Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Pairs SEMI-FINAL

[love_skate2011]

one question, though why were Gordeeva/Grinkov not on the poll list
was it because they are locks to win like Kwan, Yagudin and Grischuk/Platov
no fair !

[Cherub721]

one question, though why were Gordeeva/Grinkov not on the poll list
was it because they are locks to win like Kwan, Yagudin and Grischuk/Platov
no fair !

Only 12 options are allowed in a poll, so the original poster selected the previous 12 world or olympic champions, and G&G were just outside that range. They are included in the other poll on this forum ranking pairs Olympic champions only.

[Macassar88]

I think that Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze had the best short program of all time. It was amazing.

[antmanb]

It's a tough vote because I love all three remaining pairs for very different reasons. I just can't vote for B&S because I think they're the best. Purest skating skills, speed, great technique (except possibly the crashy twists that crept in towards the end of their career).

Which leaves S&Z and S&S and I didn't know who to pick. Sentimentally I love S&Z, I love the way they finally put effort into the presentation and stopped trying the throw quad. They really made great emotional connections with the audience when they skated.

S&S I just love because they have great technique and at the same time have come up with really interesting ideas and execution for their programmes - things we really haven't seen before and intersting music choices.

In the end I picked S&Z to go just because B&S are untouchable for me, and right now I love S&S and can't wait to see what else they will do.

[shady82]

I think S/S should be voted out without a second thought, and I can't believe people want to vote S/Z out right now. S/S have such major inconsistency problems, and were only able to dominate because the other pairs simply weren't World Champion material during the last quadrennial. I love S/S and think the overall skating quality is comparable with the other two pairs here, but they're just way too inconsistent.

S/Z revolutionized pairs skating by introducing big throws and twists, which led other pairs to follow suit. They produced arguably the three best pairs LPs in major competition during the 2000-2010 decade:

2003 Worlds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cz6r2XE8N0
2004 GPF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHQRf...eature=related
2005 GPF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbUQK...0C9E501523544B

I don't get how anyone who has seen these programs can think they can be any lower than 2nd. They combined their huge throws and twists that got their attention early on with some of the most compelling pairs programs of all time.

And while B/S may have superior basic skating and execution of some elements such as spins, they too had major consistency problems. How often did they skate two clean programs in major competition?

[mazzy]

I don't get how anyone who has seen these programs can think they can be any lower than 2nd.

I find S/S's 2007+2008 Euros or 2011 GPF LPs to be superior to anything S/Z have done. As much as I like S/Z but they have been way less versatile in their programmes and had choreography that often was based on the combination of big tricks to bombastic music neglecting intricacy.
S/S have obviously had their share of mistakes -but I believe it was largely due to Ingo insisting on many details and permanently pushing them out of their comfort zone. You'll notice that their 2010/11 season when they had toned down on transitions and just went for a fun programme has been very consistent .

[Marco]

Did S&S ever beat S&Z? I don't think so, at least not at the big comps.

[TID]

Did S&S ever beat S&Z? I don't think so, at least not at the big comps.

Yeah, actually S/S never beat S/Z....

[julieann]

S/Z and S/S only competed against each other 6 times. The first was at the Winter Olympics 06; S/Z had already been together for 13 seasons, for S/S it as only their 2nd full season together. No brainer. One would win bronze and one would get sixth. The next season (06-07) they met 3 times. At the Cup of China S/Z won to S/S third, at the GPF S/Z won to S/S silver and at Worlds 07, S/Z won to S/S bronze. S/Z had just finished their 14th season together and retired and S/S just finished their third.

After 2 seasons off S/Z came back-obviously seeing the podium of S/S, Z/Z ad K/S (and P/T) and feeling with two years off they may have a shot at another medal if not a gold.

S/Z and S/S met two more time at the GPF where S/S got bronze to S/Z gold and the Olympics with the same result.

S/Z never met S/S as their equals because S/Z had such a head start on their training, maybe if S/S had been a pair since 92 it would have been a different story but you can't possible compare a team who had been together for almost 3 times longer than the other one, it's ridiculous. I have already explained my position ad nauseam on why S/S had such a bad Olympic year, but comparing the two is still comparing apples to oranges.

[kapriza]

wow, they're going head to head for now.

[crankyintheAM]

What an exciting round!