Disastrous Competitive Programs

[NanSinger2]

Re: Re: Disastrous Competitive Programs

How about almost all of the men at US Nationals this year?

How about almost all of the men at last year's Campbell's
Interational?

Mens Nationals this year was so unbelievable! I still can't get over the number of falls!

 

[icenut84]

Another one - Stephane Lindemann (?) at the Sparkassen Cup, in 2001 (I think). He skated before Plushenko. He had a really, *really* bad fall on a triple axel, and by the way he was reacting, he might have broken his leg. Does anyone remember that, or how bad the injury was? I know his landing foot, ankle and leg all went in different directions

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Disastrous Competitive Programs

I just remembered yet another disaster on ice. Priscilla Hill, the reigning US silver medalist from 1981, entered the long program at the 1982 US Nationals with a good chance to again earn a spot on the World Team. She skated her long program to the soundtrack from "Chariots of Fire", a glorious piece of music if there ever was one. Unfortunately, Priscilla completely blew her long program, with one fall and stumble after another, and she finished in fifth place overall. It was painful to watch. The poor girl. I remember that as soon as she received her scores - very low but accurate - she was asked by Dick Button on live television what she thought of her program. Egads - what could she say? Priscilla tried to be a good sport, but clearly she was stunned and devastated at her performance. Dick wished her good luck, and she fled from the arena.

 

[dorispulaski]

Just remembered a couple more:

Probably the worst disaster on ice I ever saw was when Karen
Magnussen went up for a jump and landed in such a way that
she broke both legs.

However, she won Worlds the following year!!! One of the great
comebacks of all time.

Another horrible program was Alain Calmat, I believe the 1964
Olympics. Since the US team died in 1961, only Scott Allen (about
16 years old) was attempting a triple jump. Alain's LP program
had only double jumps planned. However, he still managed
to fall at least 3 times. Between way too LP high placings that
were a retirement gift after an illustrious career and good
figure placings he finished 2nd overall. But the LP was horrible, and so painful to watch so that I still remember it.

dpp

 

[hrmsk8ngnutt]

an obscure one....

One disastrous performance I haven't seen mentioned (although I must admit that I've never seen the actual performance - just the 'highlights' - or I guess 'lowlights') was Evelyn Grossman's LP at the 89 European Championships. CBS had a profile of her on their 89 Worlds telecast that started with a shot of Katarina Witt - the recently retired 'Queen of the Ice' - with coach Jutta Mueller. Then they showed Frau Mueller's new charge - Evelyn Grossman - who was expected to follow suit. However, she had a disastrous Europeans debut where she fell 3 or 4 times - once while doing footwork!!! But then they showed her LP at Worlds where she was 150% better - although the whole performance wasn't shown. I do remember that her music was an odd mix of 'The Sound of Music' and 'The Godfather'. Evelyn had another disastrous performance at the 1990 Skate America. I remember her hair was also a disaster, as it was in the awkward growing out stage.

Herm (sk8ngnutt)

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Disastrous Competitive Programs

At the 1990 World Championships, Katia Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov skated a long program that was "disastrous" in the sense that it was not the magical perfection that was their standard. Katia fell on their side-by-side double axels, which was the opening jump of a jump sequence. She missed another jump, and the who program lacked the unison that was their hallmark.

Still, the judges awarded G & G marks that were high enough to win them another World title. Reputation carried that day in that championship, in my opinion.

 

[Kasey]

Laetitia Hubert at the 92? 94? Olympics.....I don't think I've ever seen that many falls in one program ever, before or since...what was it, 5?? Poor thing.

Timmy Goebel, 2003 Nats...three falls??? Again, poor thing!

Yagudin, last goodwill games...didn't he even hit the boards on a fall on that one? I think bronze there was a bit of a gift, and I'm a huge fan!

I don't remember what it was...and it was a pro 'competition', one of his first....But Kurt Browning had one pro competition, he actually forgot his program! And finally he just ended it, like 20 seconds early, and told the judges that he didn't remember what to do! Wasn't a major title or anything, but quite embarassing I'm sure!

 

[RIskatingfan]

Just recalled one that wasn't mentioned. Yagudin in his 2001 Worlds QR. He was 5th in his group! Had to skate his short program in the second to last warm-up group. I don't remember the marks he got but he skated sooo bad I remember he even fell on a sit spin. I'm not sure but I believe it was after that skate that he eventually told the press he was injured.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Nancy Kerrigan had a disastrous long program at the 1989 Skate America competition. She was in third place after the short program, with a realistic chance to medal. Jill Trenary had skated a miserable long program - falls, stumbles all over the place - so Nancy was in a good position to perhaps win the silver medal.

Alas, Kerrigan fell apart, missed several triples, and finished in fifth place overall. Watching that competition, I thought, "Wow, Nancy is a very attractive young woman, and obviously she's a talented figure s

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Nancy Kerrigan had a disastrous long program at the 1989 Skate America competition. She was in third place after the short program, with a realistic chance to medal. Jill Trenary had skated a miserable long program - falls, stumbles all over the place - so Nancy was in a good position to perhaps win the silver medal.

Alas, Kerrigan fell apart, missed several triples, and finished in fifth place overall. Watching that competition, I thought, "Wow, Nancy is a very attractive young woman, and obviously she's a talented figure skater, but she has a major head problem. She was a bundle of nerves, and it cost her a medal in that competition."

 

[Panther2000]

Re: Disastrous Competitive Programs

At the 1990 World Championships, Katia Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov skated a long program that was "disastrous" in the sense that it was not the magical perfection that was their standard. Katia fell on their side-by-side double axels, which was the opening jump of a jump sequence. She missed another jump, and the who program lacked the unison that was their hallmark.

Still, the judges awarded G & G marks that were high enough to win them another World title. Reputation carried that day in that championship, in my opinion.

I remember that. Thought, I loved that couple & their skating. I was ashamed for the sport. that was such a lie that medal that they were given. I would have been ashamed to receive that medal.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Just goes to show you, you can be a star one day and a loser the next. Even Serina and Tiger have their bad hair days. It's human and it's normal. It's the body of work that counts.

Joe

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Maria Butraskaya has had so many disastrous performances - so many long programs chocked-full of falls, splats, clunky landings, etc. She was a courageous skater, but she really was a bundle of nerves when she competed. The judges often were generous with their marks, and sometimes I wondered if they actually watched the program or just gave the marks out of sympathy.

One competition - I think it was the 1999 Grand Prix Final - but I'm not entirely sure of the competition - Maria fell three times.
One fall was one of those "splattering" falls in which she nearly landed prone on her stomach, with her legs flying out behind her.
Absolutely awful. Postively embarrassing.

At the 2002 Olympics, Maria skated a long program, that while not "disastrous", was far short of what she needed to do in order to win a medal. When she finished her program, Sandra Bezic said, "Maria must be thinking - I worked four years for this?"

 

[icenut84]

One competition - I think it was the 1999 Grand Prix Final - but I'm not entirely sure of the competition - Maria fell three times.
One fall was one of those "splattering" falls in which she nearly landed prone on her stomach, with her legs flying out behind her.
Absolutely awful. Postively embarrassing.

Yeah, it was 99 GPF (in Russia?) if we're thinking of the same performance. I even remember it was the triple salchow she has that horrible fall on, practically landing on her stomach. I think it was only a month or so before Worlds, where she skated to a stunning victory . Amazing how she managed to get herself together like that.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

At the first Gold Championships, held in Edmonton in the fall of 1994, Katarina Witt skated a program that was disastrous for her.
She stepped out of her triple toe/double toe and she slipped and nearly fell on her double axel. She failed to complete one jump.
The program, entitled, "Solo", was skated to solo instrumental selections. It was an interesting, creative concept, but Katarina did not land the elements, and her scores reflected her lack of technical moves. Kat looked really embarrassed after that skate.

She came back and skated a fine performance to "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" - the same program she skated to at the 1994 Olympics.

 

[show 42]

One performance comes to mind..........Christopher Bowman skating in I think the Worlds following the 92 Olympics (someone help me out). The competition was in Oakland, Ca., and apparantly the rink was narrow and Chris clipped his skates on the side, fell, and wrenched his knee. The performance went downhill from there. He tried bravely to complete the skate, but he ended up limping around the rink for another minute or so. 42

 

[NanSinger2]

At the first Gold Championships, held in Edmonton in the fall of 1994, Katarina Witt skated a program that was disastrous for her.
She stepped out of her triple toe/double toe and she slipped and nearly fell on her double axel. She failed to complete one jump.
The program, entitled, "Solo", was skated to solo instrumental selections. It was an interesting, creative concept, but Katarina did not land the elements, and her scores reflected her lack of technical moves. Kat looked really embarrassed after that skate.

She came back and skated a fine performance to "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" - the same program she skated to at the 1994 Olympics.

I remember that one. I think she was shocked about the whole thing.

 

[April]

The worst showing that comes to mind is 2002 Skate America. The top skaters were falling left and right upon the ice-- with the exception of a few. The skating event was truly a horrific experience for the on set of the season too, which greatly showcases why "over-skating" is harmful. Everyone had a sore this and that and rip and tear here and there.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

One truly disastrous competitive performance was Janet Lynn's short program at the 1973 World Championships. She fell twice and finished twelfth in that phase of the competition. The next day she won the long program and pulled up to a silver-medal finish.

However -- that short program!! :sheesh: Had Janet stayed on her feet, she probably would have won the short program or at least finished second in that phase of the competition, and she probably would have won the World title.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

One more disaster -- Kurt Browning's long program at Trophee Lalique in the fall of 1991. His back injury was a factor, of course, but the entire program was a series of falls, stumbles, and watering down the technical content from triples to doubles and singles. It was a very poor program.

What made the competition even more memorable, from a negative point of view, was the fact that the judges awarded Kurt scores that were high enough to give him the title. He simply did not earn the title, but the weight of three World titles carried the day for him in that event.