Who are the five best in each event in order, right now?

This is not a prediction thread for Turin. It is who you would rate the five best skaters per event, in order, after the 2004/2005 season. It is based on personal opinion of course:

Pairs:

1)Shen/Zhou-They had to miss Worlds, Totmianina/Marinin have won the last two Worlds, and are 3-2 head to head with them in the new quadrennial. Why are they the best then? Well Totmianina/Marinin's winning scores at Europeans and Worlds for example were clearly below Shen/Zhou's from the GP final for starters. Secondly the most memorable performances I remember from Shen/Zhou, and having done many of them, I cannot remember Max and Tatiana coming close to.

2)Totmiana/Marinin-They deserve atleat this spot. As I mentioned they won the last two Worlds, are even have a 3-2 edge head to head, over Shen/Zhou, since the start of the 2002/2003 season.

3)Petrova/Tikhonov-They have been 3rd at 2 of the last 3 Worlds, and 2 of the last 3 GP finals, along with a silver this year when one of the big two withdrew.
They rarely challenge the big two, but they only occasionaly lose to somebody else.

4)Zhang/Zhang-They seem to have surpassed Pang/Tong.

5)Pang/Tong-They seem to be on the decline.


Ladies:

1)Irina Slutskaya-She has done atleast 2 competions this year, where none of the other top skaters have matched those performances in any of their events all year. Undefeated all year, incredable long program to win Worlds. No brainer, of course she is the best skater in the World now.

2)Sasha Cohen-Since she has beaten Kwan at the last 2 Worlds, and including Cheesefests, 4 of their last 8 meetings, excluding cheesefests, 2 of their last 4, I give her the nod now.

3)Michelle Kwan-Read above.

4)Shizuka Arakawa-Maybe this is generous, but she did win a World title only 14 months ago, and she was 2nd at the GP final with only Cohen and Kwan out of the circuit. She also is one of the more complete skaters when she skates well, even if she is not on her game right now.

5)Carolina Kostner-The World bronze medalist deserves a spot and I am not sure who else I would put.


Dance:

1)Navka/Kostomarov-I dont think they are the best anymore, but the judges do, and they have only 1 loss in 2 seasons. Of course they are #1.

2)Belbin/Agosto-Only lost to Navka/Kostomarov this year. So of course they are #2.

3)Delobel/Schoenfelder-They were so obviously robbed at their last two events I cant not put them in the top 3. Their free performances at the Europeans and Worlds were the highlight performances of the year IMO.

4)Denkova/Stayvinski-I want to put them higher, but they are going through a difficult period right now. They are the only team, other than Navka/Kostomarov with 2 World medals right now, and they have medaled at every GP final or Europeans they have finished since the 2002/2003 season. However they seem to be sliding fast.

5)Grushina/Goncharov-They were 3rd at Worlds, as for why they are not higher, read the two teams above.


Men:

1)Plushenko-Nobody has touched his top scores this year.

2)Lambiel-His long program in qualifying was the highest long program score, minus Plushenko, this year. His short program score was the highest of anybody but Plushenko this year; his combined short/final long program score was the highest of anybody this year; and he is the new World Champion.

3)Joubert-He had such a horrable Worlds it is hard to rate him any higher; but he has so many top accomplishments in international competition, like his 2 European silvers and World silver last year, it is hard to rate him any lower.

4)Buttle-He did come 2nd at the two biggest events of the year, albeit not having to face both of the Worlds best skaters(Plushenko missed one, Lambiel the other)in either event.

5)Weir-Took advantage of alot of absences at his GP events to have a very good GP season.

According to their abilitie's.....

Ladies

• *Irina Slutskaya
  *Sasha Cohen
  *Shizuka Arakawa
  *Elena Sokolova
  *Fumie Suguri

Men

• *Stephane Lambiel
  *Evgeny Plushenko
  *Johnny Weir
  *Timothy Goebel
  *Ryan Jankhe

Pairs

• *Shen & Zhou
  *Totmianina & Marinin
  *Pang & Tong
  *Zhang & Zhang

Dance

• *Belbin & Agosto, Denkova & Staviyski, Navka & Kostamarov
  are all equal in abilities IMO, but B&A are more enjoyable of the three, also IMO.
  *Grushina & Goncharov---Chait & Sakhnovsky, I'm not sure which are better

Hey, you only named 4 pairs. Are the other pairs so boring you didnt want to include a 5th however, a sentiment I could understand with the current pairs field.

Ladies: 1. Michelle 2. Shizuka 3. Fumie 4.From here are, for me the rest look the same in their skating.

Men: 1. Lambiel 2. Evan 3. Plushenko 4. Goebel 5. Joubert

Dance--Don't care for it so I really have no clue

Pairs: Shen & Zhao (sp) don't care for any of the others.

Just for fun, I put how I think they'll place in Torino next year in (). . . . . . . . . also, I'm assuming (hoping!) that B/A will go . . . . . . . . .

Men:
1. Plushenko(1)
2. Lambiel(3)
3. Weir(2)
4. Buttle(4)
5. Joubert(5)/Lysacek(6)

Dance:
1. Navka/Kostomarov(1)
2. Belbin/Agosto(2)
3. Delobel/Schoenfelder(3)
4. Grushina/Goncharov(5)
5. Denkova/Staviyski(4)

Pairs:
1. Shen/Zhao(1)
2. Totmianina/Marinin(2)
3. Petrova/Tikhonov(4)
4. Zhang/Zhang(3)
5. Pang/Tong(6) or Obertas/Slavnov(5)

Ladies!:
1. Slutskaya(2)
2. Kwan(1)
3. Cohen(3)
4. Suguri(5)
5. Arakawa(4)

Here is my list (regardless of how they will finish in Torino or how they finished at worlds in 2005):

Men:

1.Plushenko (if healthy, he is tough to beat)
2.Joubert (he is capable of much more than what we saw at worlds)
3.Lambiel (a very complete skater, but I am not sure he can consistently perform at a high level)
4.Weir (my second most favorite, after Plushenko, but he will need a quad to move up on my list)
5.Buttle (he too needs a quad, but he is an amazing interpreter of music)

Ladies:

1.Irina Slutskaya- It is hard to get out of my mind her amazing LP performance in Moscow
2.Michelle Kwan- She is the one I would put my money on, to skate well (OK, I would have lost my money at the recent worlds)
3.Sasha Cohen- She is just coming into her own; she has discovered how to deliver a complete program and not fall apart half way
4.Shizuka Arakawa- She still has the goods; she just needs to rediscover the confidence that made her world champ just over a year ago.
5.Fumie Suguri-I chose her above Kostner or Ando for her maturity and completeness as a skater

Pairs:

1Shen & Zhao (this was a tough one because argument can be made for T&M but I wanted to avoid ties)

2.T&M (I placed them second only because I don't know if they really are better than a healthy S&Z who skate with more emotion and better connection, but T&M have great basics and extensions). This should have really been a tie for 1st place.

3.Petrova-Tikhonov (most definitely the most improved pair. They challenged themselves to up the difficulty of their elements while maintaining the classical look, which pushes them ahead of the two high flying Chinese pairs, IMO).

4.Pang & Tong (clearly the better developed pair of the other two Chinese pairs)

5.Zhang & Zhang (they still don't look very good as a pair, outside of their athletic ability).

Ice dance:

1.Navka & Kostomarov: They are still the best, IMO. Nobody has their speed and lines.

2.Belbin-Agosto: They have the potential to dethrone the champs. They are exciting to watch.

3.Denkova-Staviyski: They have the talent, but they may need better choreography and better lines.

4.Delobel-Schoenfelder: Another favorite of mine. They have unique choreography, and very interesting programs.

5.Grushina-Goncharov: They have been around so long, one has to wonder why they are not higher. They need more speed, IMO.

That's all folks.

Vash

A healthy Shen and Zhao, in my opinion, will be tough to beat. Same goes for Plushenko. They command the ice with their presence. As the for ladies, anyone healthy can beat the others on any given day, but watch out for Michelle. When she's in her "zone", she can only defeat herself...........42

Both men and ladies were difficult to choose, as there are so many talented skaters. If each skate to their abilities though, I see these as the best (in no particular order):

Men
Plushenko
Lambiel
Lysacek
Joubert
Weir

Ladies
Arakawa
Slutskaya
Cohen
Ando
Kostner

Pairs
Shen & Zhao
Pang & Tong
Zhang & Zhang
Totmianina & Marinin
Petrova & Tikhonov

Dance
Belbin & Agosto
Denkova & Staviyski
Navka & Kostomarov
Delober & Schoenfelder
Grushina & Goncharov

Ladies:
1. Slutskaya - she was better early season than late season, except for Moscow, where she was great in the FS but very flawed in the SP. I'm not sure she can repeat her Moscow FS in Torino, based on her Euros FS in Torino. Her illness affects her lungs, and the altitude may affect her badly. But even if she skates poorly, the judges may well inflate her PCS scores enough for her to win the OGM anyway. If that happens, there will be a humongous controversy.
2. Kwan - despite her QR debacle, she almost made the podium with her CoP unfriendly programs, and won or finished 2nd in all the cheesefests. She will be well-prepared for Torino and we will see the 2003 Kwan at Torino.
3. Cohen - a very rocky early season followed by a mediocre performance at Nationals and a good showing at Worlds. Will be ready to roll next season but has not proved she has conquered her performance nerves. She knew she couldn't beat Irina at Moscow and was skating for silver, so her limited expectations prevented a meltdown. At Torino, she is skating for the OGM and that is a whole other ballgame.
4. Kostner - a very poor early season and subpar Euros (she was skating at home) followed by her best ever at Worlds. Unfortunately, she will be skating at home again and the pressure will be greater than she ever faced before. Major crumble time.
5. Suguri - despite a poor early season, she rallied tremendously to win gold at 4CC and followed that with a top Japanese finish at Worlds. She is a tough competitor and will benefit from once again training in Japan. She has a fighting chance to make the Torino podium.

Men
1. Plushenko. No one really outskated him this past season, despite his multiple injuries. He will come roaring back next season.
2. Weir. Injury kept him off the World podium, but he was by far the most consistent skater this past season. If he can successfully add the quad to his repertoire, he will be a formidable competitor.
3. Buttle. Skated well in the early and late season, although he still has consistency issues. If he has a consistent competition quad and 3A, he too is top podium competitor.
4. Lambiel. Had a great outing at Worlds, but his consistency is an issue. He misses the 3A as much as he lands it. When he is good, he is very, very good, but when he is off, he is mediocre.
5. Joubert. Has had the toughest season ever. If he can resolve his personal programs, he can make a big comeback.

Pairs
1. Shen/Zhao - dominated the early season. They have huge potential to win that OGM.
2. Totmianina/Marinin - Technically sound but still robotic in performance.
3. Petrova/Tikhonov - Technically inconsistent but sometimes perform really well. Stamina (his) may be a problem at altitude (they placed behind Obertas/Slavnov at Euros).
4. Zhang/Zhang - Have improved greatly.
5. Pang/Tong - must regroup.

Dance.
1. Navka/Kostomarov - still #1, but they are vulnerable as they do not have top technical marks. Judges will keep them #1 in Torino by pushing the PCS scores into the 9s.
2. Belbin/Agosto. Need to keep the momentum going. Their youth is a huge advantage.
3. Denkova/Staviiski. They struggled this season and will struggle even more in the coming year.
4. Grushina/Goncharov. I think they are a tad overrated (she is MUCH better than he is---reminds me of Fusar-Poli/Margaglio) and they will have to fight to fend off the French.
5. Delobel/Schoenfelder. Unless they can bring up their CD and OD to match their FD, they will continue to miss the podium by an eyelash.

Let's see...the best Right Now, not the best two months ago at worlds, not the best next winter at the Olympics, but Right Now!

Well, the only thing going on in May, 2005, is COI, so having seen it twice I would have to say...Michelle still reigns without peer or rival!

Mathman

Laides:

Slutskaya
Cohen
Suguri
Kwan
Sokolova

Men:

Plushenko
Joubert
Lambiel
Buttle
Weir
(But in terms of ability i would have Sandhu right up there, maybe 1st.)

Pairs:

Totmianina/Marinin
Shen/Zhao
Zhang/Zhang
Pang/Tong (I would have had them 2nd or 3rd last season)
Petrova/Tikhonov

Dance:

Navka/Kostomarov
Grushina/Goncharov
Belbin/Agosto
Chait/Sakhnovsky
Delobel/Schoenfelder

Hmmmmm - the competitive season is over, and the top skaters are either touring, training for their Olympic seasons, of they're on a well-deserved break from skating. If they all assembled NOW for a competition, who would win?
That might really produce some unexpected results.

IMHO, the top skaters from last season are still the best in the world at this point. Let the new season begin, and we'll see what changes occur in the rankings.

I think pairs and dance are easy to say because the top 6 hardly changes.

For ladies and men it does get tougher (sp?), but in ladies I will have to agree with Vash01 picks: Slutskaya, Cohen, Kwan, Arakawa and Fumie.

The men is very very hard to pick top 5, too hard but for me it would be, assuming they have a good year

1. Plushenko
2. Lambiel
3. Joubert
4. Buttle
5. Weir

Now see? in this list Sandhu is missing and he should be there but who to boot off? too hard!! Sandhu along with Plush, Joubert and Lambiel are quad guys with good marks in pres, so if they have a good performance, they will beat Jeff and Jhonny until they show a quad. But for what I read it does seem Jeff and Jhonny are ready to show us their quads next season, so definelty men event would be amazing to watch.

PS: not to nit-pick or anything but slutskayafan21 Plush is the one who still have the overall best score (251.75) and he got this season (04/05) at the GPF. Lambiel's score is bigger because it contains the QR score.

It would be impossible to put Sandhu in the top 5 because this past season, he just hasn't delivered at the big events. He has to be the most inconsistent skater ever. This season, a close second (in inconsistency) was Joubert.

Men:
1. Plushenko
2. Lambiel
3. Sandhu (when he feels like it, he can be absolutely brilliant. And I think people need to watch out for him in Torino)
4. Weir/Buttle (though I prefer Buttle, they're both artists and can be great)
5. Joubert

Ladies:
1. Cohen (she's not the most consistent, but I find that she is the absolute athlete/artist out there)
2. Slutskaya
3. Kwan (though I'm not a fan)
4. Arakawa
5. Kostner

Pairs:
1. Shen/Zhao
2. Totmianina/Marinin
3. Petrova/Tikhonov
4. Pang/Tong
5. Zhang/Zhang
Though I also loved the German team at Worlds...

Dance:
1. Navka/Kostomarov
2. Delobel/Schoenfelder
3. Denkova/Staviski
4. Belbin/Agosto (They're pretty and not bad, but I'd have them much higher if she'd straighten her leg and turn out from the HIP!)
5. Dubreil/Lauzon

Ximena said:

PS: not to nit-pick or anything but slutskayafan21 Plush is the one who still have the overall best score (251.75) and he got this season (04/05) at the GPF. Lambiel's score is bigger because it contains the QR score.

Click to expand...

I know that. I said Lambiel's best long program score(in qualifying), best short program score. I mean that his combined short/final long was better than anybody but Plushenko as well. It was a typo.