Skaters you started to appreciate after long time/retiring

[Alchamei]

Sometimes you might not like a skater at first, and not only that, you might dislike their skating for most of their career, only starting to appreciate them after many years, or at end of their career, or even after they have retired. Have this ever happen to you and with what skater?

For me, this would be Yulia Lipnitskaya. I found her cold and emotionless during Sochi and found her hype too high, but after many years, I found new appreciation for her, as she was much more elegant than many skaters at the time and also The current time. Her spins and melancholy programs are unmatched. Such a shame she had only one good senior season.

 

[blue_idealist]

Michelle Kwan. She bored me when I was younger, but re-watching her on YouTube when I was older gave me a new appreciation.

 

[BlackAxel]

Definitely Patrick Chan for me. I never truly appreciated him as a skater due to being so fed up with him winning competitions with numerous falls. Patrick's skating skills are simply unmatched and outstanding. We might never come across another skater like him in the mens division.

 

[ladyjane]

What a lovely subject for a thread!

For me it must be, perhaps strange to some, Evgeni Plushenko. I didn't like him much - because I liked watching Yagudin so much more. And after that rivalry had ended I just liked other skaters more. It's only since he's retired that I started watching some of his skates again and realising how good quite a few of them were. Enjoyable even.

 

[moonvine]

Michelle Kwan. She bored me when I was younger, but re-watching her on YouTube when I was older gave me a new appreciation.

Almost the same. I started “getting her” towards the end of her career.

 

[MiraiFan]

I liked Wilson and McCall but never fully appreciated their fantastic 1988 free dance until I started skating seriously myself. Those steps and the speed and accuracy was amazing, as was their performance quality. I could watch it over and over.

 

[Horsefeathers]

I don't end to take an active dislike to any skater, but I was not a fan of Katarina Witt back during her amateur career. Back then, it seemed like East German women won so often I thought East Germany had bribed the judges. Maybe they did. I was a rabid fan of Debi Thomas during the Battle of the Carmens, so that added to my ambivalence.

After she retired and got out of East Germany and started showing her personality, I grew to like/respect her. When she made that comeback at the 94 Olympics, despite knowing she did not stand a chance of medaling, I was cheering her on. I love to see old-timers come back to competition just for the fun of it. I think it does some of the new kiddos a favor by showing them the people that paved the way for them.

 

[babyskate]

I was such a Michelle Kwan fan , i.e. Michelle is my daughter's middle name, that I never took any time to appreciate Tara Lipinski.
Last night I re-watched her Olympic gold performance for the 1st time since it happened. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. She really was a great jumper with such amazing energy and enthusiasm. This re-watch and new appreciation did not prevent me from remembering just how sad I was on the day it happened. The good news is that both ladies have done very well for themselves since.those games.

 

[4everchan]

Elvis Stojko for me. The power. His unique style. When looking at him skate, though he was labeled as not artistic, one can see he could skate... actually even better than a lot of guys nowadays.

 

[Mathman]

Great thread!

I was always against Irina Slutskaya when she was Micheel Kwan's nemesis. But looking back on her career and her performan ces I can see her brilliance.

 

[el henry]

John Curry.

Yes, I loved Toller that much. Toller didn't like John and neither did I.

I now see they were opposite sides of the same artistic coin. I won't tell you how long it took me to figure that out.

 

[skylark]

1. Johnny Weir. I never saw him in the years when he first became US champion. I only became aware of him during his rivalry with Evan Lysacek, whom I loved. Johnny's unabashed pettiness and jealousy in that rivalry kept me from seeing anything much in his skating. Several years after they'd both retired, I finally watched Johnny's skates from US Nationals in 2004, -05, and -06. I was amazed at his artistry, his sensitivity, his passion and musicality.

2. Tara Lipinski. What @babyskate said. Now I really appreciate Tara's joy, her exuberance, and her fresh style. And I've watched a segment about Tara in the practices in Nagano before her epic battle with Michelle. One of the commentators said something that impressed her was that Tara had asked her choreographer to give her 'notes' after every practice session; and she implemented those notes every day. It made me realize that Tara did care about artistry. Hers was geared to performance ... nothing wrong with that.

3. Now, I really like Johnny's commentary and as a person. He's mellowed. He gives a lot of information about the skating, keeping it succinct. He'll give a string of one-word descriptors about the artistic strengths of the skaters. His remarks are mostly wise and generous ... and he mostly knows when to keep his mouth shut. In the last couple of years, I've noticed that even Tara has tried to improve, tried to babble less, tried to keep her remarks on point. I'm glad I always have the option of No Commentary, but after the fact, I'll often listen to what they have to say.

 

[rain]

For me, Ilia Kulik. I never liked him when he was an amateur (he always left me completely cold as a performer), but he delivered some truly gorgeous professional work that made me really appreciate his superb skating skills. It made me kind of sad that he retired so soon.

It took me a long time to warm up to Jason Brown. I thought his Riverdance was annoying. But his far more sophisticated performances of the last few years totally made me a fan.

It took me quite a while to warm up to Michelle Kwan as well. I found nothing she did remotely interesting until Lyra Angelica and Dante's Prayer. Loved most of what came after.

Also Weaver/Poje. I thought a lot of their early material was tacky. It wasn't until Maria de Buenos Aires that I really took notice.

 

[rain]

Definitely Patrick Chan for me. I never truly appreciated him as a skater due to being so fed up with him winning competitions with numerous falls. Patrick's skating skills are simply unmatched and outstanding. We might never come across another skater like him in the mens division.

I find it so darkly amusing now that so many skaters, especially in men's, win with multiple falls and very messy skates simply on base value alone, and yet for years Patrick was so vilified if he wasn't squeaky clean.

Patrick is the best male skater I have ever seen. I hope there are more skating fans like you who can come to appreciate him now that the heat of battle has cooled.

 

[4everchan]

I find it so darkly amusing now that so many skaters, especially in men's, win with multiple falls and very messy skates simply on base value alone, and yet for years Patrick was so vilified if he wasn't squeaky clean.

Patrick is the best male skater I have ever seen. I hope there are more skating fans like you who can come to appreciate him now that the heat of battle has cooled.

that ! X 1000000

 

[yume]

All main rivals of my faves hehe (Cardi B laugh).

No i'm joking.

More seriously, most skaters who were boring me to death still bore me to death. I never really disliked anyone, just though that some were overrated and i still think that they were overrated.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Tuktamysheva, approx. 2019 onward: Usually prefer skaters with better skating skills, but it's hard not to get behind a comeback story.

Nobunari Oda: I didn't really notice him until as a retired pro he started appearing in wacky commercials (e.g. with giant fried eggs on his head), so had to go back and see his old performances. He had really good technique, despite being a headcase at times.

Mao Asada: I liked Yuna better at first, but after Vancouver Mao really tried to overhaul her technique, fixed most of her jumps and just seemed in general to press deeper on her edges, so by the time Sochi came around I'd swung the other way.

Guignard/Fabbri: Bowie cover free dance made me see them in a new light. Also, nowadays many young ice dancers seem to be weaker at the pattern dances, so as members of a earlier generation they stand out in a good way.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Slightly OT, but on the subject of Oda, I just wanted to share this funny moment (especially Lysacek's face afterward):

2005 NHK Trophy - Nobunari Oda FS

youtu.be

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Chock/Bates for me. I was always more of a Hubbell/Donohue fan and I also felt like I was the only person who didn't really enjoy their Snake FD, and had never really 'clicked' with their programs before that either.
This season, however, I love both their programs, and both watching the programs develop and getting a glimpse of them as people on 'On Edge' really has made me a fan!
Now I'm a fan of both top US dance teams (and H/B, Gre/Pa and Bratti/Somerville too - clearly I'm just a US dance fan!) and hope to see them both on the podium at the Olys (with P/C - no disrespect meant to S/K, I just think both US teams are skating better than them this season, and I prefer their programs).

I hope Madi and Evan do continue next season, can't wait to see what they come up with next.

 

[EyesOfLove]

Kristi Yamaguchi. I had never really connected to her amateur programs, but her longevity and artistry as a professional really drew me into her skating. It even made me revisit her supreme athleticism -- probably the first woman to have consistently and successfully incorporated two triple lutzes in a long program (followed only by Kwan, but I may be wrong). Even more staggering is how she was still landing her lutz and flip ten (!) years after winning her OGM at Albertville: https://youtu.be/xAYX0Z8P4Do?t=114