Most blah Olympics ever? | Golden Skate

Most blah Olympics ever?

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Am I just bummed out because my lady wasn't there, or was this the most disappointing Olympics in a long time?

In ladies, the gold medal performance was pleasant if uneventful, the silver medallist told the literal truth when she said, "I did my best," and the pre-event favorite gave her worse performance in ten years but was still better than all the others. ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta says, don't blame the New Judging System, blame the national federations for not producing any talent in the last four years.

Dance was a splatfest before giving out the pre-ordained placements.

Pairs -- not exactly B&S versus S&P. The silver medalists left the ice for three minutes after a terrible fall, but all the others were worse, according to CoP judging.

Men's -- Plushenko jumped and waved his arms, which put him 20 points ahead of everyone else.

Here is Sonia Bianchetti's take on the event. Sadly, I have to agree, especially with the part about passion.

http://www.mkforum.net/forum/showpost.php?p=183146&postcount=1
 
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R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I must admit I was also underwhelmed by the Olympics in general. But hey, you wait four years for this...can't be that bad then, can it? ;)
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Red Dog said:
But hey, you wait four years for this...can't be that bad then, can it? ;)
I'm gearing up for Vancouver now! Go Megan Davis and Charlie White!
 

CDMM1991

Medalist
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
This Olympics might have seemed "blah" because in the last Olympics, something exciting and unexpected happened in every figure skating event:

Ladies: MK and Slutskaya both falter, and outsider Sarah Hughes has skate of a lifetime to take the gold

Men: The favorite falls on a jump in the short program that we never see him miss; is forced to crawl back onto the podium

Pairs: Well we all know what happened there

Dance: Two unexpected falls in the free dance

So, despite the fact that this Olympics didn't have any amazing shining moments, maybe it didn't seem that way, because of the last Olympics.

I'm looking towards Vancouver now too, MM!
 

ceg15

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 2, 2004
I mean, yeah, it definitely wasn't the best Olympics...but there was nothing blah about it. It's the Olympics..it's impossible for the Olympics to be blah...

2010 Vancouver; so excited aswell...I predict canadian sweep of the podium!!!
Pairs- Dube&Davison
Dance-Virtue&Moir
Men- Mr. Jeffrey Buttle :)
Ladies- Miss Joannie Rochette
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I see why you see these Olympics as 'Blah'- because of the three Russian golds. Had it been a Russian sweep we might have heard 'fixed'.:laugh: The Russians will not be a threat in Vancouver so those may turn out to be the most popular Olympics.:laugh:

Seriously, I LOVED these Olympics, just like all the other Olympics (88 to 2002). The Olympics are very special, regardless of who won or how everybody skated. They all do their best under the pressure and I appreciate them for it.

For me there were many stellar performances, memories, and plenty of suspense.

In pairs- T&M were fabulous in both SP & LP. What a great come back after the disaster of SA 2004! It was great to see Hongbo land his triple jumps, and another Oly medal for S&Z. I&B's throw triple axel was text book perfect and definitely a moment in time. Chinese P&T skated their best performance. The joy in Marcy Hinzman's face showed us that it's not always about winning medals.

Men- I loved Plushenko's SP. He did not skate with his usual flair in the LP but the jumps were wonderful. Buttle was great, despite a fall and a hand down in the LP. Weir's SP was one for the ages. Takahashi once again proved that he will be one of the skaters to watch in the future. The competition for silver and bronze was exciting to me, although I was heart broken that Weir did not medal.Lambiel's sobs and Plushenko's calm demeanor on the podium is etched in my mind.

Ice dance- The return of the two teams from the previous Olys made this more interesting.The podium was no longer predictable, but the best teams won the medals. The falls in the OD just showed how much the dancers were pushing themselves. Nobody can accuse dance of being 'easy' anymore, particularly after what happened to D&L. Their tears were heart breaking. 'The glare' by Barbara Fusar Poli will be remembered for years. It certainly added even more excitement to ice dancing. We did not know who would win the gold until the last but one team had skated.

Ladies- A disappointment for Irina, and for me. I really wanted her to win this gold as an exclamation point to her comeback from vasculitis, but I like Shizuka a lot also, and she produced the best performance of the ladies event. Hopefully we will see more lady like champions in the future, instead of 16 year olds that can skate with abandon but with not much refinement. All 3 medallists were over 20. That was exciting to me. The younger skaters did admirable jobs (Kimmie, Elene, Emily) so we have lots to look forward to. The good thing was we did not know until half way through the last skater who the ladies champion would be. Among the nonmedallists, who can forget Silvia Fontana's emotions after she finished her LP? Again, it's not just about the medals.

Like every Olympics, I took away the best memories from this one. It was not 'Blah' for me at all.

Vash
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Vash is correct. If one is a fan of a nationality, then the Russian fan has to see this as a triumph. Three out of four golds is impressive.

For the Americans, the two boo boos of Sasha kind of dimmed their hold on US Domination of the Ladies Division. The absence of Kwan didn't make for a joyous feeling for the Americans either.

Germany won the most Olympic Medals, and I think the Americans were second despite Bode.

Joe
 

flying camel

Medalist
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Yea, it was BORING. Even though the Russians won 3 events to me they were three of the worst performances in the event. They should have been beaten by people who finished well below them. The ladies did lend itself to a bit of excitment only to be let down by the free - skate. Slutskaya & Cohen falling and never really challenging for the Gold. Shizuka won but with a watered down routine that again showed no emotion or facial expression what so ever. Yes, I am glad it is over. :disagree:
 
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Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I don't think the skating at this Olympics was blah. I think everything turned out as it should - except for my favorite couple D&L having that nasty fall and having to withdraw - that was my most disappointing moment.

It was pretty much a given that Plushenko would win the gold - unless he did not show up at all. We all anticipated that. His skate was not the most artistic or interesting choreographically speaking, but he is the master technician as Kurt says.

A lot of skaters were suffering from injuries or ended up injuring themselves at these Olympics so that put a different spin on things as well.

I think a lot of people here were expecting some big show down between Michelle kwan and Irina Slutskaya and of course that did not happen.

I rather enjoyed the skating. I think as Paul Martini observed it was the skaters who understand how the new judging system works had the best results. We will see the next generation of skaters coming up will really understand the new judging system and some great performances should come of that.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
flying camel said:
Yea, is was BORING. Even though the Russians won 3 events to me they were three of the worst performances in the event. They should have been beaten by people who finished well below them. The ladies did lend itself to a bit of excitment only to be let down by the free - skate. Slutskaya & Cohen falling and never really challenging for the Gold. Shizuka won but with a watered down routine that again showed no emotion or facial expression what so ever. Yes, I am glad it is over. :disagree:

Are you serious? Three WORST performances by the gold medallists? I can understand you liking or not liking them; it's a matter of taste. Who could have beaten T&M's perfect skates in SP and LP, unless you used a different set of rules? The men were falling all over the place. Plushenko's LP performance was not his best but there is no argument against the win. No one else really delivered a great performance, except may be Lysacek, but it takes two performances to win. N&K's performances in all 3 phases were among the best- again it takes 3 performances. You must be using a different set of rules if you feel these 3 gold medallists should have been beaten by those finished much lower than them (who?)

Shizuka's facial expressions (or lack of, as you put it) never bothered me. The watering down was only from a 3-3 to a 3-2. The doubling of a 3R was a mistake; not a deliberate watering down. She was divine in her ladylike grace and smooth skating. To me, it was a model of a lady skating.

To me, FS is an athletic event, and I believe the right skaters won in all 4 disciplines. It is not a drama competition. You are entitled to your opinions and I have read some strange ones so you are not the only one that disagrees with me.

Vash
 

Ogre Mage

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
In the singles events, Albertville '92 was worse.

Ladies podium: Yamaguchi (fall), Ito (fall), Kerrigan (fall).

Men's podium: Petrenko (fall), Wylie (no fall but some step-outs or two footed landings), Barna (fall).

Albertville was the first Olympics after the elimination of school figures in 1991. Turin was the first Olympics after the switch to CoP in 2005.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Joesitz said:
Vash is correct. If one is a fan of a nationality, then the Russian fan has to see this as a triumph. Three out of four golds is impressive.

For the Americans, the two boo boos of Sasha kind of dimmed their hold on US Domination of the Ladies Division. The absence of Kwan didn't make for a joyous feeling for the Americans either.

Germany won the most Olympic Medals, and I think the Americans were second despite Bode.

Joe

I am a fan of skating, not of nationality. As long as a skater delivers, I am happy for him/her.

One thing that I really missed was- Michelle's presence at the Olympics (and at US nationals). It just did not feel quite right in the ladies event without her.

Vash
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
US Nats definitely wasn't the same without MK.

However, the Olympics are the Olympics regardless of who's there or not there. JMO
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Red Dog said:
US Nats definitely wasn't the same without MK.

However, the Olympics are the Olympics regardless of who's there or not there. JMO

I have already said that I enjoyed them.

Vash
 

SusanBeth

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
It was deadly dull to me. Even the winners were boring, while being technically good. There was no excitement to the performances. There was no rising to the occasion with their best, except perhaps with Lysacek's lp. The winners did enough to win certainly, but I have no desire to rewatch them for the enjoyment value. I can find better performances by all the winners in other competitions. I rewatch performances from other Olympics all the time, but this one won't be replayed often.

Added: I want to make it clear. I am not just talking about the Russians. It was a general bore.
 
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R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I agree. Shizuka's performance, while good and well enough to win that night, wasn't all that. Even her Dortmund FS was better.

This is definitely a forgettable Olys- for me, anyway.
 

Frau Muller

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
I enjoyed the '06 Olympics except for the underwhelming ladies event.

Yes, there were many falls in Dance but one can't say that this was not a strong field. It was a VERY great, strong field, even aftr the sad pull-out of the Canadians.

Men - super strong group. Listen to Button's comments on this field once again! Just because there was one overwhelming superstar among them doesn't make the other 9 guys in the eventual top-ten 'weak'!

Pairs - strong, strong teams, even with the Zhangs' fall. My only problem is with Zhangs' final placement, as I had the two other Chinese pairs above them. [Zhangs deserved 4th, IMO.]
 

hockeyfan228

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I liked most of what I saw, because I already factor for Olympic nerves, and I was glad I didn't have to agonize through another Kwan LP. "Back in the day," I don't think there were a greater percentage of fantastic programs that were televised, especially in the days of school figures, when many of the best free skaters weren't even shown, unless they were from the broadcast country.
 

mkwan4ever

Spectator
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
I agree, figure skating was very blah this year. All the medals went to right person, but none of the winning performances were particularly inspiring.
 
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