First Experiences with FS/When You Became a Fan? | Page 3 | Golden Skate

First Experiences with FS/When You Became a Fan?

Roo87

Medalist
Joined
Nov 12, 2017
1998 - Grade 4, my teacher took us into the library to watch Elvis skate in Nagano, you could tell the sadness in her after the skate, I get it now.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I recall as a child watching peggy. I don’t recall any great reaction except I recall the dress. Then came Dorothy and her oh so pretty face matched Peggy’s beauty and her hair was to die for. Many girls with short hair attempted to get that haircut. Looking back she was solidly built and more athlete than artist but beautiful stroking and her back was just perfectly still as they were al taught. I think as my life changed drastically I was able to watch on TV the battle of the Brian’s and loved them both. Katarina Witt was very pretty and sexy but Debi Thomas was the best I thought just not at the Olympics. In the nineties the skaters got tinier and I loved Kristi as a pro, but I also loved the 16 year old Baiuland the mature elegant Kerrigan. Then came Michelle Tara and Irina Sasha and Sarah Hughes. Skating really changed in 2002. 2006 was not great for ladies at the top. So I have been watching a long time. The greats and winners stand out. So many under rated skaters we have all forgotten.
 

rugbyfan

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Like you I loved the 1988 Olympics. VCRs were finally affordable and this and 1988 US Nationals were the first things I taped beginning a collection that continues to this day.

I am jealous. I had it all on tape (very very bad quality, but still), but then lost them in a move. Some of my lost collection I am really sad about - 88, 94 and Tall in the Saddle in particular
 

Scrufflet

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Barbara Ann Scott was the first elite skater I ever saw (at an ice show). I was a little boy, but she looked so tiny on the ice, like a little doll. She was as pretty as the ballerina that spun around on the top of my sister's music box. :)

Good memory! As a child, I thought that figure skating was an American and Russian thing. Then she came along and I saw that Canada could do it too! That is huge for a child. I do feel quite proud when a Canadian becomes a champion (and yes, I do love skaters from other countries).
 

StephenGfan

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 10, 2018
My first memory of figure skating is watching recaps of the ladies and ice dancing during the Olympics in 2010 when I was 11. I remember being mad that Joannie didn't win over Yuna Kim and thought Tessa and Scott looked really good (Their looks not skating) and I liked Tessa's dress. Had no interest in the sport itself then.
But when I actually got into skating was when I saw Yuna Kims 2010 Olympic short program on youtube when I was 15 in 2013 and that was the beginning. I remember thinking how cool that program was.
 

Rissa

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
The beginnings are too hazy but I vaguely remember Oksana Baiul. First big impression Yagudin, the real big impression Grishuk/Platov's Requiem, but Hanyu's Parisienne Walkways from Sochi turned me into competition-following, competition-attending fan.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I must have watched before that (I was 18 at the time) but Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean pulled me in to remember things. Their Paso Double (still one of my favourite programmes ever) at the Olympics made me watch seriously. I must have watched before (I remember Diane de Leeuw getting a silver medal but not her programmes), but this got my real attention. Shortly afterwards the Pairs discipline started to move me more, and still does. But Chris and Jane were the ones who got me into becoming a fan.
 

Bonnie F

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
The first competition I distinctly remember watching was the 1992 U.S. Ladies Nationals, won by Kristy Yamaguchi. I was around 10 years old. Over the next decade I watched just about every show or competition that came on television. I would record and rewatch many of them over and over, often with my beloved and now deceased grandmother. From 2002 to 2012 college, career, marriage and life in general kept me busy and I only watched the major competitions. In fact, during 2006-2010 I probably watched only two or three competitions, I totally missed the Yuna Kim bandwagon. I started back really following the sport in the the years leading up to Sochi which is probably why I have a soft spot for Julia Lipnitskaya. I attended my first nationals in 2015 and my first world championship in 2016. Now I'm looking forward to another trip to nationals in 2020.
 

Seven Sisters

Medalist
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
I must have watched before that (I was 18 at the time) but Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean pulled me in to remember things. Their Paso Double (still one of my favourite programmes ever) at the Olympics made me watch seriously. I must have watched before (I remember Diane de Leeuw getting a silver medal but not her programmes), but this got my real attention. Shortly afterwards the Pairs discipline started to move me more, and still does. But Chris and Jane were the ones who got me into becoming a fan.

I’m delighted to see that so many of us are citing Torvill and Dean as our first loves here. Me too! They really were extraordinary.
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
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?

I loved watching it on TV as a kid. The first skaters whose names I still remember were Rodnina & Zaitzev. I was fortunate enough to see their gala when they left the sport when I was very young live (that’s pretty much the only sport event I attended live, except one hockey game).

Then I grew up, and did not watch sports till 2014 Olympics, where Lipnitskaya overawed me with her graceful and emotional performances. But after a year or so when I looked her up, I saw that her career ended, and it put me off.

But then I watched 2018 Olympics and stuck around this time. Uno, Zagitova and pretty much most of the currently competing pair skaters made a strong impression. I do not have favourite between these three disciplines, but I do follow Uno’s career via this forum/twitter, because it is easy and fun.

I still can’t watch ice dance, I nod off after a few minutes of efforts.
 
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