I also would like to add that I think that their youth also played a big part in the decline in popularity of the ladies OGM. When Shannon Miller won all her medal in 1992, her agents couldn't get a fraction of the money Nancy Kerrigan made after winning the bronze in 1992. The reason was because Shannon was so small and young that no one could relate to her as a spokesperson. The majority of the buying public and skating viewers are older people and no one really identifies with a 4'11 , 80 lb teenager (not even real teenagers who are considerably larger than that) . Sarah was normal looking but gawky and the fairy ice princess is a vision of perfection.
Why is Sarah H so unpopular with so many?
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Throughout her career, Michelle has responded to the pressure of competing with flying colors, beginning in '96 when she had to overcome a nearly perfect skate by Lu Chen to win her first World title. In Nagano, she skated perfectly, only to be trumped by a more 'exciting' performance. In SLC she had an unfortunate fall, but rebounded to skate very well. To say Michelle 'crumbles' under pressure is a gross misstatement. You don't amass eight national titles and five world titles if you succumb to pressure.
I think that the pressure of an Olympic event is considerably greater than that of Nationals and Worlds COMBINED. First of all, the Olympics only come around once every 4 years whereas Worlds and Nationals are every year. Second the stakes are higher with the Olympics b/c it's the crowning glory. Todd was a really consistent skater like MK and he always choked at the Olympics. Kurt was fabulous in the off years winning 4 Worlds but had a hard time at the Olympics. Having to wait one year after a bad skate at Nationals isn't as hard on the body as waiting 4 years for another Olympics. That's like a whole generation in skating years.
And spare me on how great she skates every other year: she FELL at SLC when all she needed was a clean skate. MK has had numerous clean skating performances (even in 1998) and she couldn't produce at SLC despite her lead? That's choking : when you win everything else yet can't pull through for the big events.
And spare me on how great she skates every other year: she FELL at SLC when all she needed was a clean skate. MK has had numerous clean skating performances (even in 1998) and she couldn't produce at SLC despite her lead? That's choking : when you win everything else yet can't pull through for the big events.
Icewing: I thought that it was interesting in Little Girls in Boxes how the other gymnasts didn't let Kristy set up the equipment b/c they were afraid that she would sabotage them. I'm surprised that didn't make bigger headlines considering that this was in light of the whole Nancy/Tonya thing. I think that if this is true, what Kristy wanted to do was worse than Tonya b/c gymnastics is infinitely more dangerous than skating and if a girl takes a nasty spill from the equipment or misses the vault b/c the board is not set up right, she could break her neck like the Chinese gymnast or die like Julissa (is that her name?).
I really loved Kristy Philip's gymnastics. She and Missy Marlowe were the most graceful American gymnasts.
I really loved Kristy Philip's gymnastics. She and Missy Marlowe were the most graceful American gymnasts.
Without having read any of the other posts, these are my unbiased opinions (sorry if there are any repeats):
Some are bitter that she won the gold over Kwan in SLC.
She didn't stick around too long after her gold medal win.
Some just don't like her personailty, or style as a figure as a figure skater.
I see nothing wrong with Sarah, and I think she had a brilliant, ethereal Gold medal performance in 2002. She was (is?) a great competyitor, and not only had good technical abilities (ok I know she flutzed, that notwithstanding) but also an elegance about her on the ice. I am not especially a Sarah fan but I admire the fight she brought to the ice, and also think that her 'la bayadere' LP was one of the best of last season artistically, even though she did not perform it that well all season.
Some are bitter that she won the gold over Kwan in SLC.
She didn't stick around too long after her gold medal win.
Some just don't like her personailty, or style as a figure as a figure skater.
I see nothing wrong with Sarah, and I think she had a brilliant, ethereal Gold medal performance in 2002. She was (is?) a great competyitor, and not only had good technical abilities (ok I know she flutzed, that notwithstanding) but also an elegance about her on the ice. I am not especially a Sarah fan but I admire the fight she brought to the ice, and also think that her 'la bayadere' LP was one of the best of last season artistically, even though she did not perform it that well all season.
I think it's interesting that only the Olympics is considered the "big event".............I would wager that there are as many "flukes" that have won a gold medal as there are "stunning performances".............I find it hard to believe that an athlete would give up years and years of successful performances, fame, accomplishments, etc. for a gold medal from an event that comes around every four years............
Well, back on topic.............love Sarah as a young lady and I have come to appreciate her tenancity, determination, her grace on the ice, and her place in the figure skating history books.............42
Well, back on topic.............love Sarah as a young lady and I have come to appreciate her tenancity, determination, her grace on the ice, and her place in the figure skating history books.............42
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Ohh, Shannon will always be my fave...her floor exercise in 92 was the only truly artistic and beautiful one that I have seensoogar said:
To me she is the Michelle Kwan of gymnastics (trying to get back on track here!) Like Michelle, Shannon was the most decorated U.S. female in her sport, missed out on the ultimate prize, all -around gold at olys, when she possibly should have won (92), their personalities seem rather similar to me as well, and they both are/were known for being artistic but not having at times the very most difficult routines
As someone who dislikes Sarah and loves Michelle, I can honestly say that I do not feel this way because Sarah beat MK in SLC. I just can't stand to watch her--the bad posture, bad choreography, wooden and awkward arms, awkward and cheated jumps even when she was at her best...
She just doesn't do anything for me as a skater (though I do acknowledge her beautiful, deep edges, and her mental toughness and guts)
Her personality has also rubbed me the wrong way at times--remember that sneer she gave MK on the 2000 Skate America podium? A little unsportmanslike IMO
Also she has made some statement after Salt Lake which were somewhat disrespectful--like saying at Nats 03 that the competition basically meant very little to her after the excitement and pressure of the Olys. I understand why she might have felt that way, but what a slap in the face to the USFSA!! She said similar things at worlds IIRC
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I know this is getting a little off topic again, but I just have to reply to the posts about Tara saying that winning Worlds only lasts a year, while the OGM is forever.
Tara DID say that--I distinctly remember reading it in print. And it's very annoying. Because I don't think Tara was saying that in 1997, when she won Worlds. Oh no. I'm sure back then, she was saying things like, "I'm so thrilled to win" and "This is such an honor." Then, a year later, she's acting like winning Worlds is no big deal!
This gets to the heart of what annoys me about Tara and Sarah (and others) skipping Worlds after their OGMs. It sends the clear message that Worlds was important to them on their way up--in fact, *very* important--but, now that they have the big prize, they can't be bothered to show up. And I just think that's sort of lame.
Anyhow, sorry for getting off topic, I just had to respond about that.
Tara DID say that--I distinctly remember reading it in print. And it's very annoying. Because I don't think Tara was saying that in 1997, when she won Worlds. Oh no. I'm sure back then, she was saying things like, "I'm so thrilled to win" and "This is such an honor." Then, a year later, she's acting like winning Worlds is no big deal!
This gets to the heart of what annoys me about Tara and Sarah (and others) skipping Worlds after their OGMs. It sends the clear message that Worlds was important to them on their way up--in fact, *very* important--but, now that they have the big prize, they can't be bothered to show up. And I just think that's sort of lame.
Anyhow, sorry for getting off topic, I just had to respond about that.
I would rather see a skater go to worlds after the Olympics because it shows that they are in it for the skating and not some intangible "ultimate" prize. I almost feel like skaters are starting to skip after winning the Olympics because a loss might "tarnish" the win. I do understand why S&P and B&S did not go after 2002. Can you imagine the circus that would have been.
I am starting to dislike the Olympics more and more as each one passes by. It's seems like it's more a pissing match between countries than anything else anymore. I must be getting old and jaded. :\
Back to the reason for going to worlds, I must say that I love the people who are in it for life. The ones who will probably die with skates on. They are there to finish the season. As far as I'm concerned, there is still one more big event and the ones who show up are there because the passion to skate and compete still drives them. I love that intensity.
I am starting to dislike the Olympics more and more as each one passes by. It's seems like it's more a pissing match between countries than anything else anymore. I must be getting old and jaded. :\
Back to the reason for going to worlds, I must say that I love the people who are in it for life. The ones who will probably die with skates on. They are there to finish the season. As far as I'm concerned, there is still one more big event and the ones who show up are there because the passion to skate and compete still drives them. I love that intensity.
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Ditto. Before 1994, it used to be almost unheard of for skaters to skip Worlds after the Olympics. Now it's perfectly common for the Olympic Champion to blow off a post-Olympic Worlds. At 2002 Worlds, one out of five champs (Alexei Yagudin) competed, and he was actually criticized for bothering with such a "lowly" competition when he had gold. The attitude now is that if you win the Olympics, you've "earned the right" to blow off Worlds and Worlds is just the post-Olympic fight for a consolation prize.
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bleuchick said:
I am confused by this also... though I do wish that the skaters would finish out the season instead of going at it
the exception would have to be S/P and B/S... the judges would feel the added pressure... so they'd second guess every mark... and the pressure on the two teams would probably make them all stink up the ice and a "lesser" team would take the podium... just my take... they were in way over their heads thanks to the American news media(and for that matter, the Canadian and Russian medias)
still... it does help make Worlds unpredictable... I mean the OGM really has to bomb in order to lose the dang championship LOL
While I would prefer that OGMs attend Worlds...think Cousins who won OG..then lost the Worlds to Hoffman...Think G and G in 88...same thing...it is the right of the skater to attend.or not..I have a big problem, however, if they don't decide early enough to give the alternates enough time to get prepared.
Mathman: I'm not personally bitter at all , but when I hear how tough a competitor MK is, I personally don't agree. Katarina Witt was a tough as nails competitor as was Tara to a lesser extent in terms of skating well as the favorite (and yes, Tara was definitely the fovorite as World Champ going into the games, and if she had an inkling of the possibility that she might not have been able to continue skating at that level to try for another games, she is even tougher in my book b/c she knew she had to get it done then).
JimmyHoffa: What kind of criticism did Alexei get for competing in Worlds? Most of the media felt that Alexei wore the Olympic crown well b/c he too had lots of media engagements and not only did he carry those off, he was still able to defend his title.
I never really got the whole tarnish the OGM aspect. The first skater to skip worlds was Midori Ito in 1992. Then in 1994, Oksana skipped b/c of that collision and Nancy couldn't be bothered to go to Worlds after her ordeal. I'm sorry, but considering that Nancy's crappy 5th place performance in 1993 (this was before the new system where all you needed was one skater in the medals to get 3 places) was what precipitated that whole whack to the leg thing b/c we were only able to send 2 skaters (I'm really bitter over that), I felt that Nancy was duty bound to compete in Worlds to guarantee that we can send the 3 skaters the next year. We were lucky that they got the new system in place so MK was able to place well enough for 3 ladies. Of course with the way Nancy fell at the Olympic exhibition made me think that things were returning back to the status quo for her and she might not have skated cleanly at worlds. The 1994 Olympics were an aberration for Nancy Kerrigan b/c in ALL the years I saw her at Nats, Worlds and the previous Olympics, Nancy NEVER skated a clean long program and most of her programs were quite dreadful by today's standards with at least 1 fall and a two foot landed plus doubling of a jump. Nancy has a lucky star over her head to have 2 Olympic medals and the number of world medals she does.
I digress there (I can't believe Nancy has 2 medals (same as MK who is beyond NK) and Todd has none) but I think the media makes the biggest deal about a loss at Worlds tarnishing the OGM. Plus I think maybe the money in the sport makes skaters complacent about adding titles to their resume. Before, you needed to be a World or/and Olympic champ to tour and the more titles the better. Now with all the financial reward before and after the games, titles are less important b/c a skater will still have opportunities to make money.
Robin Cousins: In Brennan's book, much has been made that Carlo Fassi made a deal with the judges to give Cousins gold over Hoffman and in return Poetsch would win over Fratianne. Hoffman barely lost to Cousins 5:4 split but I imagine the media really didn't care about an East German losing to a Westerner like they did with the Canadians.
JimmyHoffa: What kind of criticism did Alexei get for competing in Worlds? Most of the media felt that Alexei wore the Olympic crown well b/c he too had lots of media engagements and not only did he carry those off, he was still able to defend his title.
I never really got the whole tarnish the OGM aspect. The first skater to skip worlds was Midori Ito in 1992. Then in 1994, Oksana skipped b/c of that collision and Nancy couldn't be bothered to go to Worlds after her ordeal. I'm sorry, but considering that Nancy's crappy 5th place performance in 1993 (this was before the new system where all you needed was one skater in the medals to get 3 places) was what precipitated that whole whack to the leg thing b/c we were only able to send 2 skaters (I'm really bitter over that), I felt that Nancy was duty bound to compete in Worlds to guarantee that we can send the 3 skaters the next year. We were lucky that they got the new system in place so MK was able to place well enough for 3 ladies. Of course with the way Nancy fell at the Olympic exhibition made me think that things were returning back to the status quo for her and she might not have skated cleanly at worlds. The 1994 Olympics were an aberration for Nancy Kerrigan b/c in ALL the years I saw her at Nats, Worlds and the previous Olympics, Nancy NEVER skated a clean long program and most of her programs were quite dreadful by today's standards with at least 1 fall and a two foot landed plus doubling of a jump. Nancy has a lucky star over her head to have 2 Olympic medals and the number of world medals she does.
I digress there (I can't believe Nancy has 2 medals (same as MK who is beyond NK) and Todd has none) but I think the media makes the biggest deal about a loss at Worlds tarnishing the OGM. Plus I think maybe the money in the sport makes skaters complacent about adding titles to their resume. Before, you needed to be a World or/and Olympic champ to tour and the more titles the better. Now with all the financial reward before and after the games, titles are less important b/c a skater will still have opportunities to make money.
Robin Cousins: In Brennan's book, much has been made that Carlo Fassi made a deal with the judges to give Cousins gold over Hoffman and in return Poetsch would win over Fratianne. Hoffman barely lost to Cousins 5:4 split but I imagine the media really didn't care about an East German losing to a Westerner like they did with the Canadians.
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