Skaters you started to appreciate after long time/retiring

[asiacheetah]

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.

I think this past few quads filled with multi-quad/falls have numbed us to how disruptive a fall can be to a cohesive program. Back when Patrick was winning, he wasn't jumping as many quads (and only Quad Toe) and most others weren't trying for more than 1 or 2. I still remember the Men LP disaster from the 2014 Olympics where everyone pretty much fell. I believe back in his 3 WC winning days, he was winning against "clean" skaters who didn't jump quads. Hence the grumbling.

 

[Bonnie F]

Elizabeth Manley, Sarah Hughes, Nancy Kerrigan, Tara Lipinski; in each case I liked their rivals better but looking back I know appreciate what they each brought to the ice.

 

[asiacheetah]

If you have a favorite still competing in the field, I think it's hard to have a non-bias opinion on their competitor. Since my favorite is still competing, I can't look at the current field objectively.

For past favorites, I loved Michelle Kwan so I could never truly appreciate Sasha and Irina. I liked Yuna Kim, so wasn't appreciative of Mao Asada. Yagudin over Plushenko.

The only one who I finally learned to appreciate were Aljona Savchenko and her partner. She competed against my ult favorite Shen and Zhao, and then against Tatiana Voloszohar and Maxim Trankov. You have to admire her determination and skills.

 

[mrrice]

Michelle Kwan. I saw Michelle skate at worlds in 1999 and she did nothing for me. I thought she was slow and lacked the maturity of Maria Butyrskaya and other top ladies. However, when I saw her just 2 years later, she was truly amazing. Irina had harder jumps but, Michelle was the entire package. Programs, Costuming, and Performance Quality all went to Michelle that night. I was blown away by her.

 

[mrrice]

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.

Don't get mad but, I still don't get Elvis. I saw him in Vancouver and he was fast but, I guess I just caught him on an off night. He seemed very robotic and seeing him with Plushy, Todd, and Yags, I think he had a bad night. I have seen videos of him being brilliant so, l know he has the goods.

 

[4everchan]

Don't get mad but, I still don't get Elvis. I saw him in Vancouver and he was fast but, I guess I just caught him on an off night. He seemed very robotic and seeing him with Plushy, Todd, and Yags, I think he had a bad night. I have seen videos of him being brilliant so, l know he has the goods.

i have never been able to get mad at you i am just starting to get Elvis... and though i have a new appreciation for his skating, he is no patrick

 

[mrrice]

i have never been able to get mad at you i am just starting to get Elvis... and though i have a new appreciation for his skating, he is no patrick

You know, Patrick is just a special skater. I don't know anyone who has seen him live that doesn't have their jaw drop from his speed and deep edges. Even in the Warm Up, you could tell he was the best skater in the event.

 

[4everchan]

I think this past few quads filled with multi-quad/falls have numbed us to how disruptive a fall can be to a cohesive program. Back when Patrick was winning, he wasn't jumping as many quads (and only Quad Toe) and most others weren't trying for more than 1 or 2. I still remember the Men LP disaster from the 2014 Olympics where everyone pretty much fell. I believe back in his 3 WC winning days, he was winning against "clean" skaters who didn't jump quads. Hence the grumbling.

Patrick certainly made mistakes. However, sometimes his lead from the SP was so big that a mistake on a less important jump in the LP (waxel) wouldn't prevent him from winning overall. Many people stopped complaining about this kind of win when Hanyu did it at Sochi... winning Olympic gold with two falls in the LP ( Patrick was far from perfect but he didn't fall...)... thanks to a sufficient lead from the SP... those who complained about Patrick before, suddenly were quiet... I believe it has nothing to do with being numb now because of the multiple falls by quadsters. YMMV

 

[4everchan]

You know, Patrick is just a special skater. I don't know anyone who has seen him live that doesn't have their jaw drop from his speed and deep edges. Even in the Warm Up, you could tell he was the best skater in the event.

exactly... i have been fortunate to see Patrick competing live... and yes to smooth, fast skating with deep edges, but also his air position is second to none. Just a gorgeous skater.

 

[rain]

You know, Patrick is just a special skater. I don't know anyone who has seen him live that doesn't have their jaw drop from his speed and deep edges. Even in the Warm Up, you could tell he was the best skater in the event.

I remember seeing him live and he jumped out immediately on the warmup ice from all the other men in the field. Liam Firus did the same. So did Joannie Rochette, interestingly enough. I don't think anyone who hasn't seen her live really understands how much she pulled her speed back during her performances in order to get better control over her jumps. In warmup she was at least twice as fast.

 

[mrrice]

exactly... i have been fortunate to see Patrick competing live... and yes to smooth, fast skating with deep edges, but also his air position is second to none. Just a gorgeous skater.

And don't forget his perfect posture. The best I've seen.

 

[rugbyfan]

I LOVE this idea for a thread - now going to go back and see if I can appreciate Plushenko and Stojko; even prepared to have a rewatch of Lipinski

I saw MIchelle Kwan in 1996 and was definitely in favour of Lu Chen, but by the time she retired I loved Kwan. Klimova Ponamarenko - I really didn't like them at their height, but now find I re-watch their programmes; Uzova-Zulin - didn't like their 1994 programme and it marred them for me, but though I still don't like it, I now appreciate them. Anassina Peizerat - was so in favour of Bourne and Kraatz (whose Riverdance I loved) that I actively disliked them. Can now appreciate them. Yuna Kim - just wasn't my cup of tea at the time.
Shen and Zhao - took a long time for me to like but ended up as one of my favourite ever.

Davis and White - slightly different; always liked them but they weren't V and M and I hated the politicking around the two teams. Still prefer V and M but now that it is all done and dusted can look back at D and Ws programmes and really enjoy them.

 

[readernick]

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.

It's already been mentioned but the wonderful skaters on your avatar. Guignard/Fabbri are just such good skaters. I don't think I've ever loved (although I was very into their FD at Rostelecom so that's changing) their material but in the last few years, they have just shown how incredible their technical skills are. Great skaters, perfect matching. They are just wonderful.

Also Virtue/Moir. (sorry, this is going to be controversial) Don't get me wrong I understood from the beginning that they were an incredible team but it wasn't until their comeback in 2016 that their skating really spoke to me. I could watch their Prince SD over and over again. I never felt this way about their Mahler program in 2010 or, frankly, any program prior to 2016 although their wins were clearly correct even at the time.

Also, I currently think the US field has the best ice dancers! So much talent. C/B certainly don't have the SS of H/D but they do have something special. I think that special quality is clear in their RD this season more than in their FD. But, I like both programs.

 

[cake]

Plushenko: I didn´t like him until I saw him live at worlds 2004 in Dortmund. It´s not the actual skating, but live he has the x-factor in spades.

Virtue/Moir didn´t do much for me in their active time and I was always rooting for Davis/White, although I can´t say why. It just didn´t click. But when I watch old videos of them now, I think "Woooow!" Recently their Flamenco program came up on the Olympics Figure Skating Chanel, just great.

 

[Zora]

Definitely Plushenko. I was a huge Yagudin fan and didn't like Plushenko's style. But when he came back in 2009/2010, I had a lot of respect for him, coming back and jumping quads at his age, when almost no one else did. And then his performance at Euros in 2012!
Looking back at his earlier career, he actually had quite some cool programs, especially his Bolero and his Michael Jackson short program, he was super quick on his feet with amazing step sequences, something I didn't recognize back then.

 

[mrrice]

Definitely Plushenko. I was a huge Yagudin fan and didn't like Plushenko's style. But when he came back in 2009/2010, I had a lot of respect for him, coming back and jumping quads at his age, when almost no one else did. And then his performance at Euros in 2012!
Looking back at his earlier career, he actually had quite some cool programs, especially his Bolero and his Michael Jackson short program, he was super quick on his feet with amazing step sequences, somethin g I didn't recognize back then.

You know, I am a Huge Plushy fan. However, I think it began with seeing him in person. I had always preferred Yags until I saw them both in 2001. Plushy was much faster and the fact that he was so nice to all of his fans, including me, made me a lifetime fan.

 

[Blades of Passion]

The skaters who I admire more than ever are people who would be pointless to name, because they aren't publicly known. There's a lot of talent out there that never makes it into the spotlight.

 

[Skater Boy]

I think this past few quads filled with multi-quad/falls have numbed us to how disruptive a fall can be to a cohesive program. Back when Patrick was winning, he wasn't jumping as many quads (and only Quad Toe) and most others weren't trying for more than 1 or 2. I still remember the Men LP disaster from the 2014 Olympics where everyone pretty much fell. I believe back in his 3 WC winning days, he was winning against "clean" skaters who didn't jump quads. Hence the grumbling.

But Patricks skating uality was even better than jason who 10 years later cant do a quad.

 

[Ladskater]

I never cared for Trixi Schuba's free skating abilities when she competed with Karen Magnussen and Janet Lynn back, but later I got to see her abilities to trace perfect figures and appreciated that part of her skills. I always remember her saying "after all it is figure skating"...

Check out Trixi doing a figure eight:

Trixi Schuba, Compulsory Figures Documentary 1971 | Trixi Schuba, Compulsory Figures Documentary 1971 Thank you for the idea Cathy. :) Credit: YT floskate... | By Figure Skating Moments | Facebook

5.467 views, 145 likes, 11 loves, 11 comments, 41 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Figure Skating Moments: Trixi Schuba, Compulsory Figures Documentary 1971 Thank you for the idea Cathy. :)...

www.facebook.com

 

[cabres]

Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov became my favorites after watching them live at the 2012 World Championships. I thought they were not suitable as a pair. But I really liked them and then I became a big fan of them and of their programs.

I was also amazed by Hao Zhang and his way of running the programs, very sure, but even with some grace, only after seeing Hao Zhang / Xiaoyu YU live at the 2018 World Championships in Milan.