- Joined
- Jul 30, 2003
The notion that Nancy was a better skater than Kristi makes no sense. How can that be when she NEVER, EVER beat Kristi when they were both amateurs? There is no comparison between their amateur or professional careers.
With Midori, I feel that when Midori skated her absolute best, she was unstoppable. But I seriously disagree that Kristi's artistic advantages over Midori are "solely" due to her body type. Kristi's carriage, line and posture (at least in the 1991 and 1992 seasons) were superior to Midori, this is very clear just by looking at the tapes. I submit this was because she worked on it. You could argue that these qualities were helped by the fact she had the "right" body type for a good line, but you could also argue that Midori and Tonya were lucky to be born with the "right" body type to do a triple axel. Also, Kristi certainly had much better choreography and not all the credit should be given to Sandra Bezic. Kristi still had to perform it. "Malaguena" was a very challenging program, especially the way the jumps were meshed into the choreography. At the 1992 Nats, Dick Button even commented that Kristi had a "very difficult program." That she was able to perform it with smooth presentation is a testament to her abilities.
Midori and Kristi are just very different skaters with different strengths. Midori's strengths were the height, flow and power of her jumps, ice coverage and speed. Kristi's strengths were her consistency, line, carriage/posture and choreography. Both ladies also had a high level of technical difficulty in their programs.
With Midori, I feel that when Midori skated her absolute best, she was unstoppable. But I seriously disagree that Kristi's artistic advantages over Midori are "solely" due to her body type. Kristi's carriage, line and posture (at least in the 1991 and 1992 seasons) were superior to Midori, this is very clear just by looking at the tapes. I submit this was because she worked on it. You could argue that these qualities were helped by the fact she had the "right" body type for a good line, but you could also argue that Midori and Tonya were lucky to be born with the "right" body type to do a triple axel. Also, Kristi certainly had much better choreography and not all the credit should be given to Sandra Bezic. Kristi still had to perform it. "Malaguena" was a very challenging program, especially the way the jumps were meshed into the choreography. At the 1992 Nats, Dick Button even commented that Kristi had a "very difficult program." That she was able to perform it with smooth presentation is a testament to her abilities.
Midori and Kristi are just very different skaters with different strengths. Midori's strengths were the height, flow and power of her jumps, ice coverage and speed. Kristi's strengths were her consistency, line, carriage/posture and choreography. Both ladies also had a high level of technical difficulty in their programs.