Skating in the 1970's

[BlissfulSynergy]

Another thing I recall now about the 1970s are these long 5 minute programs! It's rather ironic that skaters today could use more time with all they are asked to do, without having enough time. While, in the earlier eras, competitors took mini breaks with slow sequences in the middle of programs.

in the past, despite many fantastic moves, and relatively excellent edges/ SS, some moves were simpler, and skaters weren't maxing out all the possibilities often demanded today. Albeit that skaters today have poorer SS, and some bad jump entries, and URs.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Speaking of skaters who belong in this thread: The one, the only, Janet Lynn! (Side note: Only YESTERDAY when looking her up on Wikipedia did I realize that Lynn was/is not her last name but rather her middle name. I NEVER knew that. )

Janet Lynn - 1970 World Figure Skating Championships - Free Skate

Music: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy, Les Preludes by Liszt, Le Corsaire by Adam, Leonore Overture No.3 by Beethoven

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Janet Lynn - 1971 World Figure Skating Championships - Free Skate

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Janet Lynn (1972)

Her free skate from the Sapporo Winter Olympics film, dir. by Masahiro Shinoda.

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Janet Lynn - 1973 U.S. Figure Skating Championships - Free Skate

Music: La Mer by Debussy, Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61: No. 2, Assez lent by Ravel, La Valse M. 72 by Ravel

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Janet Lynn 1973 World Figure Skating Championships Exhibition

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"Afternoon of a Faun" performed in 1983, with Peggy Fleming commentating

Janet Lynn - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1983)

@1983 International Professional Figure Skating ChampionshipsMusic by Debussy

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Beautiful Fluff aired during Nagano 1998 about "the fall/smile" and its aftermath

Janet Lynn Fluff (Get out your tissues!)

Aired during the 1998 Olympics

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One Legend Talking about Another (this is John Curry in rapture over Janet Lynn's skating)

John Curry waxes lyrically about Janet Lynn

An excerpt from Ep.3 of Curry on Ice the BBC Daytime Learn to Skate series in the late 80s filmed at Dundonald Rink, Northern Ireland (where the Torvill & De...

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At the time, there was some controversy about her name shortening, although being before the days of social media et al, the negative comments didn't spread far. Some thought the change was pretentious and "Hollywood"-ish, and there were Polish groups who thought she was denying her heritage. I doubt if Janet herself had much to say about it; I heard that it was her superfan Dick Button who pushed for it, saying announcers wouldn't pronounce Nowicki properly.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Another thing I recall now about the 1970s are these long 5 minute programs! It's rather ironic that skaters today could use more time with all they are asked to do, without having enough time. While, in the earlier eras, competitors took mini breaks with slow sequences in the middle of programs.

in the past, despite many fantastic moves, and relatively excellent edges/ SS, some moves were simpler, and skaters weren't maxing out all the possibilities often demanded today. Albeit that skaters today have poorer SS, and some bad jump entries, and URs.

I liked doing 5-minute programs. You weren't galloping breathlessly from move to move. You had more time to tell a story, have changes of mood, etc. And in pairs we had the fun of two programs all along. Well, right from my earliest forays into competition anyway, since pairs were already doing short programs from the early 1960s, long before the singles and dancers. Stamina not being one of my strengths, we could use fast music for a lively short and then slow it down to something romantic or lyrical for the long. (I never do the "things were better in my day" routine. They weren't, the rules at the time just happened to suit my particular abilities. If I'd time-travelled into the future, today, I probably wouldn't even be a skater, certainly not a competitor.)

 

[el henry]

There must have been controversy in "inside" skating circles about Janet's name, but there was no controversy for those of us who sat down to watch Wide World of Sports on a Saturday.

I had no idea until maybe ten years ago (?) that she had changed her name. It is such a common thing to do in the US of A, it would barely have caused a ripple. I know enough people my age whose parents simply Anglicized their names (it wasn't even Ellis Island, they did it after arrival), that her name change would cause not even the slightest of eyebrows to be raised.

Then again, my last name is Henry, the name was Henry in Ireland when the old ancestors came over, so what do I know?

Janet is the first skater I remember watching, Afternoon of a Faun is the first skate I remember watching, and here I am.

 

[Diana Delafield]

There must have been controversy in "inside" skating circles about Janet's name, but there was no controversy for those of us who sat down to watch Wide World of Sports on a Saturday.

I had no idea until maybe ten years ago (?) that she had changed her name. It is such a common thing to do in the US of A, it would barely have caused a ripple. I know enough people my age whose parents simply Anglicized their names (it wasn't even Ellis Island, they did it after arrival), that her name change would cause not even the slightest of eyebrows to be raised.

Then again, my last name is Henry, the name was Henry in Ireland when the old ancestors came over, so what do I know?

Janet is the first skater I remember watching, Afternoon of a Faun is the first skate I remember watching, and here I am.

In Canada that was the Karen Magnussen era, so while Janet Lynn was seen on TV, she wasn't the focus of attention that she was in her own country. Where I'd heard the gossip (which was all it was) about her name shortening was in one or other of the two clubs I was skating in during the early 70s, either the Minto in Ottawa or the Cricket Club in Toronto, both of them major clubs with a pipeline to the US skating scene. Changing the spelling of a European name was as common in Canada as it was south of the border, or translating it -- I knew a skater whose grandparents had come over from a Slavic country as Mikelovich and who was now Michaelson. The impression I got, if I thought about it at all, was that there were Americans who felt her coaching team were hiding her ancestry by dropping her surname completely. But without today's social media to spread it beyond the halls of a skating club, in Canada it was a non-story. Just a tiny tempest in a teapot.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I agree with you @Diana Delafield. I was just remembering and marveling over how much time the skaters had for programs back then. In contrast, today program length is shortened, while at the same time too many elements are crammed into programs.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

I'm back with a short post to mention Irina Rodnina, the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980). She's also the first pair skater to win the OGM with 2 different partners (a feat matched only by Artur Dmitriev).

Wasn't it Rodnina and Zaitsev who, one time when their tape broke mid-program, kept skating without the music and still won a World Title?

 

[Diana Delafield]

I'm back with a short post to mention Irina Rodnina, the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980). She's also the first pair skater to win the OGM with 2 different partners (a feat matched only by Artur Dmitriev).

Wasn't it Rodnina and Zaitsev who, one time when their tape broke mid-program, kept skating without the music and still won a World Title?

Only reason my partner and I got anywhere at all in pairs. She almost killed off the discipline, because few wanted to bother spending the time (and their parents' money) when the highest they could hope to achieve was silver at Worlds or the Olympics. A lot of high level competitions saw only two or three entries in pairs. You could go out and do a subpar performance (says she, cynically) and still bring home a silver medal if there were only two pairs entered. Babilonia and Gardner were about the only real rivals the Russians had.

As for the Silent Skate hoo-ha, which was a big one at the time, the joking rumour at the clubs was that they continued to skate because their coach signalled them to and Rodnina was afraid of their coach. Zaitsev kept going because he was afraid of Rodnina. Nobody knew who the judges were afraid of. Whatever the reality was, it was still a huge controversy in the pairs world that they were allowed to win against the rule that they should have stopped when the referee signalled them to, and the judges should have stopped marking at that point.

 

[moonvine]

Another thing I recall now about the 1970s are these long 5 minute programs! It's rather ironic that skaters today could use more time with all they are asked to do, without having enough time. While, in the earlier eras, competitors took mini breaks with slow sequences in the middle of programs.

in the past, despite many fantastic moves, and relatively excellent edges/ SS, some moves were simpler, and skaters weren't maxing out all the possibilities often demanded today. Albeit that skaters today have poorer SS, and some bad jump entries, and URs

I loved the 5 minute programs and the excellent edges and skating skills.

 

[sadya]

I'm back with a short post to mention Irina Rodnina, the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976, 1980). She's also the first pair skater to win the OGM with 2 different partners (a feat matched only by Artur Dmitriev).

Wasn't it Rodnina and Zaitsev who, one time when their tape broke mid-program, kept skating without the music and still won a World Title?

You're right:

Rodnina & Zaitsev inc. when the music failed

www.youtube.com

Around a decade later, something similar happened to Gordeeva/Grinkov.

 

[TontoK]

You're right:

Rodnina & Zaitsev inc. when the music failed

www.youtube.com

Around a decade later, something similar happened to Gordeeva/Grinkov.

At that moment in time, Rodnina and Zaitsev were SOOOO much better than the other contenders that they basically were saying, "I dare you to give this title to another pair."

The judges did not dare.

Personally, I prefer the Protopopov's vision of pair skating to the "Power Pair" revolution that R/Z delivered, but no doubt about it. They were THE superior pair at the time.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Wow, amazing. You were very, very lucky to work with someone so supportive and responsible. That makes a huge difference in a successful team.

I was very picky about even trying out with someone new, and my family got in on the selection. My partner throughout my competitive career had been chosen for me by my coach, who was also my grandmother's cousin. After we'd retired and were both in grad school in different countries, a man at my new club who'd competed with his sister suggested we team up for fun and maybe adult competitions. I researched him carefully around the club first as to his personality and abilities, and my father "dropped in" one day and grilled the poor guy like it was a police interrogation . Reminded me of a time when Jodeyne Higgins and Sean Rice were competing and a camera (with microphone) in the stands caught Jodeyne's father muttering, "You drop her, man, and you're dead meat!"

 

[theblade]

Now that's family protection! IIRC, Sean (RIP) dated a school classmate of mine's sister when he was younger.

This thread makes me think anew about Sean McGill, Brian Pockar and Rob McCall.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Now that's family protection! IIRC, Sean (RIP) dated a school classmate of mine's sister when he was younger.

This thread makes me think anew about Sean McGill, Brian Pockar and Rob McCall.

And Dennis Coi , with whom I occasionally shared pairs practice ice at NSWC when he was skating in Novice in the early 70s, before he concentrated on singles and won Jr Worlds in 1978.

 

[LadyB]

Toller. My first skating love

And mine. Don't think I'd watch FS if it hadn't been for him. There was and is nobody like him.

 

[labgoat]

Wasn't it Rodnina and Zaitsev who, one time when their tape broke mid-program, kept skating without the music and still won a World Title?

You can find it in the rewatches

 

[Diana Delafield]

You can find it in the rewatches

I think I mentioned the Rodnina/Zaitsev no-music incident in another thread awhile back. There was a lot of controversy over that because they really should have been disqualified for ignoring the referee, who you could hear calling to them to stop as the rules required. Their coach, however, was shouting at them to continue. The gossip was that Rodnina was afraid of their coach and Zaitsev was afraid of Rodnina, so they kept on skating, not knowing who to listen to.

 

[Mafke]

we don't want to encourage untrained and unsupervised children to fall on the back of their heads and kill themselves.

Yet we're fine with young ladies wrecking their bodies with pre-rotated 'quads'....

 

[labgoat]

I think I mentioned the Rodnina/Zaitsev no-music incident in another thread awhile back. There was a lot of controversy over that because they really should have been disqualified for ignoring the referee, who you could hear calling to them to stop as the rules required. Their coach, however, was shouting at them to continue. The gossip was that Rodnina was afraid of their coach and Zaitsev was afraid of Rodnina, so they kept on skating, not knowing who to listen to.

I know they later disqualified Gordeeva & Grinkov when their incident happened at 1986 Europeans.

Figure Skating - 1987 - European Championship Pair Finals - USSR Ekaterina Grodeeva + Sergei Grinkov

http://www.imasportsphile.com has the largest and most diverse vintage FIGURE SKATING video library online

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[LiamForeman]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Gaby Seyfert. She was arguably a stronger skater than Lynn and had she stayed in for 72 Olympics she would undoubtedly won the gold over Trixie and Lynn wouldn’t have even gotten a medal