Most blah Olympics ever?

[Vash01]

I found the winning performances to be very inspiring, considering the kind of pressure these skaters handled and delivered solid performances. I also found some of the non-winning performances quite inspiring.

Vash

 

[Kasey]

Although I felt the right people won in every event, I would disagree that the winning performances in men's and dance, and maybe even ladies, were "inspiring". I love Shizuka, and was thrilled with her clean performance and win, but 2004 Dortmund was "inspiring"....Olys was getting done what she needed to do. Navka and Kostamarov seemed to be less than themselves in both CD and OD, only showing their spark in the FD. And Plushenko won with his most boring and uninspired free program performance in five or six years, IMO.

 

[Zuranthium]

I agree. Shizuka's performance, while good and well enough to win that night, wasn't all that.

Her Ina Bauer was pretty much the best ever. Carrying it into a 3Sal/2Toe/2Loop is simply iconic.

Shizuka really was wonderful. She displayed the flexibility of Cohen, the jumping height of Slutskaya, and the grace of Kwan. As an overall package, at this moment in time, she is the best female skater ever.

 

[Mathman]

Shizuka was pretty, she performed competently (except for leaving out her highlight jumps, the two triple-triples that she had planned), but I didn't find myself leaping out of my seat.

Maybe the fact that (as it turned out) she didn't really have any competition that night contributed to my overall impression of blah.

MM

 

[Zuranthium]

I wasn't jumping out of my seat at first either but after watching her skate again (and again and again....), the performance is a work of art.

Sasha's performance was excellent as well because her falls worked with the music. They set up a kind of tragedy and considering she was skating to Romeo and Juliet, you really got the feeling of "wow, love can overcome anything" by the time she got done skating. Notice how the commentators (for both American and European coverage) don't say a word after the first two minutes - they are enthralled. Beautiful.

 

[Mathman]

Sasha's performance was excellent as well because her falls worked with the music. They set up a kind of tragedy and considering she was skating to Romeo and Juliet, you really got the feeling of "wow, love can overcome anything" by the time she got done skating. Notice how the commentators (for both American and European coverage) don't say a word after the first two minutes - they are enthralled. Beautiful.

:chorus: Art imitates life!

 

[attyfan]

I thought this Olys was the worst in several years, but I prefer it when the medalists are "good [bronze]; better [silver] best [gold]" in most or all disciplines, instead of one or more medals decided by "who was least bad". For example in the ladies and men's event in '98that Lipinski and Kulik had the skates of their lives doesn't alter the fact that the silver and bronze medalists also skated well; in '06, the OGMs in the mens and the ladies were clean, but not the skate of their lives -- and most of the remaining medalists weren't even clean.

 

[Zuranthium]

in '06, the OGMs in the mens and the ladies were clean, but not the skate of their lives

I disagree -- Arakawa gave the best performance of her life, even if the jumping wasn't the very best she can do.

 

[attyfan]

I disagree -- Arakawa gave the best performance of her life, even if the jumping wasn't the very best she can do.

I thought she did much better in Dortmund -- on this, let us agree to disagree.