Peaked too soon. Programs at their best that should have won OG

[essence_of_soy]

Just some retro-speculative off season fun.

Here are a couple of programs that should have won Olympic Gold if they'd skated at the same technical and performance level.

Tonya Harding's FS, 1991 Skate America.
This program still blows me away 20 years later.

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

Jeremy Abbott's FS, 2010 US Nationals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJorSTaB59I

Debi Thomas' FS, 1988 US Nationals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bgiMdbiPHk

[jbjanderson]

Kwan's 1998 National's performance, it was magical.

[briancoogaert]

Kwan's 1998 National's performance, it was magical.

Her 2002 US Nats LP would have been enough to win in SLC, IMO.

[mysticchic]

Kwan's 96 FS, a year too early

[Yazmeen]

Agree with all the MK comments; she peaked too soon in those Olympic years (yes, going coachless in 2002 didn't help). If she could have just skated with the freedom she had at Nationals at those Olympics, she could (and likely would) have been a 2-time OGM. But both times, at Olympics, to borrow from Jenny Kirk, she let the "perfection" monster hold her back.

[Habs]

If Kurt Browning had had his short program performance from Worlds in 1993 at the Olympics in Lillehammer, he would have won a medal there.

[judgejudy27]

Irina Slutskaya in both the 2001-2002 and 2005-2006 seasons peaked too early. She would have won the OGM with many of her early season performance.

Tonya Harding at 91 Skate America is a great one. With how Kristi and Midori skated in Albertville she would have cruised to the gold if she had a clean short as well.

Debi Thomas in the 87-88 seasons for sure. Both her Skate Canada and U.S Nationals performances would have won the Olympic Gold, and probably bumped Witt to bronze by placing 2nd to Manley in the LP.

Abbott peaks at Nationals every year, or he doesnt peak at all.

Stojko probably would have won the 1998 Olympic Gold over Kulik with his Canadians Nationals performance. Yagudin also would have beaten Kulik in Nagano with his performance from Europeans that year.

[Jammers]

Agree with all the MK comments; she peaked too soon in those Olympic years (yes, going coachless in 2002 didn't help). If she could have just skated with the freedom she had at Nationals at those Olympics, she could (and likely would) have been a 2-time OGM. But both times, at Olympics, to borrow from Jenny Kirk, she let the "perfection" monster hold her back.

There was really no reason for Michelle to have peaked at Nationals in 1998 when you think about it. She had been off the ice for about two months because of her foot injury. In fact no one knew how well she was going to skate at Nationals that year. But you wondered even then if she could duplicate those magical performance in Nagano. And of course she didn't even though she skated well enough to win most Olympics.

[smarts1]

I know she wasn't really a gold medal contender and people would go crazy if she was an OGM, but Surya really could never hold it together in the LP at every Olympics she was in.

[essence_of_soy]

I know she wasn't really a gold medal contender and people would go crazy if she was an OGM, but Surya really could never hold it together in the LP at every Olympics she was in.

Not a crazy theory, by any stretch.

Surya won Europeans in 1994 ahead of Oksana Bauil with a solid 7 triple free skate. Baiul's technical level at that competition was about the same as her performance in Lillehammer a month later.

[robinhood]

Stojko probably would have won the 1998 Olympic Gold over Kulik with his Canadians Nationals performance. Yagudin also would have beaten Kulik in Nagano with his performance from Europeans that year.

I agree with most of the other things, but do u really think Stojko or Yagudin were beating a perfect Kulik with a quad? Kulik's jumps were regarded as the most perfect at the time (well, for me they are still now) and he had an advantadge in the artistic note over young Yagudin and marcial arts expert Elvis

[BigB08822]

I don't see how anyone would have beaten Kulik in Nagano. He was better than Stoyko and Yagudin in many many ways. I know you can imagine the others skating better but it doesn't change the fact that Kulik was just about perfect himself that night and probably would not have been beaten.

[Proustable]

While I doubt anyone was beating Kim, Rochette's Nationals LP in 2010 sure would've given the audience a jolt (though even Rochette's National score was below Kim's Olympic score)

[smarts1]

^ The thing is, hasn't Joannie ALWAYS peaked at Canadian Nationals? I don't remember a season where she didn't put down her best LP performance at Nationals.

[Proustable]

2007? Don't remember. She certainly peaked at Nationals in 2009 and 2010, though.

[gingercrush]

God I love Harding's Loops. I'm sure she could have done Triple Loop-Triple Loop. I actually wonder whether Harding would have benefited from Figures still being included.

[l'etoile]

Definitely Debbie in '88 and Michelle Kwan in both olympic years. With her ability, two OG didn't look implausible at all.

[kwanatic]

Michelle's Nagano performance would have won in any other year. No she wasn't as free as she was at nationals but her performance was clean and well-presented. Tara just ended up with the luck of the draw (skating order) and was able to have a strong performance as well.

I maintain my belief that had the skating order been reversed, Michelle would have won b/c instead of all of the 5.9s in presentation she would have had several 6.0s in there as well. But b/c she was skating early in the group, they had to leave room. Tara would have beat her on the technical mark (as she should have) but Michelle's presentation score would have been higher and she'd have won...But, the past is the past. I'm over the bitterness of it but I still believe the difference b/w gold and silver came down to the skating order that year.

[essence_of_soy]

God I love Harding's Loops. I'm sure she could have done Triple Loop-Triple Loop. I actually wonder whether Harding would have benefited from Figures still being included.

There are several theories that support this.

Harding had a solid international reputation and if she had been chosen over Yamaguchi in 1989 to go to Worlds, chances are she would have won the event.

Her figures were stronger than Ito, and she was landing a triple lutz combo in the short from 1988 onwards.

Also, had she not been sick at US Nationals in 1990 and made the team, again, Harding could have won the world title with a strong all round skate.

Regarding her triple loop, apparently she could land a quadruple loop in practice.

[PashaFan]

Even though she never got close to an Olympic Gold medal or podium, Sussana Poykio's Munich program was so beautiful. It's a pity she could not have taken it further.
She really did skate to a difficult subject with true emotion.
If only she had been a faster & more consistent skater