Mark Mitchell at 92 USN

[judgejudy27]

I agree that Stojko did not deserve the silver at the 2000 Worlds. In the SP I agreed with Weiss being 3rd even with the step out of the double axel since the rest was so great. Stojko's SP was excellent outside of the fall on the quad but that was an even bigger mistake, and there were so many clean shorts that year he shouldnt have been 5th in the short. His marks were fine though, alot of others were way undermarked though.

Weiss would have gotten the silver over Stojko if he had just done the 2nd triple axel cleanly or done a 2nd triple-triple as Stojko had done. Both missed their quad attempts. Unfortunately missing both of those things put Stojko above him in the long, and with the short program placings that was the final result.

Everyone was lucky Plushenko bombed, but Weiss was a bit unlucky not to win the silver that year. He was also unlucky not be in other qualifying group which he would have won as neither Stojko or Plushenko skated that well.

[Coco]

Mitchell SP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWjG2AwjSrg

Thanks so much, Ice Kween!

I don't know who the comedian was who had Mark Mitchell skate to "When a man loves a woman," but that was gorgeous skating. I especially loved the serpentine sequence at the end.

[Screenie]

Well he also skated to "Lady" at the '89 olympic festival (great program, by the way) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Z5sqS3bfM

But he was straight back then and even talked about the girl he was seeing at 93 nationals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGN_v6vmVA4

Incidentally right after that fluff piece was colin vander veen, whom i think deserves special mention for his double walley at 1:25 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTtKRLnTv0E

[casken]

But he was straight back then and even talked about the girl he was seeing at 93 nationals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGN_v6vmVA4

Saying it doesn't make it so, believe me.

[Spinner]

Saying it doesn't make it so, believe me.

And it's called "in the closet", not "straight back then".

[neptune]

The judges had decided to send Wylie over Mitchell regardless of how they skated.

They were both from Boston, and it's known in the inner circles that basically the judges were told they had to put Paul over Mark. From my recollection (this was a while ago so I may be a bit off), a former USFSA president who also was president of the skating club of boston told several judges to put Paul Wylie above Mark Mitchell, in the judges room before the event. Of course, he was a person in a position of power; and several of the judges wanted to be in his good graces, sent to judge international events, and all that. So, you see what happened.

Has Mark ever given an interview about his thoughts on the "fixing"? I hope he's not still bitter about what happened, but honestly it would be hard not to be.

[Screenie]

In that '93 nationals fluff piece it's interesting that he says it was hard to be bumped off the team by people who didn't compete. (note: not by people who didn't skate as well). In the case of '92 Nationals, that person who didn't compete was Todd who was 3rd at worlds in '91, but I think most would agree he was going to be sent (although I thought the same with Nicole in '96...), and that the question was really in Paul's case at the actual competition. Anyway essentially he's calling Todd out but not Paul/judging. I'm not sure whether that was a premeditated response and he actually blames one more than another but chose to blame it on the "person who didn't compete." If it was premeditate it could be for a variety of reasons including that Paul ended up doing well at Olys and that he was still competing so it's prob unwise to bash judging, or from them training near each other, etc. I haven't heard a more recent interview on it.

Watching his programs, I'm reminded of how amazing he is as a skater, from his carriage and line to his pure technique. I just love his flying camels, triple loops, flips, lutz's, etc. Not to mention the great edging.

[neptune]

In that '93 nationals fluff piece it's interesting that he says it was hard to be bumped off the team by people who didn't compete. (note: not by people who didn't skate as well). In the case of '92 Nationals, that person who didn't compete was Todd who was 3rd at worlds in '91, but I think most would agree he was going to be sent (although I thought the same with Nicole in '96...), and that the question was really in Paul's case at the actual competition. Anyway essentially he's calling Todd out but not Paul/judging. I'm not sure whether that was a premeditated response and he actually blames one more than another but chose to blame it on the "person who didn't compete." If it was premeditate it could be for a variety of reasons including that Paul ended up doing well at Olys and that he was still competing so it's prob unwise to bash judging, or from them training near each other, etc. I haven't heard a more recent interview on it.

Thanks, Screenie.

Watching his programs, I'm reminded of how amazing he is as a skater, from his carriage and line to his pure technique. I just love his flying camels, triple loops, flips, lutz's, etc. Not to mention the great edging.

I think Mark was definitely underappreciated. I don't think he ever had a fan club or a Web page dedicated to him, unfortunately. He did so many things well. It's too bad his amateur skating went downhill after '93, though--switching to Fassi didn't seem to help.

[neptune]

Oh, I was just wondering--did Mark ever do a good performance of his "An American in Paris" program, the one that just fell apart at '94 Nationals? I think this may have been discussed a few months ago, but I can't remember the specifics.

[Erin]

Oh, I was just wondering--did Mark ever do a good performance of his "An American in Paris" program, the one that just fell apart at '94 Nationals? I think this may have been discussed a few months ago, but I can't remember the specifics.

He skated it reasonably well at Skate Canada that fall, where he finished 2nd behind Kurt Browning.

[bardtoob]

I don't think he ever had a fan club or a Web page dedicated to him, unfortunately.

Well, it was the era of American Online, 28K modems, IBM Compatible 386 PCs, and Macs running on Motorola 68000 series processors.

[neptune]

He skated it reasonably well at Skate Canada that fall, where he finished 2nd behind Kurt Browning.

Thanks for the info.

Well, it was the era of American Online, 28K modems, IBM Compatible 386 PCs, and Macs running on Motorola 68000 series processors.

True. But he also skated a couple of years as a pro. By that time, there were plenty of Web sites dedicated to his peers, just not to Mark himself.

[IceKween]

IIRC he did compete in a few pro comps, skated really well (I refuse to believe he skated to YMCA...) and didn't get placed. Viktor mugging and sniggering and no jumps received much higher scores in one comp that I remember. Just gross.

Mark was an "80s" skater in the 90s. It was a shame. He had a ton of talent.

[neptune]

Mark was an "80s" skater in the 90s. It was a shame. He had a ton of talent.

What precisely made him an "'80s skater"?

Incidentally, does anyone know if Mark was good at figures?