What Olympic Pressure Will There Be for......

[attyfan]

"Slutskaya-to win the gold medal, she, her federation, and her fans back home in Russia, want so desperately for her, and to complete a great career with the one elusive prize."

After Irina's free skate at Worlds, I remember what Dick Button said about Rudy Galidno's Nat free skate in his home town -- something like "He already has his Olympic gold medal". It strikes me as just plain wrong that the OGM should be regarded as a greater triumph, it won't have the same emotional magic (the immediate comeback in the hometown).

 

[slutskayafan21]

attyfan, I agree with you, but the reality is the Oly Gold will always be viewed as the crowning achievment of the sport, above all else. I am not saying that is right, it just seems inevitable though. For me nothing could top Irina's performance at Worlds, the climax to that incredable moment, the comeback, the setbacks, the incredable season, the home crowd, that performance, how it built, it cant ever be duplicated.

 

[slutskayafan21]

If YOU really believe that Lindemann can win bronze, then I'd say YOU'RE the one who's dreaming!

Fine, lets say your theory that Lysacek's program component scores would automatically go up because of his World bronze(which I dont agree personaly), then the same theory would apply to Lambiel and Buttle, but their program component scores would go up even more due to them becoming the World gold and silver medalists(which I dont neccessarily think either, but that would be the case if the theory was in effect however), neither ever winning a World medal before this year as well.

 

[boggartlaura]

Fine, lets say your theory that Lysacek's program component scores would automatically go up because of his World bronze(which I dont agree personaly), then the same theory would apply to Lambiel and Buttle, but their program component scores would go up even more due to them becoming the World gold and silver medalists(which I dont neccessarily think either, but that would be the case if the theory was in effect however), neither ever winning a World medal before this year as well.

Um, so where's the problem? (Other than the fact you clearly don't like Lysacek.)

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

The biggest triumph for a skater would be to put down his personal best. It can be at Nationals, Worlds, or Olympics. If it happens at an Olys, that will be the cherry in the Sundae. If not it will be a disappointment but serious fans of figure skating will always remember the best of the skater.

Fans, who can only root for skaters of one country really don't enjoy the sport. JMO.

 

[euterpe]

Other than Plushenko, I am not impressed with the European men's chances for an Olympic medal.

At Worlds 2005, Lambiel benefitted from the fact that Plushenko dropped out and none of the other men had a clean free skate. Yes, he has quads, but his 3A and 3Z were on vacation. You cannot predict what kind of a performance Lambiel will hand in: it could be excellent, or it could be lackluster. Lindemann peaked two years too soon, and Klimkin, who has never been consistent, is in catch-up mode, like Joubert.

I'd like to see how the men shape up during the GP before making any predictions.

 

[R.D.]

The only possible response to this???

Well duh!!!

Ant

That's exactly my point! You just proved it. There is no telling, through any comp, who is going to win!

 

[Jaana]

- Plushenko will feel the pressure of the 2002 Olympics as he had a fall in the short programme. Besides I´d imagine that the coming season will not be easy for him. Now there is the situation that he or his coach has not chosen the freeskate, yet. It is not good to have to suffer extra pressure for not having the programmes ready by now! I remember how there were problems ALSO with his freeskate in previous Olympic season. What is the matter with Plushenko and Mishin, are they repeating the same mistake AGAIN???

Also there has been distractions, such as the marriage and the coming baby will be a big distraction in a very important season.

- Weir might suffer extra pressure from his quad, especially if he has not succeeded with it in competitions before the Olympics.

- Lambiel surely will have extra pressure for being the reigning World champion. He will be anxious to show that it was not a fluke. I really don´t know if it is good for a skater that has not won any World medals earlier to face the Olympics as the reigning Worlds champion.

 

[nuge]

Navka/Kostomarov should indeed feel no pressure at all unless B/A are there which is unlikely .If Tanith/Ben were going to compete I think it would be a different story .N/K should win no problem ' unless they fall .

D/shoenfelder shouldn't feel any pressure .They seem to be on the rise at the moment and with great programmes like last year should feel confident if they do well at the GPS could well deserve a medal.

G/G Am not sure about these two.They' ve been around for so long .It could all depend on their programmes .Some years they've been so so and last year did well so who knows.

Den/Stav I think these two will certainly feel the pressure.They've had to deal with so much last year with Albena's sickness at euros and the slide down to fifth at worlds .Also trying to find themselves new coaches and adapting to a new country .Hopefully they will have new programmes that they skate well and are received well in the GPS beforehand.

I feel that the medals will be between these four.One of these couples are going to be disappointed .

But then again if FP/M are going to be there could make it very interesting

 

[attyfan]

...
- Lambiel surely will have extra pressure for being the reigning World champion. He will be anxious to show that it was not a fluke. I really don´t know if it is good for a skater that has not won any World medals earlier to face the Olympics as the reigning Worlds champion.

Why would the reigning World champ have a lot of pressure? Since the reigning champ hasn't won the OGM since '84, I would think that being the reigning champ takes the pressure off -- because people will assume that he hasn't got a prayer.

 

[R.D.]

The biggest triumph for a skater would be to put down his personal best. It can be at Nationals, Worlds, or Olympics. If it happens at an Olys, that will be the cherry in the Sundae. If not it will be a disappointment but serious fans of figure skating will always remember the best of the skater.

I'd say a skater's biggest triumph depends on what he/she wishes to achieve. In most cases, I'd say you are right (most skaters want to have that one knockout performance- or several). But I think timing is important as well. It certainly can't mean as much if a skater has that "moment" in a pro-am or Grand Prix event than if it happens at Worlds or Olympics. (or Nationals as well. But I think that could be considered a special moment in itself since you are in your home country in front of a home crowd.)

The real icing on the cake would be if Worlds is in your home country (like Irina- 2005 Worlds or Kwan- 2003 worlds) or Olympics (Hughes-2002).

JMO.

 

[R.D.]

Why would the reigning World champ have a lot of pressure? Since the reigning champ hasn't won the OGM since '84, I would think that being the reigning champ takes the pressure off -- because people will assume that he hasn't got a prayer.

I'm not sure about this. Ever heard of the pressure of defending your title? Many athletes in many sports almost always say that it's harder to defend a title than to win it in the first place. You can come up and have your moment and win a title, but once you are the reigning World Champion, suddenly everyone turns on you and starts gunning for you. You now have the task of STAYING on top now rather than making your way to the top, with everyone running at your heels. It's like being chased rather than being the chaser. If you stop, other teams/individuals will catch up to and pass you. Because once you make it to the top, there's nowhere to go but down.

I think skaters like Irina will experience this phenomenon this Olympic season. How will she handle it?

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Pressure, Pressure, Pressure. What would MacBeth's three witches say?

Irina will be going for her third try - she has one Oly medal, but a preWorld gold.

Sasha will be going for her second try - She has no Oly medal.

Michelle will be going for her third try - She has two Oly medals.

All three are over twenty!!

Does one have more pressure than the others? and will they all use the pressure in a posititve way?

Think Shizuka, Carolina, and yes, Kimmie.

Joe

 

[Doggygirl]

I think they will all feel a wide variety of pressures related to variety of individual goals. What will make the season and the Oly's exciting is to see who can rise above the pressures with fabulous skates!


DG

 

[chuckm]

Shizuka has the very real advantage of being a dark horse due to her poor performances at Worlds last season. The pressure of being the reigning World Champion really got to her, and Irina faces the same kind of pressure, especially with the Russian federation expecting her to bring home that OGM.

In 2002, the pressure caused Irina to skate too cautiously in the FS, and when she made a mistake, her OGM hopes went bye-bye. But in 2002, before the competition had even started, Valentin Piseev, head of the Russian federation openly stated that he didn't think the Russian women would be 'fairly' treated since the Olympics were in the US. Even though the RFSF protested Hughes' winning the OGM, they weren't that confident about a Russian victory (Irina hadn't been skating as well that season as she had in 2000-2001).

Now that Irina is the reigning World Champion, she will be under much greater pressure to bring home the gold.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Pressure or nerves (a better description) is part of any sport and any competition.

I don't see the Ladies competition as being full of pressure as I do butterflies. If their strategies are laid out properly in their SP and FS then executing that first trick should relax them. Once that first trick is executed it just becomes a matter of maintaining the equilibrium of the nerves.

It's a competition which comes every 4 years and that's quite a wait if one doesn't achieve their goals in previous ones. Of course, that's going to make a skater nervous together with being on the ice alone in front of thousands of spectators.

Irina, Sasha, Michelle, Shizuka (and who else?) all have Oly experience. One or more of them may just have a bad day - not unusual - but that's quite common in skating. Remember Joubert at Moscow Worlds. He lost a championship because of that but he is still the 2nd top rated skater in the World and he will not repeat that 'bad' day any time soon.

I think posters who insist on the expectation of various types of 'pressure' are really projecting themselves if they were in that position. I'd be scared ****.

Joe

 

[mzheng]

Irina, Sasha, Michelle, Shizuka (and who else?) all have Oly experience.

Fummie? Elena L.?