have you seen Sasha Cohen's??
Well, duh guys.
Obviously Sasha's is the standard in terms of extension and stretch. Her Charlotte was pretty much perfection, though my favorite spiral was that
outside-inside skid fan spiral. Gorgeous! That girl couldn't buy a clean FS but she sure was lovely to watch.
I referenced Michelle's Charlotte to illustrate the fact that at 37 years old (basically twice some of these girls' age) she's executing this move better than they are.
My favorite Charlotte is done by Fleur Maxwell. Perfect 180 split and the fact she lifts her back up while maintaining the split...amazing.
Adelina Sotnikova has lovely extension on hers as well.
I don't remember the year (2003?) when both Sasha and Michelle started doing the Charlotte in minor competitions, sparking a debate as to which skater deserves credit for bringing the move back into currency.
It seems like they started doing them around the same time. I remember Michelle started adding it to her programs in the 1998-1999 season in her
FS and
exhibition. However, around that same time Sasha was on the
junior level and had them in her program as well. There was basically zero coverage of juniors back then and Sasha didn't gain any attention until nationals in 2000. Michelle was the biggest name in the sport around the time she started doing it so I feel like Michelle started the trend...Sasha did perfect it though.
A while back I found a video on YT where Michelle was on a talk show (I want to say it was Leno, Letterman or some other late night show) and was asked about it. She gave the backstory on it about Charlotte Oelschlegel and then actually demonstrated it on the stage. It was around 1999--her hair was still really short. Here's where it gets funny...In 2006 after Torino Sasha was on a late night talk show (I think the exact same one Michelle was on when she demonstrated it) and the host held up a picture of her doing a Charlotte and asked her about it. She didn't demonstrate it but she explained it the same way Michelle did (both of them fumbled with the last name). I thought that was really funny
If anyone remembers the talk show or can find a clip please help me out. I couldn't find either one on YT.
Point is none of the ladies competing today is doing the move any justice. When done properly it's lovely...everyone doing it today makes me cringe.:gaah:
): https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/.../Michelle-Kwan-Ice-Skating-Instagram-2018.jpg
Chait / Sakhnovsky on the other hand were abusing it, they used it to gain speed that they would otherwise lack and to disguise lacking skills (including skating skills) otherwise.
