Underrated skaters

[gsk8]

Which skater(s) or team(s) do you think never got the credit they deserved for their artistry or technical skills?

 

[lariko]

Which skater(s) or team(s) do you think never got the credit they deserved for their artistry or technical skills?

Nobody knows them, but Smirnova's group has interesting skaters. Their more accomplished students are Ivan Popov (the almost Ivan from Uzbekistan) and Victoria Morozova (the almost 4Lo Victoria). There is also a few younger students with an interesting style. Plus, I like Smirnova's behavior by the boards. She seems cool.

There is also a lot of skaters who never (or almost never) skated internationally through no fault of their own (and probably never would) like Lazarev, Dzepka, (the other) Voronov, Pleskacheva, Petrova and Kolesnikov. Basically, as the years go by, we watch a creation of a lost generation of skaters.

 

[Ruthypegs]

Jari Kessler and Deniss Vasiljevs frequently get underrated in PCS scores.

Kaitlyn Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker nearly always underrated.

 

[noskates]

Kaitlin and Jean-Luc. I don't know ice dance well enough to comment on their technical ability but I've always felt they were extremely entertaining. Andrew Torgashev - but some of that is his own doing. When he skates clean he's magical.

 

[teddycat]

Kaitlin and Jean-Luc. I don't know ice dance well enough to comment on their technical ability but I've always felt they were extremely entertaining. Andrew Torgashev - but some of that is his own doing. When he skates clean he's magical.

I agree about both. Part of the problem with Kaitlin and Jean-Luc was that he was seen as much stronger technically, at least at first. I think that it can be hard to overcome a reputation of being on the cusp or often inconsistent, especially with international judges. It hasn't helped that Andrew also missed a lot of time due to injury.

 

[4everchan]

I will name two... probably underrated choices for underrated skaters

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. Yes they have olympic medals of every colour and are world champions. However, there were always other pairs that were way more popular with fans and judges. As a matter of fact, for the accolades they received, they probably have the shortest fan fest thread in comparison to other pairs. They were criticized for many things : height difference, skating skills differences, able to do very tough elements but setting them up very slowly.... Meagan apparently lacked of everything artistically.

At the same time, seeing these two live was something else. They were spectacular. Much faster than people thought they were, much more in synch than people thought they were. Meagan skated big, with a lot of energy and never looked too small on the ice for Eric. Some fans even argue that they deserved better at the 2018 Olympics for what they achieved on the ice. So, underrated even perhaps also by the judges.
Sara-Maude Dupuis. She is suffering a bit the same treatment as Meagan did. She is short and powerful. Her skating skills are very good and she skates with speed and flow. Sara-Maude was an ice dancer. While her former partner Edrian Celestino was praised for his skating skills, she got the short end of the stick PCS wise. Sara-Maude works very hard and is improving technically every season. She's often been the most consistent Canadian skater at events like 4CC, yet she is on very few people's mind about who should get the elusive Olympic spot.
She has landed a 3a at the High Performance Camp (in her LP). She is aiming to land it in competition this season and become the first Canadian woman to do so... I am excited about this possibility yet I wonder, will landing a big jump make her even less regarded as a good PCS skater ? How can her attention to detail and meticulous execution not be rewarded ? Watching her skate is really a masterclass on how much care can be put into every single step and turn.

 

[Ruthypegs]

I will name two... probably underrated choices for underrated skaters

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. Yes they have olympic medals of every colour and are world champions. However, there were always other pairs that were way more popular with fans and judges. As a matter of fact, for the accolades they received, they probably have the shortest fan fest thread in comparison to other pairs. They were criticized for many things : height difference, skating skills differences, able to do very tough elements but setting them up very slowly.... Meagan apparently lacked of everything artistically.

At the same time, seeing these two live was something else. They were spectacular. Much faster than people thought they were, much more in synch than people thought they were. Meagan skated big, with a lot of energy and never looked too small on the ice for Eric. Some fans even argue that they deserved better at the 2018 Olympics for what they achieved on the ice. So, underrated even perhaps also by the judges.
Sara-Maude Dupuis. She is suffering a bit the same treatment as Meagan did. She is short and powerful. Her skating skills are very good and she skates with speed and flow. Sara-Maude was an ice dancer. While her former partner Edrian Celestino was praised for his skating skills, she got the short end of the stick PCS wise. Sara-Maude works very hard and is improving technically every season. She's often been the most consistent Canadian skater at events like 4CC, yet she is on very few people's mind about who should get the elusive Olympic spot.
She has landed a 3a at the High Performance Camp (in her LP). She is aiming to land it in competition this season and become the first Canadian woman to do so... I am excited about this possibility yet I wonder, will landing a big jump make her even less regarded as a good PCS skater ? How can her attention to detail and meticulous execution not be rewarded ? Watching her skate is really a masterclass on how much care can be put into every single step and turn.

Agree absolutely about seeing Eric and Meagan live - they were fantastic - really exciting to watch. Also, seeing Eric landing jumps in warm-up made me appreciate just what an elegant skater he is.

 

[noskates]

To be honest, I preferred Eric with Vanessa James. I think Eric is one of the all-time best pairs partners with his natural grace and athletic ability. Meaghan was athletic but that's about it. Vanessa had the lines and the smoothness that matched Eric. I wish they had stayed together longer to develop that "oneness" that defines great pairs teams.

 

[midori green]

I like the creativity of Lara Naki Gutmann and Sonja Hilmer.

 

[Ziotic]

Wakaba Higuichi, I will forever be sad her Bond program didn’t make to Olympic ice.

Anna Pogorylia(sp?), she was my favourite Russian of that era, and yea, she took be some hard falls but she was beautiful to watch.

 

[rain]

Weaver/Poje: At their best they were an amazing dance team. Their Four Seasons free dance remains one of my all-time favourites. They were always given short-shrift in an era where all the adulation went to Tessa/Scott and Papadakis/Cizeron.

 

[TallyT]

Pretty much every Japanese number 3 man since 2011 (that may change now... or not)

Nobunari Oda and Sergei Voronov - maybe not for tech or artistry but for sheer staying power have to be called underrated.

 

[Mathematician]

Gushchina for her triples probably

 

[4everchan]

See, having seen Meagan and Vanessa with their respective partners at the same event, Vanessa was way more elegant, fair enough but her skating wasn't all that special compared to Meagan's. This is exactly why I posted about Meagan Duhamel in this thread. She was pigeon-holed in this "she's so strong but lacking artistry" type.

BTW, I feel that most of her career, Joannie Rochette suffered the same treatment. It is only in 2009 and 2010 that she finally started to receive decent PCS and GOE.

Perhaps, again, because she is not the tallest with balletic type of body and movement.

So maybe that's something common with Joannie, Meagan and Sara-Maude.

 

[formersk8ter]

Nobunari Oda.

 

[rabidline]

Kazuki Tomono, especially on the artistry side.

Not talking about his PCS components (although that's also a problem), but it's more about how people in the general figure skating fandom view him and perceive his artistry.

 

[Sabsi]

Soyoun Park.

I’ve always felt that Soyoun Park was one of those skaters who never got the recognition she deserved. Her programs had such a natural flow, edge quality and artistically, she had a refined sense of musicality.

 

[Ivana]

I second the creativity of Lara Naki Gutmann.

I always felt like the "other" Zhulin's couples were underrated during the Sinitsina/Katsalapov era, Hurtado/Khaliavin and Nazarova/Nikitin were capable of much more interesting programs and original moves compared to what S/K were showing at that time and never really got rewarded for it.

 

[Magill]

Akiko Suzuki.
An amazingly beautiful ethereal skater whose talent is not reflected enough in her formal accomplishments and fame as her career was developing in the shadow of the great rivalry between Yuna Kim and Mao Asada. I love her skating a lot but also deeply respect her openness and honesty about her ED and the way she's using this experience to help younger generations of Japanese skaters not to fall for the trap she was in. Still underrated even in this aspect as I do not see her efforts recognized by awarding mental health ambassadorships and such...

 

[dorispulaski]

Judy Blumberg & Michael Siebert were very creative, but were not rewarded for it.

Tonya Harding was underrated in her pre whack days- back when skaters had to be princess-y to be well thought of in the US.

Rahkamo & Kokko
and
Zhiganshina & Gaszi - borh interesting and creative dance teams in a wait your turn ice dance field.

Yamaguchi & Galindo as a pair, both wonderful skaters. They were a mirror pair, and that was always a mark against them.