Some Disastrous Competitive Performances

[soogar]

Alexei may have more World titles, and even an Olympic medal, but IIRC, Alexei has never been a national champ, which may not mean a lot to some, but I don't think being a 6 time National champion is something to ignore. Todd and Alexei are BOTH great champions and deserve to be treated as such.

Todd never competed against skaters like Plushenko and Abt for National titles either. He might have never made it out of Russian Nats with the kind of skaters that came out of there in that era.

 

[KwanFan1212]

OK guys, please get this thread back on topic. The topic is disasterous competitive programs.......not which male skater is the best or was the best or who will be the best in the future. You can start a poll somewhere or start a new thread to debate that til the cows come home but this is not the thread for it. :banging:

And on topic, I think that US Nats men's LPs from 2003 definitely belongs on this list. Especially that final flight of men where there were so many problems and disasters that even Dick Button could barely commentate for it! I think the one bright spot was Ryan Jahnke's leap to the podium after he delivered one of the only great programs of the night. What a mess!! I'm glad I wasn't there for that because it was just insane how many things went wrong. :scratch:

 

[attyfan]

What about the men's FS at Worlds 2005? I don't think that a single skater was clean; it was crammed with injury (Honda, Plushy, Weir) and meltdowns (Joubert).

 

[lil lion 816]

I'll agree that Todd and Alexei are both worthy champs in their own right and leave it at that.

Now to the topic of discussion:

I've seen most of the "disastrous" programs mentioned here that come to my mind (with an ouch :frown2: ).

There was another one which occurred to me from an event which took place only once. That was back in late '96 and it was called the Continents' Cup. There were several less-than-stellar performances there, and also some terrific ones.

One of the performances I remember is Tonia Kwiatkowski's free skate in the comp. She was obviously unsettled and her timing was off throughout the program. She fell on jumps, two-footed jumps, you name it. Then it seemed as though she was getting it together again, when she *finally* landed a triple toe clean - then tried tacking on a double toe for a combo and down she went! She really banged her elbow a good one, too. Double ouch. She kind of had that "well, what can you do?" look when she bowed and came off the ice. A shame, because she was competitive when she was on. That definitely wasn't her day, though!

 

[Germanice]

Yep. It's called bribery. Tarasova has spread it around for years now.

So poor Todd never became Oly Champion, never won more than one (lucky!) World title, never gained a worldwide followship, just because eville Tarasova always spread her bribe around? hwell:

Come on, people, just a “comparison” between Eldredge and Yagudin is downright ridiculous! Not because Yagudin’s perfect or “invincible”, not because of the quad, only because Eldredge’s a typical case of an always-a-bridesmaid. Like it has been mentioned before, he’s simply not in Yagudin’s league, period! Yagudin and Plushenko were in a league of their own then; the only thing mediocre local hero’s like Eldredge could’ve hoped for was to get their autographs. Even some bubbles by a few patriotic, overzealous and maybe bitter? Eldredge fans won’t change that!

Anke

 

[diver chick]

Sorry Anke, but diehard Alexei fan or not I think you are a touch out of line with your comments. It is not ridiculous to compare Eldredge and Yagudin, they both have strengths and weaknesses in their skating which can be compared and contrasted just the same as any other skaters. The fact that you personally don't seem to rate Eldredge as a skater does not take away from the fact that he was and is a very good skater with some very good qualities.

Yagudin is not invincible and while I agree that it would have been incredibly difficult for anyone to beat him in SLC, it is entirely possible that an on form Eldredge could have pushed him a lot harder for the gold. With Alexei in the form he was in and with the programs he had coupled with his desire to win the gold, he owned the ice from the minute he stepped on it and was unlikely to be beaten.

Oh and before you criticise me for my comments - my favourite male skater ever is Alexei Yagudin and I am not particularly a fan of Eldredge. I just think getting drawn into my skater is better than your skater debates is ridiculous and when the debates are lowered to the level of personal insults towards fans that really bugs me.


Back on topic! My vote for disasterous program goes to Viktor Petrenko's SP in Lillehammer. He had such a good chance to win the whole thing and IMO was a much better skater in Lillehammer than Albertville, but he blew it in the SP.

 

[iluvtodd]

Thank you, diver chick, Heather, and everyone else who is trying to get this topic back on track and keep it civil and respectful! :agree:

 

[slutskayafan21]

Had Todd skated cleanly at the 2002 Olympics, there was a very real chance that he could have medaled and even won. Alexei's program was not so much that it couldn't be overcome (no pun intended). Todd was landing his quad toe/triple toe easily in practice. Almost TOO easily. It just didn't happen when he skated in the actual competition. That's how it goes. I think not having very much experience with the jump in competition, hurt his chances of nailing it when it really mattered. hwell:

Well we will have to agree to disagree on that. I would have hoped you would have been right, I would have liked Todd to have a medal in Salt Lake to end his amateur career, the higher the better as well. However Goebel landed 3 quads in winning the bronze, and Yagudin and Plushenko were established as clearly the top 2 at that time. Also wasnt Eldredge only planning 1 quad in the long program? He would have needed atleast 2, one with a triple, then maybe he would have medaled. Keep in mind a subpar Yagudin was judged ahead of a perfect Eldredge(albeit without even one quad)at 2001 Worlds.

 

[antmanb]

Lulu (Chen Lu) at '97 Worlds, with a disastrous qualifying round. The reighning World Silver Medalist & former World Champ failed to make it out of the QR.

1982 Nationals - Elaine Zayak -- then reighning World Silver Medalist -- bombing in her LP, barely making the '82 Worlds team (generous marks made her 3rd, behind Sumners & DeVries). One month later, she got her act together & became World Champion!

Am i mixing up my years but i was convinced the lulu did make it out of qualifying in 1997 because i'm sure that was the year that she'd only been back on the ice for three weeks before worlds and was only there because she was trying to qualify China a place at the Olympics the following Season.

IIRC she skated an SP to Take Five in what looked like a practice outfit. She singled her Lutz so put a double toe on the end of her triple toe from steps and then singled the double axel. That was a miserable SP though.

Ant

 

[antmanb]

Germanice, I think you're being rather harsh to Todd & to Kathie in these comments. I'm not going to say with assurance that he would have won the SLC Olympics, but I wouldn't rule out the chance that he might have medaled had he not had the fall in the SP. He was (and IMHO) still is a formidable competitor. He trained hard to learn to do the quad, did land it in two competitions (2000 Masters and the midwestern sectionals as an eligible skater). Yes, I realize that he had not landed it consistently in other competitions, but there is more to skating (& should be) that just one blasted jump. I am thrilled that he is enjoying a successful pro career (and doesn't have to worry about landing the quad in competition anymore), but I do wonder how he would have fared under CoP. I suspect he would have done well under it. The quad is not everything!

Furthermore, can we agree to disagree respectfully?

Honestly i do believe Eldredge had the chance to medal if he skated clean, however that was a big if and i seriously doubt he had a chance at anything better than bronze. If all the skaters went clean (which they didn't) Yags and Plush both had two quads in their program and if plush had gone clean a 4/3/3. Artistically i think there's a very easy argument to put Yags ahead of Eldredge and even though i personally despise Plushy's (lack of) presentation, i'm fairly sure the judges would place him above Eldredge in presentation too.

Ant

 

[antmanb]

Yep. It's called bribery. Tarasova has spread it around for years now.

You are kidding me right?

Which of Alexei's world titles were not won fair and square? Do you honestly think Plushy or Goebel deserved the gold more than Yags at the Olympics?

Ant

 

[Mathman]

Hey, Anke, I totally agree with your posts. You have every right to to proud of your boy, with his four World Chamionships!

That puts him in the company of such skating legends as Scott Hamilton and Dick Button. You would have to go all the way back to Ulrich Salchow to find a skater with more.

On the men's side, that is...

Your friend,

Mathman

 

[Germanice]

Thank you, Buddy!

Yes, I'm soooo proud of my boy , surely, but it's true he doesn't even come close to the achievements of the greatest Lady of all times, the one and only, the unforgettable Sonja Henie, with sexy and charming Kat Witt being a close second! Just the thought of how many World titles and Olympic Gold medals these Ladies won .......

My boy looks poor here with just four World titles and "only" one Oly Gold,
but so what!!!, better one than none, don't you think?!

Anke

 

[Mathman]

A fifth and a first in two Olympic games, that's my guy!

 

[PatC]

1997 World Championships Final Not Reached Lu Chen CHN 11 25

http://www.eskatefans.com/skatabase...NATION`+=+'China'&name_mailing=&page=3&order=

I believe Lu Chen had to attend the Karl Schaeffer comp to qualify. So did Susan Humphreys of Canada.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Other disasters, some of which have already been mentioned by other posters:

Nancy Kerrigan's ultra-meltdown at the 1993 Worlds long program, where she finished ninth in that phase of the competition and fell from first to fifth, right off the podium.

Lu Chen's not getting out of the qualifying round at the 1997 Worlds. What a shame that was! The lady had won the World title in 1995 and had finished a very, very close second to Michelle Kwan in 1996, and the following year she was out of the competition before it really began (short and long). Her bronze medal win a Nagano was all the more fantastic for her.

 

[slutskayafan21]

Lu Chen's not getting out of the qualifying round at the 1997 Worlds. What a shame that was! The lady had won the World title in 1995 and had finished a very, very close second to Michelle Kwan in 1996, and the following year she was out of the competition before it really began (short and long). Her bronze medal win a Nagano was all the more fantastic for her.

She didnt really show up in any kind of shape to skate those Worlds, I expected a disaester. I remember predicting before Worlds she might be eliminated in qualifying, and it turned out the short program instead.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

You're right. Lu Chen did not advance beyond the short program. I remember watching her short - she popped her planned triple lutz/double combination into a single lutz, and she made other mistakes as well. It was disastrous, no question about it. And, as I wrote, this sad showing made her wonderful performance at Nagano all the more spectacular.

 

[thisthingcalledlove]

She didnt really show up in any kind of shape to skate those Worlds, I expected a disaester. I remember predicting before Worlds she might be eliminated in qualifying, and it turned out the short program instead.

Back in 1997, skaters in the top ten the previous year did not need to skate in the quali round.

Back to topic... Disasterous performance...1997 Ladies' LP of Tonya Kwiatkowski. I felt so bad for her. I really thought she could've finished at least third and make it to worlds, but her meltdown, coupled with Nicole's comeback, and Angela's wonderful performance pushed her down to 6th place =(

I think it has already been mentioned, but Michelle had a meltdown at the same competition.

A month later, Krisztina Czako, in the position to challenge (and perhaps walk away with) a medal at the world championships had a melt down in the free skate. She was never the same after that.

 

[soogar]

Back in 1997, skaters in the top ten the previous year did not need to skate in the quali round.

I think it has already been mentioned, but Michelle had a meltdown at the same competition.
.

Michelle skated well at 1997 Worlds. She had a mistake in the SP which put her in 4rth and she won the LP. It was 1997 Nats where she mopped up the ice.