For figure skating fans

[jcar03]

2011 World Championships Results

Men

Gold - Patrick Chan (Canada)

Silver - Takahiko Kozuka (Japan)

Bronze - Artur Gachinski (Russia)

Women

Gold - Miki Ando (Japan)

Silver - Kim Yuna (South Korea)

Bronze - Carolina Kostner (Italy)

Pairs

Gold - Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (Germany)

Silver - Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (Russia)

Bronze - Pang Qing and Tong Jian (China)

Ice Dancing

Gold - Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA) [1st ever World Title for USA in Ice Dancing)

Silver - Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada)

Bronze - Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani (Bronze)

[lovely_m]

I'm glad Patrick won. It would be frustrating to come in 2nd for a third time in a row.

All 3 U.S. men did well even if they didn't get 3 spots for next years Worlds. As talented as Jeremy and Adam are, I don't think sending them instead of Richard and Ross would have made a difference. The issue of who should have been sends to Worlds has been blown out of proportion.

Happy for White/Davis for winning and for the Shibutani for medaling at their first World championships. Yankowskas and Coughlin show promise for pairs. Even Alissa impressed my by not completely screwing up.

Edited May 1, 2011 by lovely_m

[DRW50]

I know people who have watched just about every major ice skating event for their entire life - what is it about ice skating that appeals to you?

I'm not quite that interested, but I think that might be down to the days when annoying Nancy Kerrigan was in the headlines constantly.

I was watching this and was so drawn in by the beauty and power. It's one of the first times I've "gotten" what it must feel like to enjoy this.

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[DRW50]

I like this too. I wonder why this costume was banned. Why was it shocking?

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[juppiter]

Anyone watch the US Nationals this year? NONE of the ladies skated clean. Why is it that the US used to churn out some of the world's most dominant figure skaters and the current crop is just awful? The winner this year, Ashley Wagner, skated decently at best. She deserved the gold in this crop but she didn't blow me away either, her jumps were wobbly and the artistry was just OK... but OK was excellent compared to most of them. t can't see building a franchise around her though, or any of these girls.

[juppiter]

Nancy Kerrigan isn't my favorite by any means, but I feel for her because she was the classic case of the media building someone up and then tearing her down. She was never an angelic victim and she was never a vengeful bitch, she is something between the two.

But anyone I always followed it growing up and what I liked about it is kinda the reason people enjoyed soaps. You watch these ladies, maybe they show a little potential, and it's the same ones year after year and it's exciting to see them become better skaters and each develop their own "storylines." Like Sasha Cohen was always the underdog who could never quite put together two clean programs, but when she was on she was one of the most beautiful skaters. Michelle Kwan was the opposite, the overdog who won competition after competition and all she needed to have the best resume ever was that elusive Olympic Gold.

And like soaps, you have the "vets" who tour professionally and do commentary and it is cool to see them year after year because you grew up watching their careers.

To me it is also exciting to see how the sport itself has evolved over time. Kim Yuna's 2010 Olympic performance was perhaps the most deserving Gold Medal performance ever, and she has really taken her technical difficulty to a level you never would've seen a woman attempting 10 years ago.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nLhA7CVIok

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgIvUjCrlgY

It's interesting reading some of the comments about her, as they said she was very ahead of her time for female skaters.

[juppiter]

For anyone who doubts Sasha Cohen's talent... Sasha Cohen 2004 World Championships:

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When she's on, she's amazing, she was just rarely on. And that's what made her fun to root for.

[juppiter]

1996 World Championships:

Michelle Kwan (Gold)

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Lu Chen (Silver)

Two beautiful performances, I don't know how the judges picked a winner.

[juppiter]

Anyone watch the 2012 Worlds? I was only able to catch the men, unfortunately, I do prefer the ladies. I thought Brian Joubert was sexy as hell on ice, and I know he is unsure about continuing to compete but for the sexiness quotient I hope he will, and I gotta wonder about Patrick Chan getting the gold when he fell and the silver medalist did not.

Code of Points removes subjectivity but when the gold medalist skates a flawed program and the silver medalist skates a clean program I have to wonder.

I didn't get to see the ladies, but Alissa Czisny in 22nd? Yikes. She's gorgeous, but she sucks. I keep waiting for the US to produce another great skater. We dominated this sport for years and years, why is it so hard now to find a talented lady who is competitive?

[MissLlanviewPA]

I realize how controversial she was/is, but it's time to post these and admit that I love Tonya Harding's skating. Maybe it's because I never heard of her until after the scandal (I was almost five when it occurred), but based on the knowledge I have of figure skating (and I could have more, admittedly), she really was the greatest technical female skater the US will ever see (particularly given how the scoring system has changed), and is only second and/or tied to Midori Ito for the world's greatest technical female skater (and while Nancy Kerrigan was talented, and I certainly feel awful about what happened to her, Tonya's talent was somewhat greater IMO--technically if not artistically, although she improved by 1994). If it weren't for the scandal in 1994, she'd be in the Skating Hall of Fame with no questions asked (and part of me still wants to me to think she was telling the truth--I don't know, like I said, I didn't anything about it until years later). Her triple axel was and still is incredible. And no matter hoe strange some of her music choices were, I think they actually worked for her skating style.

Now THAT is a skating UO.

Here are her two greatest performances, both from 1991:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8va2i2vENw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOP3Dj0DraQ

And as for Midori Ito:

She absolutely was. The first woman on earth to perform a triple axel in competition (with Tonya second, of course); such big jumps for such a tiny girl. But she really felt the weight of Japan behind her by the 1992 Olympics, and that combined with the pressure to improve artistically (which she did, IMO) took some of the joy out of her skating, according to some.

Here's her LP in Calgary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgIvUjCrlgY&feature=relmfu

But THIS is my favorite of hers, the midsection in particular :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOsXxr3jakM&feature=relmfu

I legit tear up at this, no lie.

And yes, I love me some figure skating. I can't jump or spin, but I can skate around for hours on end without ever falling on my butt once, if I do say so myself .

[juppiter]

I absolutely agree about Tanya. She should be proud of her performances at 1991 US Nationals and especially 1991 Skate America. They were absolutely amazing performances. It is sad she is remembered for what came after. I don't know what she knew and when, it is possible that she was helpless to stop the Nancy Kerrigan attack as she claims. I do know that she cried wolf so many times that it's hard to believe anything she says. But I know that she did not have the most supportive friends/family and I think ultimately what happened is that she gave in to her demons, believing she wasn't good enough, after 1991. I'm just happy that she has those two incredible performances, and that nobody can ever take them away from her. They were two of the best performances I have ever seen.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Everything I've heard about her mother certainly explains part of the reason why she may have ended up the way she did (although I got the impression that she was quite close to her dad). She has a little boy now with her current husband, though, and I do hope she's happy (same with Nancy, especially given what happened with her father).

Here's a GREAT performance from a Canadian favorite of mine, Josee Chouinard. Such a shame she didn't hold it together at Worlds .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjH5Ss-oscg

And her ill-fated performance a month later:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK1xZUpozag

[DRW50]

It was interesting reading about Kerrigan and how she basically imploded in the year before the attack - I wonder how much the attack helped to hide her decline. I've heard about Harding and what a powerful skater she was, and how she also basically destroyed herself. On the men's side, it seems like Christopher Bowman was the same way. Reading some of the reactions when he died were so sad, like his old coach/manager being so despondent at not being able to help him, even though Bowman was trying to contact him all the way up to the end.

Do you know anything about some of the stories I've heard regarding Canada trying to de-gay their skating?

[MissLlanviewPA]

I can't say anything about the Canada stuff (although Elvis Stojko is an example of a more masculine male Canadian skater) , but I can post the 1993 LPs for Kerrigan, as she absolutely did crack under the pressure that year (being the heir apparent once Kristi turned professional). She won Nationals in a weak field (she fell herself a few times--I'll post that separately), but Worlds? Oh dear. Skating to the Beauty and the Beast theme, while beautiful, may not have been the best choice, as the music is pretty intense, and jumping to it must have only increased the pressure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Sk7yBYl8c&feature=relmfu

Her performance a month later at Hershey Pro-Am, though? That's even more heartbreaking. Her Kiss & Cry is so sad .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq5I1j6SjDc&feature=relmfu

Speaking of Chris Bowman, here he is with Tonya Harding at Skate America 91 goofing around. The Bad Boy and Bad Girl of figure skating (back when those labels were a bit cuter to have). They actually had the same manager (Michael Rosenberg) at one point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C60t16rzg3Q