Which retirees do you miss the most?
- Thread starter skateluvr
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
The only retired skater's that I truly miss are Maria Butyrskaya, Brian Boitano, and Plushy. Here's why. Now that they are done performing in shows, it's nearly impossible to keep up with them. Recent retirees can often be found skating in shows and are usually quite active on social media. With the exception of my child Joshua Farris who basically vanished during his recovery from the concussion he suffered last year.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2012
- Country
-
Well, obviously I miss Jenna McCorkell, as it was nice having somebody local to cheer on! But hopefully it will not be long until Sam McAllister starts getting regular appearances on the international stage, now that he has switched to representing Ireland.
Like many others have already mentioned, I really miss Akiko Suzuki. I absolutely loved her, and her style of skating. It's not quite the same as having Akiko out there, but at least Rika Hongo is now channelling her style.
Another skater who, like Akiko, was finally starting to fulfill her potential in her late twenties was the lovely Miss Marchei (as I always refer to her!) Of course, Vale didn't retire - she switched to Pairs. But, I really miss her doing Singles.
Kiira Korpi. Such a beautiful skater, but frequent injuries meant she never fulfilled her full potential. I would love to see her do like Pang Qing / Tong Jian, and come out of retirement for this year's World Championships being held at home, and finally get the Worlds podium she deserves. But, I can't see it happening.
Speaking of Pang and Tong... I miss them too! And Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao (OK, so Hao is still competing. But I miss him skating with Dan, who has retired).
Practically all of the Japanese Men's team of the past decade: Takahashi, Oda, Kozuka, Machida... (I haven't heard any announcements saying otherwise, so I assume that Mura and Murakami are continuing on this season. If not, add them to the list!)
Returning momentarily to the Ladies, I also miss Miki Ando and Fumie Suguri (although, it was sad to see Fumie's decline in the later years of her career).
Brian Joubert and Florent Amodio. When it comes to Men's skating, I really like showmen. And boys but they both knew how to put on a show! Don't miss Florent stripping, though...
Are we counting Plushenko as retired? Because, obviously, he would be there.
Nathalie PĂ©chelat / Fabian Bourzat. I was never really into Ice Dance until I saw them. The chemistry between them was just... wow! And Nathalie is so hot!
I know we now have Gabriella and Guillaume fulfilling similar roles, but I still miss Nathalie and Fabian.
Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi. Their routines were so innovative and, well, out there. I always looked forward to seeing what they came out with every season. I miss that. It's just a pity the judges didn't get them.
Just a few that came immediately to my head.
CaroLiza_fan
Like many others have already mentioned, I really miss Akiko Suzuki. I absolutely loved her, and her style of skating. It's not quite the same as having Akiko out there, but at least Rika Hongo is now channelling her style.
Another skater who, like Akiko, was finally starting to fulfill her potential in her late twenties was the lovely Miss Marchei (as I always refer to her!) Of course, Vale didn't retire - she switched to Pairs. But, I really miss her doing Singles.
Kiira Korpi. Such a beautiful skater, but frequent injuries meant she never fulfilled her full potential. I would love to see her do like Pang Qing / Tong Jian, and come out of retirement for this year's World Championships being held at home, and finally get the Worlds podium she deserves. But, I can't see it happening.
Speaking of Pang and Tong... I miss them too! And Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao (OK, so Hao is still competing. But I miss him skating with Dan, who has retired).
Practically all of the Japanese Men's team of the past decade: Takahashi, Oda, Kozuka, Machida... (I haven't heard any announcements saying otherwise, so I assume that Mura and Murakami are continuing on this season. If not, add them to the list!)
Returning momentarily to the Ladies, I also miss Miki Ando and Fumie Suguri (although, it was sad to see Fumie's decline in the later years of her career).
Brian Joubert and Florent Amodio. When it comes to Men's skating, I really like showmen. And boys but they both knew how to put on a show! Don't miss Florent stripping, though...
Are we counting Plushenko as retired? Because, obviously, he would be there.
Nathalie PĂ©chelat / Fabian Bourzat. I was never really into Ice Dance until I saw them. The chemistry between them was just... wow! And Nathalie is so hot!
I know we now have Gabriella and Guillaume fulfilling similar roles, but I still miss Nathalie and Fabian.Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi. Their routines were so innovative and, well, out there. I always looked forward to seeing what they came out with every season. I miss that. It's just a pity the judges didn't get them.
Just a few that came immediately to my head.
CaroLiza_fan
- Joined
- May 24, 2013
I miss Daisuke Takahashi so much, he was really an Artist.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2014
Akiko Suzuki and Tatsuki Machida. Slightly further back- Stephane Lambiel. And above all for me- Daisuke Takahashi.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2006
Shawn Sawyer and Cynthia Phaneuf, among others who have already been mentioned. Oh, and Laura Lepisto and Alban Preaubert.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2014
To pursue academic studies. He's still skating in shows and choreographs his own exhibition programs.
- Joined
- May 4, 2015
The first skater I missed a lot was Midori Ito, although I’d been watching figure skating for some time by then. She was amazing technically, but she also had an amazing personality to match, which transcended her skating – watching her skate made me feel so alive and joyful. I don’t think I ever got that kind of feeling from watching anyone else. I was also upset and angry that she’d had so much pressure put on her to win gold at OG. And back then one couldn’t follow a retired skater’s pro career on the Internet, like today.
Gordeeva and Grinkov is obvious, of course. The two of them were such a picture of perfection, like Plato’s ideal, that no matter what she could have done afterwards, there’s no way it could approach what they were together. And, of course, the tragedy of a talented and wonderful person’s life being cut so short. The one meager consolation is that in his short life he’d achieved far more than most people do in a long life, and I don’t mean medals per se, but having created something that will likely live on forever in people’s hearts.
I also missed Klimova and Ponomarenko when they left the sport, and, unfortunately, it seems that few recordings of them exist on the Internet. If I could choose to see again any fs program from the past that I can’t find on the web, it would be their My Fair Lady.
I missed Usova and Zhulin when they stopped skating together too. I knew that if they switched partners with Grishuk and Platov, the new teams wouldn’t be anything like the old ones, because their skating styles had been so different. And considering that they both had moved on to other people in their private lives, I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t continue skating together. I remember watching what must have been one of their last performances together, of a old romantic program of theirs (the one with the balloon they released in the end), and it looked every bit as romantic and moving, as when they had been married and in love with each other.
I also thought it a pity when Grishuk and Platov split following their retirement from the sport, although in their case I could understand Platov. It’s sad that her maturity on the ice wasn’t matched by maturity off the ice, and that it took her so long to grow up.
Another skater I missed was Matt Savoie – he had that thoughtful, introspective style that I generally enjoy the most done to perfection.
I was very upset when Miki Ando stopped competing after leaving Morozov. I had hoped she’d switch to another coach, preferably Orser, and go on to win Worlds again and then Olympics. I thought she must have completely fallen apart when she stopped competing while a reigning world champion and then kept postponing her return. However, in the end it all came to the same thing: she has a thriving professional career now and has found happiness in personal life with Fernandez. They are the fs couple I feel the happiest for.
Of the most recent retirees, I miss the most Oda, Machida and Kozuka, and am sure will miss Menshov. They are all unique and very talented skaters, so I find it hard to reconcile myself to not seeing them in major events anymore, even though I perfectly understand their reasons for leaving the sport and would have done the same in their shoes.
I also expected to miss Ilinykh-Katsalapov after the split, but here fate had prepared a pleasant surprise for me. I do still think very highly of IK’s programs, but from their first season together I found Ilinykh/Zhiganshin to be even better in expression. I had thought before that Elena and Nikita were perfect for each other, and that with different partners it wouldn’t be the same for either of them, but after seeing Elena and Ruslan skate together for the first time – to Carmen at Cup of China – I never looked back. It was the fs surprise of my life, that they could take the most well-used music in their first season together and create the most memorable program to it I had ever seen.
Gordeeva and Grinkov is obvious, of course. The two of them were such a picture of perfection, like Plato’s ideal, that no matter what she could have done afterwards, there’s no way it could approach what they were together. And, of course, the tragedy of a talented and wonderful person’s life being cut so short. The one meager consolation is that in his short life he’d achieved far more than most people do in a long life, and I don’t mean medals per se, but having created something that will likely live on forever in people’s hearts.
I also missed Klimova and Ponomarenko when they left the sport, and, unfortunately, it seems that few recordings of them exist on the Internet. If I could choose to see again any fs program from the past that I can’t find on the web, it would be their My Fair Lady.
I missed Usova and Zhulin when they stopped skating together too. I knew that if they switched partners with Grishuk and Platov, the new teams wouldn’t be anything like the old ones, because their skating styles had been so different. And considering that they both had moved on to other people in their private lives, I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t continue skating together. I remember watching what must have been one of their last performances together, of a old romantic program of theirs (the one with the balloon they released in the end), and it looked every bit as romantic and moving, as when they had been married and in love with each other.
I also thought it a pity when Grishuk and Platov split following their retirement from the sport, although in their case I could understand Platov. It’s sad that her maturity on the ice wasn’t matched by maturity off the ice, and that it took her so long to grow up.
Another skater I missed was Matt Savoie – he had that thoughtful, introspective style that I generally enjoy the most done to perfection.
I was very upset when Miki Ando stopped competing after leaving Morozov. I had hoped she’d switch to another coach, preferably Orser, and go on to win Worlds again and then Olympics. I thought she must have completely fallen apart when she stopped competing while a reigning world champion and then kept postponing her return. However, in the end it all came to the same thing: she has a thriving professional career now and has found happiness in personal life with Fernandez. They are the fs couple I feel the happiest for.
Of the most recent retirees, I miss the most Oda, Machida and Kozuka, and am sure will miss Menshov. They are all unique and very talented skaters, so I find it hard to reconcile myself to not seeing them in major events anymore, even though I perfectly understand their reasons for leaving the sport and would have done the same in their shoes.
I feel exactly the same about them! I don’t wish them to come back to competitions, for the reasons you state, but how I miss seeing them perform the technically and choreographically breathtaking programs that only they could do! They were so mesmerizingly exquisite.
I feel the same about Yu-na Kim too. I loved her skating up to and including the Vancouver Olympics, but after the comeback it felt (to me) as if something left her skating. I remember watching her Les Miserables several times, trying to feel at least something of what I had felt watching her before, and not understanding why I wasn’t feeling anything (and I love Les Miserables – I even bought a deluxe 2-discs edition soundtrack of the movie that I listen to often). And it was the same during the Olympic season for me. I still have fond memories of her earlier programs, but it’s a bit of a relief for me to know it’s not just me who found her post-comeback skating no longer heartfelt.
I also expected to miss Ilinykh-Katsalapov after the split, but here fate had prepared a pleasant surprise for me. I do still think very highly of IK’s programs, but from their first season together I found Ilinykh/Zhiganshin to be even better in expression. I had thought before that Elena and Nikita were perfect for each other, and that with different partners it wouldn’t be the same for either of them, but after seeing Elena and Ruslan skate together for the first time – to Carmen at Cup of China – I never looked back. It was the fs surprise of my life, that they could take the most well-used music in their first season together and create the most memorable program to it I had ever seen.
I miss the days of Takahashi, Oda, Kozuka, Abbott, Carriere, and so many more of that generation. That was when I learned to love men's figure skating. Now men's skating is boring-I get absolutely nothing from watching Hanyu-though he does have a nice personality. It's no fun to watch/no competition if only a couple men have the body type to multi quad.
I miss Czisny, Rochette, Zawadzki, Ando, Sozuki. At least Mao and Wagner are still competing.
I miss Davis/White, Belbin/Agosto, PĂ©chalat/Bourzat. I really will miss Orford/Hill if indeed they have split/retired.
I miss Czisny, Rochette, Zawadzki, Ando, Sozuki. At least Mao and Wagner are still competing.
I miss Davis/White, Belbin/Agosto, PĂ©chalat/Bourzat. I really will miss Orford/Hill if indeed they have split/retired.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2006
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2014
As much as I miss Yuna, I think her retirement is all for the best for her own sake considering what she had put up with. She needs to enjoy her life with/out figure skating.
Ironically, I love her post Vancouver programs than some of her earlier programs because I've felt her emotions in such programs were deepen than before, but also sad feelings followed.
Who else do I miss? I've missed a lot of skaters over the past years, but it depends on which period I was in.
Recently, the retirement of Tatsuki Machida and Florent Amodio made me really sad. I wished they accomplished more and still think they could do so if they would have stayed. The Swan song performance by Florent at Euros made me shed tears.
Ironically, I love her post Vancouver programs than some of her earlier programs because I've felt her emotions in such programs were deepen than before, but also sad feelings followed.
Who else do I miss? I've missed a lot of skaters over the past years, but it depends on which period I was in.
Recently, the retirement of Tatsuki Machida and Florent Amodio made me really sad. I wished they accomplished more and still think they could do so if they would have stayed. The Swan song performance by Florent at Euros made me shed tears.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
As long as Jason Brown is around... I doubt he has a chance, sadly. I think international judges respect him far more than what he get at home. Age is also against him.
However.. fingers crossed. If Kostner, Akiko can do it, why not Abbott!! :thumbsup:
Last edited:
Similar threads
