- Joined
- May 19, 2018
Another thread got me curious. How long has everyone been a fan of figure skating? When did you first see it? What was the first event or who was the first skater you remember?
First Experiences with FS/When You Became a Fan?
- Thread starter hanyuufan5
- Start date
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- May 19, 2018
For me, it was Viktor Petrenko at the Olympics (not telling which year 
). I watched the program recently and remembered his costume and a few bits of the step sequence. I was very, very young, probably no one would believe how young. I was hooked immediately. I don't even remember a time I didn't love figure skating. :luv17:
). I watched the program recently and remembered his costume and a few bits of the step sequence. I was very, very young, probably no one would believe how young. I was hooked immediately. I don't even remember a time I didn't love figure skating. :luv17:
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1970. (71?)
On Wide World of Sports.
First skater I remember and whose magic drew me in: Janet Lynn.
Skater whose magic made me a fan for good: Toller Cranston.
And that, children, is why medals matter less to me
On Wide World of Sports.
First skater I remember and whose magic drew me in: Janet Lynn.
Skater whose magic made me a fan for good: Toller Cranston.
And that, children, is why medals matter less to me
The scream heard round the world I remember jumping up and down in the living room with my sister in my pajamas when she won. 
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2014
The first skating program i had remembered as a whole is Anissina/Peizerat gala program (to Susanna https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KI5Zvq551g). I think i have some fragments in my mind on Katarina Witt and Nancy Kerigan. Probably i was too young back than to remember it, but i have a felling i watched them as a baby
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- Feb 17, 2010
1988, The Battle of the Carmens (Witt vs Thomas) at the Calgary Games. Also the event where Midori Ito burst onto the scene.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2017
IIRC I first saw a VHS tape my parents had made of Oksana Baiul's Swan Lake SP in Lillehammer when I was very young, just about in time for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. I was already a huge ballet fan and so that grabbed me immediately. I don't actually remember if I saw any of Nagano live, though I know my parents taped Michelle and Tara's skates and I loved them both enough that I bought a couple fanbooks at the school book fair. (I've yet to come across either the little biography that had alternating chapters on Michelle and Tara or the full color picture book for Michelle but I do still have the replica Michelle necklace that came with the latter)
The first time I definitely watched skating live would've been 2002. I remember I was not a fan of Sarah Hughes, haha, and got my heart broken by Michelle and Sasha.
The first time I definitely watched skating live would've been 2002. I remember I was not a fan of Sarah Hughes, haha, and got my heart broken by Michelle and Sasha.
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2013
Reading lots of wikipedia pages about people at the 2010 Olympics... 
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2006
When I was three years old (I'm 32 now), I became interested in Kurt Browning. Then a bit later, I became a fan of some other Canadian skaters like Brasseur/Eisler, Bourne/Kraatz and Elvis Stojko, plus some Americans like Brian Boitano and Nancy Kerrigan. I also enjoyed European skaters, but I usually didn't remember their names or how to pronounce them when I was young.
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- Oct 8, 2015
I became a fan way before the internet, when you depended on Dick Button to tell you what was going on in the skating world only 2 or 3 times a year on the telly, or waited impatiently for the next Skating Magazine to come in the mail.
The first skaters I followed were John Misha Petkevich and Janet Lynn, followed by John Curry, Charlie Tickner, Robin Cousins, Tai and Randy, Paul Wylie... Then I took a break.
The first skaters I followed were John Misha Petkevich and Janet Lynn, followed by John Curry, Charlie Tickner, Robin Cousins, Tai and Randy, Paul Wylie... Then I took a break.
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- Mar 22, 2018
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Time to hail the Queen again Short version, look at my avatar. Longer version goes like this:
It's 2010, Olympics are on the TV. Apparently there's a Korean in figure skating, whatever that is, who's likely to win the gold medal, so my family tune in for the short program. Yuna Bond in her stunning black dress comes on, I watch with fascination and cheer her on. She shoots everyone's hearts, we yell hooray then swith the channel to watch Short Track (or something that had Koreans in the race for gold). So far to my little girl self, I had only watched a beautiful lady in a pretty dress skating to music with a charming smile.
Fast forward to the free skate, everyone is cheering for a gold medal for Korea. I'm honestly not that much different, she's Korean and she's pretty so I want her to win. And then, the Queen comes on the ice. I am mesmerised by her dress, it is the most beautiful dress I had ever seen in my (quite young) life. Heart pounding, I clasp my hands as she poses. The piano sounds, she gently sways like a willow facing the wind, she smiles. I am transfixed. Then she starts to move.
During those four minutes, I saw what the definition of beauty and grace was. I'm sorry for Asada Mao, but I honestly didn't even see her performance that night. I was too entranced by the Queen, her smiles, her tears, her magic. I was in love.
I didn't become a full-time watch-every-season fan until I graduated from high school (mostly because dorm life is damn hectic), but that was the definitive moment I fell in love with the sport. Objectively speaking, Gershwin Concerto isn't the most well-constructed of programs (my pick for her best free would be Homage to Arirang), but it's still my favourite program of hers because I simply can't forget the first moment of love I felt.
Short version, look at my avatar. Longer version goes like this:It's 2010, Olympics are on the TV. Apparently there's a Korean in figure skating, whatever that is, who's likely to win the gold medal, so my family tune in for the short program. Yuna Bond in her stunning black dress comes on, I watch with fascination and cheer her on. She shoots everyone's hearts, we yell hooray then swith the channel to watch Short Track (or something that had Koreans in the race for gold
). So far to my little girl self, I had only watched a beautiful lady in a pretty dress skating to music with a charming smile.Fast forward to the free skate, everyone is cheering for a gold medal for Korea. I'm honestly not that much different, she's Korean and she's pretty so I want her to win. And then, the Queen comes on the ice. I am mesmerised by her dress, it is the most beautiful dress I had ever seen in my (quite young) life. Heart pounding, I clasp my hands as she poses. The piano sounds, she gently sways like a willow facing the wind, she smiles. I am transfixed. Then she starts to move.
During those four minutes, I saw what the definition of beauty and grace was. I'm sorry for Asada Mao, but I honestly didn't even see her performance that night. I was too entranced by the Queen, her smiles, her tears, her magic. I was in love.
I didn't become a full-time watch-every-season fan until I graduated from high school (mostly because dorm life is damn hectic), but that was the definitive moment I fell in love with the sport. Objectively speaking, Gershwin Concerto isn't the most well-constructed of programs (my pick for her best free would be Homage to Arirang), but it's still my favourite program of hers because I simply can't forget the first moment of love I felt.
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- Oct 25, 2012
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First Experiences with FS: Seeing a story about Jenna McCorkell on the local news sometime in the mid-to-late 90's.
When You Became a Fan: Thursday 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] January 2003.
I was in the kitchen doing my homework, and decided I needed a break. So I switched on the TV, put on Eurosport, and saw this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28djAK9g4-0
This programme had me totally mesmerised. What this wee girl (who was just over a year and a quarter younger than me) was doing was just amazing!
And from that moment, I was hooked! :agree:
Unfortunately, there are no videos on YouTube with Eurosport's English language commentary. :disapp: The only Eurosport video is this one with the German language commentary. But, funnily enough, although I was listening to our beloved British Eurosport guys, I was actually watching on the channel that eventually became Eurosport Deutschland.
So, it is actually kinda more appropriate to link to this video rather than the video with the American coverage.
CaroLiza_fan
When You Became a Fan: Thursday 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] January 2003.
I was in the kitchen doing my homework, and decided I needed a break. So I switched on the TV, put on Eurosport, and saw this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28djAK9g4-0
This programme had me totally mesmerised. What this wee girl (who was just over a year and a quarter younger than me) was doing was just amazing!
And from that moment, I was hooked! :agree: Unfortunately, there are no videos on YouTube with Eurosport's English language commentary. :disapp: The only Eurosport video is this one with the German language commentary. But, funnily enough, although I was listening to our beloved British Eurosport guys, I was actually watching on the channel that eventually became Eurosport Deutschland.
So, it is actually kinda more appropriate to link to this video rather than the video with the American coverage.
CaroLiza_fan
The really funny thing about your post is that it's not actually German, it's Dutch. So I wouldn't necessarily call it "more appropriate" to link to this video.
My first experience with figure skating competitions was the 1988 Olympics. I was... not too old yet, lol, and at the end of the year the television released this long Olympics '88 program showcasing all the great stuff that happened, and that videotape remained a big favorite in my family for many years.
I didn't really get into watching figure skating until the 2006 Olympics, however. Apparently, on February 21, 2006 I was rooting for Slutskaya to win, but was also very impressed by Sasha Cohen. :agree:
And two days later my whole family and I were mesmerized by Arakawa... I think that's where my love for Japanese figure skating comes from.
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- Oct 25, 2012
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The really funny thing about your post is that it's not actually German, it's Dutch. So I wouldn't necessarily call it "more appropriate" to link to this video.
Oh!
: In all the years I have been linking to that video, I never paid enough attention to the commentary to realise that it was Dutch rather than German! And I should have realised, because I studied German at school! 
Don't worry, I'm not going to start talking about relationships between the languages in question in this thread too.
There's a separate thread for doing that now. :agree:See what I did there? Getting a plug in for the new thread.
Sorry for my mistake.
CaroLiza_fan
Hehehe, no apology necessary, I got a really good chuckle out of it.
The video, btw, is really awesome. Young Carolina, wow!
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- Mar 24, 2019
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I was a ballet-obsessed child from an early age, although was also fascinated by a picture book I had at the age of two, which had an illustration of a skater sitting on the ice, looking glumly at her boots and the ice, having obviously fallen over *again*. No idea why that image stayed in my mind forever, possibly because footwear was a major obsession with me, but I never forgot it and even based my O Level Art & Design examination project on it. I was 10 when I first put blade to ice, but took off immediately and became set on skating every hour I could and becoming a coach. Weirdly, I vaguely remember being entranced by some TV footage of John Curry in 1976, and not quite as entranced by Robin Cousins in 1980, but the first time I recall actually staying up to watch FS on the television was 1981 Hartford, Connecticut, where Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Ice Dance Gold. Television wasn't a big thing in our house, and ice skating had always been on far too late for me to be allowed to watch it (pre-video recording days!) but after that I insisted. It was the first time I'd seen ice dance in any format other than the Sunday morning session dance interval and I was hooked. Torvill & Dean were my absolute idols from then on. Katarina Witt also snuck in there, a few years later, but I've always been more of a fan of actually skating than devotedly watching it on the television. During the period when I couldn't skate at all, after my accident (1999-2017), I couldn't watch it either, so I have no idea who half of the people mentioned in the fora actually are...
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- Mar 5, 2004
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As a kid, my mom took us to see the Ice Capades. As Disney fans, we've been attending Disney on Ice since 1983!
We always watched FS during the Winter Olympics (I can remember watching Peggy Fleming competing in Grenoble). I had the Dorothy Hamill wedge cut for several years. The event that did it for me the most was "The Battle of the Brians." I had NO idea what a rivalry was brewing between Brian Boitano & Brian Orser (I was so impressed with Brian Orser during the 1984 Winter Olympics, and was delighted that he was back for the Calgary Games). My biggest regret was that we didn't really follow the sport between 1984-1988. Well, "The Battle of the Brians," G&G, & Midori Ito did it for me. There was no turning back after that. From that point on, we started watching just about everything in fs! We started attending COI in 1988 & SOI in 1993 (having Brian Orser & Paul Wylie in the cast clinched it for us). Our first US Nationals was in our hometown, Philly in 1998. What a thrill to see Michelle skate so brilliantly there & to see "my" Todd win his fifth (of six) US titles!
We always watched FS during the Winter Olympics (I can remember watching Peggy Fleming competing in Grenoble). I had the Dorothy Hamill wedge cut for several years. The event that did it for me the most was "The Battle of the Brians." I had NO idea what a rivalry was brewing between Brian Boitano & Brian Orser (I was so impressed with Brian Orser during the 1984 Winter Olympics, and was delighted that he was back for the Calgary Games). My biggest regret was that we didn't really follow the sport between 1984-1988. Well, "The Battle of the Brians," G&G, & Midori Ito did it for me. There was no turning back after that. From that point on, we started watching just about everything in fs! We started attending COI in 1988 & SOI in 1993 (having Brian Orser & Paul Wylie in the cast clinched it for us). Our first US Nationals was in our hometown, Philly in 1998. What a thrill to see Michelle skate so brilliantly there & to see "my" Todd win his fifth (of six) US titles!
I used to watch figure skating as a kid with my grandmother, who sadly is not here anymore...we watched every year an ice gala that was held in Italy (at Bolzano) around Christmas time with big names as Plushenko, Kostner and others and which was televised during the night (!!!!) so we had to stay up to see it. The best thing of watching figure skating with my grandmother, a big opera lover, was that she would explain to me all the stories behind the various opera based pieces. The first Olympics I have memory of is Turin 2006...then I stopped watching figure skating because I was living alone with no TV and a busy schedule and I began again some years ago.
