Rank the Olympic medal winning pairs LPs from 1992 to 2010

[blue_idealist]

There's one for men, ladies, and dance now, so I had to include one for pairs.

I had to leave B&S 1998 off my own list, because I don't remember it well and I couldn't find it on youtube to re-watch.

1) Sale/Pelletier 2002 - I know there probably won't be many who agree with me

2) Pang/Tong 2010 - Yeah, I think their LP was better than Shen and Zhao's but Shen and Zhao still deserved the win overall

3) Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze 2002

4) Totmianina/Marinin 2006 - Technically perfect, but emotionless

5) Kazakova/Dmitriev 1998 - Kind of the same thing as #4, and there were a few wobbles here and there, you would have had to pay close attention to notice them I think

6) Shen/Zhao 2010 - Big flaw was her coming down early from one of the lifts

7) Mishkutienok/Dmitriev 1994 - This was better than Gordeeva and Grinkov's, IMO. She has become heavy (for a pairs skater, not the average person) here though, that was really striking.

8) Brasseur/Eisler 1994 - Also better than Gordeeva and Grinkov's FS that night, IMO.

9) Shen/Zhao 2006

10) Gordeeva/Grinkov 1994 - good program, but some technical flaws that couldn't be overlooked

11) Woetzel/Steuer 1998 - The program that I liked the best, but it can't be denied that there were mistakes, I think it was the music that made me like it honestly

12) Bechke/Petrov 1992 - Yes, ahead of Mishkutienok and Dmitriev's

13) Savchenko/Szolkowy 2010

14) Shen/Zhao 2002

15) Zhangs 2006 - Technically very good to start with, except for the fall on the quad throw, but they REALLY waver near the end, slow down and start getting wobbly, plus it was artistically vapid

16) Mishkutienok/Dmitriev 1992 - IMO, this program was nice, but it had too many technical mistakes for an OGM-winning performance, totally the opposite of their '94 skate

17) Brasseur/Eisler 1992 - Too many mistakes for a OBM-winning performance, IMO, I think 1992 was just a weak year for pairs FPs at the Olympics

[SamuraiK]

I admit I haven't watched the 1992 olympic pairs competitons except for the OGM performance and I dont remember it that much so I'm skippin that event.

EXCELLENT
Mishkutienuk Dimitriev 1994
Pang Tong 10
Sale Pelletier 02
Berezhnaya Sikharulidze 02
Kazakova Dmitriev 1998


GOOD
Shen Zhao 02
Wotzel Steuer 1998
Berezhanaya Sikharulidze 1998
Totmianina Marinin 06

OK PERFORMANCE
GordeevaGrinkov 1994
Shen Zhao 10

NOT PODIUM WORTHY
Zhang Zhang 06
Savchenko Szolkowy 10
Shen Zhao 06
Brasseur Eissler 1994

WUZROBBED

ShishkovaNaumov 94
PangTong 06
Ina Zimmerman 02


Making this list, I Must say it's a shame for ShenZhao that despite being the pair legends they truly and deserving are, all their olympic LP are hardly memorable..

[blue_idealist]

Jw.. how come you think S/Z's 2002 performance was better than the 06 or 10?

[escaflowne9282]

Jw.. how come you think S/Z's 2002 performance was better than the 06 or 10?

IMHO , S&Z's 2002 Olympic LP performance was easily one of ,if not the,worst ever competitive skate they ever had .

There was the fall on the quad, his turn out of the side by side triple toe loop, SBS spins that came in two different sections of the rink completely out of synchronization, a catch on the triple twist that was uncharacteristically sloppy (worse than what B&S,T&M and I&Z had done), all three of their lifts coming down early with her falling out of hold on the first one , and their second set of SBS double axels being done at two completely different times. What's so funny is this was the one unanimous placement on the night .

There was just no question as to where they were in the pecking order at that point in time.

[judgejudy27]

It is true Shen & Zhou never had a particular great performance at the Olympics. Even their Olympic winning LP in 2010 would clearly not have won the 2002, 2006, or really any Olympics after 1984 other than possibly 1998.

[blue_idealist]

It is true Shen & Zhou never had a particular great performance at the Olympics. Even their Olympic winning LP in 2010 would clearly not have won the 2002, 2006, or really any Olympics after 1984 other than possibly 1998.

I think their 2010 performance could have won 1992. The performances from the medalists in '92 were quite weak. But they really won the 2010 Olympics based on the strength of their SP, and maybe their reputation.

[judgejudy27]

1. Miskutienok & Dmitriev 1992- oh your ranking of them is criminal. This performance was a masterpiece.

2. Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze- technically some small mistakes but overall and amazing performance with some of the most challenging choreography ever for a pairs programs.

3. Gordeeva & Grinkov- fabulous, they were better by 94 but unfortunately werent as flawless in their Olympic LP performance.

4. Miskutienok & Dmitriev 1994- amazing performance with no mistakes, but I felt their 92 performance had more impact even with the couple mistakes.

5. Gordeeva & Grinkov 1994- would have been on top if they had skated cleaner.

6. Totmianina & Marinin 2006- technically perfect and wonderfully polished performance, under COP would probably be the winners.

7. Sale & Pelletier 2002- perfect performance but they played it safe by going to an old program with fairly simply choreography.

8. Brasseur & Eisler 1994- the performance they wanted in 92.

9. Kazahkova & Dmitriev 1998- well they skated clean. The program I loved in97 but by its 2nd year it had lost some of its initial impact. It was great to see this pair live up to their potential finally but they were never going to be M&D.

10. Bechke & Petrov 1992- wonderfully elegant and musical performance with some nice technical moves too. Without the couple errors would rank even higher.

11. Shen & Zhou 2010- overall good performance, enough to hang on to win that night. Certainly not up to expectations as losing the LP phase to Pang & Tong shows.

12. Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze- wonderful performance with otherwise wonderful elements and gorgeous lines and quality of skating outside of 2 unfortunately huge errors, the last right at the end in a shocking fall which really marred the performance. Unlike 2002 the choreography was more simple and straight forward.

13. Shen & Zhou 2006- good overall performance but unfortunately marred by a couple mistakes and overall rustiness coming back from injury. I felt they deserved bronze here, but behind Pang & Tong and over the Zhangs, as opposed to the other way around.

14. Valova & Vasiliev 1988- not one of their better performances. Too many mistakes and downgraded elements. Interesting choreography and some interesting elements.

15. Oppergard & Watson- good overall performance marred by one ugly fall and a couple minor miscues. Enough to win the bronze with Selezneva & Makarov being out of it after the short.

16. Zhang & Zhang- did not deserve a medal that night. A huge gift. Still some strong technical elements after the delay which should have disqualified them.

17. Woetzel & Steuer- I never understood why they were even a top team. Anyway subpar performance for them due to injury. Program which seemed beautiful and moving in 97 but seemed a bit of a bore by its 2nd year

18. Brasseur & Eisler- what garbage, and their medal was a sham.

[judgejudy27]

I think their 2010 performance could have won 1992. The performances from the medalists in '92 were quite weak. But they really won the 2010 Olympics based on the strength of their SP, and maybe their reputation.

M&D's 92 program was a masterpiece even with the couple small mistakes that night. It would only lose to a clean performance (or maybe a flawed performance by the great G&G who were always judges pets). Shen & Zhou's performance in 2010 with the mistakes definitely would not have beaten it.

[Cherub721]

My rankings are a little loose shall we say... if we're judging it as an athletic competition, T&M should be right at the top because they skated perfectly with the most difficult sbs jumps, two perfect triple throws, a 3twist, all of the difficult CoP non-jump elements, and did that with beautiful technique and presentation. But I'm not a fan of their R&J program. I'm kind of doing it based on how much I like the programs, their relative difficulty at the time, and how much the mistakes ruined the performance (M&D and B&S made very small mistakes when they won that didn't interrupt the flow at all for me, whereas S&Z in 2002 had their best choreography but it was extremely messy).

Mishketunok & Dmitriev 1994
Mishketunok & Dmitriev 1992
Berezhnaya & Sikhaurulidze 2002
[honestly though, depending on the day these go any which way]

Kazakova & Dmitriev 1998 (above G&G because more difficult choreography and they did a sbs triple)
Gordeeva & Grinkov 1994
Sale & Pelletier 2002 (I actually do love this program and their performance, even though I agree with all the opinions that it was much easier and less polished than B&S etc)
Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze 1998 (would be much higher without the fall)
Savchenko & Szoklowy 2010 (another that would be much higher if not for awkward fall on 2a, but the program was more difficult than the other medalists)
Totmianina & Marinin 2006
Pang & Tong 2010
Shen & Zhao 2010

Woetzel & Steur 1998
Shen & Zhao 2002 (beautiful choreo, very weak performance)
Bechke & Petrov 1992 (the most boring Moskvina pair)
Shen & Zhao 2006 (boring and several little mistakes)
Brasseur & Eisler 1992 and 1994 (honestly can't remember which is which or how they skated, just don't care for either)
Zhangs & Zhang 2006 (the worst medallsts ever)

[SamuraiK]

Jw.. how come you think S/Z's 2002 performance was better than the 06 or 10?

Well I just made the list based on what I remember from the performances.. Probably If watched them on youtube again the order will change a lot. Still, I remember enjoying them a lot after that fall at the beginning in 02, while in 06 were just bleh due to injuries and in 2010 expectations were too high, it was way subpar for them.

[LLLLutz]

Outstanding – in no particular order:

Mishkutenok & Dmitriev 1994 – relatively clean, amazing choreography and interpretation
Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze 2002 – two of the most amazing programs ever in pairs, combined with perfect basics.
Mishkutenok & Dmitriev 1992 – there were mistakes, but the program was gorgeous
Totmianina & Marinin 2006 – perfectly clean, great basics, great difficulty, but the choreography wasn’t there.

Great:

Gordeeva & Grinkov 1994 – that program had to be skated absolutely clean and it wasn’t. Conservative presentation.
Kazakova &Dmitriev 1998 – great choreography and difficulty, but their basics weren’t that great and there were mistakes
Bechke & Petrov 1992 – again – perfectly clean, but flat presentation
Sale & Pelletier 2002 – primitive and conservative (and old) programs – in every aspect, although almost clean

Solid effort:

Pang Tong 2010 – weak basics
Shen Zhao 2010 – slow, sloppy, conservative and with mistakes
Savchenko & Sholkowy 2010 – nice programs, but there were mistakes and they weren’t “on” that night
Berezhnaya & Skharulidze 1998 – three big mistakes for two programs, but incredible basics, speed and command of the ice
Shen Zhao 2006 – slow, sloppy, conservative and with mistakes
Brasseur & Eisler 1994 – well, it was almost clean, but artistically – nothing to write home about

Not medal worthy :

Shen Zhao 2002 – a disaster from the beginning till the end
Brasseur & Eisler 1992 – shouldn’t been on the podium
Zhang & Zhang 2006 - shouldn’t been on the podium
Woetzel & Steuer 1998 - a mess

[LLLLutz]

9. Kazahkova & Dmitriev 1998- well they skated clean. The program I loved in97 but by its 2nd year it had lost some of its initial impact. It was great to see this pair live up to their potential finally but they were never going to be M&D.

.

I don't think they used it in 1996/1997 season.

[blue_idealist]

M&D's 92 program was a masterpiece even with the couple small mistakes that night. It would only lose to a clean performance (or maybe a flawed performance by the great G&G who were always judges pets). Shen & Zhou's performance in 2010 with the mistakes definitely would not have beaten it.

I'm not sure about that, at least under CoP. A single axel instead of a double on M&D's part would lose a lot of points. S&Z would rack up the points with the harder triple jumps and throws they were doing - the technical content was much lower all around in pairs in '92. Also, M&D's throws and lifts have the same weakness: it looks like he's having a bit of trouble lifting her. Just a bit, but it's not as effortless and smooth looking as a lot of the other pairs.

[casken]

I don't think they used it in 1996/1997 season.

Yes they did. Dark Blue costumes rather than the black/yellow ones in 98.

And I agree with judgejudy that the program was better in 1997 than in 1998.

I loved them, but the Olympics performance in particular was kind of safe and a bit clumsy. They lucked out that B&S had that freak mistake on the last lift.

[LLLLutz]

Thanks, for some reason I was sure they skated La Traviata for two seasons, so I had to watch their 1997 LP again to refresh my memory and actually I didn't like it as much as I like their Olympic LP - both in terms of constuction of the program and they they skated and presented it as well. In 1997 way too many things were missing in their skating in my opinion/

[briancoogaert]

8) Brasseur/Eisler 1994 - Also better than Gordeeva and Grinkov's FS that night, IMO.

Are you serious ? This is one of the funniest thing I've ever read on this board.
What do you think is better in Brasseur&Eisler's LP ?

[blue_idealist]

Are you serious ? This is one of the funniest thing I've ever read on this board.
What do you think is better in Brasseur&Eisler's LP ?

The lifts, some jumps/throws

[briancoogaert]

The lifts, some jumps/throws

I agree that Brasseur and Eisler's lifts were very good, but both throws were cheated, and G&G's throw 3 Salchow was one of the best ever.

[casken]

G&G's lifts were pretty amazing too. I remember that as being one of the biggest factors between them and M&D, whose lifts were a bit simple in comparison.

[TID]

Excellent:
B/S 2002 lp
S/P 2002 lp
M/D 1994 lp

Good:
M/D 1992 lp
S/Z 2010 lp
P/T 2010 lp
T/M 2006 lp
G/G 1994 lp
B/S 1998 lp

OK:
B/E 1994 lp
K/D 1998 lp
W/S 1998 lp
S/S 2010 lp
S/Z 2006 lp
B/P 1992 lp

Disappointed:
S/Z 2002 lp
Z/Z 2006 lp
B/E 1992 lp(I can't bear this performance....)