IMO, doing the SOI shows helped Kristi's popularity. Had Sarah stuck with SOI maybe she'd be a hugely popular. I agree that Turin will be debated and debated. A majority of the ladies LP's there were second rate and people will probably always question why Fumie was'nt on the podium over a Cohen splatfest and Irina's messy LP.
Sasha not going to 2007 Nats
- Thread starter nymkfan51
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
It's all politics, Fossi. But they got the correct winner.
As for Sarah, I think had she gone into SOI after the Olys, she would have blossomed into a first rate show skater, but the delay and the weight gain took its toll.
Joe
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
Well becoming iconic does mean you have to have staying power and the willingness to do so... Sarah left skating. period. a gold medal alone cannot make one an icon...
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2005
Actually I think both Tara and Sarah had alot of room for growth left in their skating had they stayed. The thing with Tara though if her body maybe could not have taken continuing with the damage she had already done to her hips. Sarah though could have and should have continued IMO, she claimed she wanted to leave to become a student at first, which would have made sense, but then she returns to skate on Stars on Ice 40 pounds overweight, so it is hard to take her comments on wanting to pursue school and a medical career seriously. Biaul of all 3 of them is the one who had already maxed out as a skater at 16 or 17 IMO and was not going to grow, improve, and mantain her standing as the very top women as an amateur, and thus was smart to go pro, although not smart to get lazy and greatly diminish her role as a pro skater, alienate those she used to be closest too, and tarnish her legacy as a skater.
No , doing SOI shows *well* and taking her pro skating seriously is what helped Kristi's popularity. Sarah went on tour ill prepared to entertain an audience and skate up to the level of the other performers. That left a lot of people disappointed. Even though Kristi wasn't a favorite skater of mine, I have to give her props for maintaining her jumps, making the effort to keep her choreography interesting and entertaining an audience. It was very evident that she took her pro skating very seriously (as did Boitano, Browning and Hamilton) and that was/is the reason she is a beloved skater and is still a draw for most people.
I don't think that Sarah was "40 lbs overweight" during the SOI tour, but I do think she was more than 30 lbs over her Olympic weight (which was very thin). She was drastically out of shape at the start of the tour, and she seemed to get more out of shape as the tour went on. Many pro skaters have said that they try to get down to fighting weight before they go on tour because with the catch-as-catch can meals, limited exercise and the long periods sitting on buses and planes, they almost inevitably gain weight when on tour. That could also explain why people who have seen Irina on tour stops lately think she has acquired a bit of a tummy.
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