Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Pairs ROUND 7

[allezfred]

Kovarikova & Novotny gone, pretty obvious who'll be next so another quick round!

• Kazakova & Dmitriev: Olys 1998
• Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze: Worlds 1998, 1999, Olys 2002
• Shen & Zhao: Worlds 2002, 2003, 2007, Olys 2010
• Totmianina & Marinin: Worlds 2004, 2005, Olys 2006
• Pang & Tong: Worlds 2006, Worlds 2010
• Savchenko & Szolkowy: Worlds 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012

[miffy]

My vote is for K/D... Mishkutenok/Dmitriev are one of my all time favourite pairs and K/D just didn't live up to that - IMO they were very good but just weren't really special.

[Macassar88]

My vote is for K/D... Mishkutenok/Dmitriev are one of my all time favourite pairs and K/D just didn't live up to that - IMO they were very good but just weren't really special.

This combined with the fact that they have no world championship and I wasn't really inspired by any of their performances. I think it will be a fight between them and Pang and Tong. I think that Pan and Tong should stay because they had a longer career with more medals and have two WC and Olympic silver which should have been Gold considering how they were held down in the short compared to other teams.

[Cherub721]

K&D's Olympic programs were brilliant. They don't have a world title, but they only went to Worlds twice! They had to WD in 1998 due to food poisoning, and he was 30 by then, so they retired. I don't consider them as having run away from competition like Kulik, but just the circumstances getting in the way of their ever winning Worlds. I think one OGM is worth more than the two post-Olympic World titles that P&T have (with the top skaters like S&Z and T&M not present).

[Zemgirl]

Pang and Tong are not the strongest team technically, but the reason I picked them is that I can't remember a single program they did. I know what some of them were, but both the skaters and the programs are just completely forgettable to me.

[Mafke]

K/D mostly because:
- short career (even if it included ogm which I don't care about so much)
- back outside death spiral.... less said the better

Don't get me wrong, Dmitriev was absolutely one of the two or three greatest pair guys of all time but as a pair K/D never clicked for me like M/D (who I would have had winning in Lillehammer)

[judgejudy27]

Pang & Tong. Weakest team both technically and artistically left.

[julieann]

Oddly enough Dmitriev never won a Soviet/Russian Nationals with either partner. I also would have had them winning in Lillehammer.

[TID]

TT/MM,the most boring team I've ever seen....uhh....

[shady82]

I have to pick K/D. I know there are reasons stated above against this, but I think of them as the pairs' version of Kulik.

K/D really had only had 2 good major competitions - 1998 Olympics and 1996 Europeans. They were never favorites or a dominant team. During the Olympic season, they were 3rd in their country and could have easily missed making the Olympic team.

Although not as strong as M/D or B/S, they were still a good team that capitalized at the right team. I do give them credit for skating very well at the Olympics.

It was hard for me since Pang/Tong's 2 World Championship wins could be debated as well. Petrova/Tikhonov skated a clean but easy program in 2006, while Pang/Tong skated somewhat sloppily and with a fall. In 2010, Pang/Tong and S/S were pretty close IMO. Then again, P/T's 2010 Olympic performances would trump K/D's in 1998, winning both portions of the 1998 Olympics.

[blue_idealist]

I was going to go with Pang/Tong, but then I started re-watching some old programs. I saw the hot mess that was Kazakova/Dmitriev's 1996 Worlds LP, and the masterpiece that was Pang/Tong's 2004 Worlds LP. Furthermore, K/D don't have a world title and a lot of their moves were kind of copies of what Mishkutenok/Dmitriev did. Pang/Tong were also near the top for a lot longer, almost a decade now, as opposed to like two years for K/D. While I consider M/D one of the best pairs of all time, I can't say the same for K/D.

[judgejudy27]

It already looks like a final 3 of Savchenko & Szolkowy, Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze, and Shen & Zhou.

[blue_idealist]

It already looks like a final 3 of Savchenko & Szolkowy, Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze, and Shen & Zhou.

That's what it should be, Totmianina/Marinin are objectively good but sleep-inducing. I started up one of their programs to watch last night, but then got bored in like 20 seconds and watched a freakin' WOETZEL AND STEUER program instead, one I even knew had mistakes! That's how boring T/M are.

[judgejudy27]

That's what it should be, Totmianina/Marinin are objectively good but sleep-inducing. I started up one of their programs to watch last night, but then got bored in like 20 seconds and watched a freakin' WOETZEL AND STEUER program instead, one I even knew had mistakes! That's how boring T/M are.

I find Savchenko & Szolkowy overrated and would have Totmianina & Marinin stay longer but it is clear I am in the minority on that. For me I can appreciate the sheer quality and near perfection of most of what T&M do both in elements (outside of the lifts and triple twist of course) and overall skating. I also appreciate their consistency doing such difficult programs with such precision and class in everything, and making it look easy.

I can see why people like Aliona & Robin but to me they are almost a transition champion x 2, dominating while Shen & Zhou took a break, the Zhangs were already on decline, and Pang & Tong were in a slump, and now only holding the seat warm until Voloszhar & Trankov take over completely which will probably happen starting this season IMHO. They only win when there is no great teams to compete against. It was telling to me how easily Shen & Zhou could waltz back in and dominate them after being retired for years and well into their 30s. Contrast that to T&M who often beat S&Z even in their primes.

[blue_idealist]

Savchenko and Szolkowy aren't always great technically, and are inconsistent, but are 100x more entertaining than Totmianina and Marinin.

[Zemgirl]

I can see why people like Aliona & Robin but to me they are almost a transition champion x 2, dominating while Shen & Zhou took a break, the Zhangs were already on decline, and Pang & Tong were in a slump, and now only holding the seat warm until Voloszhar & Trankov take over completely which will probably happen starting this season IMHO.

S/S had a rough Olympic season - P/T and S/Z didn't beat them anywhere their best that year. So maybe that shouldn't count, either, by your logic?

Savchenko and Szolkowy aren't always great technically, and are inconsistent, but are 100x more entertaining than Totmianina and Marinin.

They are also much more entertaining and interesting than everyone judgejudy listed - including Shen and Zhao, whose programs got progressively less interesting over the years. And if V/T finish ahead S/S with the sort of programs they skated in 2011-12, I will cry. Really.

[judgejudy27]

S/S had a rough Olympic season - P/T and S/Z didn't beat them anywhere their best that year. So maybe that shouldn't count, either, by your logic?

S/S have never come close to beating S/Z, and the Olympic season isnt the only times they have met. There really isnt anything to discuss.

[skateboy]

I think people are underrating P/T. I voted for K/D.

[Zemgirl]

S/S have never come close to beating S/Z, and the Olympic season isnt the only times they have met. There really isnt anything to discuss.

Then why are you discussing?

S/Z never faced S/S at their best; Aliona and Robin hadn't yet hit their stride when S/Z retired the first time. Since by your logic wins only count if the other team is at or near peak form, clearly beating S/S in 2007 or in the Olympic season doesn't count. Or does your rule apply only if S/S are the victorious team?

[antmanb]

Then why are you discussing?

S/Z never faced S/S at their best; Aliona and Robin hadn't yet hit their stride when S/Z retired the first time. Since by your logic wins only count if the other team is at or near peak form, clearly beating S/S in 2007 or in the Olympic season doesn't count. Or does your rule apply only if S/S are the victorious team?

the only rules that ever apply are artibrarily made up on the spot to bolster your own argument. It's the primary rule of the interwebz logic has nothing to do with it