Post-Olympic Drama: Worlds

[figurefan0726]

I dunno about the Men, Pairs, and Ice Dance, but I know a lot about the Ladies. As a matter of fact, none of the Olympic gold medalists didn’t win gold at worlds.

1994 - Oksana Baiul - Did not compete.
1998 - Tara Lipniski - Did not compete.
2002 - Sarah Hughes - Did not compete.
2006 - Shizuoka Arakawa - Did not compete.
2010 - Yuna Kim - Finished 2nd.
2014 - Adelina Sotnikova - Did not compete.
2018 - Alina Zagitova - Finished 5th. (!)

Do any of you have other post-Olympics dramas? (Ie. Alina’s meltdown at Worlds, Mao Asada’s redemption, Yuna Kim faltering at the 2010 Worlds, ultimately losing to Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada.)

 

[brens78]

Alina's performance was the GASP! :eeking: moment of the season! A difficult back loaded program that was executed fantastically at the Olympics, just didn't happen in Milan

 

[ladyjane]

I wouldn't call it a drama exactly, but I recall Sarah Hughes turned up the next year at Worlds (so it wasn't actually the immediate post-Olympic one) and was only 6th. A bit of a let down. I think she retired after that.

What was a drama, or at least a personal one, was in 1994 among the pairs Brasseur/Eisler. Due to the comeback of G/G and M/D they got another bronze medal at the Olympics because those two great pairs got gold and silver, and B/E must have hoped for a gold at the subsequent Worlds (they had been World champions the year before after all) when these two pairs declined to compete at Worlds. However, there was another Russian pair, Shiskova/Naumov that got the gold instead, and B/E had to settle for silver (and I believe Brasseur was injured too, which of course did not help either).

 

[NoNameFace]

I think that 'dramah' was Saitama Worlds SD meltdown of Elena/Nikita and that they got no medal after getting bronze in Sochi, despite winning FD. And then whole tenth points of difference between podium placements. Good 'ole ID dramah times

 

[iluvtodd]

Surya Bonaly's reaction @ 1994 Worlds (taking off her silver medal). I was upset with her for ruining Yuka's moment, but she did apologize to Yuka & the Japanese people, so I have since forgiven here for that faux pas (plus I loved when she did that backflip @ the 1998 Nagano Olympics).

 

[pandatours]

I/K’s performance at Worlds after their OBM was the tipping point for their split. Ice dance in general at 2014 was crazy, I love Anna and Luca but it’s crazy to me that the Italians outpoliticked the French

I don’t know if anything in recent history was as gasp inducing for me as Alina’s free though. I disliked her backloading but she’s a lovely girl so it was heartbreaking to see her program collapse like that.

 

[yume]

It's better for OGM to not compete at worlds. See the performances of Yuna Kim and Zagitova. But i think they didn't have the choice. They had to compete. If there was another girl who could win at least two spots for Korea, Kim would have withdraw. And if Medvedeva wasn't injured (or if Zagitova was more loved by the fed), she could have withdraw. But she had to compete to win the three spots (which she did by being the highest Russian finisher despite her meldtown).

 

[lesnar001]

One of the biggest was Sasha Cohen finishing 3rd at 2006 Worlds even with Shizuka Arakawa & Irina Slutskaya not being there.

Even bigger was Kimmie Meissner winning gold at those same 2006 Worlds!

 

[BillNeal]

I think that 'dramah' was Saitama Worlds SD meltdown of Elena/Nikita and that they got no medal after getting bronze in Sochi, despite winning FD. And then whole tenth points of difference between podium placements. Good 'ole ID dramah times

This. I think I read somewhere that Nikita had broken the news to Elena that he wanted to end their partnership the day of the SD and that Morozov facilitated the tryouts of Nikita and Victoria before Olympics. Definitely the biggest drama of the 2014 off-season.

 

[NoNameFace]

This. I think I read somewhere that Nikita had broken the news to Elena that he wanted to end their partnership the day of the SD and that Morozov facilitated the tryouts of Nikita and Victoria before Olympics. Definitely the biggest drama of the 2014 off-season.

Oh well... For me, they and Morozombie in mix were a walking drama in motion - from some weird programs through this whole 2014 Olympic Bronze and then split it was just never meant to last...

 

[figurefan0726]

It's better for OGM to not compete at worlds. See the performances of Yuna Kim and Zagitova. But i think they didn't have the choice. They had to compete. If there was another girl who could win at least two spots for Korea, Kim would have withdraw. And if Medvedeva wasn't injured (or if Zagitova was more loved by the fed), she could have withdraw. But she had to compete to win the three spots (which she did by being the highest Russian finisher despite her meldtown).

True. Yuna didn’t want to compete at Worlds 2010, but the KSU urged her so they they could at least get 2 spots for the 2011 Worlds.

 

[TontoK]

From the way-back file:

Robin Cousins did not win the WC after his Olympic win in 1980. If memory serves, he fell in the Short Program.

Even wayer-back: In 1956, Olympic Champion Tenley Albright lost the World Title to Carol Heiss.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Alina's performance was the GASP! :eeking: moment of the season! A difficult back loaded program that was executed fantastically at the Olympics, just didn't happen in Milan

Alina's Worlds FS was a crazy meltdown. One of the most perceived consistent skaters had one of the biggest meltdowns ever.

Part of me was happy because it's nice that a skater who was essentially gaming the system to win ultimately didn't medal: but part of me was upset that the most technically sound woman (as in, on their best day) didn't even medal.

It's kinda like when Halle Berry won the Oscar for Monsters Ball and the Razzie for Catwoman. It was nice to see you could be on top one day and with the "normal folk" the next.

And that's a compliment to Zagitova's superhuman-ness.

 

[TallyT]

It's better for OGM to not compete at worlds.

Not always... there's always the chance of something like the 2014 Mens :hap85: A very different and much happier form of drama...

 

[flanker]

Part of me was happy because it's nice that a skater who was essentially gaming the system to win ultimately didn't medal

Oh, not again that BS as if the most demanding and hardest program ever (at least in ladies seniors) was some kind of cheating. No :disagree:

 

[yume]

Not always... there's always the chance of something like the 2014 Mens :hap85: A very different and much happier form of drama...

Yes that was an happy drama. But even Yuzu win was a bit lucky. He botched a SP that he skated clean all the season.

I think worlds after the olympics are really hard for OGM. Too much tiredeness and pressure. Zagitova bombing was not that surprising.

 

[ladyjane]

It's not Always a drama when the OGM do come to Worlds...S/M for example did even better at Worlds than at the Olympics (they had a clean short programme while their long was everything as good as at the Olympics) and managed to get WR scores. And, if I recall correctly in Ice Dance in 2010 the OGM and OSM teams both did well at Worlds too (that was V/M's first OGM, and D/W's silver - repeated outcome at Worlds). In fact that Worlds was a joy for the top Italian team at the time - Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali who got bronze. Positive drama so to speak. Massimo was a very emotional skater.

 

[lesnar001]

Alina's Worlds FS was a crazy meltdown. One of the most perceived consistent skaters had one of the biggest meltdowns ever.

Part of me was happy because it's nice that a skater who was essentially gaming the system to win ultimately didn't medal: but part of me was upset that the most technically sound woman (as in, on their best day) didn't even medal.

It's kinda like when Halle Berry won the Oscar for Monsters Ball and the Razzie for Catwoman. It was nice to see you could be on top one day and with the "normal folk" the next.

And that's a compliment to Zagitova's superhuman-ness.

"gaming the system" ---- gimme a break

if that's a compliment - I'd hate to see your insults.

 

[Fluture]

Alina's Worlds FS was a crazy meltdown. One of the most perceived consistent skaters had one of the biggest meltdowns ever.

Part of me was happy because it's nice that a skater who was essentially gaming the system to win ultimately didn't medal: but part of me was upset that the most technically sound woman (as in, on their best day) didn't even medal.

It's kinda like when Halle Berry won the Oscar for Monsters Ball and the Razzie for Catwoman. It was nice to see you could be on top one day and with the "normal folk" the next.

And that's a compliment to Zagitova's superhuman-ness.

1) Zagitova wasn‘t even the most consistent perceived skater, Medvedeva was. During the season she almost always made mistakes in the SP such as URs, botched combos or even falls. She always managed to win due to fighting back in the FS, though. So her flawless skates at Europeans and Olympics while extremely impressive didn‘t and don‘t mean that she‘s a superhuman who never falls. Media and commentators made her this little robot jumping bean who never struggles and simply outperforms her fellow competitors due to her pre-puberty lightness. This isn‘t true at all and all the pressure that was put on her bothers me a lot. She is a young girl and she has achieved a lot but she‘s nowhere near as rocksolid as Medvedeva (and even she falls...) or as experienced (you simply cannot be in your first senior year. To expect that would be completel unreasonable) to put that kind of pressure on her, especially after already winning the OGM. She simply needed more time to get used to all this, what she did in her first senior season is insane but no, rusfed decided that she was ready and sent Stanislava Konstantinova as their replacement for Medvedvea who almost always bombs as if they didn‘t care at all because ”Alina would win anyway“. Talk about pressure.

2) Everyone who is smart should be “gaming the system“ as you put it. But most people simply can’t pull it off. Alina could. So - at least in the technical department - she was better (!!!) than everyone else. We can discuss PCs all day but those are not her fault at all. Alina‘s program wasn‘t cheating. It was created with the current rules in mind and there‘s nothing wrong with that. If there was any problem with it, then it could be that it was simply more of a junior program, not the backloading. We‘ve seen with Kostornaya that backloading can work. And to be happy that she lost just because she‘s taking advantage of the rules but a bit upset because the technically most sound skater didn‘t win? Good grief. Nothing against you but how about being upset for a 15 year old girl rushing to cry in her coach‘s arms after what was probably the worst experience in her life? I can‘t say I‘m faultless either, I wanted Caro to win but at the expense of this? Never.

Oh and sorry if this post sounds offensive or sth, I just can’t help it sometimes because I feel the need to defend Alina after the amount of criticism and doubt she‘s got after her win at the OG and especially after what happened at Worlds.

 

[BossT]

Послеолимпийский кошмар 1 | Post-Olympic Nightmare 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XTXFd6yXus

Послеолимпийский кошмар 2 | Post-Olympic Nightmare 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrcxP96fXUk&t

Послеолимпийский кошмар 3 | Post-Olympic Nightmare 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_CSAdrT4W4

Послеолимпийский кошмар 4 | Post-Olympic Nightmare 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io-xfvXt2p4