Programs we remember

[Lyyli]

I remember Yuna saying that her coach told her and her parents right after she had started to skate that she has a perfect body structure and muscles for figure skating. That is so obvious. She is a dream to watch. Her co-operation with DW worked very well and imo Yuna could deliver his choreos to the fullest. This Vancouver FS is magical and had a happy well-deserved ending, she got her coronation like the commentator said. From her programs I like most SP Send in the Clowns from Sochi Oly season because of the lovely choreo and her soft way of skating. 

[meoima]

Now even skate cleanly isn't enough as everyone is skating cleanly more often. How much the sport has evolved...

[Altie]

On 27/07/2017 at 0:37 AM, Yatagarasu said:

 I do wish I could find that article I read for you, about the internal pressures on gay figure skaters, it was quite good but it's escaping me currently. 

(if there's any sport the fraternity will hold and hold it's football!)

 

Perhaps the article you were thinking about was this one ? https://www.buzzfeed.com/blairbraverman/why-is-the-worlds-gayest-sport-stuck-in-the-closet?utm_term=.jaMxyDNk63#.aoMBPL17EW

I found it very good (and depressing).

 

Thanks for this wonderful thread btw. I still have to catch on the latest programs you posted but it's really great to learn a bit more about figure skating history. It's very interesting and it helps putting things into perspective.

 

Edit : re-reading this article makes me love Yuzu even more. He seems to be so beyond these gender stereotypes and sexuality assumptions, it's remarkable.

[Sombreuil]

Thank you

 

That is interesting - you sort of expect the objectionable coach and the macho posturing from some skaters, but the really worrying individual is the international judge who tries to talk the talk but can't stop his bias spilling into the interview.  As you say - depressing.

And I'm very glad that Jason still has his pony tail.

[Yatagarasu]

8 hours ago, Altie said:

 

Perhaps the article you were thinking about was this one ? https://www.buzzfeed.com/blairbraverman/why-is-the-worlds-gayest-sport-stuck-in-the-closet?utm_term=.jaMxyDNk63#.aoMBPL17EW

I found it very good (and depressing).

Thanks for this wonderful thread btw. I still have to catch on the latest programs you posted but it's really great to learn a bit more about figure skating history. It's very interesting and it helps putting things into perspective.

Edit : re-reading this article makes me love Yuzu even more. He seems to be so beyond these gender stereotypes and sexuality assumptions, it's remarkable.

 

You're very welcome, I'm glad we can enjoy some of the history together! There's so much there!
And yes, that's exactly the article I was thinking about. I re-read now as it's been ages and yes, still think it's very well written and yes, still think it's very depressing. I do believe we are seeing changes, for the better, but it is so darn slow that one can't help but be frustrated. 

 

It is wonderful how Yuzuru is beyond these, especially considering how we could say there are both sides to him but unfortunately, I've lost count the times that the fans reacted with the usual not masculine enough, etc. Eeeeh. I have so much respect for all these athletes who are doing their things and well <insert a certain popular phrase>.

[Sombreuil]

Can't stop thinking about that judge- the possibilities:-

a) he's paying lip service to the politically correct view but his bias leaks in.

b) he means what he says until his own son is mentioned,  at which point he remembers that a significant number of his fellow judges will take it very badly and his knee jerk reaction is to protect him, whatever the right and just view of the matter may be

c) a bit of both

end result is still depressing.

 

Yuzuru does manage to rise above it - I think both JC and JW said at different times that the only thing to do is just to be too good to be denied- and that is exactly what he does, bless him.  Long may it continue.

[Yatagarasu]

And down! (hope nobody gets Tardis-sick!)

• Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov of Soviet Union/Russia skating to Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathétique", Piano Sonata No. 14 "Moonlight" at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

 

If we called them the greatest pair team to have skated, I don't think many would be angry with us; one of the greatest ever certainly, in the entire history of the sport. Three-times European champions (1988, 1990, 1994), four-time World champions (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990), 1985 World Junior champions and the 1988 and 1994 Olympic champions.

 

She started skating when she was four, he five. They paired up when she was 11 and he 15. They changed coaches when they tried to separate them. In 1985 they won the World Junior championships and well, they were on their way. Prior to their first Olympics win, they had a very bad accident; his blade caught and he dropped her on the ice, on her forehead. She had to be hospitalized but even with that, they returned well enough to snatch the gold. When they turned professional in 1990, that seemed to be it. They were married in 1991 and their daughter Daria was born in 1992; their professional career was good.

 

Then the ISU offered professional skaters a one-time option to reinstate as eligible competitors between 1992 and 1995. They took it and returned to amateur competition for the 1993–94 season. Their technique, the speed, the glide, the artistry and emotion on ice, brought them their second Olympic gold. They were the only reinstated athletes to win one.
Out of 31 competitions they completed at both the Senior and the professional level they won 24 times, and only once finished off the podium. In fact, from the time they won their first World Championship, they never placed lower than second, and that happened only on 4 occasions. They were a team who executed a quadruple twist in 1987!

 

After they Olympics, they once again returned to a successful professional life.They were headliners for Stars on Ice and then were introduced to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. They were planning yet another SoI season.

 

On November 20, 1995, Sergei Grinkov suddenly collapsed during practice and died from a massive heart attack. He was 28 years old.

 

Fortunately, programs as these remain so that we can forever go back to the one and only G&G.

 

 

 

 

 

[yuzupon]

Their entries to the throws were different from the usual, right? Or am I missing something? And the twist, she was almost vertical, as oppose to the near horizontal I always see. 

Again, what a tragedy he died so young.

[kaeryth]

Quote

... his blade caught and he dropped her on the ice, on her forehead. She had to be hospitalized but even with that, they returned well enough to snatch the gold.

 

One of the reasons I find watching pairs so nerve wracking. I feel like it's one of the more dangerous sports/disciplines. And so much kudos to the ladies. The Olympic schedule still irks me. Why no rest day in between the short and free for the pairs? /sigh/

 

Quote

On November 20, 1995, Sergei Grinkov suddenly collapsed during practice and died from a massive heart attack. He was 28 years old.

 

So young! Oh I feel so sad for Ekaterina.

 

I don't really watch pairs that much but from what I can see they're really fast. The speed in and out of their technical elements are amazing. Also, they really look like they have a connection and skate as one. By the way, I found an HD version of the performance!

 

 

[Lyyli]

On 29.7.2017 at 8:25 AM, yuzupon said:

Their entries to the throws were different from the usual, right? Or am I missing something? And the twist, she was almost vertical, as oppose to the near horizontal I always see. 

 

 

I don´t know about the throws nor the twists much, but the twist, it was a split one, so maybe that´s why it looked different or changed her position in the air. 

 

This is a program from the long era of Russian pairs dominating the pairs discipline (maybe from the late 60´s till at least early 90´s).

I would call this program a classic Russian pairs program. Katia and Sergei were great skaters and always very consistent though in this program they had some mistakes. They were teenagers when they started in Seniors but from the beginning they won their competitions.

I guess more experimental pairs skating was started much later by Aliona and Robin. I don´t remember anyone else before them. I think it is great that today there are pairs from different countries and styles on top in pairs.

 

There is also a documentary film of Katia and Sergei called My Sergei. It´s based on the book she wrote. I checked it is still in Youtube. There is a footage of Katia´s first solo skate after Sergei had passed away.  And as far as I remember also a footage of a competition where they were asked to stop skating in the middle of their program because of some boot problem but they didn´t realize it and continued till the end though the music was turned off by the judges. 

[Yatagarasu]

And down, yo-yo again!

• Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean of Great Britain skating to Bolero by Maurice Ravel at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean were 4-time World champions (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984), 4-time European champions (1981, 1982, 1984, 1994), 7-time national champions and of course, 1984 gold and 1994 bronze Olympic medalists (they used the ISU one-time rule change mentioned above).

 

This particular program is quite possibly the most famous figure skating program in the history of figure skating. Even the youngest fans have heard of it, and it completely revolutionized ice-dance of the time. This is the highest scoring skating program under the old 6.0 system; it scored 12 perfect marks, and all perfect scores for artistic impression which only happened five times overall. 

 

A little curiosity - they did not wish to cut the music, so considering the program doesn't officially start until the skate hits the ice, they spent the first 18 seconds of it as you see them, kneeling on the ice and moving to the music. 

 

Original broadcast:

 

Alternate link 1 - HQ

 

[Yatagarasu]

On 7/30/2017 at 2:19 PM, Lyyli said:

 

I don´t know about the throws nor the twists much, but the twist, it was a split one, so maybe that´s why it looked different or changed her position in the air. 

 

Yes, they did the quadruple split twist. There are actually interesting bits in her book (that is a very good read!) about that one. 

 

"We won the Nationals for the first time that season, then went to 1987 European Championships in Sarajevo. That summer we had learned a very difficult move called the quadruple split twist, in which Sergei threw me in the air, I did a split, then closed my legs and made four turns before he caught me. We were the only pair to do this quadruple element, and it was very exhausting—more exhausting than difficult, really. Soviet doctors had measured my pulse rate as exceeding two hundred beats per minute when I did it. I had to spin so fast, that one time my elbow caught Sergei in the eyebrow, and within a few seconds, his eye had swelled closed, and the next day it was grisly black and blue."

 

It's also both sad and kind of hilarious on the why they dropped it:

 

"Sergei turned twenty on the day we skated the long program at the Europeans, which we would long remember because of an unfortunate occurrence. In the first minute, we had successfully done the quadruple split twist, which even Scott Hamilton, who was doing television commentary, incorrectly identified as a triple. So did most of the judges, which is one of the reasons why we dropped this element from our program before the Calgary Olympics: it expended so much energy but didn't appreciably improve our marks."

 

And yes! They had a boot problem or rather the elastic strap on his pants broke, so it was sort of flapping around his ankle. It wasn't a danger but one of the judges blew the whistle to stop, thinking it might be. They heard it but didn't know the significance so simply went on! Then the panel turned off the music, and having looked at their coach who gave them no signals to stop, she asked Sergei skating? and he said yes, so the finished without the music. 

 

It's a really good read.

 

 

[Puniyo]

I just want to say that this is such an informative thread, especially for someone like me who started following skating after the Olympics in 2006 in Torino. It's great to see the evolution of programs and changes of standards throughout the years. 

 

Now let me off to watch that Bolero's performance.

[Lyyli]

8 hours ago, Yatagarasu said:

It's a really good read.

 

 

Thanks for the details! I´ve not read the book, only watched the film a long ago. I am gonna try to find it.

 

So much interesting happens there in the skating life so it would be great if more skaters write their memoirs. Actually I have not seen any.  There are books about Yuzu but if someone knows any other books it would be nice to know. Figure skating is not the most popular sport here. There are never any news about the foreign skaters off-season, only during the biggest competitions. For example Mao´s r****ment was not in the news here.   

[katonice]

On 7/24/2017 at 6:29 AM, Yatagarasu said:

And now, even closer to us

 

• Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada skating to Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler, at the 2010 Olympic Games, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

 

Another pair of athletes who require little introduction. They are the three-time World champions (2010, 2012, 2017), three-time Four Continents champions (2008, 2012, 2017), the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final champions, 2006 World Junior champions, the 2010 Olympic champions and the 2014 Olympic silver medalists. It's quite something that even after all those years (20 years together as a pair now), we still get to see them, fighting for those very same medals at yet another Olympic Games. 

About this particular skate though - when the compulsory dance finished, they were second, even if it was their personal best. They placed first in the original dance but it was this free program that pushed them over and brought them the gold medal. They received four 10.00 marks in the program components, which was something that had not been accomplished before. That wasn't the only first this program brought - they became the youngest ice dance team to win the Olympic's gold, the first former World Junior ice dance champions to win, the first Canadians, the first North Americans as well as the first team who won on home ground. They also repeated a feat that was last achieved in 1976 and that was a victory in their first Olympic Games.

 

 

 

This program really touched me so much when I first watched it.

I'm glad it's part of this collection of memorable programs.