taking medicine for her sickness.

2.Totmianina-Marinin. Their fall at SA was so horrible that some people thought Tatiana may be dead or paralyzed. Just 10 days later they were on the ice. When they returned to competition, they won all 3- Russian nationals, Europeans, and worlds. They did get a little lucky with Shen & Zhao pulling out. However, regardless of the result, their courage was amazing. I am almost tempted to place them higher than Irina for this honor.

There were several smaller success stories too. Evan Lysacek winning world bronze in his first appearance at worlds, Sasha finally discovering how to skate well under pressure, Joannie Rochette winning at medal at the GPF, and Jeff Buttle establishing himself as one of the top skaters without a quad.

For me it is a toss up between Irina and T&M for Skater of the Year honor.

Vash

I suppose what I mean by "Skater(s) of the Year 2005" is the skater or skaters that delivered a truly memorable performance or did a truly memorable job to get to get to such a great skate or great performance/result. Paul Wylie in 1992, for example, did not have the greatest of seasons on the year, but I think that few would argue after the two performances he skated at the Olympics that he could have been one of, if not the most memorable skater of 1992.

And with all due respect (and not to play the whole "x skater is better than y skater" game), I would not discredit Lambiel so quickly. Yes, he's only competed in two major contests this season (remember, the man is coming off of several knee surgeries in the past few years), but he still skated what were arguably the performances of his career. Plushenko was injured and eventually withdrew, which made it easier for Lambiel to win Worlds, but he still had to skate well enough to do it, which meant getting past a whole host of other top skaters like Joubert (whom he hasn't beaten before, IIRC), Buttle, and Weir. And even when Plushenko was in the competition (the same injured Plushenko who won his 4th GPF and 4th European title), Lambiel still outskated him in qualifying. He's still becoming consistent as a top level skater, but he is only 19, mind you

I realise this is a very subjective category, and we as fans will never agree with each other. The "nominees" are ones who IMHO I believe could be Skater(s) of the Year 2005. If you disagree, or think there is a skater or skaters I have overlooked, you are welcome to vote "other" and explain why.

Both Irina and Stephane are to be commended for their comebacks and Johnny for skating inspite of his injury.

Dee

Yep, I'd go with Irina and T&M. They gave it their all and ended the season so strongly.

Irina for sure!!

Jeff Buttle for winning Canada a Silver Medal (been a few years!!)

Matt said:

Stéphane Lambiel : for finally putting it together and skating like we know he can, for making the fantasies of the posters at GoldenSkate come true (well, one of the fantasies ) by winning the WC, bringing Switzerland its first medal since 1947, and being the first person since Evita Perón to wear an up-do in front of thousands of people and actually pull it off.

Click to expand...

Not sure why you left out "his injuries for the past 3 years"?

Joe

My vote is for Jeff Buttle. Not only did Jeff have the best choreography and music of the year, but he made quite a climb up the ladder after his health problems of last year. Well done Jeff, at both the Canadian Nationals (winning the title) and Worlds (Silver medalist).

My vote too, Ladskater!!

Jeff has a joy and luminescence about his skating that can't help but affect all who watch him.

He proves that skating is more than the sum of its parts. That some of what makes skating beautiful and wonderful and heartfelt cannot be measured by a code of points.

How awesome that he won a somewhat unexpected silver!! He does Canada proud.

Jeff Buttle

Even though he had a disappointing final LP in his season, it was an amazing season, placing no lower than 3rd at any of the events he participated in, knowing what works for him and sticking with it, having the most intricate and interesting choreography of the season, making improvements in all aspects of his skating (speed, jumps, edges...) having the skate of his life in the LP at Canadians, being so gracious, humble, etc about his successes, almost immediately reaping the benefits of his changes after last season, coming back strong from his illness last season, having the courage to move away from what had been working for him for years to try something new, with someone new, and adding some new jewellery to his collection (just to name a few reasons)

i would say Irina and T&M. They had such a good year and they overcame hard situtions and they won! yay!!!!

Irina stands on her own this year. No one else even comes close.

1. World Skater of the Year: Irina Slutskaya (Over came the medical issues and won the World Championships).

2. US Skater of the Year: Michelle Kwan (9th US title and tied Maribel Vinson Owen's record).

3. Ben and Tanith (Been years since a US Dance Team has medaled at Worlds)