Unusually good or bad performances, and reasons given | Golden Skate

Unusually good or bad performances, and reasons given

Poodlepal

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
I posted something similar in the "head case" thread, how there were a few reasons why a skater who is known to be excellent could have a bad day, with performance anxiety being only one of them.

So I was thinking, what are some other reasons given for someone's bad skate? I was thinking of a few examples. (Note: I have no idea how true these reasons are, they are just things I heard from various sources)

Johnny Weir--2006 Olympic LP--missed bus/too much partying at Olympic Village
Evan Lyscacek--2006 Olympic SP--stomach virus
Sasha--2006 Olympic LP--either nerves or had bad jump technique to begin with (heard that here)
Patrick Chan--2010 Olympics--recovering from an injury
Kurt Browning--had a back injury for one Olympics, at least, that cost him a medal
Jeremy 2010--probably nerves
Michelle 2002--weird coach situation
Rachael Flatt 2011-broken leg
Alissa Czisny 2012 (?)--never heard, but this was the worst of them. Was she injured?
Tonya--skate fell off/became untied (yeah, don't know if I believe it, either)
Debi 1988--she said she was "too calm" but coach thought the opposite

People who skated better than they usually did:
Sarah 2002--she said she got mad when she was "counted out."
Johnny 2010 LP--who knows, maybe he caught the bus and stopped partying this time
Nancy Kerrigan 1994--mad because she was hit on the knee

It seems that anger can be a great motivator for skating better than usual, but pressure to win, bad training habits and especially recovering from or trying to tolerate an injury is the reason for most unusually bad performances. This is all unscientific, of course.;)
 

FSGMT

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
Well, as a skater I can say that anyone can have a bad day: without having a specific reason, you can make mistakes in jumps/spins that you usually land/perform perfectly, because in that specific moment you make a silly mistake or you are not concentrated enough, or because you didn't sleep well the night before, sometimes you can completely bomb simply because you don't "feel your legs" on that day (I don't know if you understand what I mean). Top athletes who train several hours per day, have a very good technique and work with sport psychologists or things like these should have this problems less often than skaters who train 1/2 hours per day and compete in low-level competitions, but I think that we (fans) often expect perfection from these athletes: anyone can have a bad day and a bad skate, and we should understand and accept this (even if I admit that it is very difficult, when it comes to your favourites :biggrin: )
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Alyssa had a torn labium at the 2012 Worlds, she wasn't aware of it and said she wouldn't have skated if she had known. Patrick Chan in 2010 was coming off an injury, I think it was a hamstring injury. Kurt had a back injury in 1992 in Albertville. Didn't Tonya have problems with her equipment at almost every competition? Her dress came apart in 1993 at nationals, her blade came loose in 1993 Skate America and the infamous skate lace in 1994. Makes me wonder, was she doing it on purpose to have a reason to stop and start again? I think that's a large part of the reason for the rule change in 2000-01 where you don't get a restart, you pick up from where you left off, which is better. I definitely think Michelle's not having a coach hindered her. You need a coach especially at the Olympics. Sarah is a determined competitor and being thought of as the underdog definitely lit a fire under her. Johnny's "missed the bus" is pretty lame, but at least too much partying is honest.

Add to that
Nicole Bobek 1998 Olympics: Hip flexor also lack of discipline
Emanuel Sandhu 2006-- Gave up (He says it's because he didn't go to the Olympics in 1998, he blamed all his inconsistencies on that).
Josee Chouinard 1994: Nerves, forced to go on early after Tonya's skate SNAFU
Midori Ito 1992: Pressure from her country

Add to those who skated better
Shizuka Arakawa 2006: Determined to win and skated for it.
Joannie Rochette 2010 Olympics: Honouring her mother's memory, said she was in her own bubble to stay focused
Elizabeth Manley 1988: Was able to conquer her nerves
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I never heard Michelle attribute her 2002 performance to her coaching situation. I think that's just fans trying to come up with an explanation for the performance. I believe the intense amount of pressure of skating the games in your home country got to her.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the twin disasters of Kostner at Worlds 2009 and the Olympics in 2010. Very few skaters as talented as her have ever skated as bad and she wasn't injured like Alissa was.
 

Rachmaninoff

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
I never heard Michelle attribute her 2002 performance to her coaching situation. I think that's just fans trying to come up with an explanation for the performance. I believe the intense amount of pressure of skating the games in your home country got to her.

Yeah, the weird coaching situation had been going on all season, but she still nailed her programs at nationals and won the short at the Olympics. I'm not sure I'd even call her Olympic free skate a bomb, either. What did she have, just the one fall? She didn't have a triple-triple, but that was never exactly reliable for her.

If there was one time where I'd say Michelle genuinely choked (as opposed to simply not laying down the perfect 6-7 triple program people came to expect of her), I'd say 1997 nationals. She actually looked scared during her LP, which was very uncharacteristic of her.

Some of the examples above are from skaters who were never exactly known for their consistency (Tonya, Josee, Eman, Jeremy) so I wouldn't say they're uncharacteristically bad. The ghost in the hotel room was a good one of Eman's though. (A poltergeist specifically, IIRC. :biggrin:) I also remember a time Eman said he didn't perform well because he "wasn't nervous enough" or something. At least he gave us some variety.
 

jennyanydots

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 1, 2013
In Scott Hamilton's interview on TSL he implied that Sasha was injured at the 2006 Olympics. Never heard anything about it before though and her coach said she was healthy enough so don't know. And yeah, Alissa was injured with a hip labral tear at 2012 Worlds. She said she wasn't feeling pain at the time and couldn't understand what was going on. The pain started while she was on tour in the off season, however they figured that the injury occured at least before the GPF that year and her calf injury at that event was likely due to her body compensating for the injury. As for Shizuka, she always had it in her to skate a great performance and was under the radar despite of her massive potential, but at the 2006 Olympics it seemed that she was just skating for a medal. Otherwise she wouldn't have left out the 3-3 combo. The others faltered so she won. However if the judging was truly objective and Sasha and Irina not overhyped, I feel that Shizuka would have still been the best even if the others were clean.

Other instances:
Bad
- Daisuke Takahashi at 2011 Worlds - his blade came loose during the LP

Good
- Ryan Bradley at 2011 Nationals - it was his last go at it
- Paul Wylie 1992 Olympics - don't know why but I guess everything finally came together
- Elizabeth Manley 1988 Olympics - home crowd and Debi Thomas left the door open
- Denis Ten 2013 Worlds - it was a rare time when he was relatively injury free
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Charlie White 's 3 falls in the OD at CoR 2008. There was no explanation given at the time.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
In Scott Hamilton's interview on TSL he implied that Sasha was injured at the 2006 Olympics. Never heard anything about it before though and her coach said she was healthy enough so don't know. And yeah, Alissa was injured with a hip labral tear at 2012 Worlds. She said she wasn't feeling pain at the time and couldn't understand what was going on. The pain started while she was on tour in the off season, however they figured that the injury occured at least before the GPF that year and her calf injury at that event was likely due to her body compensating for the injury. As for Shizuka, she always had it in her to skate a great performance and was under the radar despite of her massive potential, but at the 2006 Olympics it seemed that she was just skating for a medal. Otherwise she wouldn't have left out the 3-3 combo. The others faltered so she won. However if the judging was truly objective and Sasha and Irina not overhyped, I feel that Shizuka would have still been the best even if the others were clean.

I agree. Shizuka had all the qualities, strong skating, elegence (her height helps, she has beautiful line), jumps, etc. She was the dark horse and it was too her advantage. If everyone skated clean it would come down to the little details. Sasha, while beautiful, isn't a strong jumper, or maybe not as strong as Irina and Shizuka-- she doesn't get huge height and she tends to flutz her lutz. Irina had the jumps but not the elegance, her strength was her athleticism. Shizuka has the package. It's hard to say what would happen if everyone was clean, but it's not a stretch to say Shizuka still might have won. She wasn't just there for a medal, all week long, even all season she was skating like she was on a mission. She was there to win the gold.

If there was one time where I'd say Michelle genuinely choked (as opposed to simply not laying down the perfect 6-7 triple program people came to expect of her), I'd say 1997 nationals. She actually looked scared during her LP, which was very uncharacteristic of her.
Michelle had major growthspurt in 1996-97, so it was a case of the puberty monster, we've discussed on this forum how that can derail a skater. With Michelle, it only threw her for that one year, and really for a couple of competitions. Her good skating skills and focus likely allowed her to stay on track. I do think in 2002, not having a coach affected her but being the World Champion with the Olympics in your home country was likely an even bigger factor, that is HUGE pressure.

Kostner has never done well at the Olympics, again pressure of hometown Olympics in 2006 (she was the reignign world Bronze Medalist).

Speaking of the pressure of hometown Olympics, there was also Laetitia Hubert's infamous meltdown in 1992. Again, likely due to pressure of the Olympics in your home country, not to mention feeling like a deer in the headlights, sharing the ice with Kristi Yamaguchi, Midori Ito, etc. And having to skate after Midori! She also had a meltdown in 1998, that was more a case of giving up.

Oh, Emanuel. Always an excuse. I'm surprised he didn't say the poltergeist had something to do with his not going to the Olympics in 1998!
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
In Scott Hamilton's interview on TSL he implied that Sasha was injured at the 2006 Olympics. Never heard anything about it before though and her coach said she was healthy enough so don't know.

Honestly, Sasha's LP in Torino wasn't much worse that what she normally put out. She had at least one major mistake in virtually every LP she ever skated, and there she had two. She may have been injured but I don't think it impacted whether she would have made the errors she made, particularly when she nailed everything late in her program.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Honestly, Sasha's LP in Torino wasn't much worse that what she normally put out. She had at least one major mistake in virtually every LP she ever skated, and there she had two. She may have been injured but I don't think it impacted whether she would have made the errors she made, particularly when she nailed everything late in her program.

I do think she was injured, one of her legs is wrapped. However, I agree it wasn't worse than usual, she never skated a clean LP, she did crack when in the lead, but she fought back. It's hard to say if the injuries affected her because her performance was still par for the course.

Oh, there's Alexei Yagudin in 1998 Olympics, he had the Nagano flu.
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Sasha Cohen's coach was mad at her performance in Paris because she stayed up late making cookies.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Alyssa had a torn labium at the 2012 Worlds

LOL. I didn't know that, but I knew she had a torn labrum at those Worlds!!!! haha

I was so disappointed with Johnny Weir in 2006, missing the bus, not feeling his aura, and every other excuse he made. Also Bobek was supposedly injured at the Olympics, and Kwiatkowski was told to be available, but Bobek went and had the worst showing ever for an American woman at the Olympics.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
I was so disappointed with Johnny Weir in 2006, missing the bus, not feeling his aura, and every other excuse he made. Also Bobek was supposedly injured at the Olympics, and Kwiatkowski was told to be available, but Bobek went and had the worst showing ever for an American woman at the Olympics.

In many ways Johnny Weir is like the American version of Emanuel Sandhu: Artistic, talent to spare, but notoriously inconsistent. Sandhu also has excuses, not being chosen for the Olympics in 1998 is the main one.

No one withdraws from the Olympics if they think they can compete. They work their lives for it. Nicole incredibly talent but was her own worst enemy. How long was she injured for? Since Tonia was on stand by, sounds like before the Olympics. Michelle Kwan did the right thing in 2006, rather than skate well below her standard, she realized she couldn't and bowed out in time for Emily Hughes compete.
 
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