Your favorite surprise

[Mathman]

Katy Taylor winning Four Continents was pretty cool. :yes:

 

[seniorita]

I think those of us who listed Evan gave our reasoning as to why. Plush was reigning Oly champ and had a lot of clout (and a major federation) going into the games, too... Yeah, there was that email, but honestly I don't believe it was the reason for the outcome...

Since when the reigning Oly champion winning again is the norm? Although it was not a surprise for me Evan winning, there were only two people that I didnt want to, him and Pfeifer so i d say i had a bad Lotto.

Meir at Euros was a fairy tale come true, one of things you believe -as a fan-that no way it could happen, especially since her bad outcome at worlds 2010. I wish I was there

 

[DancerLily]

Definitely Sarah Meier in Bern! I've seen her free skate so many times since, whenever I need to cheer up- it works every time, so inspiring

 

[Tonichelle]

Since when the reigning Oly champion winning again is the norm?

I never said it was, but to suggest Evan had more momentum I think is more incorrect than not. I think they were pretty even there, but I thought that night that Plushy - with no falls - would have the upperhand. Not *because* he was the oly champ in 06 but *because* he seems to have always won even when a more artistic skater skated well... since Evan wasn't overly artistic and IMO cautious, after Plush's skate I thought he had it in the bag. It was a plesant surprise to be wrong just because I was a fan of Evan.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

Of course, surprises are dependent on how we psych ourselves - prepare for the worst and all that. I actually think Evan's victory in LA was a bigger surprise. He hadn't won a single event all season, losing to Kozuka, Abbott and Chan as well as finishing behind Wier, Mroz and Bradley at various events. But he skated cleanly at Worlds, Chan and Joubert had errors, etc. Intriguingly, Buttle had the same winless season when he won 2008, and Takahashi hadn't won an international competition when he won Worlds.

2010 Women's was surprising because it was the podium everyone predicted at the beginning before getting derailed by Asada's issues (TEB and CoR), Rochette's inconsistency (CoC, SC and GPF) and tragedy, Ando's success. But to see so many women rise to the occasion in staggering ways was remarkable. The silver medalist from Torino fell in the long. The bronze medalist from SLC fell in the long program. You would have to go outside the top ten to find a fall. Crazy.

 

[Tonichelle]

another thing Evan had going against him in 2010 was that he was the reigning world champion. That hadn't happened since 1984 (Hamilton). So in 2009, while he was happy to win and it was good for him, I thought he blew his chances at olympic gold. one of the few superstitions I believed in

 

[skateluvr]

Tara's gold at Nagano. Will never forget Lyra-perfection, her best skate imo of her career. Who could beat that? Tara. So close.

Again Sarah comes from fourth, and upsets the favorites MK and Irina. Great Ladies events in Nagano, SLC, Vanvouver. Not so much in Turin.

 

[Olympia]

2010 Women's was surprising because it was the podium everyone predicted at the beginning before getting derailed by Asada's issues (TEB and CoR), Rochette's inconsistency (CoC, SC and GPF) and tragedy, Ando's success. But to see so many women rise to the occasion in staggering ways was remarkable. The silver medalist from Torino fell in the long. The bronze medalist from SLC fell in the long program. You would have to go outside the top ten to find a fall. Crazy.

Yeah, the Olympics often has some major reshuffling in it, with some dark horse skater having the skate of his/her lifetime and medaling or maybe even winning.

Your point about the lack of falls in the ladies' long program in Vancouver is the one that always amazes me. It was an astonishing display from everyone. And it's not that those skaters skated conservatively, either. They all went full out. We saw huge triple-triples from YuNa, two triple axels from Mao, and a near-medal from Mirai. Whoever a fan was rooting for, he or she had to be impressed with just about everyone.

 

[blue dog]

My favorite surprises happened over 20 years ago:

1. Grishuk/Platov winning gold. They aren't my favorite dance team at all, but back then, shaking up dance was very difficult. True, they were already world medalists heading into the Olympics, but the favorites were Usova/Zhulin, and the newly-recrowned European Champions, Torvill/Dean:

http://youtu.be/ikmnZLhl1wA

2. Paul Wylie, 1992 Olympics

http://youtu.be/tzxrQSbaCRU

3. Elizabeth Manley, 1988 Olympics

http://youtu.be/hV179v0zjkM