Skater's Legacy

[julieann]

I hate the Chinese throw technique. It looks like a farmer yanking and tossing sacks of potatoes onto a trolly.

I totally agree! That is exactly what I think of every time I see a guy with terrible throwing posture. I think this and this should be deducted just as much. Some guys in others countries do it too but China is by far the worst offender.

[muffinbiscuit]

I agree about Kristi's legacy being more in the pro skating. In the eligible ranks I did not feel she really left that much for the future generation. Her 3Z-3t was mainly to keep up with Midori technically. Professionally Kristi was brilliant, landing difficult jumps consistently for years, and developing her artistry in many different ways.

Did she only perform that one, at the O's?

[Vagabond]

No, she first landed it in competition at Skate Lalique in the autumn of 1991. IIRC, she also landed it at Nationals and Worlds in 1992.

[Vash01]

I totally agree! That is exactly what I think of every time I see a guy with terrible throwing posture. I think this and this should be deducted just as much. Some guys in others countries do it too but China is by far the worst offender.

Elena Berezhnaya's former partner Oleg Shliakov had a terrible throw technique too (reminded me of the chinese when I was watching their performance the other day)....just like you described.

[Habs]

I am not judging anyone harshly. All I said is Shen & Zhou are in no way deserving of being anywhere near the best ever.

If you're willing to be so critical of them, perhaps you should know that his name is Zhao. Not Zhou.

[Vash01]

If you're willing to be so critical of them, perhaps you should know that his name is Zhao. Not Zhou.

I don't see JJ as being 'too critical'. We all have our opinions and JJ is simply expressing hers/his. It's not like the post said S&Z were awful; they are good but just not the best ever, and I agree with that assessment.

[Habs]

I don't see JJ as being 'too critical'. We all have our opinions and JJ is simply expressing hers/his. It's not like the post said S&Z were awful; they are good but just not the best ever, and I agree with that assessment.

JJ can be as critical as (s)he wants... it just bothers me that (s)he continuously gets Zhao's name wrong.

[Vash01]

JJ can be as critical as (s)he wants... it just bothers me that (s)he continuously gets Zhao's name wrong.

LOL. That bothers me too.

[Cherub721]

Is there an accepted way to spell it though? I always thought that when another language does not use the Latin alphabet and has to be transliterated, that you can't really spell it "wrong." Zhao is certainly the most common spelling, and the one the ISU uses, but Zhou is similar enough that it seems like it could be a valid spelling. Like, for example, I have seen variations in the spelling of Russian skaters' names, since they use the Cyrillic alphabet (Katya/Katia, Evgeny/Yevgeny, etc). I'm not an expert on Chinese translations by any stretch, so hopefully someone who knows more can weigh in, but I wouldn't assume that using the Zhou spelling is necessarily a mistake, or done in bad faith.

[Vash01]

Cherub, you are right. Some names may not have fixed spellings, and the examples you gave are very valid. I find Mishkutenok difficult to spell because I have seen different spellings of it. It's quite possible that Zhou is closer to the actual Chinese pronunciation. It's just that I have always seen it spelled at Zhao, and assumed that it was the accepted spelling. You are right though; these are proper names in another language that has no English equivalent alphabets/pronunciation. It's not like a word in a dictionary.

I was just being nitpicky when I should not have been.

[fscric]

Zhao and Zhou are pronounced differently, Zhao is definitely the correct spelling for his last name.

[giselle23]

Janet Lynn for her artistry, charisma and joy in free-skating
Midori Ito for being the best ladies jumper in history, a title she still holds over 20 years later, and her joyful personality on the ice
Yu Na Kim for her beautiful jumping technique, her consistent 3-3 and her ability to transform herself on competitive ice
Michelle Kwan for her charisma, beautiful line, technical ability, passion and joy--she combines the best of all the legendary skaters

[mkats]

Zhao and Zhou are definitely different surnames and different characters in Chinese.

[Vagabond]

Google Translate audibles for Zhao (赵) and Zhou (周).

They sound as distinct from each other as the English surnames Shaw and Shore do.

[escaflowne9282]

They sound as distinct from each other as the English surnames Shaw and Shore do.

You should visit Brooklyn sometime

[galaxy]

Shizuka Arakawa

How on earth could we forget this?
She is the first figure skater from Asia who won OGM.
In the loooooooooooong history of figure skating, how epoch-making it was back then!

[coolmoom]

Yuna KIM.

The Only One.

The Holy One.

The One.

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