Rank the Olympic medal winning FDs from 1992 to 2010

[LLLLutz]

My choices :

Great
Klimova&Ponomarenko 1992
Usova & Zhulin 1992
Grishuk & Platov 1998
Usova & Zhulin 1994
Annisina 2002

Good

Krylova & Ovsyannikov 1998
Domnina & Shabalin 2010
Navka &Kostomarov 2006
Virtue & Moir 2010

Average

Belbin & Agosto 2006
Lobacheva& Averbuch 2002
Annisina 1998
Torvill & Dean 1994

Blah
Grishuk & Platov 1994
Davis & White 2010
Duschesnays 1992
Grushina and partner 2006
Diva Fusar Poli and partner 2002

[gk_891]

I found this to be challenging as it's difficult to compare programs/skaters from one era to the current one. I went with the choreography (usually with how difficult it was), execution, and if the program caught my interest or not (as well as my personal preferences of course).

1. Grishuk & Platov - 1998
2. Klimova & Ponomarenko - 1992
3. Virtue & Moir - 2010
4. Anissina & Peizerat - 2002
5. Grishuk & Platov - 1994
6. Torvill & Dean - 1994
7. Anissina & Peizerat - 1998
8. Krylova & Ovsiannikov - 1998
9. Usova & Zhulin - 1992
10. Usova & Zhulin - 1994
11. Navka & Kostomarov - 2006
12. Davis & White - 2010
13. Domnina & Shabalin - 2010
14. Belbin & Agosto - 2006
15. Lobacheva & Averbukh - 2002
16. Duchesnay & Duchesnay - 1992
17. Grushina & Goncharov - 2006
18. Fusar-Poli & Margaglio - 2002

I'm sure if I thought about this more carefully, I might switch the order around here and there.

[victoriajh]

i spent some time rewatching some of these and the drama-
barbara staring down, pashas blue skates- DRAMA DIVAS marina - and navka-
ahhh good times! I am terrible at ranking becuase I cant rememebr them all and I have not wacthed them all yet!!

I have to say that while i liked the choreogrpahy and the theme of g/p 1998 - it was skated well and i enjoyed the presentation however, when you watch the lifts and trasnitions and such of tessa ans scott it makes it look very simplistic yet clearly I am missing something becasue all you have it up at number one!

i also think that b/a were the best of their carrer in the 2006 fd- they looked so solid- i need to watch navka again now! lol

[gk_891]

i spent some time rewatching some of these and the drama-
barbara staring down, pashas blue skates- DRAMA DIVAS marina - and navka-
ahhh good times! I am terrible at ranking becuase I cant rememebr them all and I have not wacthed them all yet!!

I have to say that while i liked the choreogrpahy and the theme of g/p 1998 - it was skated well and i enjoyed the presentation however, when you watch the lifts and trasnitions and such of tessa ans scott it makes it look very simplistic yet clearly I am missing something becasue all you have it up at number one!

i also think that b/a were the best of their carrer in the 2006 fd- they looked so solid- i need to watch navka again now! lol

G&P's Memorial Requiem was a masterpiece of making the difficult look easy (to the naked eye anyways). I personally thought it looked very difficult because there was virtually no set-up for anything they did. But the way they kept everything moving with so much ease, flow, power, and speed was really indicative of their abilities. Think of programs like Torvill & Dean's Bolero or many of Klimova & Ponomarenko's programs. They didn't really look all that difficult but they could disguise the difficulty with their abilities by making it look so easy and effortless. That's not to say that Virtue & Moir aren't in that league because they clearly are but they are competing under a completely different code of points. And as phenomenal as V&M are, I found G&P more compelling to watch so perhaps it's just personal preference for me.

[Cherub721]

Favorites

G&P - Memorial Requiem 1998
K&P - Bach 1992
A&P - Romeo & Juliet 1998
U&Z - Four Seasons 1992
A&P - Libertas 2002
L&A - A Time for Peace 2002

Very good
V&M - Mahler 2010 (such a beautiful performance, but choreo a little bland for my taste)
D&D - West Side Story 1992 (underrated IMO, and clever to portray the brother/sister aspect of the story)
N&K - Carmen 2006

Good
G&P - Rock Around the Clock 1994
K&O - Carmen 1998

Fairly weak for Oly podium
FP&M - I Will Survive 2002 (it was fun and I would rather watch it and the fall a million times than sit through some FDs on this list)
D&W - Phantom of the Opera 2010 (I hated everything about the choreo, but their passion in the performance made it palatable)
T&D - Let's Face the Music and Dance 1994
D&S - The Double Life of Veronique 2010 (such a WTF, but performed with a lot of emotion)
G&G - The Feeling Begins 2006 (I'm one of their only fans, but this was forgettable... still, she was divine)

Really hate
U&Z - La Strada 1994
B&A - Flamenco 2006 (very immature interpretation, lots of bobbles and wobbles, and a fugly dress!)

[blue_idealist]

I have to say that while i liked the choreogrpahy and the theme of g/p 1998 - it was skated well and i enjoyed the presentation however, when you watch the lifts and trasnitions and such of tessa ans scott it makes it look very simplistic yet clearly I am missing something becasue all you have it up at number one!

That's what I found about G&P 1998, and I didn't have it at number one. Maybe I'm just not as much of a skating expert as others on here (which I think is correct).

[mia joy]

HONORABLE MENTIONS A.K.A. WUZROBBED:

DelobelSchoenfelder 06
DenkovaStaviski 06
DrobiazkoVanagas 02
FaiellaScali 10
BourneKraatz 98

especially agree on Del/Sch 2006 and D/V 2002

Now I wanted to make a ranking with Olys 2002, 2006 and 2010 only, as I haven't followed skating before 2000, but then I realized I didn't really like those performances that much... meaning there were more I couldn't bare than those I truly enjoyed in that period, so I'm gonna pass this one

[blue_idealist]

My honourable mention 2010 would be Belbin & Agosto.. should have got bronze! I think Bourne & Kraatz were more robbed in 2002 than 1998 honestly.. Drobiazo & Vanagas were almost always robbed.

[casken]

I have to say that while i liked the choreogrpahy and the theme of g/p 1998 - it was skated well and i enjoyed the presentation however, when you watch the lifts and trasnitions and such of tessa ans scott it makes it look very simplistic yet clearly I am missing something becasue all you have it up at number one!
l

You can't really compare the lifts becuase the couples were really restricted to what they could do with the lifts back then. Most of the lifts were meant to go up and then come right back down, with one or two more complicated highlight lifts mixed in. If you look at all the dances that year, it's the same way.

As for the transitions, this is purely opinion, but G&P had more original and intricate holds, linking moves, highlights, etc. Outside of the COP elements, V&M's connecting movements were a little more generalized.

Also, the music G&P chose would completely overwhelmed most teams, but they really lived up to the intensity and drive of it.

I still think that the Olympics version was weaker than the Euros or GPF versions though. They made some changes that I wasn't wild about, and the performance was a bit more restrained.

[victoriajh]

G&P's Memorial Requiem was a masterpiece of making the difficult look easy (to the naked eye anyways). I personally thought it looked very difficult because there was virtually no set-up for anything they did. But the way they kept everything moving with so much ease, flow, power, and speed was really indicative of their abilities. Think of programs like Torvill & Dean's Bolero or many of Klimova & Ponomarenko's programs. They didn't really look all that difficult but they could disguise the difficulty with their abilities by making it look so easy and effortless. .....

You can't really compare the lifts becuase the couples were really restricted to what they could do with the lifts back then. Most of the lifts were meant to go up and then come right back down, with one or two more complicated highlight lifts mixed in. If you look at all the dances that year, it's the same way.

As for the transitions, this is purely opinion, but G&P had more original and intricate holds, linking moves, highlights, etc. Outside of the COP elements, V&M's connecting movements were a little more generalized.

Also, the music G&P chose would completely overwhelmed most teams, but they really lived up to the intensity and drive of it.

I still think that the Olympics version was weaker than the Euros or GPF versions though. They made some changes that I wasn't wild about, and the performance was a bit more restrained.

i re watched this and the euros prefromance and NOw i think i *get* it! the eros prefromance did seem less restrained and i think the program was even more powerful- and watching it fro the highlights ( seeing that they did just coem from no where) i was more impressed! i think it was always a fave of mine now i see it as the masterpeice that it clealry is!

i still think tessa and scottt skated perfection- but the program (while based on their strenghts) seems *safe* and conservative in theme- but then again that is waht they do best and GP do better drama

[shady82]

This is, once again, difficult because of the huge changes in standards/emphasis, but here is a general ranking, only from what I've watched:

Amazing
Grishuk & Platov 1998
Virtue & Moir 2010

Good
Krylova & Ovsiannikov 1998
Anissina & Peizerat 2002
Davis & White 2010

Fair
Anissina & Peizerat 1998
Lobacheva & Averbukh 2002

Blech
Everything in 2006 (general skating that year was utterly sloppy. The top 3 teams, IMO, did not give the best 3 free dances).
Fusar-Poli & Margaglio 2002 (should have ranked 5th)
Domnina & Shabalin 2010 (started with a terrific CD, then sank to this sloppy FD)

[akkto]

My list:

FANTASTIC
1.Grishuk Platov 1998
2.Virtue Moir 2010

VERY GOOD
3.Anissina Peizerat 2002
4.Klimova Ponomarenko 1992
5.Krylova Ovsiannikov 1998
6.Anissina Peizerat 1998

GOOD
7.Navka Kostomarov 2006
8.Davis White 2010
9.Domnina Shabalin 2010
10.Usova Zhulin 1992
11.Grishuk Platov 1994
12.Torvill Dean 1994

RATHER FORGETTABLE
13.Belbin Agosto 2006
14.Lobacheva Abervukh 2002
15.Grushina Goncharov 2006
16.Usova Zhulin 1994
17.Duchesnay Duchesnay 1992

WTF???
18.Fusar-Poli Margaglio 2002

[Susan M]

Given that these dances took place under three different scoring systems, it would hardly be fair to actually try to score them or rank them by the rules of any of these eras. So, I have ranked them purely based on how much I enjoyed them and how much they impressed me with their ice dancing abilities.

My rankings:

1) Klimova & Ponomarenko 1992
2) Davis & White 2010
3) Usova & Zhulin 1994
4) Torvill & Dean 1994
5) Grishuk & Platov 1994
6) Usova & Zhulin 1992
7) Anissina & Peizerat 1998

--- The above separate themselves from the rest in my mind because they are the ones I remember watching over & over and over weeks & months after the event. ---

8) Virtue & Moir 2010
9) Grishuk & Platov 1998
10) Anissina & Peizerat 2002
11) Belbin & Agosto 2006
12) Duschesnays 1992
13) Lobacheva & Averbukh 2002
14) Navka & Kostomarov 2006
15) Krylova & Ovsiannikov 1998
16) Grushina & Goncharov 2006
17) Domina & Shabalin 2010
18) Fusar-Poli & Margaglio 2002

[mia joy]

7.Navka Kostomarov 2006

9.Domnina Shabalin 2010

14.Lobacheva Abervukh 2002

It's kind of funny for me that you have them in this order, because out of these three Russian teams, L/A were the only ones acceptable for me and the only ones whose performance I actually liked. And their FD stood out for me as well, which I couldn't say about N/K or D/S.
But in the end, I think it's just a matter of taste.

but I would add a WTF description pretty much next to the whole 2006 podium and D/S 2010 as well as to F-P/M. Those Olympic Games podiums will kill me one day