Not sure if this is a silly question or not, but are there any more people like me who absolutely adore Maria Butyrskaya? Her name doesn't seem to come up often anymore since her retirement, even though for me she is still the greatest who ever lived. Not in terms of technical abilities, I know that, but because of her presentation on the ice. So it would seem only obvious that she is regarded as a model for current skaters, but that doesn't seem to be the case, or not that I'm aware of.
We all know she had her flaws. Her jumps were not all that: shaky landings (she had a tendency to stiffen up her legs and land on two feet), not very consistent, no true 3-3 combo (she had one with an Euler in between), slow spins etc. But it's what she did in between the jumps, including the preparation of her jumps, that always impressed me. And when she did land her jumps, some of them were just spectacular, most notably her lutz (really deep edge) and her loop (looked really pretty).
I would like to know what skaters think of her. I don't skate myself so all my opinions are based on what I see on TV and that's it. I've only been to one of two ice shows in my life (I think it was Disney on Ice), but never to watch a real competition, where skaters show all of their technical abilities.
So how do you skaters judge Maria Butyrskaya? How would you rank her in the list of "greatest skaters of all time"? I have never seen anyone like her, and the current skaters don't do it for me like Maria did. It's all about acrobatics now, and some mime, but not the balletic touch and her "woman"-like skating that Maria added.
We all know she had her flaws. Her jumps were not all that: shaky landings (she had a tendency to stiffen up her legs and land on two feet), not very consistent, no true 3-3 combo (she had one with an Euler in between), slow spins etc. But it's what she did in between the jumps, including the preparation of her jumps, that always impressed me. And when she did land her jumps, some of them were just spectacular, most notably her lutz (really deep edge) and her loop (looked really pretty).
I would like to know what skaters think of her. I don't skate myself so all my opinions are based on what I see on TV and that's it. I've only been to one of two ice shows in my life (I think it was Disney on Ice), but never to watch a real competition, where skaters show all of their technical abilities.
So how do you skaters judge Maria Butyrskaya? How would you rank her in the list of "greatest skaters of all time"? I have never seen anyone like her, and the current skaters don't do it for me like Maria did. It's all about acrobatics now, and some mime, but not the balletic touch and her "woman"-like skating that Maria added.