Greatest Ladies Free Skates of All Time | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Greatest Ladies Free Skates of All Time

Frenchie

I'm gonna customize the CRAP out of this title!
Medalist
Joined
May 4, 2013
Yes, Yuka Sato was wonderful. The judging was strange. In what bizarro universe does Laetitia Hubert place ahead of a clean Yuka Sato???? It was hard to figure out where to put Harding. I mean, she was her usual tacky self skating to "People are Still Having Sex" and she couldn't buy a 3axel yet still kept trying it. Bonaly was most perplexing because she was just a horrid skater at that time. I'd have probably had the SP: 1. Yamaguchi 2. Kerrigan 3. Ito 4. Sato 5. Harding 6. Chen 7. Hubert 8. Bonaly

Everything bad in FS came together: Yuka Sato drew the N°1 in the SP, which back then was pretty much a death sentence. :no: The French FFSG had done huge Lobbying for Bonaly (she had just won her 2nd straight Euros, and they still cried foul for what they called too low marks... Gailhaguet was still her coach then! :bang:), and Hubert was the Junior World Champion, skating clean (and fast!) and with a late starting draw at home... I agree with most of your ranking, though I'd probably still find a few I'd put over Bonaly ;)
Like these 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBZdeaoRD6c (Kulovana: starting number 2 - "almost-death" sentence)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CU4k9BJf2E (Torp-Lind: no-name)
I'd have had 1.Yamaguchi; 2.Kerrigan; 3.Sato; 4.Ito; 5.Hubert; 6.Torp-Lind; 7.Kulovana; 8.Chen; 9.Harding; 10.Bonaly
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Everything bad in FS came together: Yuka Sato drew the N°1 in the SP, which back then was pretty much a death sentence. :no:
I'd have had 1.Yamaguchi; 2.Kerrigan; 3.Sato; 4.Ito; 5.Hubert; 6.Torp-Lind; 7.Kulovana; 8.Chen; 9.Harding; 10.Bonaly

Here is Yuka's SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkPjpGfQ0Lc She arguably has better spins and speed and footwork and jumps than Yamaguchi, except she does the loop combo. She is certainly heads and shoulders above Kerrigan. I can't even watch that Militano mess of a SP, which made Nancy even MORE wooden in her presentation.

Hmm, it was the 6.0 system, and well the lutz in the SP was the name of the game. I was surprised how long it took before Yuka Sato was taken seriously as a skater. I love this SP even more now. Do you suppose it was her body type that held her back? She had thick legs, but she was an athlete so that didn't even phase me.
 

Frenchie

I'm gonna customize the CRAP out of this title!
Medalist
Joined
May 4, 2013
I was surprised how long it took before Yuka Sato was taken seriously as a skater. I love this SP even more now. Do you suppose it was her body type that held her back? She had thick legs, but she was an athlete so that didn't even phase me.

I'm hoping for a little leniency (from FSGMT? ;) ) on discussing this here without opening a new thread, but I think it's a really interesting subject...
Imo, before Midori Ito, Japan as a whole wasn't taken seriously in the world of FS. It took her many years of great performances to put Japan on the FS map, and Yuka probably was compared to her in terms of jumps (much lower), but not enough in terms of artistry and skating skills (especially her speed through her step sequence!). The judges probably felt they had already "been generous to Japan for accepting Ito" :rolleye: and labeled Yuka as the clear Number 2 for far too long... They certainly weren't enthusiastic about adding more asian skaters to the top contenders, as you could also see with Chen Lu...

-btw, love your avatar! It is only with the heart one can see clearly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
I'm hoping for a little leniency (from FSGMT? ;) ) on discussing this here without opening a new thread, but I think it's a really interesting subject...
Imo, before Midori Ito, Japan as a whole wasn't taken seriously in the world of FS. It took her many years of great performances to put Japan on the FS map, and Yuka probably was compared to her in terms of jumps (much lower), but not enough in terms of artistry and skating skills (especially her speed through her step sequence!). The judges probably felt they had already "been generous to Japan for accepting Ito" :rolleye: and labeled Yuka as the clear Number 2 for far too long... They certainly weren't enthusiastic about adding more asian skaters to the top contenders, as you could also see with Chen Lu...

-btw, love your avatar! It is only with the heart one can see clearly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

LOL yes that was basically the thinking. They probably thought the Asian skating community should already feel thankful they allowed Ito to be a contender (and even her not until after 88, when she should have been way before that) and the rises of Sato and Chen as well were not easy for them to accept. Skating was both racist and xenophobic back then.

The Olympics were in France and I am sure Didier and the French federation were pushing hard for Bonaly, reigning European Champion, and Hubert, reigning World Junior Champion, to do well also. So when they skated reasonably well in the Albertville short, voila, inflated marks and placings.
 

CarneAsada

Medalist
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
LOL yes that was basically the thinking. They probably thought the Asian skating community should already feel thankful they allowed Ito to be a contender (and even her not until after 88, when she should have been way before that) and the rises of Sato and Chen as well were not easy for them to accept. Skating was both racist and xenophobic back then.
I'm curious, was Witt actually much better than Midori at figures? I realize that Midori was usually awful at them, but from everything I hear, Witt was quite crappy and propped-up too in the figures segment in 1988.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
I'm curious, was Witt actually much better than Midori at figures? I realize that Midori was usually awful at them, but from everything I hear, Witt was quite crappy and propped-up too in the figures segment in 1988.

I havent seen Ito do many figures, but it is hard to believe watching Witts figures in Calgary they were likely better than any of Manley, Kadavy, Leistner, or Trenary (all who she placed above in figures of course) or much better than Ito. Just look at Trenarys final figures compared to Witts, and think of Witt somehow ending up 2 places higher in figures than Jill (and yes I know there were 2 other figures that counted but still):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31-yn9XYq0k (start at about 9:00 for Witt)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GQwszzIeWo&list=PL5D48CCDD8ACC669B (Trenary and Thomas final figure)

Witt was definitely propped up in figures. Many were suspicious of her rise from 8th in figures at the 83 Worlds to 3rd at the 84 Olympics, which allowed her to ultimately beat out reigning World Champion Sumners for the gold medal with strong free skating performances. One year later Tiffany Chin moved from 12th in figures at the 84 Olympics (which kept her out of the medals despite many thinking she was the best skater there) to 2nd at the 85 Worlds (now U.S #1 with Sumners retirement and stating herself in a recent TSL she didnt feel her figures had improved at all from 84). Politics were huge in the placements of figures, and I am pretty sure if Witt wasnt Witt she would have found herself way down, or if Ito were already a World and Olympic Champion she would have been proped up and placed top 5 on a regular basis in figures.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Well, if the judging was fair, in 1988 the figures would have gone Ivanova (whatever she wasn't going anywhere but down), Trenary (brilliant figures and might have had her first), Thomas, Kadavy, Manley (she always squawked about her wonderful figures, but whatever...), Leistner, and then maybe Witt. I was so glad when they got rid of figures. It was really a pecking order, there was no identifiable integrity to the placings.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Yeah those standings sound about right, except probably switch Leistner and Kadavy as Caryn choked a bit in the Calgary figures and didnt do her best.

I dont think Manley thought she had incredible figures. However she feels she deserved 1st place in figures at the 88 Worlds where she apparently had her best figures ever. From everyone who I have heard saw them she is probably right (of course Witt won the figures by some miracle).
 

snejina

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Katarina Witt 1988 Olympics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57R7aAY5QiM
Oksana Bauil 1994 Olympics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_fvrG3f0fI
Lu Chen 1998 Olympics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYzxIjEewuk
Yukari Nakano 2008 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ANuxqHXNk
Laura Lepisto 2009 Euros http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjNrIwJeH0U and 2010 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK2eZN3V2BU
Elena Sokolova 2003 Worlds
Irina Slutzkaya 2002 Olympics and 2005 Worlds
Sasha Cohen 2002 Olympics, 2004 Marshalls LP Swan Lake http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouNL5ux17c4
Shizuka Arakawa 2006 Olympics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9EaMEk74g
Yuna Kim 2013 Worlds
Alissa Chizny 2011 Worlds and 2009 Worlds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIqNbpteais, 2007 US Nationals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZurMskwPwE0
Carolina Kostner 2013 Worlds
Carolina Kostner 2012 Worlds
Yuna Kim 2010 Olympics
Mao Asada 2008 Worlds and 2010 Worlds
Yulia Lipnitskaya 2013-2014 Russian Nationals
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
:jaw::points::points::points::love:
Wow! That was perfect / gorgeous / insert further great compliment here! Thanks for sharing!

Wowza! That was perfection! I'd never seen it until now, I was living in Europe at the time and with a sketchy net connection had only seen "Robin Lake" from Worlds. Gorgeous, and better than the 2003 Skate America Swan Lake that I'd mention early in the thread.
 

plushyfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Country
Hungary
1. Lu Chen!! Rachmaninov..
Yuna LP 2010
Mao LP 2012
Sacha Swan Lake
Kwan 1998
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
I'd like to add a sentimental favorite. Dorothy Hamill 1976 Olympics.

This was my first Winter Olympics viewing experience, and she was wonderful. I know that the technical content cannot compare to what is being done today, but it was on par with what was being performed at the time.

The performance was without flaw, and I can still remember the flood of flowers being thrown to the ice.

This was also the John Curry Olympics, so you can see how I became such a rabid fan of the sport.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Yeah those standings sound about right, except probably switch Leistner and Kadavy as Caryn choked a bit in the Calgary figures and didnt do her best.

I dont think Manley thought she had incredible figures. However she feels she deserved 1st place in figures at the 88 Worlds where she apparently had her best figures ever. From everyone who I have heard saw them she is probably right (of course Witt won the figures by some miracle).

Witt was 3rd in figures overall. It was Ivanova, Thomas (who skated two outstanding figures and one OK figure), Witt

Trenary didn't skate a great counter which buried her but I could see her third instead of 5th in figures.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
There's a video from 1990 Worlds some place out in the internet-verse where you can see the look of sheer horror on Ito's face when she finished and peeked at one of her figures (I think it was the paragraph figure from that year, but may have been the loop). It WAS that bad...
 

Ophelia

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
snejina;813472 Sasha Cohen 2002 Olympics said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouNL5ux17c4[/url]

That was beautiful! :jaw::jaw: @ her spirals, spins, and footwork sequence. Thank you for sharing!!!
 
Top