Irina is one of the greatest women jumpers in history, she was the first women to do a triple lutz-triple toe, triple salchow-triple loop-double toe, and triple salchow-triple loop. She whos amazing longevity in the sport at a time many leave the sport as teenage one-hit wonders or teenage burnouts. Not only does she have this amazing longevity but her career has more extreme up and downs then that other skating with such amazing longevity, Michelle Kwan (relatively speaking) which while it could be seen as a knock on her, it also makes it arguably even more exciting to follow her career and see what twist and turn it will make next, and how she can defy the odds yet again. She isnt the most polished skater but she is exciting because of her speed, huge jumps, fast spins, intricate 1-foot footwork she often does, and command and presence on the ice, and passion that she skates with. Her love of skating and her love of skating for the audience shines through each time if you watch closely. There that was my attempt.
and I agree that her career has had both the highest of highs and lowest of lows. She has also accomplished a lot and I consider her up there with Kwan as one of the current "greats". However, there's just something about her that I don't like, and I don't think even the most persuasive argument otherwise will be able to change my mind on that.
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