Great Olympic performances that did not make the podium

[Vash01]

There have been some memorable Olympic performances (I am mainly thinking of LP but great SP cannot be excluded either) by skaters that did not win a medal in that Olympic. If my memory serves me right,

1984- Blumberg & Seibert, Tiffany Chin

1988- Midori Ito, Kurt Browning, Annenko-Sretenski

1992-Christopher Bowman, Kovarikova-Novotny, Grishchuk-Platov

1994-Katarina Witt (despite her mistake at the end, and the lack of difficult triple jumps, this was a wonderful emotional performance), Viktor Petrenko (LP), Kurt Browning (LP)

1998-Bourne & Katz (Riverdance)

2002- Ina & Zimmerman, Sasha Cohen, Takeshi Honda (SP)

2006- Johnny Weir (SP), Petrova-Tikhonov (SP)

2010- Kawaguchi-Smirnov (SP)

[falling_dance]

I'm not an uberfan of any of the following, but I'm sure a case could be made for Denise Biellmann (1980 FS), Elaine Zayak (1984 SP and FS), and Mirai Nagasu (2010 SP and FS).

[Libertango]

2002 - Drobiazko/Vanagas (FD)

2006 - Denkova/Staviski (FD), Delobel/Schoenfelder (FD and overall). B/A and G/G were so bad in the FD

[skateboy]

I'm not an uberfan of any of the following, but I'm sure a case could be made for Denise Biellmann (1980 FS), Elaine Zayak (1984 SP and FS), and Mirai Nagasu (2010 SP and FS).

Yes! (Especially Zayak.)

[mia joy]

2002 - Drobiazko/Vanagas (FD)

2006 - Denkova/Staviski (FD), Delobel/Schoenfelder (FD and overall). B/A and G/G were so bad in the FD

Ditto to Drobiazko/Vanagas and Delobel/Schoenfelder. Those were magnificent dances by two of the most charismatic dance teams in the recent years.

[floskate]

Some obscure ones.....

1976 Robin Cousins. Everything I've ever read says he was completely robbed. This was also his hardest ever LP with 5 triples. A video of this performance is one of my holy grails.

1972 Starbuck & Shelley. Haven't seen it but from magazine reports, they skated better in Sapporo to finish 4th than they did at 1972 Calgary Worlds to finish 3rd. Total politiks.

[paskatefan]

Midori Ito - 1988 Calgary - If it hadn't been for compulsory figures, I have no doubt she would have been on the Olympic podium.

[briancoogaert]

Joannie Rochette 2006 Olympics LP

[Skater91]

Rachael Flatt 2010 LP - Those flips should not have been downgraded.

[Shyjosie]

2006 - Denkova/Staviski (FD)

Absolutely. Instantly thought of them when reading the thread title.

And let me add Moniotte/Lavanchy 1994 (FD).

[oleada]

Nagasu & Lepisto's FS were two of my favorite performances from the 2012 Olympics

[orbitz]

Tiffany Chin. She was at her career peak Sarejevo.

[matti]

Virginia "Ginny" Baxter of USA won the free skating in Oslo 1952, but ended 5th overall. I don't know anything about her performance, though...

[PashaFan]

Drobiazko/Vanagas FD 2006.
Ina/Zimmerman FS 2002.

[blue_idealist]

The first one I thought of is Mirai Nagasu's FS in 2010. I really think she should have got the bronze.

Some people may want to pelt me with objects, but B&K in 1998 and 2002 (judging by the FD in 1998, I know their OD wasn't the greatest, and judging by both dances in 2002).

Oh, and B&A in 2010. They totally were robbed for the bronze.

[Vash01]

I'm not an uberfan of any of the following, but I'm sure a case could be made for Denise Biellmann (1980 FS), Elaine Zayak (1984 SP and FS), and Mirai Nagasu (2010 SP and FS).

I agree about Denise (1980)- it's etched in my memory so well- and Elaine. I was thinking of adding Mirai's name for 2010, but I could not even remember her performances, so I did not.

[orbitz]

Oooh, I forgot about Denise. She was definitely the head of the class at Lake Placid in both the SP and LP.


I didn't think Ina & Zimmerman's was medal worthy at all. For them to be on the podium would have meant that either B&S, S&S, or the Canadians was off the podium. I & Z was not the same league as those pairs.

[Vash01]

Oooh, I forgot about Denise. She was definitely the head of the class at Lake Placid in both the SP and LP.


I didn't think Ina & Zimmerman's was medal worthy at all. For them to be on the podium would have meant that either B&S, S&S, or the Canadians was off the podium. I & Z was not the same league as those pairs.

Agreed. For I&Z to skate the way they did was a big victory but they were really a second tier pair compared to the top 3.

[jobelle]

Well wasn't the OP asking about memorable not necessarily about skates that deserved to medal but didn't? For me Ina & Zimmerman's skate in '02 is the most memorable of the non-medalists and it is a program that I do go back and watch periodically.

[aka_gerbil]

Oh, and B&A in 2010. They totally were robbed for the bronze.

Just seconding that B/A were absolutely robbed of a medal in 2010. D/S were great in the compulsory dance, but between their programs and Max's knees, they shouldn't have been anywhere near that podium.