Dream Torino Podiums

[JonnyCoop]

OK, imagine for a few minutes that you are one of the figure skating gods -- or perhaps THE figure skating god. What would be your dream podiums in Torino?

This is not a prediction thread -- feel free to get as outrageous as you wanna be! South Korean sweeps of Ice Dance are permitted here.... (Tho that wouldn't be my personal choice.....)

MEN
Gold -- Emanuel Sandhu. I believe he's capable of it (especially if he ends up like 7th or 8th in the short), I'd love to see Canada finally break that "jinx", and when he's on he's fantastic. (And tho this isn't meant as a prediction thread, I'm not altogether sure that he WON'T pull it off)
Silver -- Jeffrey Buttle. It'd be great to truly break the Canadian "jinx" with a 1-2 finish.
Bronze -- Kevin van der Perren. Not only do I really like his skating, he is just so darn cute...

LADIES
Gold -- Michelle Kwan. This would be such an incredible story if she did win that not even I can resist it.
Silver -- Shizuka Arakawa. I absolutely adore her skating.
Bronze -- Carolina Kostner. Just to add to the overall excitment by giving the home crowd something to go nuts over.

PAIRS
Gold -- Shen/Zhao. Anyone who has skated the beautiful flawless long programs they skated at the 03 and 04 Worlds deserves it, IMO.
Silver -- Zagorska/Sziudek. I really like these two and since Poland has never won an Oly figure skating medal, I'd like to see them win one.
Bronze -- Inoue/Baldwin. Because (a) it would be an absolute shocker if they medalled, (b) Baldwin has been around since the rocks cooled, and (c) Baldwin is from the San Diego area, therefore, to me, a local boy.

DANCE
Gold -- Dubreil/Lauzon. They are always the couple I most want to watch, Dubreil has also been around forever (she was at Jr Worlds in 88, for heaven's sake), plus they're the only skaters I've actually met and talked with briefly and found them to be very charming.
Silver -- Denkova/Staviysky. BULGARIA. Figure skating medal. See Zagorska/Sziudek. Plus I respect the fact that they at least ATTEMPT to be innovative, which is more than can be said for many other couples under the new rules.
Bronze -- Wing/Lowe. They've been around quite a while, I like the stuff they do (when Megan Wing isn't gliding about with her mouth wide open doing that perky thang), and since they've elected not to try for the next Olys in their hometown, I'll give them a nod here.
(Almost went with Belbin/Agosto for bronze, but I think it'd be more special if they won the gold in Vancouver, so I'd bypass them now in favor of that 4 years down the road.)

 

[anything_for_skating]

Dream podiums? Ahhh...well, that would be:

LADIES:

Gold: IRINA SLUTSKAYA!!! Ohhh...I am so tired of explaining why... You could have a look at Thread "Is Irina getting bye to Olympics too?" Read all my replies, and you will understand. QUEEN OF FIGURE SKATING

Silver: CAROLINA KOSTNER!!! She is so goooood...I wrote her and I wrote to her webmaster. The webmaster always answers, but once Caro answered me too!!! She is my idol, you don't know how happy was I...She is so talented, I am looking that 2005 World's short over and over again...My God, she is perfect...SO perfect...

Bronze: Elena Sokolova

Too bad there is no medals left, I would give them to Poykio and Maxwell.

MEN:

Gold: Plusenko. You all know why. He is KING ON ICE. The best ever. There will be nobody like him. Never.
Silver: Stephane Lambiel
Bronze: I don't know would I give the bronze to Weir or Van Der Perren....Probably to Van Der Perren.

You are right, Kevin is soooo cute...

PAIRS:

Gold: Petrova/Tihonov
Silver: Totmianina/ Marinin
Bronze: Obertas/Slavnov
too bad there is no medals left,I repeat. maybe I would give bronze to Polish...I don't know...

Ice Dance:

Gold: Navka/Kostomarov
Silver: Grushina/Goncarov
Bronzeominina/Shabalin

 

[flying camel]

Ladies
Gold - Sasha Cohen - For her beautiful positions and beautiful jumps
Silver - Kwan For her beautiful skating and grace under pressure
Bronze - Fumie

Men

Gold - Weir
Silver - Pluschenko
Bronze - Lyaschek

 

[screech]

My dream podiums have a semi-basis in reality...

MEN
1. Jeff - he is the purest and best 'basic' skater in the world, and his presentation matches that. His triple axel is more consistent now (he landed it 5/5 times at Canadians), and if David works with him a bit more on the tweaking Jeff himself did on S&D, the program could be absolutely amazingly brilliant like it was in 2003.
2. I would love to see Emanuel finally realize his potential and have the skate of his life. But if both he and Jeff skate perfectly clean, a quadless Jeff would probably place ahead of Emanuel with quad.
3. Plushenko - I am not a fan of his skating, but I've come to appreciate it, and it just wouldn't be the Olympics without Plush on the podium.

LADIES
1. I'm tossed but I think I'm gonna go with Sasha - she is (to me) the most graceful skater out there, and oh so artistic. Her revamped R&J program is absolutely gorgeous, and if her jumps are on, she could do it.
2. Irina - she's the one I was tossed with for gold. I'm not a fan of her 'skating' - I think she's choppy, has poor posture, not amazing presentation and all of that, but for some reason I still want to root for her and want her to succeed.
3. Joannie - I know, its not themost realistic one, but I just adore her and her skating, its nice for Canada to finally have a semi-consistent skater who is also artistic. And after reading her journal article about the meaning of her programs, I just adore her even more. Girl has talent.

PAIRS
1. Shen/Zhao - they are my favourite pairs team and have been for a few years. Chances are gold won't happen, but they already have the gold in my minds because of how Zhao is battling back (he apparently has his double axel back). They are true champions.
As for silver and bronze, I don't have any preferences. I'm not a fan of T/M (they have no emotion - it looks like they're accountants or somethng - no passion apparent for their jobs, I can just picture Tatiana doing her taxes in her head as they skate).

DANCE
1. Navka - this one will likely happen, and I have to say that I want it to. I actually like this pair and how they skate, and I do enjoy their Carmen.
Silver/Bronze - in any order I would love Dubreil/Lauzon and Chait/Sakhnovsky. I just love C/S Bolero and think they have improved vastly this year with that program. But not as much as D/L have improved. Someone on another board said it best - that for years it was like they had potential and were 'trying' to express something somehow but it wasn't quite working. Then this year all of a sudden they realized their potential and became this stunning team with IMO the most amazing FD around. Even off of a dream podium, I think they have the potential to challenge for the bronze in the real world.

 

[Longhornliz]

Ladies:

Gold- A miraculous tie between Sasha and Michelle (I'm not sure that they allow ties, or that one is possible but its the only way my heart wouldnt break for one of them).

Silver- Irina. She is talented and I respecter her. I have never routed for her, and I will admit that in SLC I was praying she would have a misstep because if things had been even the littlest bit different michelle would have gotten the gold. But i was 19 at the time, and I realize that was probably bad karma for me. So I'm sorry Irina.

Bronze - Either Carolina because its a great story for the italians if she medals, or Fumie because she is my favorite of the Japanese ladies.

Men-

Gold - Brian Joubert. But mostly because I want to make out with him

Silver - Jeff Buttle. he is my favorite of the men because his choreography has not suffered under COP but rather improved. I think he is a good "total package" skater

Bronze - Jonny Weir. Something tells me he wouldnt be happy with a bronze, but he should be.

 

[Lucy25]

My dream podiums...

Ladies:
Gold - Michelle
Silver - Shizuka
Bronze - Fumie

Men:
Gold - Plushenko
Silver - Lysechek
Bronze - Savoie

Pairs:
Gold - S&Z
Silver - T&M
Bronze - Don't have any other favorites

Dance:
Gold - B&A
Don't care about the other placements

If only dreams could come true...

 

[rain]

Here's my never-gonna-happen-in-a-million-years dream podiums:

Mens:
1. Jeff Buttle
2. Stephane Lambiel
3. Emanuel Sandhu
(yeah, like Plushenko is ever going to end up off the podium...)

Ladies:
1. Sasha Cohen
2. Joannie Rochette
3. Fumie Suguri

Dance:
1. Dubreuil and Lauzon
2. Drobiazko and Vanagas tie with Delobel and Schoenfelder
3. Belbin/ Agosto (they're young, they have at least one more shot at gold, lol)

Pairs:
1. Dube/Davison - the young Canadian pair come from nowhere to win it in a huge upset
2.Pang/Tong - they ditch their new long program and go back to something great
3. T/M

 

[Ptichka]

Limited basis in reality

Ladies
1. Slutskaya
2. Arakawa
3. Cohen

Men
1. Plushenko
2. Weir
3. Lambiel

Pair
1. Shen & Zhao
2. Totmianina & Marinin
3. Savchenko & Szolkowy

Dance
1. Belbin & Agosto
2. Delobel & Schoenfelder
3. Chait & Sakhnovsky

 

[soogar]

My dream podiums for mens and ladies:

Men
1. Klimkin or Lambiel
2. Klimkin or Lambiel
3. Matt Savoie

Ladies:
1. Kimmie Meissner (not my dream but a strong hunch)
2. Irina Slutskaya
3. Sasha Cohen

 

[MidnightNess]

Ladies
1. Michelle Kwan: not based on reality but that would be the story of all olympic stories
2. Sasha Cohen
3. Irina Slutskaya

Men
1. Lambiel
2. Plushenko
3. Weir

Pair
1. Shen & Zhao
2. Totmianina & Marinin
3. Savchenko & Szolkowy

Dance
1. Belbin & Agosto
2. Delobel & Schoenfelder
3. Chait & Sakhnovsky

 

[show 42]

I'm just going with the gold placement for now..........

Ladies.......Michelle........no brainer here

Men..........Plushy........awesome presence on the ice

Pairs.........S and Z.......no one comes close to them, in my opinion

Dance.......Ben and Tanith, of course........... 42

 

[Lanie]

Men
1. Plushenko
2. Savoie
3. Lambiel

Ladies
1. Sasha Cohen
2. tie between Michelle Kwan and Joannie Rochette
3. Carolina Kostner

Dance
1. Kerr/Kerr (we said this was our dream podium )
2. Belbin/Agosto
3. Silverstein/O'Meara

Pairs
1. Shen/Zhao
2. Totmianina/Marinin
3. Inoue/Baldwin

 

[guinevere]

Ladies
1. Kwan
2. Slutskaya
3. Arakawa

last 3 World champs on the podium!

Men
1. Plushenko - he's not my favorite, but he deserves it
2. Sandhu
3. Joubert or wildcards Klimkin or Van der Perren

Pairs
1. Shen/Zhou
2. Totmianina/Marinen
3. Savchenko/Szolkowy
Inoue/.Baldwin in top 5
Hinzmann/Parchem top 10

Dance
1. Belbin/Agosto
2. Navka/Kostamarov
3. Delobel/Schoenfelder

 

[new_europe2006]

Pairs:

1. Shen and Zhao
2. Pang and Tong
3. Zhang and Zhang

Men:

1. Evan Lysacek
2. Daisuke Takahashi
3. Evgeny Plushenko

Ice Dance:

1. Denkova and Staviyski
2. Belbin and Agosto
3. don't care

Ladies:

1. Michelle Kwan
2. Shizuka Arakawa
3. Fumie Suguri or Miki Ando

 

[cianni]

Thats my Pick

guinevere, Thats my predition. What an upset.

 

[Vash01]

My dream podiums:

Ladies:

I would love to see a double gold with Irina and Michelle both standing on top of the podium. It's a tough choice for me. I will be happy with either one winning the gold, but I will be heart broken for the other so there is no way for me to feel happy about this one because we know there cannot be two gold medals, unless politics rule.

That said, I would love to see Shizuka win a medal, and yes, it will have to be a bronze.

1.Irina or Michelle
2.Michelle or Irina
3.Shizuka

Men:

1.Plushenko- he is the King. I hope he can finally win the OGM.

2.Weir- I just love his skating, but his refusal to challenge himself with a quad makes me put him second on my list. Also the fact that I absolutely love Plushenko makes me want Weir in second place.

3.Klimkin- What a great story this will be, if he can rebound from all those injuries and skate the way he is capable of. I won't be disappointed if Lambiel or Sandhu get the bronze, however.

Pairs:

1.Totmianina-Marinin: They are not in the same class as the great Russian pairs of the past, but they still are the best right now. I like her courage, and their stick together attitude.

2.Shen & Zhao: I think if they can skate, they will be in contention for at least a medal. They are wonderful people, and they have worked very hard to develop as a pair. At one time they had looked unbeatable and I know they can still challenge for the gold.

3.Petrova-Tikhonov: I really want to see this pair win an Olympic medal. They have worked hard to improve, add difficulty, when they received low marks. I respect their perseverance, and they are extremely gracious people.

Ice dance:

1.Navka-Kostomarov: They are not my most favorite team, but they still are the best in ice dancing. I would like to see them win the gold.

2.Belbin-Agosto: They can really bring ice dancing up in the US. They are a very balanced pair, and I like that. I love their energy. I have to admit that I like Ben more than Tanith.

3.Grushina-Goncharov: I had a tough time deciding between them and Drobiazko-Vanagas. I picked G&G because they stayed on the scene all these years and continued to improve. It will be nice to see them win an Olympic medal.

My absolute dream would be to see Silverstein-O'meara win an Olympic medal (any color) , but I know that's not possible in 2006.

Vash

 

[JonnyCoop]

I forgot all ABOUT Drobiazko & Vanagas coming back! They'd be my silver or bronze pick for sure.... I feel they've been shafted a few times in their career, I'd love to throw them a bone in the form of an Oly medal.....

 

[shine]

Men: 1. Savoie 2. Lambiel 3. Li
Ladies: 1. Rochette 2. Arakawa 3. Kostner
Dance: 1. D&Schoe 2. S&O'M 3. D&Sha
Pairs: 1. T&M 2. S&Z 3. S&S

Dream podium, right?

 

[Laura_B]

Men:
1. Buttle
2. Lambiel and Lysacek (there would be some kind of judging mistake that would make it so they both got the silver...this IS my dream podium, haha)
3. Savoie

Ladies:
1. Michelle (I think she deserves it)
2. Sasha
3. Fumie

Pairs:
1. Shen/Zhao

Dance:
1. Belbin/Agosto

 

[Lcp88]

Ladies
1. Kwan
2. Any of the Japanese ladies (is Suguri going? If not, Arakawa)
3. Viktoria Volchkova (its a dream )

Men
1. While I think Plushenco deserves and will most likely win it, I would love to see Weir or Joubert
2. Joubert/Weir (Brian would look cuter with gold, though )
3. Takeshi Honda

Dance
1. Ideally Drobiasko and Vanagas, but otherwise take Belbin and Agosto/anyone but Navka and Kostomorov
2. Anyone but Navka/Kostomorov
3. Denkova and Skavisky

Pairs
1. Shen and Zhao, hands down
2. Dube/Davison
3. Zhang and Zhang