most memorable olympics for figure skating? | Golden Skate

most memorable olympics for figure skating?

StephenGfan

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 10, 2018
In your personal opinion over the past 20 years (Nagano-Pyeongchang) you can also add your least memorable if you would like. for me, it would be
Most: Vancouver/Pyeongchang
Least: Turin
 

Danibellerika

Medalist
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
In your personal opinion over the past 20 years (Nagano-Pyeongchang) you can also add your least memorable if you would like. for me, it would be
Most: Vancouver/Pyeongchang
Least: Turin

Most: PyeongChang, since I was there. That'll probably remain #1 forever for me. And seeing my faves (Yuzu, Aljona/Bruno, Shoma, Sui/Han) win gold and silver was incredible.

Least: Nagano because I didn't care about skating that much and can't even tell you who won pairs or dance. And I only learned of the mens champ after I got invested in the sport years later. But post skating ubering I'd say Vancouver as I wasn't really invested in anyone but Shen and Zhao.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
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Mar 3, 2014
Country
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I don't understand the time limitation, so I'm extending it.:biggrin:

Most memorable: 1976.

Toller. John Curry. Dorothy Hamill. Rodnina/Zaitsev. (didn't follow pairs as much but I'd heard of them). And not medaling, but competing, Linda Fratianne. Robin Cousins. Tai and Randy.

:yahoo:

Second most memorable: 1984

Torvill & Dean. Scotty Hamilton. Katarina Witt.

:clap:
 

Ichatdelune

Long live the Queen and her successors
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Mar 22, 2018
Country
South-Korea
Most: Vancouver (Long live the Queen, V/M Mahler, and it was the reason I got interested in figure skating)/Pyeongchang (home olympics)

I can't say much for least since I've only watched back until 2006, further back than that I've only watched a few programs (like Yagudin vs Plushenko in 2002)
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
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Jul 28, 2003
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MOST: 2002 Olympics - Alexei won the Gold Medal. I have watched the 2002 Olympics several times.

LEAST: Turin
 
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
I think 2014 stands out for all the wrong reasons for me (weak men's event, meh ID, debatable ladies' podium), and while 2018 is strong enough in terms of an overall skating level, it doesn't have the most memorable programs, and the only performance that really stood out is likely V/M's FD, and the two supposed rivalries were utterly manufactured.

All the other events either had some very strong skating/performances, very good programs, exciting rivalries, or combinations thereof.
 

NanaPat

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Oct 25, 2014
Country
Canada
Calgary 1988! Battle of the Brians (Boitano and Orser). Battle of the Carmens (Katerina Witt and Debi Thomas). Liz Manley's great free progra and silver medal. In pairs, Gordeeva/Grinkov, Valova/Vasiliev, and Watson/Oppegard. And in ice dance, Bestamianova/Bukin, Kilmova/Ponomorenko, and Wilson/McCall. What's not to like?

And think of the legacy we have from it, in terms of coaches and of second-generation skaters.
 

LadyB

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 7, 2016
I'm also going for extension.
Most: 1976 with Toller!!!! But also Rodnina/Zaitsev, Terry Kubicka's back flip, Kermer/Oesterreich, and for the first time Ice Dance with that amazing tango by Pakhomova/Gorshkov, and Curry of course.
1984: Torvill/Dean, Brian Orser for silver.
1988: Battle of the Brians, G&G, Kati Witt and Bestemianova/Bukin
2014: Stolbova/Klimov!!!!!
Least:
1998: Nagano. The first time I've watched again more or less interested, but I hardly remember anything of it....
 

Nika09

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
1994 Lillehammer OG, Ladies event particularly: Bayul's breathtaking victory and stunning programs, Bonaly's jaw-dropping performance with back-flip, and Kerrigan-Harding drama.
2002 Salt-Lake OG: Yagudin-Plushenko battle and Aleksey's well deserved Gold triumph.
2010 Vancouver OG: another traditional Yuna Kim-Mao Asada rivalry at the Olympic Games level. Was cheering for both of those beautiful ladies and it was amazing bunch of performances.
2018 Pyeongchang OG, Men's event.

For me 2014 Sochi OG is memorable as well, but in negative way. So many unfairness and regrets and...tears for Mao, Yuna and Yulia at the and of the day.
 

GGFan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 9, 2013
Memorable is a tricky word since it doesn't necessarily imply enjoyment. With that in mind:

1994: Hands down. It was just 2 years after 1992. The pros were coming back. This was huge to me as I wanted Brian Boitano to get another gold. Nancy and Tonya. The Torvill and Dean drama. G/G (my babies) vs. M/D (who I loved in 1992). Ultimately G/G was the only thing I was thrilled about as all my other favs lost.


I think every Olympics includes some heartbreak for me, so it's hard for me to pick one where I wasn't left feeling bad for one of my favs. So most enjoyable would be difficult. Generally I would pick a mix of:

1976 for John Curry, 1984 for Torvill & Dean, 1988 for Boitano & G/G, 1992 for Kristi, and 2002 for Yagudin.

Least memorable:

1998: for whatever reason I think I missed several of the live skates this year and I do not rewatch the performances nearly as much. Perhaps I've also blocked it out because of Michelle (yes it took me about 15 years to rewatch the free). :dev2: ETA: I just remembered that in 1998 G/P repeated :noshake: and B/S (who were by far the best) messed up :sad21:
 

GGFan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 9, 2013
I should also add that this thread is fascinating given what we now know about memory. We used to think it was just like a library where you access the books and return them to their place, but it turns out that every time you access the books you also rewrite them.

This thread would be a moving target over time. After watching more YouTube I might feel differently about which Olympics are most memorable next year. For me there's a mix of childhood feelings, implanted memories, and lots of YouTube that makes this exercise fun.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
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Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I won't be sticking to the time limits either, and also will be distinguishing between disciplines, because sometimes I can recall only one that made the experience so memorable (in a positive way). There's actually only one OG with no real sticking out experiences for me.

1976 and 1980 because of John Curry and Robin Cousins respectively.
1984 because of Torville and Dean's Paso Double in the OD (and yes, of course I recall the Bolero too, but the OD is the shining one for me)
1988 because of the battles in singles: Brians and Carmens and a non-Carmen running away with silver
1992 because of Kirsti Yamaguchi's LP and the Always awesome Midori Ito.
1994 because of the showdown between G/G en M/D
1998 because of Ilija Kulik's LP, Elvis's great skates and Philippes d'Artagnan, and, perhaps unexpectedly, A/P's beautiful free dance to Romeo and Juliet as well as B/K's lovely River Dance.
2002 because of Alexei Yagudin's fantastic two skates and Michelle Kwan's beautiful Exhibition Programme.
2010 and 2014 both for the Ice Dance finals as well as Yuna Kim and MAO Asada's LP's. 2010 also for the Pairs final with my favourite Chinese pair finally getting the gold and, of course, Takahashi in the men's Free Skate.
2018 because of S/M's beautiful, iconic LP and the spectacular Pairs final altogether with so many terrific skates.

2006 somehow never does anything for me, not in any discipline. I realise there were some good skates there, of course there were, just not iconic for me in any way.
 

MiraiFan

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
Calgary 1988! Battle of the Brians (Boitano and Orser). Battle of the Carmens (Katerina Witt and Debi Thomas). Liz Manley's great free progra and silver medal. In pairs, Gordeeva/Grinkov, Valova/Vasiliev, and Watson/Oppegard. And in ice dance, Bestamianova/Bukin, Kilmova/Ponomorenko, and Wilson/McCall. What's not to like?

And think of the legacy we have from it, in terms of coaches and of second-generation skaters.

Agree--that was such a great competition across all events!
 

lesnar001

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Calgary 1988! Battle of the Brians (Boitano and Orser). Battle of the Carmens (Katerina Witt and Debi Thomas). Liz Manley's great free progra and silver medal. In pairs, Gordeeva/Grinkov, Valova/Vasiliev, and Watson/Oppegard. And in ice dance, Bestamianova/Bukin, Kilmova/Ponomorenko, and Wilson/McCall. What's not to like?

And think of the legacy we have from it, in terms of coaches and of second-generation skaters.

Also the last Olympics with compulsory figures.
 

lesnar001

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
1994 was very memorable for many reasons....

Only 2 years from prior Olympics

Tonya-Nancy story which dominated the news leading up to the Olympics.

Controversy about letting the "pros" be eligible to compete.

Things that I remember the most from the actual skating
M&D vs G&G
Oksana Baiul vs Nancy Kerrigan
Torvil & Dean only winning the bronze (I think the judges dinged them for an illegal lift????)
Viktor Petrenko, Kurt Browning, and Brian Boitano doing better in the LP and finishing a very respectalble 4-5-6

dishonorable mention ---- Tonya Harding's laces breaking
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
I‘m too young to remember all these Olympic Rivalries of the past, like Battle of the Brians or of the Carmens. (Or wasn’t even alive yet. :biggrin: ) Of course I watched all of them when I became a skating fan but it‘s not the same as when you experience them live.

That‘s why I‘d say:

2010 - first Olympics I actively followed figure skating! I always used to watch with my mum but I never knew anything about the skaters or the jumps. But Yuna and Mao sparked my interest and I actually remembered their names! Definitely memorable! :cheer:

2014 - Very memorable as well for various reasons. Some good, others... well. First positive one: Yulia Lipnitskaya! :luv17: I saw her perform her SL in the Team Event and well... I was instantly fascinated. She became my favourite skater as I started to follow figure skating afterwards. Of course I also was happy to see Yuna and Mao return and foolish me predicted a podium of Yuna, Mao and Yulia/Caro (she‘s my mum‘s favourite). Needless to say that I didn‘t have Adelina on the radar. And when she won... outch. Only thing I‘m gonna say: I‘m still not over it. :laugh: But of course it was also Yuzu‘s first OGM! I never watched the Men‘s event before (still don‘t do as often as Ladies) but I saw him and found him interesting.

2018 - Aaah, this one‘s special. I never felt like this watching the Olympics. There was unbelievable joy (Aljona/Bruno and Yuzu and Javier). But also sadness. (Seeing Evgenia lose the Gold by such a tiny margin... I‘m not gonna lie it still hurts) But that‘s why I started to like Alina, too. When I saw her sitting there with her tiny doll, looking like she was just overwhelmed with everything - happiness for her win, pride but also sadness for her friend Zhenya... I realised how wrong it had been to somewhat hold her accountable for Zhenya‘s loss. I started to follow her and realised that she‘s just a young girl who‘s been working hard all her life and who deserves everything she got. Don‘t hate the player, hate the game. And now I‘m a fan of both her and Zhenya. So, yeah. If I had to choose, it would be 2018 because as cheesy as it sounds, it actually had some kind of life lesson for me ?? In 2014 I was simply outraged over the result and couldn‘t get over the fact that some unknown girl who had made a mistake in her skate (one even I could see as I didn‘t know anything about skating back then) could win over the perfect Yuna and Caro. While it was only my mum who got to hear my rants (we kind of ranted together :laugh: ) I was never that well... nice about Adelina. But since that happened with Alina I‘m trying to be more openminded and remind myself that even when a favourite loses to someone you should never ever hate on this person. I‘m still... not too fond of Adelina but I would never badmouth her on the internet or on any forums. 2018 it is for me. :)
 

[email protected]

Medalist
Record Breaker
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Mar 26, 2014
Most memorable:
Turin - I was fascinated by Totmyanina/Marinin, Navka/Kostomarov, and Plushy. Rooted for Slutskaya but frankly speaking ladies was my least favorite event back then.
Sochi - my first Winter Olympics as a spectator. Yulia! She made me an addicted freak-fan of figure skating and ladies the discipline.
Korea (sorry, can't master the spelling of the city) - my second Winter Olympics with the epic Evgenya-Alina battle and the epic Alyona's win.

Least memorable:
Vancouver - TV timing was awkward - did not watch it
 

charlotte14

Medalist
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Best Olympic to me until now: PC because all of my favorites won
Worst Olympic to me until now: Vancouver because I think Pang/Tong should have won
 

Osmond4gold

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
The Best include, 1988, 2010 and 2018, so many outstanding performances and the stuff of legends.

The Worst, 2014 and So-chi or 'So-shadi'! Say no more. :noshake:
 
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