- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were the more accomplished skaters., IMHO.
But Sale and Pelletier were not unworthy of the success they achieved. For one thing, they benefitted from the exceptional choreographic touch of Lori Nichol
at the height of her creative powers. Love Story, though not intricate or complex, was a charming delight. Tristan and Isolde was a fine program, as was Orchid (although the skaters were never able to deliver a truly definitive performance of the latter).As for whether I like someone's off-ice personality, I don't know any of these skaters, so I kind of stay away from forming an (unasked for) opinion.
To tell the truth I am not over-exited by this exercise. It is more interesting to me to consider the full arc of a skater's body of work than to break things down into this year or that. Did Tara Lipinski pip Michelle Kwan at the post in 1998 with her one-year dash? Was Irina Slutskaya better overall in 1999-2002? (In particular the argument that Michelle's world championships in 2000 and 2001 were not so impressive because others made mistakes -- well, that's sports.)
Irina, by the way, was the anti-Tara. Irina was a (relative) late bloomer whose best year was 2004-05.
For Michelle, what I look at is the whole shebang. In the six-year stretch straddling the two Olympic quads, Michelle finished first or second in every event she competed in, picking up 4 world championships. More important, she presented program after program that I still have on my play-list to cheer me up on a rainy day.
And even more important than that
, she carried the sport of figure skating in the U.S. on her back for a decade. (She was less interested in performing internationally.) Turn on the TV, and there's Michelle doing her thing, whether it is the U.S. Championship (she won 9), a cheesefest 
or a Disney skating special. When Michelle was done, so was the American public's interest in the sport. 
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