Greatest Pairs Skaters of all time? and best competitive amateur pairs programs? | Golden Skate

Greatest Pairs Skaters of all time? and best competitive amateur pairs programs?

wordsworthgirl

Medalist
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
My vote is surpassingly for Gordeeva and Grinkov, and the greatest pairs programs (amateur) for me include

G & G, Moonlight Sonata, 1994 long program
G & G, Mozart and more classical medley, 1988 Olympic long
Mishkutenok and Dmitriev, Rachmaninoff, 1994 long
Mishkutenok and Dmitriev, Dream of Love, 1992 long
Meno and Sand, Nessun Dorma
Shen and Zhao, 2010 long, Adagio in G Minor, Tomaso Albinoni
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
What was S & Z's 2003 program?? I can't remember. I loved them. They really evolved and became so beautifully artistic. and their love story was also beautiful!


I think that was their amazing Turandot program, where she was injured but competed anyway. It was the year they became true artists.

I will add Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze's Chaplin program (just one of many from them), and Sale/Pelletier's Love Story.
 

Eddie Lee

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
G & G.. 1988 SP and LP. Unbelievable!!! I visit those performances every now and then to enjoy--and to remind myself how unbelievably spectacular they are/were!
 

wordsworthgirl

Medalist
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
G & G.. 1988 SP and LP. Unbelievable!!! I visit those performances every now and then to enjoy--and to remind myself how unbelievably spectacular they are/were!

I could not agree more. Total technical perfection, incredible difficulty, speed, and flow, and such JOY in that little Katia's face.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Here is Shen and Zhao's Turandot, 2003 worlds. The Washington, D.C., crowd was packed with Shen and Zhao fans. The skaters didn't let them down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYuRHZMNCeE

I tear up every time I see that. Every time. And it was the same Worlds where Michelle skated to her fifth World Championship. An intoxicating competition.

Just watched S/Z's program again. Am sniffling and hunting for a Kleenex. They are so sublime.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
I think a skater with 3 Olympic Golds and something like 11 straight WC's might be worth considering.

Irina Rodnina. Two different partners... but heck, she could have skated with me and still won. She was that electrifying.
 

wordsworthgirl

Medalist
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Tai and Randy. All-time best U.S. pairs skaters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpcI4XPdExM

I absolutely agree that Tai and Randy are by far the best US pairs skaters of all time and one of the greatest pairs of all time. But they're not up there in the upper upper pantheon with G and G, M and D, S and Z, and the Protopopovs.

Second best US pair ever in my opinion is Meno and Sand.

Both Tai and Randy and Jenni and Todd were coached by John Nicks. Coincidence? Methinks not!
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
Of the teams who were great before I seriously started to follow figure skating - The Protopopovs (amazing that they're still skating!), Rodnina & Zaitsev (I'll never forget Uncle Dickie's speechless comments on ABC's Magic Memories on Ice, volume 1 - "I believe the music has stopped" - during a World Championship, and they kept on skating their program to the end - I *think* Irina was skating with Zaitsev @ those Worlds, not her previous partner, but please correct me if I'm wrong).

Tai & Randy - heartbreaking about their withdrawal in Lake Placid 1980 Olympics (BTW, Is Tai still engaged to David Brenner?)

G&G - 1988 Olympic free skate, 1994 -Moonlight Sonata
M&D - 1992, 1994
Shen & Zhao - 2003 Worlds - Turandot - we were so lucky to be there, sitting in a section of a "sea" of Chinese flags - I :love: them to pieces! I was jumping up & down wildly waving the 6.0 sign/fan that Chevy distributed, and got on TV (probably because there were so many Chinese flags in our section). What a spectacular competition/moment for them!
 

lcd

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
John Nicks has a legacy of students who have given wonderful performances. I would go back to Starbuck and Shelley and the performance they skated at 1971 Worlds in Lyon. The crowd obviously felt that the 5.6 they received and bronze medal were undermarked and wrongly under-placed respectively. Babilonia and Gardner's 1979 Worlds win in Vienna of course is iconic.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I admit to having mixed feelings about the legacy of Irina Rodnina and her partners. Obviously her competitive record speaks for itself. But she took pairs skating in a different direction. Instead of "two skating as one" the discipline became "huge tricks." The "gorilla and flea" model was not far behind. It is interesting to me that the popularity of ice dance began to increase at about the same time that the allure of pairs skating diminished, at least in North America.

Here are Rodnina and Zaitzev at the 1976 Olympics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hezu89-XrY
 

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
M/D.
As inconsistent as they were, they produced some clean programs at the biggest stage a few times. They are my favorite of all pairs.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
John Nicks has a legacy of students who have given wonderful performances. I would go back to Starbuck and Shelley and the performance they skated at 1971 Worlds in Lyon. The crowd obviously felt that the 5.6 they received and bronze medal were undermarked and wrongly under-placed respectively. Babilonia and Gardner's 1979 Worlds win in Vienna of course is iconic.

Thanks for mentioning Shelley and Starbuck. They came a bit before I discovered figure skating, but I've seen them skate as a pro pair and also as soloist pros. I think they would vie for the title of best American pair ever as well. Just tremendously strong. Yes, indeed, Nicks has been a sensational pairs coach, and his singles coaching ain't bad either.

Here are two ancient, grainy videos showing Nicks' four skaters, Starbuck, Shelley, Babilonia, and Gardner, skating as an ensemble. Their styles and heights were so compatible that they were able to exchange partners and also to do a breathtaking Ina Bauer a quatre. These videos show the same program skated six years apart. (They're in reverse chronological order.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU_NdqwdOuA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6l8d3FLWVA
 

russell30

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Gordeeva & Grinkov, they were truly the best pair, they moved as one - as a pair should be, precise in every way.
 

Kitt

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Country
United-States
I love G & G, but I must admit I get a lump in my throat just thinking about S/Z 2003 Worlds! The triumph on her face as she rounds the corner towards ending, knowing they nailed it despite injury! That's what it's all about!
 
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