Sjoukje Dijkstra

[olympic]

that hair-do is epic Higher than Jill Trenary, and she could show those 80s gals what high hair really means!

[poths]

Great vids, guys.

I can't believe that 2 axel Imagine if she had have pulled in tight....she'd have been close to a triple.

I love her size and power, Peggy Flemming can feck off.

I remember hearing Dijkstra commentate on British Eurosport during the 1995 Ladies FP (she was praising a young Sebesteyen). Does she commentate for Dutch Eurosport?

[poths]

I think her free skating has aged remarkably well. Fast and clean and powerful.

Couldn't agree more.

When all is said and done, there's no better way to skate.

[lotte86]

I remember hearing Dijkstra commentate on British Eurosport during the 1995 Ladies FP (she was praising a young Sebesteyen). Does she commentate for Dutch Eurosport?

No she does not. I don't think she does anything with skating anymore (edit: just saw a interview from 2 days ago and she is involved, there is a new skating board (here in Holland) to help young skaters financially and Sjoukje is in the management of that board).

Joan Haanappel used to comment for the dutch eurosport, but she quit a few years ago. She is involved with the dutch skating fedaration to develop figure skating in the Netherlands.

Someone made a comment about the popularity of figure skating in the Netherlands (why it isn't).
I am dutch and i'm not sure why it isn't popular. Speed skating is our #1 wintersport and one of our most success fullest sports ever. Figure Skating isn't high respected here, most of the people see it as only dancing in skirts and gay boys trying to be a ballerina (i ofcourse not). People just don't know exactly what it is. It is a popular sport during the olympic games, but other then that it barely makes the tv, so that is a also a main reason.
We also don't seem to have the talent (at the moment) to join the top. There are some talented girls who hopefully do well in the future.

I also think that our schoolsystem is a reason why we stay left behind. Home scholing is not allowed and although there are some schools that allow more training time, it is still way less then the girls train in the us/japan/russia at the same age.

I also found a video:
http://www.geschiedenis24.nl/andere-...e-en-Joan.html - not sure if it can be seen outside the Netherlands! This one is about Joan and Sjoukje. Most of it is speaking but there are some skating videos in between.

[skatesindreams]

I can access it in the US,
Thank you!

[olympic]

....Someone made a comment about the popularity of figure skating in the Netherlands (why it isn't).
I am dutch and i'm not sure why it isn't popular. Speed skating is our #1 wintersport and one of our most success fullest sports ever. Figure Skating isn't high respected here, most of the people see it as only dancing in skirts and gay boys trying to be a ballerina (i ofcourse not). People just don't know exactly what it is. It is a popular sport during the olympic games, but other then that it barely makes the tv, so that is a also a main reason.
We also don't seem to have the talent (at the moment) to join the top. There are some talented girls who hopefully do well in the future.

I also think that our schoolsystem is a reason why we stay left behind. Home scholing is not allowed and although there are some schools that allow more training time, it is still way less then the girls train in the us/japan/russia at the same age.

That was me. Thanks for the detailed explanation.

[harekrishna43]

I also found a video:
http://www.geschiedenis24.nl/andere-...e-en-Joan.html - not sure if it can be seen outside the Netherlands! This one is about Joan and Sjoukje. Most of it is speaking but there are some skating videos in between.

Thank you so much for this video - even though I don't understand Dutch, it was very interesting (thanks to Google translator as well) and of course, the skating was wonderful. I loved the expression on Joan's face when she saw herself badly two footing an axel watching those films from long ago.

I believe I caught a glimpse of Maribel Vinson Owen in the press box at the World Championships in the footage. Until I saw Rise, I didn't realize that she had a second career as a reporter.

[Sasha'sSpins]

Wasn't 1968 the first time the Winter Olympics were really televised big-time? I think Carol Heiss Jenkins said that, in 1960, you just got a little bit of coverage after the evening news--nothing hard-core. So, besides Peggy's looks and elegance, the expanded coverage probably played a big role as well.

Yeah, it's a shame we'll never know.

I agree about the expanded coverage-but somehow I feel had the same circumstances existed in 1964 Dijkstra still wouldn't have had the same impact as a Peggy Fleming. Sonja Henie had no tv coverage at all as it didn't exist in her day, though she did have the benefit of the movies in that era-but there was something extra about her, something magical that said 'STAR' and I think Peggy had it-but not Sjoukje. And Sonja like Sjoukje was not an American-yet she became a huge movie star all the same.

Had she lived I think Laurence had a pixie quality about her that the masses would have found very appealing. I think she would have been the skating superstar of her day. Jmo.

Considering the time, a _lot_ would depend on Owen's figures.

Dijkstra was sort of a forerunner of Beatrix Schuba. Her size helped her figures so she had very strong lead going into the free skating.

But unlike Schuba (who apparently was thinking: "I've already won, why knock myself out now?") Dijkstra did put a lot of effort into her free skating.
She was no fairy princess and was too smart to try to go that route (though she certainly was elegant in her own way). I think her free skating has aged remarkably well. Fast and clean and powerful.

Somehow, had they lived, I think Mama Vinson Owen would have seen to it that Laurence had her figures down to keep up with the best of them leading up to the '64 Games. Dijkstra WAS elegant in her own way but she reminds me of a skater like Arakawa-lovely elegance, great powerful jumps but her artistic interpretation imo was wanting in many ways. I think skaters like Laurence, and Peggy who followed had Dijkstra beat in that area. I think it's something you're born with.

I think in 64 Laurence just might have skated away from the pack with her balanced artistic, and athletic style-and well-honed school figures. I like to think so anyway, and I have read over the years of many who thought she would win the Games had she lived. I tend to agree with them.

[skatesindreams]

Somehow, had they lived, I think Mama Vinson Owen would have seen to it that Laurence had her figures down to keep up with the best of them leading up to the '64 Games. Dijkstra WAS elegant in her own way but she reminds me of a skater like Arakawa-lovely elegance, great powerful jumps but her artistic interpretation imo was wanting in many ways. I think skaters like Laurence, and Peggy who followed had Dijkstra beat in that area. I think it's something you're born with.

I think in 64 Laurence just might have skated away from the pack with her balanced artistic, and athletic style-and well-honed school figures. I like to think so anyway, and I have read over the years of many who thought she would win the Games had she lived. I tend to agree with them.

This!

[berthesghost]

I agree about the expanded coverage-but somehow I feel had the same circumstances existed in 1964 Dijkstra still wouldn't have had the same impact as a Peggy Fleming. Sonja Henie had no tv coverage at all as it didn't exist in her day, though she did have the benefit of the movies in that era-but there was something extra about her, something magical that said 'STAR' and I think Peggy had it-but not Sjoukje. And Sonja like Sjoukje was not an American-yet she became a huge movie star all the same.

Had she lived I think Laurence had a pixie quality about her that the masses would have found very appealing. I think she would have been the skating superstar of her day. Jmo.




Somehow, had they lived, I think Mama Vinson Owen would have seen to it that Laurence had her figures down to keep up with the best of them leading up to the '64 Games. Dijkstra WAS elegant in her own way but she reminds me of a skater like Arakawa-lovely elegance, great powerful jumps but her artistic interpretation imo was wanting in many ways. I think skaters like Laurence, and Peggy who followed had Dijkstra beat in that area. I think it's something you're born with.

I think in 64 Laurence just might have skated away from the pack with her balanced artistic, and athletic style-and well-honed school figures. I like to think so anyway, and I have read over the years of many who thought she would win the Games had she lived. I tend to agree with them.

Absolutely!

Vinson coached Albright to OGM and she excelled at figures as well as being one of the best free skaters the US ever had. All these decades later, she still looks amazing. Not at all dated like Heiss, whom was terribly overrated IMHO.

Dijkstra IMO, was only slightly less "unwatchable" that Schuba. Slightly. And don't get me started on Sefert, who could never beat Fleming. The Dijkstra/Sefert/Schuba trio of klunky skating made was an almost mind numbingly dull decade of skating that made Owen/Fleming/Lynn trio all the more famous as a breath of fresh air. JMO.