Best Olympics Men's Competitions | Golden Skate

Best Olympics Men's Competitions

Poodlepal

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Now we've seen one that was. . .um, not the best:rolleye:
Which ones were really good, or at least your favorites?

2002: Alexei vs. Evgeni vs. Tim Goebel. There were three great skaters who brought it when it counted. Alexei Yagudin played it safe, IIRC, and I remember Scott thought he gave it away, but in the end it was enough.

1998. I'll always have fond memories of Ilia Kulik's shirt. And poor Todd. He was done in by Phillippe Candeloro as a musketeer, but his program was so much fun.

2010. Some people were mad that the winner didn't do the quad, but at least we had two clean performances to compare. And Johnny did so well, I thought he should have gotten the bronze.

1988. Both Brians were so good, it all came down to one tiny mistake by Brian Orser. Brian Boitano was perfect.

Ahh, happy memories of men who land all their jumps and don't fall or double them!:laugh:
 

Seruleane

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I liked 1994 (Urmanov gold, Stojko silver, Candelero Bronze) and 2002.
2010 was wonderful, but bittersweet for me b/c I knew Daisuke could have won gold with a clean program without a quad, but he chose to do a quad anyway...I do not think Weir skated well enough for a medal. His presentation can't compare with Daisuke's.
 

WinterLily

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
I don't remember Yagudin playing it safe....he was clearly the BEST that night, and his performance was perfect, and I still miss him...that was a great competition:)
But you know I don't think we can compare the Olympics, really. The technical content is more and more demanding, and the points system is much more complex than the 6.0 one, so I think that's why it's really difficult to see clean programs nowadays.
So every Olympics is totally different:)
I'm quite happy with today's podium^____^


Now we've seen one that was. . .um, not the best:rolleye:
Which ones were really good, or at least your favorites?

2002: Alexei vs. Evgeni vs. Tim Goebel. There were three great skaters who brought it when it counted. Alexei Yagudin played it safe, IIRC, and I remember Scott thought he gave it away, but in the end it was enough.

1998. I'll always have fond memories of Ilia Kulik's shirt. And poor Todd. He was done in by Phillippe Candeloro as a musketeer, but his program was so much fun.

2010. Some people were mad that the winner didn't do the quad, but at least we had two clean performances to compare. And Johnny did so well, I thought he should have gotten the bronze.

1988. Both Brians were so good, it all came down to one tiny mistake by Brian Orser. Brian Boitano was perfect.

Ahh, happy memories of men who land all their jumps and don't fall or double them!:laugh:
 

Sk8n Mama

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
The battle of the Brians still the greatest. It came down to one tiny bobble. Both men had the total package, too.
 

Srin Odessa

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
I don't remember Yagudin playing it safe....he was clearly the BEST that night, and his performance was perfect, and I still miss him...that was a great competition:)
But you know I don't think we can compare the Olympics, really. The technical content is more and more demanding, and the points system is much more complex than the 6.0 one, so I think that's why it's really difficult to see clean programs nowadays.
So every Olympics is totally different:)
I'm quite happy with today's podium^____^

Plushenko stepped out of the triple loop of his 4-3-3 and popped his triple salchow into a double. You could also tell his program was a work in progress after the Habenera portion of the program. Yagudin could afford dialing back his technical content. I think Goebel was the one who was short changed for his technical score during the FS.
 

stevlin

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
The Battle of the Brians was my favorite. So many skated well and beautiful programs. No quads to fall on. I hate the quad. Too many mistakes in this 2014 Olympics. I'd much rather see clean skates with artistry.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
The battle of the Brians still the greatest. It came down to one tiny bobble. Both men had the total package, too.
Absolutely! And don't forget the great bronze medal performance of Petrenko's! Wiley, Browning & Bowman all had good sp performances, too.

1976 with Curry and Cranston was good too.
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Now we've seen one that was. . .um, not the best:rolleye:
Which ones were really good, or at least your favorites?

2002: Alexei vs. Evgeni vs. Tim Goebel. There were three great skaters who brought it when it counted. Alexei Yagudin played it safe, IIRC, and I remember Scott thought he gave it away, but in the end it was enough.

1998. I'll always have fond memories of Ilia Kulik's shirt. And poor Todd. He was done in by Phillippe Candeloro as a musketeer, but his program was so much fun.

2010. Some people were mad that the winner didn't do the quad, but at least we had two clean performances to compare. And Johnny did so well, I thought he should have gotten the bronze.

1988. Both Brians were so good, it all came down to one tiny mistake by Brian Orser. Brian Boitano was perfect.

Ahh, happy memories of men who land all their jumps and don't fall or double them!:laugh:

I enjoy Scott's commentary more than most people here but I thought his analysis at the end of the Alexei's skate was silly. It's true he left out his second triple axle but the dude had done two freaking quads and his skating, choreo etc was just above the rest of the field. Alexei has had that "it" passion thing that is so rare. Plushenko has it in his own way but it's not the same. Scott thought Yagudin actually might have lost the FS to Tim Goebel. Love Tim but ... not.
 

will74lsn

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
single most memorable performance: BRIAN BOITANO's free skate!! One of the most inspired and inspiring skate.
best competition? 2010 was pretty good as far as I remember and exciting until the end. The worst one was surely 2014:no:
 

vegarin

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 19, 2013
The battle of the Brians still the greatest. It came down to one tiny bobble. Both men had the total package, too.

True, and it is sort of odd how that Orser has now coached two gold medalists back to back even though he didn't score one. That's almost some sort of karma at play.
 

Srin Odessa

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
I enjoy Scott's commentary more than most people here but I thought his analysis at the end of the Alexei's skate was silly. It's true he left out his second triple axle but the dude had done two freaking quads and his skating, choreo etc was just above the rest of the field. Alexei has had that "it" passion thing that is so rare. Plushenko has it in his own way but it's not the same. Scott thought Yagudin actually might have lost the FS to Tim Goebel. Love Tim but ... not.

A lot of people speculate that the American commentators were explicitly told not to play favorites in the men's event. Earlier in the pairs' event, they had hyped up Salé & Pelletier as the winners before the pair received their results which exacerbated the scoring controversy.
 

edenlover

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
I still watch my vids of Battle of the Brians some 25 years later. ANd that includes both the free skates and short programs. Epic. Masterpieces. I believe they could win today with those programs. Two athletes, two artists.

Loved 92-- Wylie, Barna and Petrenko. Was exciting to watch.
Loved 2010 as well, and I do think the best man won.

But nothing can top 88. Nothing
 

Poodlepal

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
No, Paul Wylie was only on the medal stand that one time and it was 1992. Americans will always like that year because of him. He was the ultimate underdog when our "star" skater Chris Bowman was unreliable for various reasons which don't merit getting into here, as he is now deceased.

I thought '94 was sad because of the meltdowns of the veterans, but Urmanov and Stojko skated well (if not 100% clean, then at least 100% better than our current gold and silver medalists) and it was a great competition.
 

Plisskin

Medalist
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
2002 will always be my favorite. I loved Yagudin and miss his skating. I haven't liked a successful male skater since then. All the ones I like now are not dominant and inconsistent unfortunately, lol.
 

edenlover

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Are you sure you got the year right? Maybe you thought the 91 Worlds (which were indeed spectacular) were the 92 Olympics and confused the two.

For sure 92. Yep it was Wylie, and a continuation of the show that a young Victor Petrenko put on in 88. It wasn't perfect skates, but the competition was exciting, and the music the top skated to was wonderful and different. Now I'm trying to recall 91 worlds--I remember the US ladies sweeping the podium that year--Tonya, Nancy and Kristi, but I don't remember the men...brain cramp. Must have been Mark Mitchell , Bowman and Wylie or Eldridge. Gotta look that up.
 

Rachmaninoff

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Yeah, 2002 was the best I remember. I've only been a fan since 1994, so I don't remember battle of the Brians. For the most part, I haven't enjoyed the men much at the Olympics. I had hopes this year would be better, but alas.
 

SimplyLex

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
2002 will always be my favorite. I loved Yagudin and miss his skating. I haven't liked a successful male skater since then. All the ones I like now are not dominant and inconsistent unfortunately, lol.

ITA, Yagudin was a true king of the ice and his rivalry with Plushenko was so fierce and manly! The competitiors today look like children in the fog when you compare them to 2002.

But Yags comes once in a lifetime, so I'm not raising my hopes up to get another one like that. His programs were artistically pure perfection.
 

moviechick

On the Ice
Joined
May 7, 2008
Of the ones I remember:

2002: All three medalists landed their quads. Goebel had 3 quads even and Plushenko threw it down with that 4-3-3 attempt and the crazy axel/flip combo. Yagudin's program in hindsight is kind of empty in a lot of places (preferred his Gladiator one by far) but still a solid and clean skate.

1998: Only cause Kulik's LP is my favorite OGM winner ever and the cow hide outfit. Honestly don't remember the other programs much.

2006: It just cool to see someone dominate the entire field to the degree Plushenko did here. Probably the most decisive/crushing victory.
 
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