most memorable olympics for figure skating?

[Jeanie19]

I've watched all the Olympics from 1994 on.
Highlight from 94' I loved Katerina Witt and Oksana Bauil.
1998 was the mens. I thought the top four were great. Really impressed that Elvis skated injured.
2002. Great skating in all four divisions. My favorite was Alexei and Evgeni show down. I thought the Lithuanian dance pair should have won bronze.
2006 I was heartbroken for Sasha Cohen.
2010 and 2014 I was I was routing for Mao Asada.
2018 is my favorite. I watched every competition (including senior B's). The level of skating on all 4 disciplines was fantastic and thrilling. The
Most memorable performance was Evgenia's long program. It was a heartfelt skate.

 

[Danibellerika]

I've watched all the Olympics from 1994 on.
Highlight from 94' I loved Katerina Witt and Oksana Bauil.
1998 was the mens. I thought the top four were great. Really impressed that Elvis skated injured.
2002. Great skating in all four divisions. My favorite was Alexei and Evgeni show down. I thought the Lithuanian dance pair should have won bronze.
2006 I was heartbroken for Sasha Cohen.
2010 and 2014 I was I was routing for Mao Asada.
2018 is my favorite. I watched every competition (including senior B's). The level of skating on all 4 disciplines was fantastic and thrilling. The
Most memorable performance was Evgenia's long program. It was a heartfelt skate.

I still can't watch that free skate... I've watched the short countless times and decided to just leave things on a high note...

 

[liv]

1988, Calgary... was amazing for: the Battle of the Brians, the Carmens (katarina's 2nd gold), Gordeeva/Grinkov perfection, Midori Ito's stratospheric performance, the Duchesnays... and everyone skated really well. It was just a well skated event from top to bottom.

 

[cruzceleste]

2006 I was heartbroken for Sasha Cohen.
.

I still can't watch that free skate... I've watched the short countless times and decided to just leave things on a high note...

Look at this for the other side, without Shizuka, there would be no Yuzuru...

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

88, 92, 2010

 

[Off My Rocker]

Preamble: I’m doing memory exercises today so bear with me. I don’t think I could pick a “most” memorable Olympics but rather many memorable moments from almost all I’ve seen. I can’t recall if I saw any coverage of 1964 but do remember having watched Olympic coverage since 1968. Each successive Olympiad aired more skating than its predecessor.

1968 – Peggy Fleming, hands down is who I remember most (and off topic, Nancy Greene and Jean-Claude Killy in skiing).

1972 – the ladies podium – Trixi Schuba (I enjoyed her figures!), Karen Magnussen, Janet Lynn

1976 – Rodnina/Zaitsev and Pakhomova/Gorshkov were the gold standard for pairs and ice dance. I cried when Toller Cranston placed 7th in figures but happy he finished with the bronze. John Curry was devine.

1980 – Robin Cousins!!! Sadly, none of the ladies grabbed me. Rodnina/Ziasev’s repeat, although I was heartbroken for Tai/Randy when they had to withdraw due to injury.

1984 – Torvill/Dean top choice, the entire men’s podium (Hamilton, Orser, Sabovcik) and many who weren’t in the top 3 (the unorthodox Gary Beacom immediately comes to mind).

1988 – okay, I’m biased…being in Calgary, and the Canadian contingent doing quite well, I was hyped (sadly, from a hotel room in Montreal…pesky work strikes again). I was fine with the men’s result – I was rooting for Orser, and it was close but Brian Boitano had the better FP on the day. Liz Manley was a star in the ladies – her dancing around her final pose, the hands-to-face expression of disbelief and donning the cowboy hat will always be a prominent memory for me. I had a different result in dance (K&P winning over B&S) and thrilled with the FD of Wilson/McCall who I would have placed 2nd in the FD. Gordeeva and Grinkov in pairs were brilliant.

1992 – Yamaguchi and Ito in the ladies. Men: gutted for Browning while thrilled for Wylie. Pairs and Dance: loved the whole podiums. I fell in love with Rahkamo/Kokko.

1994 – probably my least fave Olympics for figure skating. I did not enjoy the ladies event or any of the shenanigans leading up to it. I was gutted for Browning again but realize that a great skater is not defined by an Olympic medal; it’s the contribution over an entire career – thank you Kurt. Elvis’ Enter the Dragon I still enjoy watching today. I didn’t agree with the Dance results, and realize I might be in the minority in that thought. Most memorable pairs performance: Gordeeva/Grinkov – exquisite!

1998 and 2002 – pretty much a blank since I was out of country working with no access to cable TV. I’ve watched a few of the programs on YouTube in recent years, but it’s not the same as watching an event unfold live. I can’t say from watching YouTube that any program stuck out EXCEPT Yagudin’s Winter SP in 2002. I’m glad I missed the hoopla around 2002 pairs event, have watched the podium’s programs and wish some people could LET IT GO.

2006 – first flashback: the Fusar-Poli/Margaglio glare after their OD. Not a fave performance, but an indelible memory nonetheless. Overall, I found the figure skating to be bland when comparing to other Olympics.

2010 – the only Olympics where I’ve been able to see a live event. ONE EVENT - the last time for Compulsory Dance at the Olys. 23 x Tango Romanticas (yeah, I’m dreading this year’s RD). Listening to Axel Radio at the venue (I think it was Ted Barton, Jamie McGrigor & ?? sorry-can’t-remember-the-third commentator) was brilliantly funny. Overall, the quality of skating in 2010 was exceptional.

2014 – I enjoyed a number of the PERFORMANCES from ALL countries, including many of the podium placements. Sotnikova’s FP reminded me of Sarah Hughes in 2002 – go for broke, skate your heart out. Stolbova & Klimov were by far the pair I most enjoyed – both SP and FP. I’ll admit disappointment in the skating of the men’s FP. I wanted Patrick to win, but it just wasn’t meant to be on that day. I still loved his skating. Any match between V&M and D&W I always found exciting, and 2014 was no exception.

2018 - I felt sad at the gap left by Russian skaters who weren’t there. As for the skating: Team Canada! Some will say I’m showing bias again. Guilty, but I loved how this group of veterans, sprinkled with upcoming talent, were organized and driven to go for the win. One of the best features of the entire 2-3 weeks – I got a wonderful range of commentary from the GS community. A sincere THANK YOU!

End of brain dump. Now that I’ve bored you all to tears…
…off to grab some YouTube fare.

 

[GGFan]

1988, Calgary... was amazing for: the Battle of the Brians, the Carmens (katarina's 2nd gold), Gordeeva/Grinkov perfection, Midori Ito's stratospheric performance, the Duchesnays... and everyone skated really well. It was just a well skated event from top to bottom.

With 30 years of distance I can now see this. For many African Americans this will forever be the Olympics where Debi fell. I've kind of gotten over it.

 

[hanyuufan5]

Most memorable for me by far was 2018. So many long sought-after gold medals... the Canadian team trying so hard to finally get one for Patrick Chan; Aliona Savchenko finally, finally getting hers at an age when most have long since retired from such intense competition (made even more special for me because she looks just like my great aunt); and Yuzuru Hanyu, my favorite skater ever, getting the first back-to-back men's golds since before my parents were born, let alone myself. Then Alina Zagitova vs. Evgeniya Medvedeva and Virtue/Massot vs. Papadakis/Cizeron and that heart-pounding suspense. Then Shoma Uno, whom I'd never even heard of before, stealing the show and winning silver. And seeing Javier Fernandez and Carolina Kostner again was like meeting old friends after four years. I never expected them to still be competing.

I think I could keep going until I hit the character limit. Pyeongchang was just incredible. I've loved figure skating my entire life, but I was always more a skater than a fan. Now I'm equal parts both.

Least memorable was definitely (YEAR REDACTED, lol), because I was a month old when I watched it and don't remember a thing except a few flashes from recaps they showed at the next Olympics after.

 

[figurefan0726]

1994 Lillehammer: Katarina Witt’s Comeback
1998 Nagano: Tara Lipinski Upsets Michelle Kwan...... I remember that day. I was watching it and I hear the lady who says the scores and I hear “Presentation...” *scream*
2002 Salt Lake City: Sarah Hughes and B/S and S/P Gold
2006 Turin: Shizuka and poor Sasha and Irina.
2010: Yuna, Mao, and Joannie.
2014: Yuna Kim robbed of gold by Adelina Sotnikova. D/W wins gold.
2018: Nathen Chen’s beautiful free skate. Medvedeva and Alina’s ties FS score. S/M wins gold.

 

[nocturnalis]

I have fond memories of 2002, 2010, and 2018. 2006 was meh and 2014 was suspicious af.

 

[Sam L]

PyeongChang, I was there. See avatar.

 

[rugbyfan]

From last 20 years it would have to be 2010 - but for me that was for ice dance and Joannie; Overall probably a tie between 1988 (it was my first Olympics that I saw much of, and wow what an Olympics - Battles of Carmens and Brians, Midori Ito and Kurt Browning, Klimova Ponomarenko and Wilson and McCAll, G and G - it was incredible) and 1994 with all the comeback and heartbreaks as well as amazing skating in every discipline.
Least memorable is hands down 2006. I don't actually really remember any of the programs other than Sasha Cohen though this was partly that it was a slump period in my watching.

 

[iluvtodd]

1988 - The Battle of the Brians, Gordeeva & Grinkov, Midori Ito

 

[icetigger]

Calgary- Battle of the Brians, battle of the Carmens, Liz Manley, G and G, and a good ice dance competition. Also, looking back via youtube, Dick Button and Peggy's commentary makes a difference too, as does the crowd, who were great. The only way it could have been made better would be if T/D had been able to compete for a second Olympic gold. Best of all though was Midori Ito taking a sledgehammer to the technical standards of women's figure skating........ truly the moment when a whole discipline changed- and probably the most influential moment in figure skating of the past thirty years.

 

[Suze]

Most memorable for me is Vancouver: Mao Asada’s historic triple axels, Joannie Rochette’s dedication and willpower to skate so beautifully and claim bronze despite her mother’s passing just days before the competition, Mirai Nagasu’s Olympic debut totally blowing my expectations and delivering a powerful skate despite being the last skater to perform, and of course the two programs of grace, beauty and perfection by Yuna Kim that will forever be commemorated as one of the finest Olympic performances these eyes have ever seen.

 

[TontoK]

I don't understand the time limitation, so I'm extending it.

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.



Second most memorable: 1984

Torvill & Dean. Scotty Hamilton. Katarina Witt.

This is the correct answer.

 

[mau]

Vancouver: the first Winter Olympics I remember. Yuna's historical winning and Mao's iconic Triple Axels.

Sochi: memorable in a sad way. Yuna ending her career with a bittersweet taste and Mao's heartbreaking LP, knowing that she wouldn’t medal even though clean. There were some good moments, like Yulia's team event LP, Kostner skating clean and Davis/White flawless Scheherazade free dance.

 

[Alex D]

I remember 1994, as I was upset with the results. (as a minor, I did not understand the rules, but felt the wrong people got medals). For someone who loved Witt, not seeing her win was making me cry. There was also some boot issue with Harding, overall the boy in me was sad, as I felt the beauty was not rewarded well enough and the evil was. Today, I look at things different, but back then I was furious.

2002,

I always felt that 9/11 had a major impact on the event. Back then I was in the States and everyone was insanely patriotic. They had these blueish hats with the flag, milk bottles with Sarah Hughes on them and I was so for Slutskaya and Cohen. Ill never forget those tears... Sports events were no longer the same I felt, it was different to years ago, even though we had Atlanta, but it did not have such a big impact on people.

2014,

I was so happy for Adelina

2018,

I was hearthbroken for Evgenia

 

[SamuraiKike]

I have followed skating since the Torino Olympics and have watched retroactively up until 1992 Albertville. With that said:

Most enjoyable: Vancouver 2010
- P&T surprise raise, S&S heartbreaking bronze and S&Z finally getting gold. Russia out of podium !!
- Plushenko coming back!! but being upset by Lysacek!! Takahashi getting bronze. Awesome skates from Lambiel (SP) and Weir (LP). Lots of good young guys in the lesser ranks.
- V&M FD for the ages!!! D&W Indian SD!! The folk SD was really enjoyable too and I was a fan of almost every team in the top 10.
- Yuna vs Mao! Rochette Drama! Nagasu when she was interesting. Lepisto with a killer LP.

Least enjoyable:
I guess Nagano. Dance FD is really good but the Jive SD is meh. Men and Ladies besides the top 3 is kinda forgettable and Pairs even worse.

I have watched the medal performances from Calgary and it always puzzles me why is this olympic so much cherished among older fans. The carmens and brians are so blah compared to what we see these days. G&G were fantastic though.

 

[Off My Rocker]

I have watched the medal performances from Calgary and it always puzzles me why is this olympic so much cherished among older fans. The carmens and brians are so blah compared to what we see these days. G&G were fantastic though.

SamaraiKike, I’d like you to bookmark your post and go back to it 30-40 years from now. You’ll have had the experience of seeing this sport develop and evolve, but will likely still fondly appreciate what you’re seeing these days.

As someone well-heeled in that group of ‘older fans’, I can say I have seen skating brilliance, drama, and intrigue in every era. If you had watched the World Championships in the quad leading up to 1988, you would have seen these rivalries unfolding, volleying in title results, then culminating in the (okay, well-hyped) Battles of the Carmens and Brians. And for us who watched this series play out in ’85-‘88, it was an exciting lead-up with outcomes in Calgary not necessarily as expected or predicted.

I’m glad you enjoy today’s skating, and hope it still pleases your palette decades from now!