Your favorite ladies Olympic competition

[skaterr]

She did admit she lacked motivation at that point, but I think the KSU needed her to secure two spots for 2011W, so she felt obliged to compete.

I don’t think KSU needed her to secure two spots for 2011 worlds. You can check the entries in this link. She was the only one who participated in 2011 worlds. KSU is not that into figure skating actually. KSU vice president Ms. Lee is very close to Junko in Japanese federations. She is the one who will do everything to secure her position in an organization. She also showed up all broadcasting companies insisting that Yuna was not enough in Sochi and made Yuna fans mad.

 

[mrrice]

You know who else was really good at 2010 Worlds. Cynthia Phaneuf. Who skated under pressure to secure a second spot for Canada when Joanie Rochette decided not to attend Worlds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrOxSWoY9Rw

 

[4everchan]

yup... i was sad she didn't medal there... after all she had been through she deserved it... it went downhill from there.

You know who else was really good at 2010 Worlds. Cynthia Phaneuf. Who skated under pressure to secure a second spot for Canada when Joanie Rochette decided not to attend Worlds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrOxSWoY9Rw

 

[mrrice]

yup... i was sad she didn't medal there... after all she had been through she deserved it... it went downhill from there.

I thought she did well at 2011 nationals. Didn't she win? I don't remember. I loved her 2010/11 Spanish Guitar SP when I saw her at Skate Canada. Unfortunately, she had a BAD LP and ending up missing the podium after winning the Short Program. That must have hurt her self esteem. Of course, I don't think anyone would have beaten Alissa that day.

You know who I saw for the first time at that show.....Agnes Zawadski and Kevin Reynolds who were BOTH freakin awesome!!! You know else was good. Emily Lacoste....I think that's her name. I think she won Nationals at some point though, I don't remember when. Someone from Canada can tell us.

 

[Mathman]

Amelie Lacoste. Canadian champion in 2012.

 

[4everchan]

she did win nationals later on.... but yeah... 2010 worlds was her best chance.

amelie lacoste... never liked her... only great jump was the 3loop....

I thought she did well at 2011 nationals. Didn't she win? I don't remember. I loved her 2010/11 Spanish Guitar SP when I saw her at Skate Canada. Unfortunately, she had a BAD LP and ending up missing the podium after winning the Short Program. That must have hurt her self esteem. Of course, I don't think anyone would have beaten Alissa that day.

You know who I saw for the first time at that show.....Agnes Zawadski and Kevin Reynolds who were BOTH freakin awesome!!! You know else was good. Emily Lacoste....I think that's her name. I think she won Nationals at some point though, I don't remember when. Someone from Canada can tell us.

 

[mrrice]

Amelie Lacoste. Canadian champion in 2012.

Thanks Mathman....I knew someone on this site would know.

 

[mrrice]

she did win nationals later on.... but yeah... 2010 worlds was her best chance.

amelie lacoste... never liked her... only great jump was the 3loop....

Thanks 4everchan. BTW, do you have your Nationals predictions set. If so, which Lady do you think will win this year? I have no idea.

 

[donezo]

1994 was amazing. The personalities, the drama, and the performances will never again be matched. Baiul vs. Kerrigan was such a compelling showdown even without the Tonya drama, but Tonya's presence added so much. And then of course Surya, Lulu, and Yuka. And Katarina's farewell performances!

The 1988 short programs were superb, and that is another field full of colorful personalities and wonderful skaters. The long program didn't live up to what could have been thanks to Debi Thomas' meltdown and Caryn Kadavy's illness. But it was still worth it to see Liz Manley have her moment in the sun, and of course the rapid rise of Midori Ito.

1992 was probably the worst ever for me. Not even Kristi was clean that night! 2006 was also fairly dire, though Shizuka had a great skate at least. 2014 was superbly skated, but the results were horrible.

I don't think about the Michelle Kwan Olympics unless I have to.

 

[anyanka]

I don’t think KSU needed her to secure two spots for 2011 worlds. You can check the entries in this link. She was the only one who participated in 2011 worlds. KSU is not that into figure skating actually. KSU vice president Ms. Lee is very close to Junko in Japanese federations. She is the one who will do everything to secure her position in an organization. She also showed up all broadcasting companies insisting that Yuna was not enough in Sochi and made Yuna fans mad.

Good to know and yikes to that drama! Did not know ... !!

 

[ines42575]

oh, thanks anyanka and mrrice, I will search, if the videos are visible here (most of figure skating and rithmic gymnastics videos are geoblocked for Uruguay :sad21: )

 

[Osmond4gold]

Hands down for me, was the Liz Manley show of 1988. The underdog, when broadcasters suggested even on air (ABC) that she could win a 'Bronze' medal tonight. Clearly the class of the field! I still question why the gold was given to Witt, given her lack of performance that evening (1 or 2 triples was it).

Manley's inspired performance to me was golden and had the current marking system been in place, it would have been awarded to her accordingly. The grit that she showed, still lives in me today.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Hands down for me, was the Liz Manley show of 1988. The underdog, when broadcasters suggested even on air (ABC) that she could win a 'Bronze' medal tonight. Clearly the class of the field! I still question why the gold was given to Witt, given her lack of performance that evening (1 or 2 triples was it).

Liz won the LP, as she should have, but to win gold she needed someone else to finish below her and above Witt. Ito arguably should have but back then a skater had to be strong on both marks to place high, and despite seven triples her artistic scores weren't good enough.

 

[Globetrotter]

Best will still be 1998 where Kwan put out a great FS but eventually it wasn't enough to overcome the more technically difficult programme of Lipinski. Lipinski may not have the maturity and artistry of Kwan but I think her performance, infectious energy and audience engagement was sufficient to make up for the lack of classical artistry and thus deserved gold.

 

[solani]

Liz won the LP, as she should have, but to win gold she needed someone else to finish below her and above Witt. Ito arguably should have but back then a skater had to be strong on both marks to place high, and despite seven triples her artistic scores weren't good enough.

I agree and Witt played it safe. I'm sure Witt could have done more. She very likely knew that only a clean Debi Thomas was a threat to her winning gold. Ito will always be my sentimental favourite of that era. And the audience booed when Ito's artistic impression marks came up. As they should have.

 

[karlowens2]

I think it's hard to make such an assertion without describe how the programs had a transformative role. The technical level of 6 triples was below what Tara or Sarah delivered. Spins and spirals were not particularly noteworthy. The programs were very well choreographed and performed excellently but there is a difference between that and something being "transformative."

I think the expectations of women skaters has never been the same since. Tara could jump but she was still coltish. Sarah had a skate even she said had never happened before. They gave her the moves but she still looked young. Kim was doing the jumps consistently at an unrivaled level. They were striaght; they were high; and, of course rotated. There were no extraneous moves - no little corrections, busyness to cover lack of control. People call this artistry but it takes increadible strength and athleticism. Her Oly score stnds because no one has yet to perform at that level. Some of the people who have scored near have been controversial. A lot of doubters - me included.

Will she be surpassed? Of coure. Someone is going to figure out how to manufacture skaters who can do 3A's and quads and the sport will change. Just like the men in the last 18 months.

 

[jenm]

I think the expectations of women skaters has never been the same since. Tara could jump but she was still coltish. Sarah had a skate even she said had never happened before. They gave her the moves but she still looked young. Kim was doing the jumps consistently at an unrivaled level. They were striaght; they were high; and, of course rotated. There were no extraneous moves - no little corrections, busyness to cover lack of control. People call this artistry but it takes increadible strength and athleticism. Her Oly score stnds because no one has yet to perform at that level. Some of the people who have scored near have been controversial. A lot of doubters - me included.

Will she be surpassed? Of coure. Someone is going to figure out how to manufacture skaters who can do 3A's and quads and the sport will change. Just like the men in the last 18 months.

Couldn't have said it better. I believe being transformative, in Yuna's case, is more about the quality, not the quantity. Of course it's amazing if you can do all these things but it's another to do elements so extraordinarily well with unmatched quality and grace. Even at this point, no one can jump like Yuna Kim. Sure Evgenia is like a jumping bean and Elena can add 3T to any jump but all these ladies still have things to improve like posture, flow in and out, grace, and so on. As for Yuna's, there's very little to criticize if there is even any. That's why Yuna's technique has been the standard for so long in ladies fs. It has been said time and time again that she has textbook technique and that's something. That's why there's so many skaters who look up to her, who she has inspired and if that's not transformative and influential, I don't know what is.

--

My favorite Olympics event is 2010 because that's when Yuna and Mao wrote history together and Joannie triumphed despite her tragic situation. 2014 for me was bittersweet and even if I don't agree with the results so much, I am proud of all the ladies for their victories. I'm proud of Yuna for ending her competitive career with such grace, humility and two successful skates. I'm proud of Adelina for being THE one after she was excluded in the team event and for having two great skates after struggling with her senior competitions. To Carolina for finally being in the Olympic podium. And most especially, I'm proud of Mao for just plain being super awesome after her struggle in the Short. You go, Mao!

 

[desertskates]

I loved Sasha in the Olympics too!

I think my favorite overall competition was 2010. But 2006 stands out for me so much because of Sasha. I've always loved her skating, and was so thrilled for her after the short. My bestie and I were on a girlfriend getaway in Budapest during that Olympics, and we loaded on on snacks and drinkies for a pajama clad night in the hotel room for Sasha's big moment. And then the mistakes. We are not criers, but cried like babies watching that girl fight through the rest of her program. It takes something really special to make people feel something so deeply, and Sasha had it. Gawd, I feel like I want to cry again, haha!

 

[Skater Boy]

2010... cause well, i was there but didn't get the chance to attend the FS... tickets were impossible to get.... We all expected Kim and she did deliver.... We were hoping as Canadians that Joannie would do well... she was coming from a great showing at the previous WC (silver right?) and over the last couple years, her skating skills had improved tremendously. But then, hearing the news put everything in perspective.... it brought me back a long long time ago when synchronized swimmer Sylvie Fréchette's boyfriend committed suicide before the Olympics games.... and she went on to swim... a judge made a computing mistake which prevented her from winning, and she was awarded her gold medal later on..... but yeah... I am mentioning this side-story as this is what the Olympics are for me.... we do have the favourites, but there are the tragedies, the cinderella stories... etc.... Joannie was a top contender, she suffered incredible pressure at home, had just lost her mother who had traveled to the games, and became the darling of the games.... because of her composure, her emotional and brilliant performance. She delivered.... Some people even thought she deserved silver... We were all ecstatic, Chanadians and I think other people from other nationalities also were. So yeah... 2010....
I guess the other one for me would be 1988.... the Carmen battle... which ended up being the Liz Manley show and also the beginning of ITO!!!!!!!!! if it weren't for figures, Canada would have won its first ever gold medal at home

ITA to much of what you have shared - I had to look up stuff but I agree 2010 for the quality of skates and in particular the sure brilliance of Yuna, the 3A of Mao of Joannie's grit and determination (I honestly don't think there was ever any issue or should have been doubt she deserved at least the bronze. Sorry,Mirai skated cleanly and well but not the same level of execution (amplitude) or skating skills of Joannie. I also add 1988 because of battle of the Carmen's and Manley's Cinderella skate - which I suggest could have won gold - Ito should have been ahead in of Witt in the long or Witt could have been a spot lower in the short - all arguably could have realistically and maybe properly should have happened and would have led to Manley gold. Finall I add 1994 for wonderful skates from Chen,Kerrigan and Baiul. The sure and pure drama of the Kerrigan coming back from a brutal clubbing, the accused Tonya Harding who added to the drama of the freeskate with her shoe lace incident which had huge consequences for Chouinard and the often unheard sory of the orphan waif Baiul who not only beat Kerrigan and her 13000 US dress but did so as an orphan and who had been the victim of an unfortunate accident t he day before the freeskate with Sawchenko I believe from German which caused her to get injured and almost withdraw. Pure humanism and drama.

 

[skateluvr]

Liz Manley was this incredible Tara like spitfire. I still recall that wonderful LP that lit up the competition. Witt was beautiful and very sad Debbie melted down. I wonder how much that haunted her and know the thread about current troubles touched on that. I remember watching that Olympics with my uncle and I recall him saying he thought Debbie had the perfect figure for an athlete.

I think Liz Manley was one of Canada's most exciting women to this day and I love Kaetlynne and Alaine. I'd love to see a an American and a Canadian on the podium at same Olympics. Yes rather Northamerican bias. I'd also love to see Chan win,off topic, in 2018 to finally put to rest the Canadian mens Olympic curse talk. So many Canadian guys are on my top ten list. It would have been nice in Vancouver and I hope he is able to still be competitive by 2018.