Remarkable Demonstrations of Mental Strength

[Interspectator]

Yuna and Mao at Sochi.

Mao has the greatest comeback. EVER.

Yuna delivered two clean and great programs despite the cold environment towards most non-Russian skaters. I mean, come on, she was the last performer and Adelina got a monstrous score. People were literally waiting for her to fall on her butt. But she delivered and if that's not a remarkable demonstration of mental toughness, I don't know what is.

And overall, I think Yuna has the strongest nerves. She has the uncanny ability to peak at the right moment and even when she carries the pressure of an entire country and fs fans, she never fails to deliver. She says she feels pressure but it never shows.

Yuna has nerves of steel. A strong mind and a beautiful performance ability.
Mao was inspirational. It shows that you can have a disaster and still give your very best afterward.

 

[Maria Victoria]

Yuzuru´s 2011-2012 season. The season after the earthquake was the oen that really saw him rise to the ocassion and win bronze medal with a terrific performance in his first World. In that legendary performance you can literally feel how focus he was.

Agree. I think pretty much every season after Yuzuru demonstrated mental strength or courage if you will. At 2013 Worlds, coming off injury and the consequent limited training and mindful of his responsibility as the new Japanese national champion, he fought back from a disastrous SP with a tremendous FS to finish fourth and helped clinch three Olympic spots for the Japanese men in Sochi. In the Olympic season he was beaten badly by Patrick Chan in their two GP events but still persevered in his strategy to combat Patrick's PCS with programs of extreme technical difficulty and finally eclipsed the latter in the GPF which would set the stage for his win in Sochi. This season because of subpar performances due to his unfortunate collision with Han Yan in the Cup of China, he barely qualified for the GPF and was not considered the favorite to say the least. He would turn in two superb performances and win by a large margin.

 

[MiRé]

Carolina Kostner at Sochi. Having two disastrous Olympics and giving her best out on her third, delivering two clean performances Is remarkable.

 

[bramweld]

COR I/Z 2014. S/K and Zueva PR machine in full swing. As per Zueva, "At COC they achieved their maximum, well done. They did the best that they could do." The media onslaught was gynormous. Then I/Z made Zueva eat crow first during practices (the pictures of her face looking at I/Z were priceless) and then to deliver that phenomenal performance right after S/K. This memory will remain with me for a long time.

 

[slider11]

I think Davis and White should be credited for their physical and mental toughness in skating near perfect performances pretty much their Olympic year and really pretty close from 2011 and on. Some may have preferred Virtue and Moir but you have to hand it to D/W that they trained very hard and put forth incredible determination and commitment in giving their very best in every performance. That's mental fortitude!

 

[Eloyse]

Yuna Kim is (one of) the strongest female skater in mentality, as is shown in both 2010 and 2014 Oly. Plus, iirc, when she competed, she was never off podium, after winning the gold medal at Vancouver. Such consistency is rarely seen in figure skating. I can't think of another skater who's as consistent as yuna.

 

[Erin S]

Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Olympics. Say what you want about her skating and personality, to skate the best long of her career--particularly after her implosion at Worlds in Prague the year before--with that amount of pressure on her is nothing short of astonishing. I never think she gets enough credit for that.

Michelle in her long program at 2004 Nationals. The drumb beat of calls for her to hang them up and let younger skaters take the spotlight was just beginning, Sasha was in first, and her hip had already started to fall apart unbeknownst to the rest of us. And then she just laid it down. I always re-watch that program when I'm feeling defeated and in need of inspiration. It was such a warrior moment.

I agree with everyone who's said Mao in Sochi. And that she should have been scored first in the LP.

 

[jenaj]

Michelle at 2004 Worlds after that streaker. Ice water in the veins!

 

[Watermelondrea]

Adelina Sotnikova in Sochi, after being left off the team and then having to be the only Russian left for medal contention. Who cares if her scores were inflated, we all know she deserved a medal.

 

[Skater Boy]

Maria Butyrskaya winning the 1999 world title after being seen as washed up and not having the goods by the Russian Federation. Oksana Baiul at the 1994 Olympics free skate where all the media, attentiona and good wishes were going to Kerrigan or the re emergence of Katarina Witt and the dubious attention on Harding. Desite being an orphan waif and the day before the freeskate she was injured by accident by the German who rotates in the other direction I believe but didn't see Baiul and crashed into Baiul causing her to get cortisone shots and making her freeskate a huge question mark. despite adversity she skated and won olympic gold. Eric Radford continiuing on after Megan Duhamel accidentally injured his nose on a twist. The Zhang's as much as I dislike that the fall at the 2006 olympics was their fault and they were given a lot of time to come back after that groin hurting fall was amazing as was Hanyu, though not a great example to people, continuing on after his skating miscue/accident are all moments of extreme mental toughness and worthy of accolades.

 

[matmuh]

agree with yuna, mao, yuzuru, also i want to add nam nguyen (it will be like repeating myself cause i mentioned this 2 times before i think so sorry in advance ), mental strength he showed after COC is still amazing to me, he was in same warm up group as yuzuru and he was there when it happened, at 2d warm up, and then it was his turn to skate right after that, he messed up his 3A at 1st half then changed his layout a bit and he did it 3A in the 2nd half with 3T at the end( and its not his favourite jump), considering he trains with yuzuru and how close they are it shows how strong he is mentally

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Dan Zhang's horrific fall on the Zhangs' quad throw in 2006 Olympics. And then moments later she lands a 2A+3T (a move most singles ladies skaters can't do cleanly). I was completely amazed by that. Even if she wasn't injured from the fall, that kind of fall would have rattled anyone mentally. And yet they executed the program well enough to win silver.

Other ones are ones mentioned: Elvis in Nagano, Midori in Albertville, Mao in Sochi. And yes, Kim in 2010 and Sotnikova in 2014 must have faced immense pressure right before their skates.

 

[minze]

I have to agree with you guys

Yuna Kim both Olympics her mental strength is unmatched in this sport

Mao Asada both Olympic 3 3Axels enough said
Worst SP of her career and to comeback to the best LP of the night

Carolina Kostner finally making Olympic podium

Liza having this amazing season after missing the Olympic team


Honorable mention: Ashley Wagner GP final. Almost last after SP to make it to the podium

 

[kinoriH]

I want to add Elena Ilinykh and Ruslan Zhiganshin into the mix. With all the drama post-Worlds, the humiliation of getting dumped by their respective partners and the odds stacked against them, they've managed to prove a lot of people wrong.

Speaking of humiliation- Elena actually knew before the WC that Nikita plans to leave her but she still went to worlds with him.
Talk about mental strength.

 

[kinoriH]

Maxim Trankov - 2013 Europeans. His father died 2 days prior to the competition but he still decided to fly to Zagrab to compete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1_qMky_Cys

 

[Jammers]

Nothing can come close to Joannie Rochette especially her SP at the Olympics which took place only two days after her mothers death. All other skaters mentioned had to overcome other things mostly struggles on the ice but not a death of a close relative like Joannie. After that i put Yuna in 2nd place since she had a whole country expecting her to win and if she didn't she might as well have never gone home again since she wouldn't have been welcomed. Her mental strength going out and performing like she did was amazing.

 

[Warwick360]

Yuna Kim hands down. With all the expectations and especially in Sochi where being the last performer in such an atmosphere. I'll miss seeing her in a competition.

Special mention to Joannie Rochette too. I think she was a bigger news than the event itself when Vancouver was happening.

 

[Warwick360]

Speaking of humiliation- Elena actually knew before the WC that Nikita plans to leave her but she still went to worlds with him.
Talk about mental strength.

I still find it funny considering it should have been HER dumping HIS sad behind.

 

[BounceAround]

These skaters have inspired me by their abilities to overcome various kinds of adversity.

-Yuna Kim has had the best skates of her career during the highest-pressure situations.
-Mao Asada has an amazing ability to get back up when she's down. I'm thinking of 2008 Worlds, 2014 Olympics, and the entirety of the last Olympic quad.
-Midori's late triple axel at the 1992 Olympics was inspiring to me for the same reason.
-Adelina Sotnikova delivered at the Olympics after many people wrote her off as a headcase.
-Shizuka Arakawa was a late bloomer and came back to win the Olympics after finishing 9th at 2005 Worlds.

 

[Ophelia]

And overall, I think Yuna has the strongest nerves. She has the uncanny ability to peak at the right moment and even when she carries the pressure of an entire country and fs fans, she never fails to deliver. She says she feels pressure but it never shows.

It definitely showed during her Sochi LP. She looked tense throughout it, which makes it remarkable that she executed the performance cleanly, with people hoping for her to fall.

Every competitive skater feels pressure. Some skater such as Kim are able to control their nerves, whilst other skater such as Plushenko and Hanyu feed off of the pressure and use it to fuel their skates. Then others kinda implode...