I have a feeling Stephane Lambiel could be the golden boy next year! | Golden Skate

I have a feeling Stephane Lambiel could be the golden boy next year!

slutskayafan21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
I have a feeling there is a very good chance Stephane Lambiel will win the Olympic Gold medal next year. :) He was able to win Worlds despite only two months of training and 2 competitions, due to injury. He has the jumps, spins, footwork, style, and musicality, of a champion. His skating at Worlds showed he is clearly one of the two best skaters in the world right now, maybe the best with Plushenko's health a question mark at the moment. If Plushenko's injury persists
I think Lambiel will be in great shape to win the Gold medal next year. I expect him to be that much better next year, his performances this year were if anything reduced by his inability to skate and train a full season like the others.
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
I have a feeling Plush won't make the podium at all and Ilia Klimkin will be the top Russian.

My podium prediction is :
Sandhu
Lambiel
Klimkin
 

nicole_l

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
I think Klimkin has a chance at making the podium, maybe. But I can't see a Plushenko-less podium barring an injury. The man is a figure skating genius.
 

slutskayafan21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
If Sandhu wins and Lambiel is second I will be happy, although I prefer Lambiel. I hope Klimkin is not 3rd though, uggghh!! Sorry just my personal preferance. He needs to worry about the Russian team first, they have only 2 spots, and Griazev is a threat, and there could be others.
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
nicole_l said:
I think Klimkin has a chance at making the podium, maybe. But I can't see a Plushenko-less podium barring an injury. The man is a figure skating genius.

Unfortunately the man has huge injuries to deal with and it's the year before the Olympics. I read on another board that Klimkin got all of his triples back and is feeling optimistic. In a way it's good that Klimkin got hurt so bad that he was forced to take care of his injury b/c he'll be going into the Olympic season healthy.
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
slutskayafan21 said:
If Sandhu wins and Lambiel is second I will be happy, although I prefer Lambiel. I hope Klimkin is not 3rd though, uggghh!! Sorry just my personal preferance. He needs to worry about the Russian team first, they have only 2 spots, and Griazev is a threat, and there could be others.

I don't think Griazev will be a threat to Klimkin. Ilia has a beautiful quad and he has consistently landed quads and quad triples for years. I'm just relieved that Russia didn't lose its second spot.

While I love Lambiel, I was more impressed with Sandhu's overall performance at Worlds than Lambiel's. That single axel in the SP really killed Sandhu but overall SAndhu has been improving his standing throughout the years. He's getting better at competing and not giving up on his performances.
 
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nicole_l

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
soogar said:
Unfortunately the man has huge injuries to deal with and it's the year before the Olympics. I read on another board that Klimkin got all of his triples back and is feeling optimistic. In a way it's good that Klimkin got hurt so bad that he was forced to take care of his injury b/c he'll be going into the Olympic season healthy.

The injuries are going to hurt him, of course. I'm glad to hear Klimkin's doing well. A big thing with the first part of the season is whether or not he can still compete well...I really hope that he can.
If Ilia has a great program like Dr. Diesel next season and delivers, that would be awesome. He's had a quad in the past, hasn't he? That could be the deciding factor for the podium (could being the operative word in the sentence).
 

Kasey

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
nicole_l said:
The injuries are going to hurt him, of course. I'm glad to hear Klimkin's doing well. A big thing with the first part of the season is whether or not he can still compete well...I really hope that he can.
If Ilia has a great program like Dr. Diesel next season and delivers, that would be awesome. He's had a quad in the past, hasn't he? That could be the deciding factor for the podium (could being the operative word in the sentence).

I believe Ilia's had two quads in the past, Sal and toe. I could be mistaken. But I know he has at least had quad toe consistantly in the past, consistant enough to try two in a program. If he doesn't do his characteristic meltdown (hit the hard jumps and combos, then lose focus), Klimkin could be a HUGE threat, to anyone. Yay! :)

Although...Kudos to Griazev for going with the quad this year, even when he didn't hit it. The quad at Euros was awesome, and the one at Worlds was rock solid (even tho the rest of the program wasn't). More experience and work on his confidence, the kid is also going to be a threat. Maybe not to Plush. But to a lot of other skaters.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
IMO, Ilia Klimkin has the artistry over the whole field in addition to his vast technical skills. His Rothbart (Swan Lake) in Dortmund was masterful. However, he tends to go to pieces under fire if he makes an error. I'm also worried about his injuries.

Joe
 

nicole_l

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
If he doesn't do his characteristic meltdown (hit the hard jumps and combos, then lose focus), Klimkin could be a HUGE threat, to anyone. Yay!
Unfortunately there's still the question of can he even make it to the Olympics? There's only two spots open. Will they send Klimkin or Griasev?

But if he goes to the Olympics, yay!
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Griazev is a very immature and novice type skater. TT can choreograph him a great program but, imo, he's just not up to it yet. I just don't feel he will be ready for the Olys.

However, if injuries stay away from Klimkin, and he goes, I will be at a loss to decide which of my two favorite competitors (Ilia and Stephane) should win if they both skate their best. They are soooo gooood and soooo different.

Joe
 

BittyBug

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Kasey said:
I believe Ilia's had two quads in the past, Sal and toe. I could be mistaken.
You're not. :) Klimkin does have both the quad toe and the quad sow. In fact, he was the first skater to land two different quads in competition. :rock:

IMO, Klimkin is the big mystery for next year. If he's healthy, he'll have not only the jumps, but also the most difficult spins of any competitor (many of his spins are Level 3), so I could see him having quite a high base mark for technical elements. And he always has interesting and unexpected transitions.
 

PrincessLeppard

~ Evgeni's Sex Bomb ~
Final Flight
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I don't think you can count out even an injured Evgeni. With the exception of the hernia, he is awesome at fighting through the pain and putting on a great performance. If he is well enough to go to the Olympics, I think he will be on the podium somewhere.

But there are quite a few skaters who could be there, and Lambiel is definitely one of them. Klimkin, Joubert, Weir, Lysacek (I will not underestimate him again :rock: ), Buttle, Sandhu, Li, Dambier....am I forgetting anyone? Hmmm.
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
At worlds, it was the first time Sandhu seemed to skate his LP with heart. I was pretty impressed. With a little more thoughts put it, that could be a very beautiful program.
I actually don't want Lambiel to win the Olympics next year even though I'm his biggest fan. I have a feeling that he's the type of person who would either just turn pro or go on to pursue other interests if he wins this major title, which is the last thing I want to see happen. I really want to see him come up with two programs that will do his talent justice--he's had amazing short programs for a few seasons now, I just hope he gets a long program that's at least as good as his older ones such Chocolat and Cirque du Solei. Maybe Tosca? :rock:
 
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Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
As a Plushenko fan, I will be very sad if anyone other than Plushy wins the OGM in Torino. Given his injuries, that is a very likely scenario. Lambiel is the in the best position to win the OGM right now. He will have to have a melt down to lose it. Of course if Plushenko is healthy that will change the dynamics for the whole field, as we saw in Moscow. Can Lambiel handle the pressure of being the favorite? It will have to be seen. Joubert fell apart when suddenly Plushenko disappeared from the field. He could be a challenger to Lambiel because of his quads. IMO Weir and Buttle will both need quads to challenge Lambiel. In 2005 Lambiel singled a couple of triples, and finished long after the music, but he held on to the first place partly because of the two quads he landed (and of course the lead he had built in QR and SP). The quads have BIG points. If Lambiel misses the quad, Weir and Buttle can sneak in. My feeling is that by feb. 2006 both Lysacek and Weir will have at least a quad toe, if not a quad combo. If they do, they could really push Lambiel and rest of the field, including Plushenko.

Vash
 

slutskayafan21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
Well according to 90% of North American skating fans the following are true:

1)Lambiel has no chance whatsoever of wining the Olympic Gold, and only a slim chance of medaling.

2)Lysacek has a real chance of the gold medal, and an extreme possability of medaling.

3)Lysacek is a far more serious threat for the gold, and a more likely medalist than Lambiel.

4)Lambiel is only about the 7th best skater in the World, not the 1st or 2nd best.

5)Lysacek is clearly one of the 2 or 3 best skaters in the World right now. After all he won bronze in his first Worlds and is still improving. He is a far superior skater to Lambiel.

6)Somebody like me thinks otherwise is clearly narrow-minded, extremely biased, and lacking any logic.


I dont know I am going to stick to my lack of logic this time. :p
 

slutskayafan21

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
Mathman said:
Can you give me a link to this poll?

No I cant, but if you made a poll you would see I am right. Seeing enough other people post their opinions, you tend to get the general idea. :p
 
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