FS documentaries and books

[ladyjane]

I've still got a VHS player as, I haven't managed to change all my tapes over tot DVD (mostly FS competitions from Eurosport on tv), and yes, exactly the same thing as @sadya mentions.

When I bought the thing it was intended to ensure I could also play tapes from the US and other countries. And it did! This makes me nostalgic too.

 

[mrrice]

I second @GoneWithTheWind's recommendation of "The Second Mark", it is really well-written, entertaining but at the same time informative.
Another must-read for figure skating fans would be "My Sergei" by Ekaterina Gordeeva, about her partner on and off ice, Sergei Grinkov, who passed way too soon but will always be remembered fondly among skating fans. There is also a documentary based on the book which pops up on youtube now and then, currently here: https://youtu.be/Rb0yXE11Qn0

Of course, I cannot but mention one of my favourite skaters here, Evgeni Plushenko. He is one of the most successful male singles skaters ever and pretty much dominated men's skating in the early to mid 2000s. You can find a documentary about his career on youtube in Russian with English subs: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5FAAC66C5AA6A30D.

I recently also enjoyed watching "The Ice Diaries", a documentary that follows four up-and-coming US figure skaters (Beatrisa "Bebe" Liang, Alissa Czisny, Danielle Kahle, and Sandra Rucker) through the 2005/2006 Olympic season as each tries to make the 2006 Olympic team. Episode 1 of 5 can be found here: https://youtu.be/Yg71THWaEFM, the others should then just pop up on the right side in the previews.

And if you are looking for more recent stuff, a short documentary about Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova and their season leading up to the 2018 Olympics in Russian with English subs is available here: https://youtu.be/_ZNz_sjH-DQ.

Hope you have fun reading/watching these! And if you are interested in a particular skater or era of figure skating, just let us know, I am sure between all of us here on Golden Skate we can come up with some material.

I remember the Ice Diaries Series. It was great and I learned a lot from it. There was a piece on Katarina Witt and her coach Jutta Müller. It was very interesting as it showed what her life was like in East Germany.