Your favorite all time pairs teams?

I really liked John Coughlin and Caitlin Yankowskas.

Mishkutenok/Dmitriev, Kazakova/Dmitriev, Sale/Pelletier, Sui/Han, Underhill/Martini

Only four? So hard!
1. Mishkutenok & Dmitriev
2. Bechke & Petrov
3. Meno & Sand
4. Sui & Han

Honorable mentions to Shen & Zhao, the Stieglers, Ina & Zimmerman, Gordeeva & Grinkov, Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze, Savchenko and both her partners and countless other pairs who have grabbed my heart over the years.

Mishkutionok /Kazakova/Dimitriev
Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze
Valentina Marchei/ Ondřej Hotárek
Sui/Han
Gordeeva/Grinkov

Well I have to list my Canadian favorites first of course as I am a Canadian:

Underhill/Martini
Sandra Bezic/Val Bezic
Brassuer/Eisler
Sale/Pelletier
Duhammel/Radford

Okay that's 5!

My top Russian pair of all time are the Protopopovs

I love pair skating and there are so many pairs I like....

1. Mishkutenok/Dmitriev
2. Shen/Zhao
3. Kawaguti/Smirnov
4. Savchenko/Massot

HM in no particular order: Kazakova/Dmitriev, Gordeeva/Grinkov, Voloszozhar/Trankov, Berezhnaya/Shikharulidze, Pang/Tong, Sui/Han, Totomianina/Marinin, Savchenko/Szolkowy.

In 1st place by far ... Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze
2 Savchenko/Massot
3 Shen/Zhao

G\G... by far...
Mishkuteniuk/Dmitriev
Berezhnaia/Sikharulidze

Lol. I'm Canadian, but I seem to only like Russian pairs

I'm going to go with pairs who brought something entirely unique and original in their time, which makes them timeless.

1. Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot. Their last two years were out of this world. So appropriate that their ultimate program was La Terre Vue au Ciel. I am dumbfounded by people who say Bruno was only a frame for Aljona. To me, he brought so much emotional authenticity, so much tender care and astonishing ability and strength in throwing/lifting, but also a sort of delicacy that matched Aljona's. Also, according to Aljona, Bruno coached her to improve her salchow. What harmony between partners!

2. Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner. They challenged the Russians of their time because of their harmony, synchronicity, and long beautiful matching lines. Their signature move (double whatchamacallit) was gorgeous and exciting and new, and it made visible the split second timing and beautiful technique that make a pair special. I recently watched an old interview of John Nicks about them; he mentioned that from the beginning, they focused on the second mark, the artistry, to bring out their best and make them unique.

3. Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. The quality of their technique, their delicate attention to parallel movement, Katia's perfect air positions, arm movements, and joy in skating just made them incomparable. Their presence, their emotional openness and vulnerability are unparalleled. Zueva's choreography made the most of all these qualities.

4. Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres. They are magical. For me, it's their lifts that create the most magic ... especially the ones in this year's FS. Kudos to Charlie White's choreography, which shows their individual and complementary qualities. Another reason I find them iconic is that it has taken them so long to really develop their unique qualities together. They're such a testament to longevity, a beautiful testament to finding the magic of a partnership over time.

Honorable Mention: Ashley Cain and Timothy Leduc. Again, like Tai and Randy ... Harmony, synchronicity, long Gorgeous matching lines, and parallel movement in lovely unison are the techniques that highlight their deeper qualities: devotion to their music, each other, and their connection with audiences. They have dared to compete at the top levels ... that takes guts, when so many loudly write them off; and they do it their way. Ashley and Tim really exemplify my criteria for favorites: they bring something to pairs that's entirely unique and original in their time.

Honorable Mention: Wenjing Sui and Cong Han = superb commitment to the emotion, moods, subtleties of every program. 2019 worlds, one for the ages. Superb technique serves the emotion of the music.

There's no denying that G&G are one of the best of all times but the ones that I hold close to my heart are
Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze - they were just mesmerizing.
Mishkutenok & Dmitriev - so passionate and inventive lifts and choreography especially for their time - iconic "Mishkutenok's spin".
Savchenko & Bruno - Aljona is a legend and their triple twist was just to die for. La Terre vue du ciel, just wow.
James & Cipres and Sui & Han are currently my "to watch" pairs as well as Cain & Leduc.

Gordeeva and Grinkov are the undoubted greatest of all time in pairs and they are always so incredible to look back and watch. Every single movement was perfection. I am also biased towards Volosozhar and Trankov because they were actually what got me interested in skating. Their Masquerade Waltz program was so beautiful, in my opinio. Sui and Han are unparalleled in the current generation, with unmatched artistic abilities.

mrrice said:

I really liked John Coughlin and Caitlin Yankowskas.

Click to expand...

Yes, it is good that YouTube has some skates. Whatever happened later in life and I don’t know and didn’t read extensively, they were two time us champions. That is not easy to do as we always have decentnskaters although we have never been a pairs powerhouse under 6.0. Russian dominance. I’m not sure why we don’t have a top 4 team in the IJS system that can podium at some events. I like all our current pairs but I don’t see greaness like so many.

Also I too am fan of Braseur and Eisler. I feel because they relied on humor and tricks they didn’t always get the second mark. I think he was considered brash but they were always up against the Russians. Suit Han are the great Chinese of today. But Shen and Zhao did four Olympics and I was watching on YouTube last night and I feel they didn’t win more because of where they came from. The throw jumps were “ the size of a small dwelling” to quote scooter as commentator.

I can’t recall events but I do recall watching and wondering how a certain Russian team could beat them. This team was the only one I didn’t like and I never understood how judges could give thenpm the marks.

Mishkutenok & Dmitriev
Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze
Shen & Zhao
Savchenko & Szolkowy
Pang & Tong
-------------
The active teams
Sui & Han
Yu & Zhang
James & Cipres

My favourites (by a long way) are Duhamel/Radford - these guys made me fall in love with figure skating in the first place, watching them skate to Eric's music at 2014 Olympics. I love how they never stopped trying to improve themselves, always trying to add new technical elements as well as working on their 'connection'. They knew they were never going to sell 'romantic' chemistry, so they didn't even try to, they made their own style instead; when other people doubted and criticized them, they just carried out fighting and proved lots of their doubters wrong with their medals in Pyeongchang. Their free skate at 2016 Worlds is my absolute favourite program, I re-watch it so often I pretty much know the choreo by heart (not that I could ever perform it!).

My favorite FS program of all time is probably Mishkutenok and Dimitriev's Rach 2 from 1994, so I am going to give them my gold medal, though the competition is close. G and G were technically impeccable and artistically sublime as well, and they would be a close second with the silver - but only by a narrow margin over my bronze medalists Anton and Elena. (Is there a more beautiful Pairs short program than their Lady Caliph program?)

There are too many runner up pairs to list here. I will just say that among current pairs I really admire Sui and Han, and James and Cipres.


I would give a special award to Tamara Moskvina, my favorite FS coach in any discipline, who is responsible for creating some of the most challenging, artful and impactful FS programs of all time. Has any coach/choreographer meant more to any discipline?

They seem to have gone out of fashion a bit, so I’m not surprised to not see them mentioned much here, but let me put in a good word for Volosozhar & Trankov, one of my all time favorite pairs teams. So fabulously dramatic they were, with those huge throws and high twists, and I especially loved how they simultaneously celebrated, and subverted, the conventional idea that pairs is all about the presentation of the lady.

Plus, their Black Swan is hands-down my favorite use of that music.

And of course the best pairs program of all time is Shen & Zhao’s FP at 2003 Worlds. I can’t even hazard a guess as to how many times I’ve rewatched that—and i still am in tears by the end, every time.

My favs:
1.- Volosozhar/Trankov,
They had powerful elements (those throw triple loops ¡¡¡wow!!!)and a chemistry like few others, and I think their union must have been before Vancouver 2010 because their sports career was short because of their age. Volosozhar amazes me always.
2 .- Shen/Zhao
Beautiful programs and many memorable moments in their long careers.
3.- Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze
The fragile, delicate and Russian style that you recognize in his programs, Moskovina made magic with them.
4.- Savchenko/Szolkowy
Everything savchenko does, the long road that she traveled to obtain what she always wanted, inspiring!!!
5.- Luvob Iliushechkina
my platonic love

There is no order...just my favorite pairs teams:

Tai and Randy. I loved their double Ina Bauers across the ice. They really were two skating as one thanks to their long lines and not such a difference in height.
Mishkutienok & Dmitriev. Their 1992 Liebestraum was gorgeous and powerful. Their 1994 Rach 2...I would've been standing up with the rest of the audience before they even finished their LP.
Sale & Pelletier. I loathed the book and movie and wasn't wild about the music but they brought that love story to life on the ice. I no longer hate the music.

This thread inspired me to go back and watch M/D's FS from 1991 worlds (the best performance of the program, IMO). This is maybe the most brilliant pairs choreography of all time. Every movement is placed perfectly with the music. It builds and recedes and builds again. They were doing tons of transitions before transitions were a thing. Every time I watch it I see some new genius detail. The only choreography I've seen that even comes close is some of Laurie Nichol's work for S/H, such as their FS at worlds this season. But man, if you tweaked that 1991 program for COP it could still win a gold medal to this day. We don't see innovation like this much anymore, even from teams that can perform really good, clean elements. It still gives me chills every time I watch it.

What fun

1) G&G; no contest, ahead by a mile. Such beauty and every step precisely in sinc
2) Elena and Anton; I got the same feeling from them as I get with Gabby and Guillam; really transports you beyond the rink!
3) Mishkutenok and Dmitriev; power and grace blended perfectly That spin!
4) Shen and Zhao; I started out not being a big fan when they first arrived on the scene, but their skills and my appreciation just grew and grew. They
started with their fine technical skills---especially those throws!---but then went on to become true artists as well.

I must add a couple of honorable mentions, which are really future additions to a longer list I'm sure----Sui and Han, beautiful, passionate and skilled; and
my current favorite active pair, James and Cipre. I think they have the potential to join #s 2 and 3. I'm also a fan of Cain and LeDuc, and very hopeful
for their continued growth.