- Joined
- Jul 30, 2003
I was reading this article over at the USFSA web site and noticed this quote:
Which got me thinking, if Sasha retires now, how WILL her skating be viewed 4 or 8 years from now? Her career has been one of the most interesting, perplexing and controversial in skating.
She made a breathtaking debut on the scene in 2000, already fully formed artistically but lacking in other areas. The American media raved about her and predicted she would be the next big ladies skating star. For all her grace on the ice, however, her programs usually had mistakes. Strangely, there was no pattern to them. Sometimes it would be one move, sometimes another at the beginning, middle or end of the program.
She made several coaching changes and over the years improved in nearly every area of her skating. Her spins and spirals were good even in her early days, before long they were signature moves. Her basic skating, once a weakness, became respectable and her flexibility, line and extension remained unmatched. Yet for all her improvements, the inconsistency remained. Skating insiders didn't get it. The debate over the reason for her problems was an ubiquitous topic among skating fans for many, many years. The "killer instinct" that others possessed (Michelle, Sarah, Kimmie) just did not seem to be a part of her genetic makeup.
Over the course of her career, she won a U.S. Nats title, an Olympic Silver, 2 World Silvers, a World Bronze and a GPF gold. That wasn't as good as she had hoped or equal to the American media hype. Yet it was an extremely impressive record by any standard. In some ways, Sasha was unlucky. Sometimes it takes a great performance to win a championship, sometimes only a good one. She never seemed to be able to pull together a truly great performance in major event and on the several occasions that she was good, someone else was great.
Ultimately, I think Sasha will be remembered as a superb artistic skater who came very close to realizing her full potential. The gifts she possessed, no one can teach. You could see it in her spectacular spiral and layback positions, the gorgeous split in her Charlotte and Russian Split Jump, the great extension in her camel spin and the natural dance ability in the footwork of her Dark Eyes and Malaguena SPs. Those are the things I'll remember about her skating.
Which got me thinking, if Sasha retires now, how WILL her skating be viewed 4 or 8 years from now? Her career has been one of the most interesting, perplexing and controversial in skating.
She made a breathtaking debut on the scene in 2000, already fully formed artistically but lacking in other areas. The American media raved about her and predicted she would be the next big ladies skating star. For all her grace on the ice, however, her programs usually had mistakes. Strangely, there was no pattern to them. Sometimes it would be one move, sometimes another at the beginning, middle or end of the program.
She made several coaching changes and over the years improved in nearly every area of her skating. Her spins and spirals were good even in her early days, before long they were signature moves. Her basic skating, once a weakness, became respectable and her flexibility, line and extension remained unmatched. Yet for all her improvements, the inconsistency remained. Skating insiders didn't get it. The debate over the reason for her problems was an ubiquitous topic among skating fans for many, many years. The "killer instinct" that others possessed (Michelle, Sarah, Kimmie) just did not seem to be a part of her genetic makeup.
Over the course of her career, she won a U.S. Nats title, an Olympic Silver, 2 World Silvers, a World Bronze and a GPF gold. That wasn't as good as she had hoped or equal to the American media hype. Yet it was an extremely impressive record by any standard. In some ways, Sasha was unlucky. Sometimes it takes a great performance to win a championship, sometimes only a good one. She never seemed to be able to pull together a truly great performance in major event and on the several occasions that she was good, someone else was great.
Ultimately, I think Sasha will be remembered as a superb artistic skater who came very close to realizing her full potential. The gifts she possessed, no one can teach. You could see it in her spectacular spiral and layback positions, the gorgeous split in her Charlotte and Russian Split Jump, the great extension in her camel spin and the natural dance ability in the footwork of her Dark Eyes and Malaguena SPs. Those are the things I'll remember about her skating.
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