Carol Heiss and Tenley Albright were great rivals in the mid-1950s. They vied for the US, World, and Olympic medals. What made this rivalry so great, in my opinion, was that Heiss and Albright were the essence of highly trained, highly tuned athletes and great sportswomen as well. Heiss was the athletic, vivacious skater while Albright was graceful and elegant. Two contrasting styles, and both became US, World, and Olympic champions.
Linda Fratianne and Annet Poetszch were great rivals, too, as they exchanged World titles between 1977-1979, and they vied for the 1980 Olympic gold medal. We never really got to know Annet that well, perhaps because she seemed to be a quiet person, and she lived and trained in the former East Germany, where the media pretty much avoided.
Elaine Zayak and Rosalyn Sumners were great rivals, too, during the early 1980s. Both vied for US and World titles, and Sumners was in the hunt for the 1984 Olympic gold medal. Zayak was the athletic, super triple-jumper, while Sumners was graceful and powerful.
Debi Thomas and Katarina Witt were fierce rivals for the World title and Olympic gold medal during 1986-1988. They both chose to skate to cuts from "Carmen" for the 1988 Olympic long program. While I doubt if they actually hated each other, their rivalry was so intense - perhaps based upon the huge expectations thrust upon them by their respective countries and skating assocations - that they were hardly friends. I remember that Thomas did not acknowledge Witt on the 1988 Olympic podium - she just skated to the bronze-medal stand, accepted her medal, and did not congratulate Witt. Bad sportsmanship, I thought.
Kristi Yamaguchi and Nancy Kerrigan were friendly rivals during the early 1990s. They were friends and were 1992 Olympic roommates. It was nice to see that they could both train very hard and shoot for Olympic medals, yet still remain close buddies off the ice.
Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. UGH. Need we say more?
This was a rivalry that blew up in their faces. I think it was quite obvious that they were not friends - long before the 1994 knee bashing - and naturally, their "relationship", such as it was, tail-
spinned after Kerrigan was attacked. This was figure skating rivalry at its worst, as far as I'm concerned,
Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski - the artist (Kwan) and the athlete (Lipinski). While they did not appear to be friends, they showed respect for each other, and both of them became better skaters by being pushed by their rival. Kwan was a very gracious silver medalist at Nagano.
Michalle kwan and Irina Slutskaya. In my opinion, this is the essence of a great skating rivalry. Both shooting for the medals, and yet both sharing a nice, friendly relationshp off the ice. Kwan and Slutskaya hug each other back stage, they go out to dinner while they're on tour, and they exchange jokes and laughs.
YOU GO, LADIES!!
