Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Ladies ROUND 6

[judgejudy27]

There are different degrees of dominance. For Michelle she had atleast three 1 or 2 year periods of dominance though:

fall 1995-end of 1996: Lost only 1 competition, 3rd at Centennial on Ice behind Slutskaya and Butyrskaya.

1998 Worlds-summer 2000: lost only 1 competition, 2nd at 1999 Worlds behind Butyrskaya.

Summer 2002-U.S Nationals 2004- Only loss was a cheesefest where she was 2nd to Sasha Cohen.


I agree she wasnt as dominant as Witt, but Witt retired before facing the challenge of the new age jumpers and the demise of the figures. She did dominate for a good 5 years, but faced a system which presented her with little challenge, and historically protected the champion. Who was her competition, Thomas who she met 4 times over their 3 year rivalry as amateur, 2 competitions Thomas blew up in. Ito who had no chance due to figures even though she could already jump and in some ways skate circles around Witt. Kadavy who never had the right factors come together to be a major threat. Trenary who was never a bigtime champion skater. Ivanova the figures specialist. Manley who didnt put it together until the final 2 events of her career.

Kim was pretty dominant for 3 seasons with 3 losses total, 1 each season. She could have been the greatest skater ever perhaps if she didnt bag her career after Vancouver, but alas that is her choice, and she doesnt want to become the best ever and now never will.

[bartek]

There are different degrees of dominance. For Michelle she had atleast three 1 or 2 year periods of dominance though:

fall 1995-end of 1996: Lost only 1 competition, 3rd at Centennial on Ice behind Slutskaya and Butyrskaya.

1998 Worlds-summer 2000: lost only 1 competition, 2nd at 1999 Worlds behind Butyrskaya.

Summer 2002-U.S Nationals 2004- Only loss was a cheesefest where she was 2nd to Sasha Cohen.


I agree she wasnt as dominant as Witt, but Witt retired before facing the challenge of the new age jumpers and the demise of the figures. She did dominate for a good 5 years, but faced a system which presented her with little challenge, and historically protected the champion. Who was her competition, Thomas who she met 4 times over their 3 year rivalry as amateur, 2 competitions Thomas blew up in. Ito who had no chance due to figures even though she could already jump and in some ways skate circles around Witt. Kadavy who never had the right factors come together to be a major threat. Trenary who was never a bigtime champion skater. Ivanova the figures specialist. Manley who didnt put it together until the final 2 events of her career.

Kim was pretty dominant for 3 seasons with 3 losses total, 1 each season. She could have been the greatest skater ever perhaps if she didnt bag her career after Vancouver, but alas that is her choice, and she doesnt want to become the best ever and now never will.

You are wrong on that one: 1998 Worlds-summer 2000. At 1999-2000 GPF Kwan had a famous upset because of Slutskaya's sensational performance with two triple-triples. This particular competition ended her short dominance after Lipinski's retirement since Sluyskaya bacame judges' favourite.

I agree with Witt but nevertheless she was dominant.

With Kim, I wouldn't say she was really dominant in 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 because Mao was equally expected to win every competition as Kim. It was either Mao's or Yu-Na's game. Their rivalry was so exciting back then because you never knew wether Mao or Yu-Na would win. However, after 2009 Worlds, Kim bacame really dominant with those huge scores, huge expectations and huge wins.

[judgejudy27]

Mao and Yu Na werent really close in the 2008-2009 season. Yu Na was clearly ahead, Mao was crushed by Yu Na in all but one competition, was beaten twice by Rochette, and didnt even medal at Worlds. Even the 2007-2008 season Yu Na seemed dominant until her injury before Worlds. However if what you say is true, Yu Na being only dominant for 3/4s of a season, she is even further behind Michelle in that regard then.

[scootie12]

I vote Shizuka.

Although she is OGM and World Champ, her overall record of inconsistency makes her the weakest link. Since this is a survivor poll, I'm basing my vote on who is weakest in terms of overall consistency and dominance.

As an aside, while Shiz did have an up and down amateur career, she seems to have become much more consistent as a show skater.

[dawnie]

5 days is still too long for this game IMO.

I voted for Sarah the first 2 rounds and been voting Tara ever since. While I admire her competitive mindset and consistency, she just doesn't compare to the other women left.

[Triple Butz]

I vote Shizuka. Her Olympic win was pretty forgettable in my mind, and while she was wonderful at worlds 2004 her triple/triple combinations were not the best quality. I never really felt anything when Shizuka skated and I found her lines to be quite awkward. Her jump landings for example always had a really low free leg with no extension or toe point. Plus she skated to Turandot too many times to count and I found her to have little versatility when it came to music. I remember when she tried to skate to Christina Aguilera's Candy Man and her lack of dance ability made me

[smarts1]

NOOOOO
Why are you guys voting for Arakawa? she's the most skater's skater of the ones remaining, and truly one of the great basic skaters of all time
I know she was inconsistent as hell, but I could watch her just do crossovers the whole day...
Anyway, I vote for Lipinski...I've been voting for her since round 2 or 3

Because looking at competitive careers and medals alone over their entire career, Shiz has the least number of World and Olympic medals, even if she won gold for both (no other World or Olympic medals), as opposed to Lulu who won 4 World medals and 2 Olympic bronzes.

Shiz has some great qualities to her skater, but she just wasn't consistent enough to be on the same list as the rest of these skaters.

[smarts1]

My feelings exactly. In fact I'd have her in the top 3 over Asada and Slutskaya (I'm assuming top three will include Kim and Kwan).

Where is the Bondage Swan love???

It's getting tough now. I think my vote will go to Lu Chen because although she had an incredible presence from 92-95, she was still a very immature skater and prone to mistakes. 1996 Worlds was perfection, but then everything else after was weak. And Shizuka's basic skating alone should knock off Lu Chen with her jerky shouldery weak crossovers and almost incompleted spins.

Please have a heart for Shizzle.

Immature? If Lulu was immature then I don't know any skater who isn't.

Either way, Shizuka's spins aren't exactly anything to envy either...

[RumbleFish]

Arakawa should go.
She had been around 10 years at the scene but only had one decent program.
Aside from that, there were too many craptastic performances, unlike other skaters on the list.

[dawnie]

You mean you didn't enjoy the 500 donut spins Shizzle did to win the Olympics?

[victoriaheidi]

Voted Lipinski for the 3rd time. I, too, am a huge Arakawa fan and can't imagine her being voted off already! I think I'd go for Chen Lu before Shizuka.

[giselle23]

Michelle wasn't really that dominating, maybe except 1996, 1999 (but still lost to Butyrskaya) and 2003.

Michelle wasn't dominating, except at 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001,2003 Worlds and 1996, 1998-2005 U.S. Nationals.

[judgejudy27]

Michelle wasn't dominating, except at 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001,2003 Worlds and 1996

She didnt dominate all those events:

1996- Won a much debated and slightly controversial 6-3 split.

2000- Won after being 3rd in short program, and tied for 3rd in the Q round.

2001- Won after being distant 2nd in short program.

[l'etoile]

Mao and Yu Na werent really close in the 2008-2009 season. Yu Na was clearly ahead, Mao was crushed by Yu Na in all but one competition, was beaten twice by Rochette, and didnt even medal at Worlds. Even the 2007-2008 season Yu Na seemed dominant until her injury before Worlds. However if what you say is true, Yu Na being only dominant for 3/4s of a season, she is even further behind Michelle in that regard then.

For the record, at GPF during 2007-08 season, Mao had skated one of the most clean skates ever in her career with two set of 3-3s and 3a, earning her 133 points. But that skate was followed with only one point shy by Yuna's performance which scored 132 points with a fallen triple loop.

[satchelpooch318]

You mean you didn't enjoy the 500 donut spins Shizzle did to win the Olympics?

I sure did! That's why I didn't vote for her...yet.

[robinhood]

Because looking at competitive careers and medals alone over their entire career, Shiz has the least number of World and Olympic medals, even if she won gold for both (no other World or Olympic medals), as opposed to Lulu who won 4 World medals and 2 Olympic bronzes.

Shiz has some great qualities to her skater, but she just wasn't consistent enough to be on the same list as the rest of these skaters.

In that case, award the title to the Kween already

[bartek]

Michelle wasn't dominating, except at 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001,2003 Worlds and 1996, 1998-2005 U.S. Nationals.

I'm sorry but winning one competition in a season (Worlds) and losing all the others doesn't make you dominating at all. She lost every single time she met Slutskaya except for those two Worlds.

[npavel]

5 days is still too long for this game IMO.

I voted for Sarah the first 2 rounds and been voting Tara ever since. While I admire her competitive mindset and consistency, she just doesn't compare to the other women left.

exactly, I really agree with everything. Voted for Tara since Sarah has gone

[miki88]

For the record, at GPF during 2007-08 season, Mao had skated one of the most clean skates ever in her career with two set of 3-3s and 3a, earning her 133 points. But that skate was followed with only one point shy by Yuna's performance which scored 132 points with a fallen triple loop.

The fall on the loop was her only mistake considering she got full credit for the rotation. Mao lost some points on the landings of some of the jumps which do add up and she messed up on her final spin. They were close competitors during that season as evidenced by the close range of their PCS scores.

I don't understand the vote for Lulu. I think she deserves to be in the top 5 because she is one of the greatest artists on ice that I've ever seen.

[kwanatic]

I'm sorry but winning one competition in a season (Worlds) and losing all the others doesn't make you dominating at all. She lost every single time she met Slutskaya except for those two Worlds.

Essentially, figure skating comes down to the big wins: nationals, worlds and the Olympics. All of the in-betweens (Grand Prix events) are important but they're small beans in comparison.

Michelle dominated where it mattered. Saying she dominated at nationals might not seem like a big deal now but back then the US ladies field had some of the top skaters in the world so it wasn't like it was a cakewalk or anything; she had to fight and, as a result, she delivered some of the best performances of her career there.

Michelle finished 2nd to Slutskaya 3 years in a row at the GPF so it's fair to say that Irina was the dominant GPF skater. But Michelle was a smart skater who knew how to pace herself for the long haul. Winning the GPF would have been great but her focus was on the big events: nationals and worlds. She dominated at nationals for a decade (winning 9 out of 10 years, 1996-2005 ) and she dominated at worlds for 8 years (winning 5 of those 8 years, 1996-2003).

As anyone in sports will tell you "regular season" wins are great and all, but everyone's eye is on the big prize at the end of the season (The Superbowl, The Finals, The World Series, etc.) and that's the one that carries the most significance. The Gran Prix series is figure skating's "regular season"; Worlds is the main event...if you get my analogy.