most memorable olympics for figure skating?

[ladyjane]

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!

Haha, you were first in responding. Every sport develops over time, so of course the battle of the Brians is blah compared to the current level of skating. That's not really the point. I was fascinated at the time, and had a lot of discussions with friends who should have won. Like 'Off my rocker' I was intrigued by what what would be the outcome. Then, I was also intrigued in 1980 when Robert Cousins won. And, naturally, the level of skating (and jumps) was different and less complex compared to nowadays, I don't think that's the point. I've got two favourtie skates, one is Rudy Galindo in 1996 at his Nationals with no quad, but technically pretty awesome at the time. And so joyful, despite what Rudy was going through. And my second is Alexei Yagudin in 2002 which did have a quad. Perhaps the programme wan't up to the standard of t0day, still very enjoyable to watch. Not blah at all!

 

[Skater Boy]

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

hUH?

 

[Skater Boy]

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.

Hmm interesting position. I thought there was real rivalry when you look at the youtube in 1988. Then there was the amazing skate and pure joy of Liz Manley. You had the rise of Midori Ito. And in the men such dram with the battle of the Brians. a real rivalry.

 

[NymphyNymphy]

2014 Sochi Olympics Ladies Event - ISU pretty much humiliated figure skating in front of the entire world. Thats pretty memorable if you ask me. :luv17::thumbsup:

 

[Corwin]

2002 Salt-Lake and 2014 Sochi ❤❤❤

 

[rinkside_user]

In my opinion, a 'most memorable' anything is about the feels. Having all those fears and doubts before PyeongChang (a shi*load of injuries among top contenders, most notably Hanyu and Medvedeva, S/M being not nearly consistent enough the make 'the' dream come true, P/C gaining insane momentum ahead of V/M, Medvedeva-Zagitova drama) and considering all the more likely outcomes that would have been less favorable by me (Candyman as a program getting gold ahead of both Turandot and La Terre vue du ciel, P/C hammering everyone in dance without a fight, Chen snatching away the gold from Hanyu with the quantity of his quads instead of the quality of his skating), it was pretty much a dream podium for me in every discipline with fantastic, memorable performances after so much emotional rollercoaster (Hanyu saved jumps, Massot pop, Papadakis wardrobe malfunction, Zagitova late combo), with younger stars like S/H, P/C and Chen still having shots in Beijing. So I think I'll settle with 2018 for the time being.

 

[SamuraiKike]

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!

Like I said, i started following skating in the Torino cycle so that's more than a decade ago and yes and I can say skating still pleases me . Heck some disciplines (mainly Pairs and Ladies) are soo much better right now than when I got hooked into the sport. So thankfully im still not jaded

My beef with Calgary is not so much about how old it is but that I dont really find those programs/performances truly memorable (G&G aside and Boitano's choreo was really nice OK i'll give that). Just 2 years later for instance the Duchesnays had Missing and M&D had Liebestraum. Two programs that despite being almost 3 decades old and way before my time I would still rank them in the top 5 programs ever.

Perhaps the magic about the Carmens and the Brians is like you said they were the culmination of a rivalry rather than being programs memorable on their own so basically you just had to live it to enjoy it on its full potential.

 

[iluvtodd]

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!

My biggest regret is that we didn't follow the sport thoroughly between 1984-1988. We had NO idea of what was brewing! I was ecstatic when I realized that Brian Orser was back for another Olympics! After Calgary, we started watching everything we could.

 

[Weathergal]

My biggest regret is that we didn't follow the sport thoroughly between 1984-1988. We had NO idea of what was brewing! I was ecstatic when I realized that Brian Orser was back for another Olympics! After Calgary, we started watching everything we could.

That's funny as that's around the same time I followed figure skating less than I normally did. I had to go back later to fill in some blanks - thank goodness for YouTube. LOL

 

[Skater Boy]

I guess upon reflection but not too many probably see it this way; zagitova's late combo or tacking the triple loop was key if you considered everything. My recollection is that Evgenia through in one of her triple triple combos earl on and didn't get the bonus; had she done it later it would receive a ten percent bonus. If alina only did a double loop instead of a triple loop to the lutz with GOE's and all well the difference in total between Evgenia not doing the combo in the second half and a missed triple loop would be about 5 o 6 pts I believe and the difference of gold. But what ifs are all that - what if...

 

[Alex D]

I guess upon reflection but not too many probably see it this way; zagitova's late combo or tacking the triple loop was key if you considered everything. My recollection is that Evgenia through in one of her triple triple combos earl on and didn't get the bonus; had she done it later it would receive a ten percent bonus. If alina only did a double loop instead of a triple loop to the lutz with GOE's and all well the difference in total between Evgenia not doing the combo in the second half and a missed triple loop would be about 5 o 6 pts I believe and the difference of gold. But what ifs are all that - what if...

After Evgenia was done, she slowly moved off ice and started to cry. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I witnessed live at the ice rink. When people at home were watching commercials or replays, she was crying her eyes out. It is something that I find hard to forget, as soon the camera was on, she tried to overplay her sadness, she showed such grace in defeat and it is unbelievable sad, that the best figure skater we have, showed the best performances and yet, lost to a scoring system that showed all it´s flaws.

Up until today, I have not watched a single video of that, what I saw live has burned itself into my heart. Her EX said it all, it was unbelievable how she gave it all and yet knew she could not win.

At this day, Evgenia was not just a figure skater, but an ambassador for everyone of us. Even if you can´t win, you have to fight, what else can you do? Just think about this, she knew from the day she arrived at the Olympics, that she can´t win it. What courage and strength, to still skate so amazing. I never thought that 2002 could repeat, this time with an even more tragic ending.

It is quite remarkable that Yuna Kim in the cold at the opening ceremony and Evgenia are the things I remember most from the FS, even with the other great stories, they all seem so small, compared to these two.

 

[mrrice]

My biggest regret is that we didn't follow the sport thoroughly between 1984-1988. We had NO idea of what was brewing! I was ecstatic when I realized that Brian Orser was back for another Olympics! After Calgary, we started watching everything we could.

I agree 100%. The Battle Of The Brian's was such a big deal in the US and Canada and the ratings were huge!!

 

[Skater Boy]

I guess upon reflection but not too many probably see it this way; zagitova's late combo or tacking the triple loop was key if you considered everything. My recollection is that Evgenia through in one of her triple triple combos earl on and didn't get the bonus; had she done it later it would receive a ten percent bonus. If alina only did a double loop instead of a triple loop to the lutz with GOE's and all well the difference in total between Evgenia not doing the combo in the second half and a missed triple loop would be about 5 o 6 pts I believe and the difference of gold. But what ifs are all that - what if...

 

[Mathman]

I was ecstatic when I realized that Brian Orser was back for another Olympics! After Calgary, we started watching everything we could.

IMHO the Battle of the Brians did a lot for the popularity of men's figure skating, at least in North America. For once, the men's event overshadowed the ladies (although Liz Manley's LP was worth the price of admission all by itself).

 

[Castiel]

For me the word "Olympics" associated with Salt Lake City, Lillehammer and Calgary.

 

[hanyutomoko]

For me, it's Pyeongchang.
Yuzuru Hanyu's performance was shocking.
I even watched dozens of videos.