Four years ago...

[skateboy]

We were already making predictions for 2010! I remember the following:

Ladies: Kimmie Meissner had just won Worlds, and she was being hyped as the new great American hope. People were thinking Kwan would surely come back for for her 10th National Title and possibly one more shot at Olympic gold. Asada and Kim were thought to be real challengers. Miki Ando had been written off by just about everyone, only to get her act together and win 2007 Worlds. Kostner was still very much in the picture as a possible 2010 gold medalist.

Men: The Weir-Lysacek rivalry was at its height in the USA. Jeremy who? Brian Joubert seemed to be unstoppable. Lambiel was hot and cold. Buttle was still in the picture, but Patrick Chan was the new big Canadian star. Oda and Takahashi were the ones that could step up and do some real damage to the others.

Pairs: Shen and Zhao were back to win Worlds, but then retired (no one was really sure if they'd come back). The Germans took over as the new OGMs to be... Zhangs seemed to be real OGM threats as well.

Dance: Belbin/Agosto, as the reigning Olympic Silver Medalists, seemed to be the ones to beat in 2010. DelSchoes were big as well. DomShabs were still a bit in the background. V/M and D/W were the new upstarts.

Any other memories from that time?

[Nomad]

Elene Gedevanishvili being touted as the next best thing in ladiezzz...but that was Scott Hamilton talking, I should have known better.

[Zokko!]

Elene Gedevanishvili being touted as the next best thing in ladiezzz...but that was Scott Hamilton talking, I should have known better.

I'm hardly a Hamilton-defender, but I guess we've been all a litte gedevanishvilized at that time!

[Marco]

Was there really hype on Meissner? I remember my thought was: She won Worlds because (1) it was a post-Olympic Worlds (2) no world champions were present (3) Asada and Kim were too young (4) she was lucky both her 3/3s were ratified (5) Cohen and Suguri underperformed even more than usual. I remember it was widely acknowledged that internationally she will be surpassed by Kim and Asada in no time and nationally she will just be the place holder before the next star appears.

I never for a second believed Kwan would return after 2006, but I did feel Nakano would replace Ando or Suguri as Japanese's next medal contender (while Asada would be the title contender).

I predicted Kostner's demise but she actually managed at least one decent/ strong performance every season since 2006. Pretty good for a head case of her scale. Otherwise the Europeans just plain sucked as expected and none could challenge for world medals.

My only surprise was probably Rochette's improvement and Ando's lack thereof.

My feelings didn't exactly change after 2007 except I had high hopes for Nagasu and was still not satisfied with her results until this past season.

[pinky166]

Well Lepisto was nothing special in 2006 and now she is "the" European lady, bumping Kostner out of that place due to too many disasterous performances on Kostner's part.

Peggy and Scott thought Kimmie was amazing but I think most of us knew better, especially because her body started changing quite a bit right after she won Worlds.

Zhang was being touted as the next big thing, when Mirai won the junior national title in 07, she had to go through regionals and sectionals and didn't make nationals in 06 so was under the radar.

Czisny was also a big hope for the US after her success in 05, but she continued to be a headcase and never really improved her jumps enough to be an international threat despite reworking her technique.

Hughes was consistently a top US lady for a few years around there though I never really understood why. I guess she's comparable to Flatt now although Emily never had the same degree of technical difficulty.

No Russians were really dominating the sport, especially not all the junior ladies like they have now.

[Polymer Bob]

My recollection is a little fuzzy, but I recall Tanith's / Ben's Olympic silver was a major shock. Their career was supposed to take off to the moon after that.

Kimmie's World gold was also a shock, but it was moderated somewhat by the weakened field at the event.

Katy Taylor had won Four Continents, so there was some talk that she could become a major contender.

Exactly 4 years ago, August of 2006, Caroline was not even a blip on the radar screen. Then she won her first international event by, um, over 50 points. Then she was all over the message boards.

Mao and Yu-Na were expected to take over the world, which they did. Yu-Na's bronze at Skate Canada that fall, behind Joannie and Fumie, was something of a surprise.

[blue_idealist]

I think this was more like 2007 or 2008, but the Caroline-Mirai rivalry was hyped up a lot.

Khokhlova and Novitski were considered the Russian #1s after the retirement of Navka and Kostomarov, but for some reason they were 'dumped' for Domnina and Shabalin after 2008.

Fumie was still a legit world contender, and there were not hordes of people saying she should retire as there are now.

[sunny_sari]

We were already making predictions for 2010! I remember the following:

Ladies: Kimmie Meissner had just won Worlds, and she was being hyped as the new great American hope. People were thinking Kwan would surely come back for for her 10th National Title and possibly one more shot at Olympic gold. Asada and Kim were thought to be real challengers. Miki Ando had been written off by just about everyone, only to get her act together and win 2007 Worlds. Kostner was still very much in the picture as a possible 2010 gold medalist.

Men: The Weir-Lysacek rivalry was at its height in the USA. Jeremy who? Brian Joubert seemed to be unstoppable. Lambiel was hot and cold. Buttle was still in the picture, but Patrick Chan was the new big Canadian star. Oda and Takahashi were the ones that could step up and do some real damage to the others.

Pairs: Shen and Zhao were back to win Worlds, but then retired (no one was really sure if they'd come back). The Germans took over as the new OGMs to be... Zhangs seemed to be real OGM threats as well.

Dance: Belbin/Agosto, as the reigning Olympic Silver Medalists, seemed to be the ones to beat in 2010. DelSchoes were big as well. DomShabs were still a bit in the background. V/M and D/W were the new upstarts.

Any other memories from that time?

The Evan and Johnny rivalry wasn't at its height four years ago. It was really just starting to get hot. I'd consider it was at its height on-ice with the 2008 Nationals tie. Off-ice many would probably agree their rivalry has never been more intense than it is today. I think these two will be destined to compete with each other forever in one form or another. Now it's for stardom and public favour. Johnny does a pageant, Evan does a pageant... and so on and so on...

[Nomad]

....
Hughes was consistently a top US lady for a few years around there though I never really understood why. I guess she's comparable to Flatt now although Emily never had the same degree of technical difficulty...

US ladies' field was not very deep in 2006 and 2007. Most of the other girls in the top 10 those years were not strong skaters: Zukowski, Kahle, Boulos, Stewart-Williams, Cannarozzo...

[Jenya]

Khokhlova and Novitski were considered the Russian #1s after the retirement of Navka and Kostomarov, but for some reason they were 'dumped' for Domnina and Shabalin after 2008.

Khokhlova/Novitski consistently finished behind Domnina/Shabalin when Navka/Kostomarov were still competing, as well as after. Domnina/Shabalin didn't place behind Khokhlova/Novitski at all between the 2006 and 2008 seasons. Khokhlova/Novitski won Russian Nationals in 2008 and 2009 when Domnina/Shabalin didn't compete and beat them at the 2008 Cup of Russia when D/S made significant mistakes. Beating Domnina/Shabalin once in four years doesn't demonstrate to me that they were considered to be the top Russian team after the 2006 Olympics - I think it's pretty clear that Domnina/Shabalin were the favored Russian dance team in the past Olympic cycle, particularly before his knee injuries.

[ostile17]

Khokhlova and Novitski were considered the Russian #1s after the retirement of Navka and Kostomarov, but for some reason they were 'dumped' for Domnina and Shabalin after 2008.

[Fashionista]

Khokhlova and Novitski were considered the Russian #1s after the retirement of Navka and Kostomarov, but for some reason they were 'dumped' for Domnina and Shabalin after 2008.
.

[pinky166]

US ladies' field was not very deep in 2006 and 2007. Most of the other girls in the top 10 those years were not strong skaters: Zukowski, Kahle, Boulos, Stewart-Williams, Cannarozzo...

True, but I wouldn't say the ladies field is particularly strong right now either, save Mirai and Christina, who still have a lot of growing up to do and at this point are still a bit unproven.

[Nomad]

True, but I wouldn't say the ladies field is particularly strong right now either, save Mirai and Christina, who still have a lot of growing up to do and at this point are still a bit unproven.

No, it isn't, but I was just responding to why Hughes was a top US lady for two seasons. She had fewer weaknesses than the other girls and as I recall, she was fast, had some good spins, a decent spiral, and wasn't a headcase. I can't remember if she ever skated two clean programs in a competition, but she skated cleanly enough to win a couple of medals. Unlike the others who may have been more "pleasant to watch" as Peggy would say, but those girls either zambonied their programs or only had three kinds of triples or something.

[pinky166]

No, it isn't, but I was just responding to why Hughes was a top US lady for two seasons. She had fewer weaknesses than the other girls and as I recall, she was fast, had some good spins, a decent spiral, and wasn't a headcase. I can't remember if she ever skated two clean programs in a competition, but she skated cleanly enough to win a couple of medals. Unlike the others who may have been more "pleasant to watch" as Peggy would say, but those girls either zambonied their programs or only had three kinds of triples or something.

Good point. Emily was pretty consistent and had all the bases covered well enough for those 2 years to be a top US lady and have respectable showings at major international events. I think she is comparable to the Ashley Wagner of this quad - she can jump, she can spin, she can compete, and she's flexible and consistent enough to be a top American lady without being a real World podium threat. (I prefer Ashley to Emily though)

[Reuven]

there was a lot of skating on the TeeVee. *sigh*

[Polymer Bob]

True, but I wouldn't say the ladies field is particularly strong right now either, save Mirai and Christina, who still have a lot of growing up to do and at this point are still a bit unproven.

You are probably right. The ladies' field does seem somewhat weak compared to before 2006. In fact, so far this year, only one U.S. lady has won a senior ISU medal.

[JerseySlore]

Four years ago, it looked like Euro ladies were going to be swiped out given Slutskaya's retirement and inconsistency of Sokolova and Kostner. But they did manage to squeak out 3 GPF medals and 2 world medals in the last quad, which more or less match the results of NA ladies.

[Nomad]

Four years ago Cupcake was supposed to pick up where Slute left off. Instead she went into freefall and we ended up with the Crapova Sisters.

[ainouta]

Four years ago Cupcake was supposed to pick up where Slute left off. Instead she went into freefall and we ended up with the Crapova Sisters.