Kim to skate at 2011 Worlds: Press release

[Olympia]

I didn't know I was being teased... :


Can I rephrase that question to make sure I'm understanding it clearly? You are asking, "Does one World gold and one Olympic gold make YuNa the greatest or just awesome?", right? Tara Lipinski is pretty awesome in my book.

And so, to answer that question, it means that YuNa is awesome.

For that matter, 10 World golds and 3 Olympic golds wouldn't necessarily make someone the greatest, either. It's all about the performances, the contexts, and the competitors, to me. In that order. And even so, I don't think it's necessary to think in terms of who's the greatest or the best. Not in this multifaceted sport.

I would add Irina Rodnina, the only other person I can think of besides Sonja Henie with 10 world golds and 3 Olympic golds. (This is just the obsessive-compulsive copyeditor in me!)

I agree with you that you can't quantify greatness in that way, Prettykeys. Especially in the case of YuNa, I'd say that it isn't the medal haul that makes her awesome: it's the quality of her skating itself. I'm no kind of expert on looking at jumps and knowing what I'm seeing. I'm here for the music. But even clueless me can see that her jumps are in a class by themselves in size--in sheer bounty! In that regard she's like Ito, who has just one Worlds and an Olympic silver. Midori is in rare air nonetheless, and very few people would disagree with those of us who say so. Even if YuNa does nothing else in eligible skating (Perish the thought! I want to see more, more! Years more!), she would be among the greats of all time.

It's fun to joke about how tiresome those of us are who are uberfans of one skater or another. Always praising them, always bringing them up in conversation. (Go, Michelle! Now and forever.) But I have to say that there are some skaters who by their very nature deserve to have uberfans. YuNa is definitely such a skater. That's why I excuse people who burble over her gifts (unless they snipe at other skaters, which is really unfortunate). They have a right to. She's astonishing, like Nadia Comaneci in gymnastics or Gretzky in ice hockey. Ironically, or poetically, Mao is also someone who deserves uberfans. And I suspect that in the way we still talk admiringly of Midori Ito, in fifteen years we'll still be talking of Mao and YuNa. They're that good, and that rare.

 

[Krislite]

does one world gold and one olympic gold make Yuna the greatest or just Tara Lipiniski?:disapp: :disapp:

You think Yuna is no more accomplished than Tara Lipinski? :disapp: :disapp: :disapp:

I guess you'd be the one to think that even if she'd won 10 worlds and 3 olympic gold she'd be no better than Sonja Henie.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

I didn't know I was being teased... :


Can I rephrase that question to make sure I'm understanding it clearly? You are asking, "Does one World gold and one Olympic gold make YuNa the greatest or just awesome?", right? Tara Lipinski is pretty awesome in my book.

And so, to answer that question, it means that YuNa is awesome.

For that matter, 10 World golds and 3 Olympic golds wouldn't necessarily make someone the greatest, either. It's all about the performances, the contexts, and the competitors, to me. In that order. And even so, I don't think it's necessary to think in terms of who's the greatest or the best. Not in this multifaceted sport.

EXACTLY!!! Skating fans will argue until the end of time about who is the greatest and what's the most impressive. Plus, we all have favs that NEVER won anything and still touch us. And that's really all I was saying - just not being articulate. And I was so touched by your reply to my ramblings of how I'd like the world to be vs. how it really is that teasing you was a form affection vs. the contempt I feel for some...

 

[Kwanford Wife]

You think Yuna is no more accomplished than Tara Lipinski? :disapp: :disapp: :disapp:

I guess you'd be the one to think that even if she'd won 10 worlds and 3 olympic gold she'd be no better than Sonja Henie.

Um... as stated before, it was a joke in response to a different post. Reading is fundamental. Get it right. :sheesh:

Quite honestly I believe that Mao is more of fair comparison with Tara than Yuna. Both burst on the sceen pretty much out of nowhere and stole the show. The diff being that BECAUSE of Tara and the age qualification rule that Mao couldn't go to the Olympics and probably was cheated out of similar experience. Yuna is more Kwan-like in her steady rise and current unbeatable air.

I could care less about Sonja Henie. Does that provide the clarification you are looking for?

 

[miki88]

Um... as stated before, it was a joke in response to a different post. Reading is fundamental. Get it right. :sheesh:

Quite honestly I believe that Mao is more of fair comparison with Tara than Yuna. Both burst on the sceen pretty much out of nowhere and stole the show. The diff being that BECAUSE of Tara and the age qualification rule that Mao couldn't go to the Olympics and probably was cheated out of similar experience. Yuna is more Kwan-like in her steady rise and current unbeatable air.

I could care less about Sonja Henie. Does that provide the clarification you are looking for?

I wouldn't say Mao bursted out of nowhere. She was the junior champ and got a lot of attention on the junior circuit.

 

[Kwanford Wife]

I wouldn't say Mao bursted out of nowhere. She was the junior champ and got a lot of attention on the junior circuit.

That's very true... I should've said she burst onto the SENIOR scene... Both Mao and Tara made the transition from juniors to seniors in very impressive fashion. Michelle too, but for me the whole Tonya / Nancy rivaly then the wack took the immediate impact away...

 

[seniorita]

yeap, they should have sent Michelle to the Olympics instead of those two, I watched the competition the other day and found the one pretentious boring and the other uninspiring the least.

 

[Tonichelle]

yeap, they should have sent Michelle to the Olympics instead of those two, I watched the competition the other day and found the one pretentious boring and the other uninspiring the least.

that's not fair to Nancy. She was more than capable of holding her own at the olympics (which she did) and belonged on that team. Yeah, she's not an artistic wizard (then or now) but she should not have been disqualified because Tonya (allegedly) and co. screwed up her knee. Tonya sued the USFSA and forced them to let her on the team, which was ridiculous.

 

[janetfan]

yeap, they should have sent Michelle to the Olympics instead of those two, I watched the competition the other day and found the one pretentious boring and the other uninspiring the least.

Michelle was sent to the '94 Olympics as an alternate. The courts kept Harding on the team after US Skating tried to give her the boot.

As to Nancy - hello, she won the Silver medal. Many thought she deserved the Gold in Lillehammer.
Whatever - I saw Michelle skate Live for the first time a few months after the '94 Olympics. She was so precocious and it was easy to see she had a chance to become one of the greats.

It would be an understatement to say Michelle exceeded my expectations. :yes:

 

[Krislite]

Um... as stated before, it was a joke in response to a different post. Reading is fundamental. Get it right. :sheesh:

Quite honestly I believe that Mao is more of fair comparison with Tara than Yuna. Both burst on the sceen pretty much out of nowhere and stole the show. The diff being that BECAUSE of Tara and the age qualification rule that Mao couldn't go to the Olympics and probably was cheated out of similar experience. Yuna is more Kwan-like in her steady rise and current unbeatable air.

I could care less about Sonja Henie. Does that provide the clarification you are looking for?

Joking, huh? What with all the hyperboles, snarks and sarcasms all mixed in around here it's hard to tell.

 

[Olympia]

Michelle was sent to the '94 Olympics as an alternate. The courts kept Harding on the team after US Skating tried to give her the boot.

As to Nancy - hello, she won the Silver medal. Many thought she deserved the Gold in Lillehammer.
Whatever - I saw Michelle skate Live for the first time a few months after the '94 Olympics. She was so precocious and it was easy to see she had a chance to become one of the greats.

It would be an understatement to say Michelle exceeded my expectations. :yes:

I think that Nancy at that point was the best we had. She was smooth and powerful, and stylish in her own way. She wasn't consistent--she could clutch at stressful moments, such as in the long program of the 1993 Worlds, but she was respected by international judges. Remember she had won an Olympic bronze in Albertville in 1992, and I think a World bronze in 1991 if memory serves. She certainly didn't clutch in the '94 Olympics. Her short and long programs were splendid, and she came within an iota of winning.

Moreover, much as I love Michelle, she was still a bit juniorish in 1994. (And I was already a fan of hers, might I add! I started rooting for her the year she promoted herself into Seniors at the age of 12.) When she was on the World team later that spring, she made it into eighth place, which was about right for her at the time. So, although I wish like anything she could have gone to Lillehammer instead of Tonya, I doubt she would have netted us a medal. She certainly shouldn't have been sent in Nancy's place that year.

 

[pangtongfan]

Michelle did not belong at the 94 Olympics, sorry. Whatever you say about them Nancy and Tonya at that point were much better skaters. Michelle would have come about 12th in Lillehammer if she skated her best. To keep Nancy off the team because of what happened to her would have been criminal and the USFSA would have been rightfully raked over the coals for it. There were too many complications leaving Tonya off and she was much better than Michelle at that point anyway.

 

[Layfan]

I think we should make a top 10 list of "Skaters most likely to end up as the subject of threads that are supposed to be about someone else."

1. Michelle Kwan
2. Tonya Harding
3. Michelle Kwan
4. Nancy Kerrigan
5. Tara Lipinski
6. Michelle Kwan
7. Sasha Cohen
8. Michelle Kwan
9. Michelle Kwan
10. Michelle Kwan

No, kidding, guys, but I was just so amused to open this thread and find it has somehow turned into another discussion of the Tonya-Nancy thing.

Course, if Tonya hadn't gone to the Olympics it wouldn't have been the most watched sports event in history or whatever it was. (No offense to Nancy and Oksana who skated so admirably and certainly helped make me a skating afficionada.)

It was what it was. It was certainly an iconic moment in Olympic history, Tonya's skate, even if a bad one.

 

[synawe]

Um... as stated before, it was a joke in response to a different post. Reading is fundamental. Get it right. :sheesh:

Quite honestly I believe that Mao is more of fair comparison with Tara than Yuna. Both burst on the sceen pretty much out of nowhere and stole the show. The diff being that BECAUSE of Tara and the age qualification rule that Mao couldn't go to the Olympics and probably was cheated out of similar experience. Yuna is more Kwan-like in her steady rise and current unbeatable air.

I could care less about Sonja Henie. Does that provide the clarification you are looking for?

I have been reading this thread calmly but I cannot help disagreeing with this.

I believe Yuna's steady or slow rise owes a lot to her nationality and back injury, not her pace of improving.

Being from Korea, a country with no prior noticeable history in the sports, she has been receiving less attention consistently for her achievements.
During her novice and junior years, she had participated in 9 international competitions and won 6 gold and 3 silvers.
That includes gold on 2006 Junior world over Mao, the same season Mao won senior GPF.

In her first senior year, she won silver on the first GP and golds on the second and GPF again over Mao.
However, she ends up 3rd in 2007 world with less par performance in LP due to back injury after astonishing world record performance in SP with Tango de Roxanne.
Her back injury lingers until the next season, 2007 ~ 2008. But she manage to win all GP events including GPF and set another world record in LP.

Then there is this largely questionable 2008 world. She won bronze in spite of her back injury but many people did not agree with the result
Please read the link below, written by Sonia Bianchetti, a former chairman of the Figure Skating Committee of ISU.
http://www.soniabianchetti.com/writings_scandinavium.html
I heard that Yuna was deeply spited at the time and started to attend Catholic church since then to find peace in mind.

Then everyone knows what she has accomplished since 2008 ~ 2009 season.

The point is that her achievement was never short to anyone since her novice years, and the fact that she was not highlighted in her early years is more of other factors.

 

[Figga]

I don't read any sort of slight toward YuNa in Kwanford's comments. If anything, describing YuNa's rise as "Kwan-like" is a compliment when coming from a Kwanbot, no?

And frankly, it seems petty to bring up old back injuries because YuNa has IMO become the top skater, despite whatever setbacks she had. She needs no excuses. Her performances speak for themselves.

 

[seniorita]

As to Nancy - hello, she won the Silver medal. Many thought she deserved the Gold in Lillehammer.

well for someone who watched this first time in my life, I found her boring and just carefull directed to win the gold from head to toe, even from practices(i watched all the fluffs). Except for Sasha I never liked princesses. I didnt like Oksana either. I liked Chen Lu.
And many thought..., you know this is not my type of argument


By the way, about spins and spirals of yuna, are you sure she had not so good spins and spirals as now, I remember her Tango de Roxanne program and her Lp this season and her spins were spectacular. And she skated with this ultra speed since then.

 

[pangtongfan]

Lu Chen had a mistake in her short program in Lillehammer which effictively removed her from any chance of winning the gold. She still should have beaten Baiul though.

 

[Olympia]

well for someone who watched this first time in my life, I found her boring and just carefull directed to win the gold from head to toe, even from practices(i watched all the fluffs). Except for Sasha I never liked princesses. I didnt like Oksana either. I liked Chen Lu.
And many thought..., you know this is not my type of argument

By the way, about spins and spirals of yuna, are you sure she had not so good spins and spirals as now, I remember her Tango de Roxanne program and her Lp this season and her spins were spectacular. And she skated with this ultra speed since then.

I think your point about Nancy is understandable. You're coming at her skate with new eyes, and also you're watching her without the burden of the context of events, which had a huge effects on how people at the time (especially Americans) responded to her. You're an experienced skate fan, and you know how to look at a skater, and your reaction to Nancy's skating is perfectly valid. No argument there.

My point, though, was that at the time, Michelle was not more deserving of attending the Olympics than Nancy on any grounds. Michelle wasn't in the same position as Asada in 2006, where only the age limit was getting in the way. Asada was fifteen (Michelle's age during her first World Championship) and was a phenomenal, senior-quality skater who had won the Grand Prix final over Slutskaya and Cohen. Michelle in 1994 was a hugely talented thirteen-year-old, but nowhere near what she needed to be in order to carry a nation's hopes on her back. And Nancy and Tonya (for all we knew) were proven champions, respected by world judges. It's easy to forget that Tonya executed a marvelous long program at Nationals. I remember being impressed by it myself.

(Thank goodness Tonya crashed and burned at the Olympics, by the way! Can you imagine the tangle we'd have had if she had won a medal?)

So in the objective sense, Nancy deserved to be in the Olympics, and at the time it was thrilling watching her do such a fine job. Whether she should have been placed higher or lower than Oksana, or even Chen Lu, is another issue entirely, and I would never argue the issue because you get to choose that for yourself, always. (Hey! That's how I get to prefer Usova and Zhulin over Gritschuk and Platov in the same Olympics.)

 

[dorispulaski]

I always pick Usova & Zhulin over Grishuk & Platov, and especially at the Olympics!

 

[Mathman]

And many thought..., you know this is not my type of argument.

You absolutely should add "many thought" to your bag of debating tricks. By using this language you can say anything you want and blame it on Mr. Many.

But Nancy Kerrigan was not a princess/diva type of lady at all. Far from wealthy, her father worked out a deal where he would drive the Zamboni in exchange for skating lessons for his daughter. Throughout her life Nancy provided care for her mother, who suffers from a visual handicap. (Nancy is a spokesperson for a national organization that helps blind people, and has been involved in many charitable endeavors.) As a child Nancy was more interested in playing hockey with her brothers than in dressing up as an ice princess.

The times that she was criticized for being ungracious -- like when she said that posing with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland was "the corniest thing I ever did," -- well, she was just bluntly telling the truth.