Figure skating Pt 2
OK, here is it, the way-too-overdue commentary on 2006 Olympic Figure Skating. Grab a cup of coffee, make yourself comfy. (OK, no, really, this is so late after the fact that it won't be terribly detailed ...)
Pairs. The Russians, Tatyana Totmiyanina and Maxim Marinin (say that three times fast!), for better or worse, basically had to show up and skate clean, and would get gold. Voila, they did. End of story. They've skated a little cautiously since 2004, when he dropped her on her head ... and frankly, who wouldn't? Maybe they were a little preordained to win this event just for coming back after that pretty horrifying moment, but given the field of pairs skaters, I had no big problem with that. I'm just not in love with the Chinese pairs skaters, two of which (whom?) came in second and third. Now, I was deeply moved by Dan Zhang and her resilience ... she took a nasty fall, one which they thought would cause an end to the program and instead, she shook it out and they skated back onto the ice and finished their program. The Chinese pairs skaters, as a group, have come a long way since they were all jumps and no artistry, but I feel like they still have a long way to go. Compared to the pairs skating greats of the past, no one makes me feel they way I did watching Gordeeva and Grinkov or Brasseur and Eisler. But that's just me. I do like the American teams; I do feel that Rena Inoue and John Baldwin got the short end of the stick and are being judged a little harshly. Yeah, he's a little cocky, but he's also so madly in love with her that it balances out. I also think that Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parchem will be in the top 10 next time around. They're still a young pair but they're lovely to watch, so I think they have an exciting future.
The men. OK, so my personal favorite in the entire mix is Matt Savoie, who ultimately placed 7th. He is the most underrated, undersung competitor possibly in the history of US Skating. Many of the commentators have expressed as much - and yet, all we kept hearing about were Johnny Weir and Evan Lycacek - even after the short program when Matt was way ahead of Evan. Matt's just got it all - the athleticism and the artistry. Why international judges can't see that, I have no clue.
Johnny is Johnny - "he's here, he's Weir," and all that. He can be a lovely skater to watch. But perhaps my favorite comment came on Olympic Ice the day after the free skate, which Johnny blew bigtime. He had said in an interview that he had missed the bus to the arena, and his whole evening's focus went downhill from there. Scotty Hamilton turned to the camera, and said: "OK. You're on Olympic competitor. The *only* thing you have to do ... is show up to your event on time."
The gold medalist, Yevgeny Pushenko, was another one who only had to show up and skate clean, which he did. But as technically proficient as he is - and boy, is he! - he skates with no soul. There are many who do agree with his gold medal but question the number of points he racked up, so many light years ahead of his competitors.
Stephane Lambiel is an on-again off-again skater, who was clearly on; and Jeffrey Buttle is good but I really would never have predicted a medal. Even after watching both of his performances.
The ice dancing. Never as popular or interesting as it was this year. Besides the Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto bringing home the first silver medal in ice dance ever (and the first medal of any kind in 30 years), there were so many other little dramas! No one ever falls in ice dance ... and yet this year, the original dance, they were all over the ice. It was crazy. I don't think anyone's ever seen anything quite like it. And of course, who could forget the Italians: Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio. They came out of retirement to be able to participate in the Olympics in their home country. They were first after the compulsory dance, which clearly thrilled them to no end. Then, in the original dance, he dropped her. Well, at the end of that skate, they literally stared each other down for around 30 seconds before taking their bow. Then the next time we saw them, for the free skate, they DID NOT SPEAK TO EACH OTHER before the performance! It was crazy. They totally ignored each other backstage, her staring daggers into him. And yet, they went out and skated a lovely performance, coasted into 6th place overall, and immediately defrosted the ice between them. (She claimed in an interview that she was never mad at him, that they were both just mad at themselves ... yeah, right.) And in the heartbreak category? The Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. They had uprooted their lives to live and train in France, all for this moment ... and a fall in the original dance injured her to the point that they had to withdraw from the free skate. She sent him to the warmup anyway, and asked him to please touch the Olympic rings in the ice for her, one more time ... which he did. It was so moving and heartbreaking.
And lastly, the ladies. Sue me - after Michelle Kwan backed out, I was rooting for the Russian. I'm sorry. I mean, Sascha Cohen is a beautiful skater, she really is. But she annoys me. I can't help it. I think Kimmie Meisner is going to be a force to be reckoned with, as will Emily Hughes, as well as some of the also rans in US Figure Skating - like Alyssa Czisny, Katie Taylor, and Bebe Liang. And a personal favorite, Stephanie Rosenthal. She may not make it to the international arena, but there's something about her - much like another favorite from times past, Tonia Kwiatkowski - that I just really admire.
But back to the Olympics just past. I really didn't expect Shizuka Arakawa to walk away with the gold - but the reality was, she was the only skater to skate a free program cleanly. And I think the chips just fell out accordingly. I really have no major issue with it. It'll be interesting to see how the next few international events go - Japan's Mao Asada, who wasn't allowed to go to the Olympics because she was too young - will be kicking ass and taking names. And Turkey's Tugba Karademir is another one to wach. And the winner of "my favorite name of a female figure skater"? That goes to Kiira Korpi of Finland. I just like saying it.
Onwards to the Worlds.
Pairs. The Russians, Tatyana Totmiyanina and Maxim Marinin (say that three times fast!), for better or worse, basically had to show up and skate clean, and would get gold. Voila, they did. End of story. They've skated a little cautiously since 2004, when he dropped her on her head ... and frankly, who wouldn't? Maybe they were a little preordained to win this event just for coming back after that pretty horrifying moment, but given the field of pairs skaters, I had no big problem with that. I'm just not in love with the Chinese pairs skaters, two of which (whom?) came in second and third. Now, I was deeply moved by Dan Zhang and her resilience ... she took a nasty fall, one which they thought would cause an end to the program and instead, she shook it out and they skated back onto the ice and finished their program. The Chinese pairs skaters, as a group, have come a long way since they were all jumps and no artistry, but I feel like they still have a long way to go. Compared to the pairs skating greats of the past, no one makes me feel they way I did watching Gordeeva and Grinkov or Brasseur and Eisler. But that's just me. I do like the American teams; I do feel that Rena Inoue and John Baldwin got the short end of the stick and are being judged a little harshly. Yeah, he's a little cocky, but he's also so madly in love with her that it balances out. I also think that Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parchem will be in the top 10 next time around. They're still a young pair but they're lovely to watch, so I think they have an exciting future.
The men. OK, so my personal favorite in the entire mix is Matt Savoie, who ultimately placed 7th. He is the most underrated, undersung competitor possibly in the history of US Skating. Many of the commentators have expressed as much - and yet, all we kept hearing about were Johnny Weir and Evan Lycacek - even after the short program when Matt was way ahead of Evan. Matt's just got it all - the athleticism and the artistry. Why international judges can't see that, I have no clue.
Johnny is Johnny - "he's here, he's Weir," and all that. He can be a lovely skater to watch. But perhaps my favorite comment came on Olympic Ice the day after the free skate, which Johnny blew bigtime. He had said in an interview that he had missed the bus to the arena, and his whole evening's focus went downhill from there. Scotty Hamilton turned to the camera, and said: "OK. You're on Olympic competitor. The *only* thing you have to do ... is show up to your event on time."
The gold medalist, Yevgeny Pushenko, was another one who only had to show up and skate clean, which he did. But as technically proficient as he is - and boy, is he! - he skates with no soul. There are many who do agree with his gold medal but question the number of points he racked up, so many light years ahead of his competitors.
Stephane Lambiel is an on-again off-again skater, who was clearly on; and Jeffrey Buttle is good but I really would never have predicted a medal. Even after watching both of his performances.
The ice dancing. Never as popular or interesting as it was this year. Besides the Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto bringing home the first silver medal in ice dance ever (and the first medal of any kind in 30 years), there were so many other little dramas! No one ever falls in ice dance ... and yet this year, the original dance, they were all over the ice. It was crazy. I don't think anyone's ever seen anything quite like it. And of course, who could forget the Italians: Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio. They came out of retirement to be able to participate in the Olympics in their home country. They were first after the compulsory dance, which clearly thrilled them to no end. Then, in the original dance, he dropped her. Well, at the end of that skate, they literally stared each other down for around 30 seconds before taking their bow. Then the next time we saw them, for the free skate, they DID NOT SPEAK TO EACH OTHER before the performance! It was crazy. They totally ignored each other backstage, her staring daggers into him. And yet, they went out and skated a lovely performance, coasted into 6th place overall, and immediately defrosted the ice between them. (She claimed in an interview that she was never mad at him, that they were both just mad at themselves ... yeah, right.) And in the heartbreak category? The Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. They had uprooted their lives to live and train in France, all for this moment ... and a fall in the original dance injured her to the point that they had to withdraw from the free skate. She sent him to the warmup anyway, and asked him to please touch the Olympic rings in the ice for her, one more time ... which he did. It was so moving and heartbreaking.
And lastly, the ladies. Sue me - after Michelle Kwan backed out, I was rooting for the Russian. I'm sorry. I mean, Sascha Cohen is a beautiful skater, she really is. But she annoys me. I can't help it. I think Kimmie Meisner is going to be a force to be reckoned with, as will Emily Hughes, as well as some of the also rans in US Figure Skating - like Alyssa Czisny, Katie Taylor, and Bebe Liang. And a personal favorite, Stephanie Rosenthal. She may not make it to the international arena, but there's something about her - much like another favorite from times past, Tonia Kwiatkowski - that I just really admire.
But back to the Olympics just past. I really didn't expect Shizuka Arakawa to walk away with the gold - but the reality was, she was the only skater to skate a free program cleanly. And I think the chips just fell out accordingly. I really have no major issue with it. It'll be interesting to see how the next few international events go - Japan's Mao Asada, who wasn't allowed to go to the Olympics because she was too young - will be kicking ass and taking names. And Turkey's Tugba Karademir is another one to wach. And the winner of "my favorite name of a female figure skater"? That goes to Kiira Korpi of Finland. I just like saying it.
Onwards to the Worlds.
posted by Tracy @ 1:58 PM
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