Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

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Excidra2001

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #1

Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Who is the faster spinner? Who can obtain more revolution while doing the bielman? Since both skaters do the bielman.
Who would you give the nod to in terms of difficulty.

I have never seen Luchinda's skating so I can't compare the two skaters.

 

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WindSpirit5

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #2

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Well, I haven't seen Irina in person, but I've seen Ruh and I think it's safe to say she's faster as it comes to spins. You can get really dizzy just watching it, lol. It's mind-blowing how fast she can spin. I always wait for her to pass our or something.

 

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sk8ing lady2001

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #3

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

They are both wonderful, in my opinion.

 

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rgirl181

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #4

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

I've seen both live and although Irina is definitely the better overall skater, Lucinda blows Irina out of the water in terms of spins. Lucinda's spins are simply transcendent. So smooth; she get's into bendy-twisty positions with such ease; everything about her spins is seamless. Lucinda is a spin artist, IMO. I love Irina, but Lucinda is the spin queen of the universe.
Rgirl

 

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lilicedancer

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #5

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Nobody spins better than Lucinda Ruh. I didn't think it was physically possible for anybody to spin as fast, centered, and in the positions that she does. I actually don't think Irina has very good spins, they have good speed but aren't always centered and the positions aren't finished.

 

K

Kzarah

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #6

Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Although Irina does the Bielman spin on both feet, she only does about 1.5 -2 revolutions on each foot. Luchinda does the spin about 20 revolutions in the Bielman spin.
Daniel and Little Lulu

 

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Kara Bear

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #7

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

i think the question should be, are there any skaters in the history of skating who can spin better then ruh?

 

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DORISPULASKI

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #8

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

There are spinners as fast or faster, as in Ronnie Robertson, but no one has the smoothness and flexibility combined with speed and centering of Lucinda Ruh. No body.

dpp

 

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rgirl181

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #9

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Doris,
"No Body" is right. Lucinda's body should be cast in bronze for posterity. Talk about getting the right genes and making the most of them. I also find her persona on the ice very engaging, and she was also very nice after the "Stars, Stripes, and Skates" show. She stayed around for about an hour after the show signing autographs and posing for photos with all the kids. All around enjoyable.
Rgirl

 

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Ladskater

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #10

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Lucinda wins this one hands down! No one can spin like the phenomenal Lucinda Ruh. It's incredible. Her spins are well centered which gives her the force to keep turning. She could spin on a dime! Irina is a good spinner, but not as good as Lucinda. If there was competion where spins mattered the most - Lucinda would be world champion. Move over Kwan!

Ladskater

 

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heyang

Guest

• Mar 19, 2003

• #11

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Lucinda is definitely the best spinner - she's centered, fast and can get into amazing positions without losing the former 2 qualities. She never looks like she's straining into position - maybe that's because she's spinning to fast for us to see.

She'd beat the men, too, in this category.

 

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sk8guy2k2

Guest

• Mar 20, 2003

• #12

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Lucinda has the spins, Irina has the jumps

 

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Ptichka

Guest

• Mar 20, 2003

• #13

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Lucinda defentely. Her spins are amazing!

 

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ladybug

Guest

• Mar 20, 2003

• #14

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

I cast another vote for Luchinda

 

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Lois

Guest

• Mar 20, 2003

• #15

I vote for Nathalie Krieg

Lucinda blows Irina, and all the other current eligible skaters that I've seen, out of the water in spinning ability, but the greatest spinner that I have ever seen in over 25 years of watching the sport is another Swiss skater, Nathalie Krieg, who had the most flexibility, speed, spin length, changes of position, and originality of positions that I have ever seen, as well as the best Biellmanns, with 4 different Biellmann positions, including one that I believe she invented.

Nathalie set a Guinness World Record for the longest spin, nearly the length of a long program at around 3 1/2 minutes, and AFAIK that record still stands, though it looks like Lucinda will be trying to break it.

Nathalie was only on US TV a couple times, in the 1994 Olympics and 1991 Skate America, but she won many fans with her extremely limited exposure. At '92 Worlds in Oakland, Nathalie finished around 15th, but she and the newly crowned Olympic champion & hometown favorite Kristi Yamaguchi were the only skaters to get standing ovations in the ladies long, even though very few in the audience would have known who Nathalie was.

I have a few photos and a very brief video of Nathalie up at members.aol.com/sk8spince...thalie.htm although the video doesn't begin to do justice to her spins, which are much better than the brief one in the clip.

I don't know what it is about Swiss skaters, but Denise Biellmann (who did NOT invent the Biellmann Spin, which Denise credited to yet *another* Swiss skater, Karen Iten) is another outstanding spinner, especially in her amateur days in the late 70s and early '80s. Denise's Biellmann spins were definitely better than Irina's overall, though Irina's ability to do full Biellmanns on both feet is interesting and very unusual, and I think that in her prime Denise's full Biellmanns were better than Lucinda's.

Lois
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members.aol.com/loisy/cousins/index.htm
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J

Joesitz

Guest

• Mar 20, 2003

• #16

Re: I vote for Nathalie Krieg

IMO, Irina has a great deal of speed in her spins. Her Bielman is not as fast as her other spins, and she appears to me to be struggling to get the arms and hands working to grab the blade.

Lucinda also a fast spinner and one who can change variations on one spin for what seems like days on end. Her Bielman is effortless. I am not distracted by the entry.

BTW, I also am not fond of Pairs spins when they get involved in the entry and change overs. Much too busy for me.

Joe

 

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dizzydi7

Guest

• Mar 20, 2003

• #17

Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Lucinda Ruh is the queen of spins, IMHO.

Personally, I don't like Irina's Bielman spin. Only Denise and Lucinda can do that spin justice.

Just a side note, and this is just my opinion, Pleshenko should stop doing the Bielman spin. He looks like a fool. To me, it looks like a circus act when performed by him.

Dizzy

 

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eliza88

Guest

• Mar 20, 2003

• #18

Re: Irna Slutskaya or Luchinda Ruh?

Lucinda is the Quees of spins, hands down NO CONTEST! Her speed, positions, centering--a wonder to behold! I tend to watch her with my jaw hanging down to the floor!

Go Lucinda!

eliza88