I was rewatching my tape of the 92 Olympics recently, ladies competition. Going by what I know of the skaters, what I've read, and what the commentators were saying, it seems like it was always Tonya was the athletic one, and Kristi and Nancy were the artistic ones. Sure, Tonya was athletic - she had a 3axel and very big jumps and big elements, etc. But even though it was clear Kristi was the leader on the presentation side out of the 3, I also found it interesting that the commentators were also talking about how Tonya didn't have what Nancy had on the artistic side.
Going from the 92 Olympics - am I the only one who thought Tonya's presentation actually wasn't that bad? Sure, Nancy was more graceful, but going by the SPs especially, I thought Tonya was far more musical. I really enjoyed her programme. It was different (most of the skaters were going for the classical, balletic type programme), and I thought her SP had more choreography, nuances, and fit the music better than Nancy's did. I also thought it really fit her style, and the elements were well placed (espcially the layback, IIRC). Nancy's was well skated too and had nice clean lines etc, but to me, her programme looked quite generic and dull in comparison, and she also seemed to re-use whole parts of choreography in multiple programmes.
I was a bit at the commentators (American, though I can't remember who) talking about how Tonya wasn't at the same level as Nancy artistically. Tonya seems to have been given the label of "the athletic one", almost so none of her programmes are thought to have much presentation merit at all. Granted, I didn't think her 94 programmes were as good, but I think her 92 ones weren't bad at all. Hers & Kristi's SPs were my favourites.
I don't want this to turn into a rehash of anything that happened in 94, or to go off on a tangent. I was just interested in reading other people's opinions on Tonya's skating, particularly the 92 Olympics SPs. After all, her actual skating doesn't seem to be discussed very often.
Edited to add - did Tonya compete in 93? I just don't remember reading a result from the Worlds or anything. If not, was it through injury? Or did she retire then return for the Olympics in 94? Just wondered. If she did compete that season, where did she place?
Going from the 92 Olympics - am I the only one who thought Tonya's presentation actually wasn't that bad? Sure, Nancy was more graceful, but going by the SPs especially, I thought Tonya was far more musical. I really enjoyed her programme. It was different (most of the skaters were going for the classical, balletic type programme), and I thought her SP had more choreography, nuances, and fit the music better than Nancy's did. I also thought it really fit her style, and the elements were well placed (espcially the layback, IIRC). Nancy's was well skated too and had nice clean lines etc, but to me, her programme looked quite generic and dull in comparison, and she also seemed to re-use whole parts of choreography in multiple programmes.
I was a bit at the commentators (American, though I can't remember who) talking about how Tonya wasn't at the same level as Nancy artistically. Tonya seems to have been given the label of "the athletic one", almost so none of her programmes are thought to have much presentation merit at all. Granted, I didn't think her 94 programmes were as good, but I think her 92 ones weren't bad at all. Hers & Kristi's SPs were my favourites.
I don't want this to turn into a rehash of anything that happened in 94, or to go off on a tangent. I was just interested in reading other people's opinions on Tonya's skating, particularly the 92 Olympics SPs. After all, her actual skating doesn't seem to be discussed very often.
Edited to add - did Tonya compete in 93? I just don't remember reading a result from the Worlds or anything. If not, was it through injury? Or did she retire then return for the Olympics in 94? Just wondered. If she did compete that season, where did she place?