OES Ladies of Days gone by

[Marco]

Kierkgaard was a gorgeous skater, indeed!

Too bad only very few of her performances are on youtube. I never got to see her 2001 long program. Did she even compete after 2001?

[ks1227]

Maybe France isn't obskure enough, but I nominate Marie Pierre Leray:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWnVT6ZM7IY

I'm not exactly sure why, but I love to watch that program! Two consecutive years in the lower top 10 (7th in 94, 8th in 95) and then she basically never left a mark again in Singles. Her only other showing was 17th in 1998.

Actually, hard to believe now that France had three ladies in the top ten at 1995 Worlds (Bonaly-Hubert-Leray), and this was even before Gusmeroli appeared!

5. Anna Rechnio's SP at the World champs followed her incredible SP at worlds the previous year which followed 4 years of wilderness and fragility in the wake of an excellent 1994 where judges showed they were willing to accept her as a new challenger by placing er 10th at Lillehammer. SHe produced the finest SP of the day, only challenged by Butyrskaya. The judges weren;t so kind and she wound up 6th. Again, robbed in the FP where she was placed 7th behind a gawky Hughes, Rechnio retired without a major medal that her talent desperately deserved.

The robbing of Anna Rechnio at 1999 Worlds is one of the great figure skating travesties of all times. Huge jumps when she landed them, and she was the only skater as fast as Laetitia Hubert in those days. (Unfortunately, Rechnio was also the only skater who was as big of a headcase as Hubert. )

[oleada]

Bumping this thread....particularly for poths because I know he loves Lautowa...

Julia Lautowa is doing quite well as a coach...her student Dalia Rivkin won the Juvenile ladies gold medal at the US Junior Nationals.

[Ankka]

[QUOTE=briancoogaert;2980718 I remember this competition so well. That was amazing !
I was really disappointed to see that Alisa Drei was unable to do suc a good performance again ![/QUOTE]

Yeah I know, such a pity. Also, her career ended in 2007 with an injury. And she had such a gorgeous SP that season http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4iYg...eature=related By far the best overall program choreo for her and then she only got to skate it once in Skate Canada, where it all ended

[briancoogaert]

Maybe France isn't obskure enough, but I nominate Marie Pierre Leray:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWnVT6ZM7IY

I'm not exactly sure why, but I love to watch that program! Two consecutive years in the lower top 10 (7th in 94, 8th in 95) and then she basically never left a mark again in Singles. Her only other showing was 17th in 1998.

Marie-Pierre Leray was one of the most beautiful lady and natural talent, but also, another victim of Annick Dumont team. Bad basics, jumps jumps jumps with a not really good technique. Too bad she never decided to leave Champigny for another coach.

Actually, hard to believe now that France had three ladies in the top ten at 1995 Worlds (Bonaly-Hubert-Leray), and this was even before Gusmeroli appeared!

Yes ! And France had a lady in the top 5 at Worlds every year from 1991 to 2000. And not always the same lady ! Now, it's hard for a french lady to be in the top 10 at Junior Worlds or top 15 at Euros ! lol

[Seerek]

for really obscure, a couple ladies from the Soviet Union days were

Natalia Gorbenko - 3 times World Participant (best was 1989 after being 4th in compulsory figures, dropping to 8th overall)

Tatiana Rachkova - beat Maria Butyrskaya for the 2nd Soviet ladies spot at the 1992 Olympics

[poths]

Bumping this thread....particularly for poths because I know he loves Lautowa...

Julia Lautowa is doing quite well as a coach...her student Dalia Rivkin won the Juvenile ladies gold medal at the US Junior Nationals.

Cheers, oleada. I had no idea.

[poths]

Marie-Pierre Leray was one of the most beautiful lady and natural talent, but also, another victim of Annick Dumont team. Bad basics, jumps jumps jumps with a not really good technique. Too bad she never decided to leave Champigny for another coach.


Yes ! And France had a lady in the top 5 at Worlds every year from 1991 to 2000. And not always the same lady ! Now, it's hard for a french lady to be in the top 10 at Junior Worlds or top 15 at Euros ! lol

I loved the fact that Marie NEVER landed triples in practice, and certainly not in practices at championships. Infact, Annick allowed her to do doubles in most of her run throughs, hoping that come the championships she'd come good. She proved to have this ability that allowed her to use the adrenaline for an extra bit of height and land monster lutz' and lips.

She was awesome in 1994! We lost her to modelling in 1996 and 1997 (she was also injured), in the meantime Gusmeroli came along and she missed the Olympic team..but had a decent skate at 98 worlds (blatantly under practiced and hyper nervous) to finish her career.

[orbitz]

After some competition she said (in the Polish press) "I don't know what the problem is, I hit everything in practice but it falls apart in the competition." It was sad that she wasn't ever able to hold it together better over both phases of the competition.

Did she hit her jumps perfectly only while praticing them in isolation or was she perfect during full run throughs also?

[olympic]

Does anyone remember a Norwegian skater named Kaja Hanevold? I think she came close to making the cut for the LP in '00 Worlds. I bring her up because Norway NEVER is brought up in the context of figure skating post Sonja Henie. But with current Finnish success and the advent of some good Swedish skaters, maybe it will 'cross the border'

[orientalplane]

Does anyone remember a Norwegian skater named Kaja Hanevold? I think she came close to making the cut for the LP in '00 Worlds.

I remember Kaja. She wasn't consistent even on the simpler triples, but she was enjoyable to watch, elegant, and she was yet another Nordic beauty! Incredible bone structure.

Someone else I remember, very different from Kaja, was Marta Andrade from Spain. Her career went on for ages, and as she matured she learned the more difficult jumps, eventually including the flip and lutz at the age of 29! Well, I'm not sure they were quite rotated, but she landed them. And I'll always remember the look of pure delight on her face at 1994 Olympics when she saw that she'd been given a 5.0 in presentation - I don't think she'd ever been out of the 4s before. Yay for Marta!

[poths]

Did she hit her jumps perfectly only while praticing them in isolation or was she perfect during full run throughs also?

To be fair, Anna only missed a Salchow and stepped out of a double axel in 1999. She had the deepest edges of the field, covered the most ice, had two GORGEOUS programs but lost to the likes of Soldatova (UR's and pre-rotates everywhere, SHITE edges, lips, bollox CH), Malinina, 5 super triples in the FP and NOTHING else, Gusmeroli (very good but uber scrappy in the FP) and fcking HUGES on the FP. Rechnio should have been second on the short, 3rd on the free and easily on the podium.

Irony being that she was actually 2nd in the short at 1998 worlds, and had she just beaten HUBERT (who, yes, landed 4 triples in the FP as opposed to Rechnio's 3 - but she was slow, cautious, flutzed, had shite spins and moaned throughout) she'd have gotten bronze ahead of Butyrskaya -----who was so fcking gifted on the short and only wound up in the final group thanks to the fcked up ordinals of Hubert, up until her skate, Maria was in 7th behind Liashenko and Malinina....ah, I'm going round in circles.

Bottom Line. RECHNIO should have a world medal.

[poths]

I remember Kaja. She wasn't consistent even on the simpler triples, but she was enjoyable to watch, elegant, and she was yet another Nordic beauty! Incredible bone structure.

Someone else I remember, very different from Kaja, was Marta Andrade from Spain. Her career went on for ages, and as she matured she learned the more difficult jumps, eventually including the flip and lutz at the age of 29! Well, I'm not sure they were quite rotated, but she landed them. And I'll always remember the look of pure delight on her face at 1994 Olympics when she saw that she'd been given a 5.0 in presentation - I don't think she'd ever been out of the 4s before. Yay for Marta!

Marta Andrade landing the lutz at Euros 2002 Blew my freaking MIND!

Even more than Kopac pulling a lutz out of NOWHERE after a career of doubles.

[poths]

And I'll always remember the look of pure delight on her face at 1994 Olympics when she saw that she'd been given a 5.0 in presentation - I don't think she'd ever been out of the 4s before. Yay for Marta!

Wheee, that's a void. She was robbed of a cleavage though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWMSwdkIO-w

^^ Pure Delight can be seen at 5.06

[poths]

Anyone remember the uber 3/3 rockin (and not much else technically )
Lenka Kulovana

[Ziggy]

Poths - I couldn't agree more about how Rechnio got robbed. Even if it's her nerves that mostly robbed her, what she's shown at 1998 and 1999 Worlds should have been enough for at least one medal.

Marta Andrade was a legend!

Does anyone remember a Norwegian skater named Kaja Hanevold? I think she came close to making the cut for the LP in '00 Worlds. I bring her up because Norway NEVER is brought up in the context of figure skating post Sonja Henie. But with current Finnish success and the advent of some good Swedish skaters, maybe it will 'cross the border'

She had one very successful Europeans. Gorgeous skating.

I think she's quit skating to focus on modelling, the following season.

There were a lot of girls from Norway at Warsaw Cup. Jumps are not quite there yet but the one who won (nothing above 2a) had lovely basics and there was another one who was attempting 3loop.

[gkelly]

Irony being that she was actually 2nd in the short at 1998 worlds, and had she just beaten HUBERT (who, yes, landed 4 triples in the FP as opposed to Rechnio's 3 - but she was slow, cautious, flutzed, had shite spins and moaned throughout)

Have to disagree with some of that. Hubert was definitely not slow or cautious in the LP at 1998 Worlds. One of the fastest in the field, at least in crossovers and step sequence. (Slutskaya, Rechnio, Lavrenchuk . . . and I think Carter were the only others as fast or faster.)

Now the spins, there I agree.

[poths]

Have to disagree with some of that. Hubert was definitely not slow or cautious in the LP at 1998 Worlds. One of the fastest in the field, at least in crossovers and step sequence. (Slutskaya, Rechnio, Lavrenchuk . . . and I think Carter were the only others as fast or faster.)

Now the spins, there I agree.

She skated fast into some jumps - flutz flip and loop. The rest of the program consisted of stops, poses, splatting and deep breaths.

[pollyanna]

Anyone remember the uber 3/3 rockin (and not much else technically )
Lenka Kulovana

Absolutely loved her.

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...56&postcount=4

[SmallFairy]

Kaja Hanevold is now coaching in Asker, outside Oslo, her old club, and also doing some choreographing, if I'm informed correctly. She skated so well at Euros 1999, I think she was 16th, I was in utter shock, and so happy for her!

Marta Andrade was really around for ages, I loved her. and she was soooo tiny, when you walked past her, it was like passing a small child. good for her learning flip and lutz, me too was over the roof for her when she landed the lutz for the first time!

Lenka Kulovana...awwww, bless her!! it seemed she had an endless wardrobe of yellow dresses. The year they allowed ladies to do 3,3 in the sp she placed really high after that first phase of competition, 5th maybe, don't remember excactly, but then she couldn't hold it together in the free, with only toe-loops and salchows... but her 3t3t was lovely!

my fave OES is also Mikkeline Kirkgaard, Tamara Dorofejev, Sanna Maija Wiksteen, Anna Lundström, Susanne Stadlmüller (was she OES?) (she was so long-limbded and elegant), Sabina Wojtala - if only she could land those triples when it counted!

don't even get me started about Anna Rechnio <3

in men, my all time favourite will forever be Juraj Sviatko of Slovak Republic, he stole my heart with his black and yellow striped bumble bee costume