This is a tough one. I already have my answer but it's quite close! Michelle's "Lyra Angelica" from Nagano was superb. No...it wasn't Philadelphia, and I do think she got the medal she deserved that night, but it was such an elegant performance. Everything was wonderful and on any other night (and any other Olympics) it would have been Golden. Darn that little midget from Texas with all that pizzazz and incredible jumping ability! (LOL...just playing, Tara amazed me that night!). That was the finest Olympic Silver performance I can recall.
The one that comes close for me is Elizabeth Manley's surprise Silver in Calgary. WOW! She'd always been touted as a future champion but could never deliver...could never make it all fall into place. She was so stunning in Calgary. Technically, her performance was brilliant (what a triple lutz!), but I loved the happy, bubbly quality she gave it. I enjoy seeing the troubled skater rise above and deliver that dream skate...especially at the Olympics!
Nancy's freeskate in Lillehammer was memorable as well. She, like Manley, finally realized all the potential everyone knew she had. But, it wasn't as surprising as Manley's, and all of her comments at the Medal Ceremony afterward kind of tarnished that performance. But, as purely a skate, it was a wonderful Olympic moment and certainly ranks as a fine Silver Medal performance.
Midori. What can I say? I felt so bad for her after the 1991 Worlds in Munich. So much pressure and stress on such little shoulders! She didn't give up and gave it everything she had...including a beautiful triple axel! I'm glad she finished her career (not thinking of 96 Worlds) with a gutsy performance and an Olympic Silver.
I wasn't that impressed with Irina's or Rosalynn's Olympic performances. Respectable and good, but they didn't interest me as much as the others!
) on the subject of how she looked in that blue dress, never mind the skating.
