Favorite Olympic silver medal performance by a lady

[Proustable]

Mao made history with the 2 triple axels, but I don't agree her performance would have been good enough for gold any other year. Maybe in 1992? But even then I think is questionable. Kristi still would have won IMO.

Without a doubt Michelle had the best silver medal performance and probably will hold that distinction for a very long time. Her Lyra program will stand the test of time for many, many years unlike the other silver medalists.

The other performances upon re-watch just look cheesy and outdated- Kerrigan and Manley, or just plain bad- Slutskaya.

I'd say Cohen's is the 2nd best since everything but the 2 huge mistakes in the beginning was sublime.

Kerrigan's is probably the next best but again, the program almost 20 years later just looks outdated and nothing special.

You think that Asada would've lost to Baiul? To Arakawa?

[michiruwater]

Sasha in 2006 is the reason I am here today. Her SP there was one of the most brilliant SPs ever skated (along with her 2004 Worlds SP and several of Yu Na Kim's) and while her LP was flawed, I have never seen another skater equal the level of emotion she brought to the last 4 minutes of it. I had never really watched skating before and I couldn't stop crying.

[kwanette]

Seriously, no Liz Manley? When I think of all the silver medal performances I've watched more than ten times, I always go back to Liz Manley. The performance of her life, and the right time to do it.

I know people are going to say Kwan, but after Philadelphia, she wasn't going to repeat it. Way too tentative.

Liz Manley by a mile, and I'm going to YT her just to watch it right now. Her lutz was dead on. Much better than Kwan's flutz by a mile.

Urban legend.

[SkateBlades17]

Michelle Kwan for me! My second choice is Nancy Kerrigan, who I'm normally not too big of a fan of, but she skated well in the 94 Olympics with a great triple/triple combo.

[RockTheTassel]

She FELL on her first triple, and placed both hands down on her second triple (current COP rules would have called it a fall -1, but that time they only counted the first one as a fall).

That was in 2006. In your original post, it seemed like you were referring to 2002, where her only mistake was sitting down on the 3/3.

Sasha in 2006 is the reason I am here today. Her SP there was one of the most brilliant SPs ever skated (along with her 2004 Worlds SP and several of Yu Na Kim's) and while her LP was flawed, I have never seen another skater equal the level of emotion she brought to the last 4 minutes of it. I had never really watched skating before and I couldn't stop crying.

This. I'd watched skating on and off before, but it was Sasha's 2006 performances that really made me love the sport. Even with the falls, her LP that night was beautiful and memorable.

[kwanatic]

Michelle will win this one by a landslide and rightfully so. Her program had everything: gorgeous choreography, seven solid triples, emotion and feeling...I thought she was brilliant. Had she skated after Tara, she'd have won gold; nearly all of those 5.9s would have been 6.0s.

Michelle's silver medal in Nagano was worth gold.

I'd say Sasha was 2nd best (hello, irony). I thought her SP was the class of the field, much better than anything anyone else turned in. Her LP was badly marred by her two opening jumps but she did finish strong. Add her artistry, extension, line and best spins in the world (at that time), I thought she earned her silver. I did not enjoy Shizuka's performances more than Sasha's but I agreed with Shizuka's win b/c she was able to put out a mostly error free program when everyone else was splatting all night...

In terms of a technical performance, Mao gets props for her two 3As...but that program was crap IMO. It doesn't hold a candle to Michelle or Sasha's performances.

As for Irina in 2002, great speed and spins, mostly good jumps...but that program was an eyesore. Terrible choreography, unappealing presentation...no bueno.

[dawnie]

She FELL on her first triple, and placed both hands down on her second triple (current COP rules would have called it a fall -1, but that time they only counted the first one as a fall).

That was in 2006. In your original post, it seemed like you were referring to 2002, where her only mistake was sitting down on the 3/3.

Thank you.

[flipforsynchro]

I never like watching sad silver medal Oly skates

[MR-FAN]

The performances that give me joy to watch over and over out of these are Midori's and Liz'. Liz was the more emotional performance and Midori's was the more technically proficient. Both made mistakes, but Midori's were for sure more obvious. Ultimately I prefer Midori's performance and voted for her. That 3-axel after the 3 minute mark is truly an iconic moment in the history of Figure skating

[briancoogaert]

Liz Manley because she is the only one HAPPY TO HAVE the silver medal and was not a "favorite" who faltered. She was an underdog who did way better than she expected, and it showed in her personality.

Everyone else (not sure about Ito - don't remember) was either royally pissed off or at least very disappointed with their silver medals.

Michelle didn't falter in 1998. As she said, she couldn't have done any better, she did her best, but her best wasn't good enough.
That's why my vote goes to Michelle. The very best Silver medal, ever.

[Vash01]

The performances that give me joy to watch over and over out of these are Midori's and Liz'. Liz was the more emotional performance and Midori's was the more technically proficient. Both made mistakes, but Midori's were for sure more obvious. Ultimately I prefer Midori's performance and voted for her. That 3-axel after the 3 minute mark is truly an iconic moment in the history of Figure skating

Liz did not make a mistake. Midori did, but as you wrote, her 3A after the 3 min mark was a moment I will never forget. That as in 1992. A lady did not land a 3A in the Olympics until 18 years later (Mao Asada). That tells us how special that was.

[Skater91]

Mao should win this hands down.

[Amy03]

Mao should win this hands down.

I totally agree, i think Mao's performance is the best olympics performance in figure skating history.... it has everything from technical difficulty to great artistry... i remember when i watched the 2010 olympics, i wasn't interestet in skating at that time, but the only memorable performance that simply didn't leave me, was Mao i just was sooooo amazed by her programs that her name just stuck in my head many days after, at the end i couldn't take it and began reading about her and watched all her previous performances... and it was thanks to her performances that i became interestet in figure skating, and actually love figure skating more then any other sport now.

and through i have watched most previous medalist at the womans olympics, it just never really gasped or gave the same amazement wow-factor that I get when i watched Mao that day, and that is why my absolute favourite program is Mao's stunning olympic performances!

[dawnie]

I totally agree, i think Mao's performance is the best olympics performance in figure skating history....

[Vash01]

That was in 2006. In your original post, it seemed like you were referring to 2002, where her only mistake was sitting down on the 3/3.



.

Since this is a thread about Olympic silver medal, it HAS to be 2006. I never referred to her 2002 performance in this thread.

[Vash01]

I totally agree, i think Mao's performance is the best olympics performance in figure skating history.... it has everything from technical difficulty to great artistry... i remember when i watched the 2010 olympics, i wasn't interestet in skating at that time, but the only memorable performance that simply didn't leave me, was Mao i just was sooooo amazed by her programs that her name just stuck in my head many days after, at the end i couldn't take it and began reading about her and watched all her previous performances... and it was thanks to her performances that i became interestet in figure skating, and actually love figure skating more then any other sport now.

and through i have watched most previous medalist at the womans olympics, it just never really gasped or gave the same amazement wow-factor that I get when i watched Mao that day, and that is why my absolute favourite program is Mao's stunning olympic performances!

Thank you for sharing this. I agree that Mao skated beautifully, and with the two 3A's it had the technical difficulty too. I was not thrilled with her choice of music, but I have always loved her skating.

[pollyanna]

Since this is a thread about Olympic silver medal, it HAS to be 2006. I never referred to her 2002 performance in this thread.

Nope, it was 2002. Read the quote you referenced. The poster was comparing Slute's Tosca freeskate to Hughes, Cohen, etc. Or at least it did until she edited it.

[michiruwater]

Since this is a thread about Olympic silver medal, it HAS to be 2006. I never referred to her 2002 performance in this thread.

But you were quoting and commenting on a series of posts that were ONLY about 2002, and as you didn't date any of your opinions, it sounds like you are also only taking about 2002. This is the conversation you responded to:

Irina. I still think she should have won in 2002...

Are you being sarcastic? Her performance was the worst among her, Hughes, Kwan, Cohen, and even Suguri.

Your response:

I disagree. None of them skated great. Cohen with two huge mistakes, Kwan with one huge mistake and one small mistake, and Hughes with her ur jumps (but big smile) and lack of maturity in her skating, were all about equal with Irina's skate. The only thing is it was one of Irina's worst skates upto that point (not counting her struggling year '99). Suguri may have skated well, but she was not in contention for 1st or 2nd place, so it's hard to compare her with others. Kwan & Slute were about even- imperfect. IMO Hughes wasn't even in the same league maturity wise. She had a clean performance, that's all. I would say Cohen had the worst performance of the group you mentioned, and she won the silver only because Irina had a melt down in 2006.

It sounds like, in the first half of your response, you are also talking about 2002. And this someone corrected you about Cohen's mistakes in 2002. If you don't want confusion, then you should be clear about what you're talking about, because honestly, even reading it now I could only figure out about half the performances you're meaning to reference. Irina in 2002 or 2006? Kwan in 1998 or 2002? Suguri in 2002 or 2006?

[Vash01]

OK, I get it. i am an idiot and should never start a thread or post on one.

[michiruwater]

Yes, of course that is exactly what I meant.