'Perfection' in skating

[Vash01]

Scott Hamilton often used the word 'perfection' in describing Gordeeva Grinkov.

Who were other skaters that were 'perfect'?- not just a performance, or a few performances, but their technique in particular was perfect. Some of the skaters listed below were not 'perfect' in every sense of the word; that honor belongs to only a handful.

Pairs & Ice dance:

Gordeeva-Grinkov (everything about them was perfect)

Klimova-Ponomarenko (perfect technicians who later grew into perfect artists as well)

Torville-Dean: Who can forget a row of 6.0's for artistry in 1984? Their technique was good too- earning them many 6.0s (though not all)

Davis & White: Often 'criticized' as 'only technical'; their strong technique deserves praise

Totmianina- Marinin: They were perfect in their jumps, throws, and consistency

Rodnina & her two partners (Ulanov & Zaitsev): Perfect record in competitions

The Protopopovs: Can't compare them with today's pairs, but they were so balletic, and so perfect whenever they performed


Singles:

Ilia Kulik (perfect jumps and his skating technique- Boitano said "he jumps like God")

Brian Boitano was perfect too in his jumps and other elemens (spread eagles, deathdrop)

Evgeni Plushenko - Perfect jumps

Patrick Chan- Inconsistent, but his basic skating, positions, hand/fingers positions are all perfect

Alexei Urmanov- Perfect in his jump technique

Scott Hamilton- His basics were pefect, which helped him do amazing footwork

Yuka Sato- Similar to Hamilton, she has great basic skills which help her create great footwork

Dorothy Hamill- can't compare her with current skaters, but she had the most perfect positions and technique in every spin, posture, etc.

Oksana Baiul- No matter how much you critize her jumps, her posture, lines were always perfect.

Yu na Kim - Perfect jumps, and almost everything (except for her spiral); most of all, a perfect program at the most perfect time (2010 Olympics)

Michelle Kwan - She was perfect most of the time, and the most complete singles skater among ladies, when she was competing

I know there are some serious omissions here, and they are my favorite skaters (Yagudin, B&S, Browning).

Carry on.

[Emdee]

Mahler was perfect.....

[rainbowkisses]

Mahler was perfect.....

mahler is the definition of perfect how can op forget about that!

their farrucas performance was also perfect at 2010 wch

[falling_dance]

John Curry
Beatrix Schuba

[skatesindreams]

Janet Lynn, often.

[TheIronLady]

Sasha Cohen had the most perfect positioning of arms, legs, and back that could be imagined in a skater.

[cbd1235]

Shen and Zhao late in career were and are "perfect".

The only others that come to my mind are Kwan, Cohen (in positions only, not so much the jumps/edges...), and last but not least Virtue/Moir are perfect

[gk_891]

I think Virtue & Moir exemplify technical perfection more than Davis & White do. David and White skate with a ton of speed and attack but I think Virtue & Moir skate closer together, have more fluid handholds, pay greater attention to the placement of their free legs, and skate cleaner edges. I'm going by what I've seen from 2009 to the 2012 Worlds (I haven't been following the grand prix series this season). However, I must say that Davis & White keep improving in these areas, especially since the 2010 season.

[munow]

Kulik, Yagudin (both technically and performance-wise), Patrick Chan (the most technically accomplished skater ever)
Kim, Yamaguchi (all-around)
Torvill and Dean, V/M

[pani]

Thinking about what is perfection in FS for me and find i have different vision with Vash01
For me perfection its lines, skating skills, edges, how skaters look on ice, when all moves look finished, all technicak elements look perfect.
So its mustnt be my favorite skaters, but this must be skaters who not only have the best technick or skating skills, but also all time try to improve there skating, work on made any moves perfect and finished.
So, my list of perfection is :
Belousova Protopopov http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qky5kw67nX4 They all time to work on every move, for them is always important every move suite to there programs. And there lines in die for even now.
John Curry
robin cousins
Patrick Chan
Moiseeva-Minenkov
Klimova-Ponomarenko
Torvill and Dean(in all sence - chore, lines, costumes0
Virtue-Moir
Carolina Kostner

Then i could notice some perfect programs
Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy "Pina" and 2008 LP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAxTbMwnf6o
Torvill and Dean "Bolero" and "Paso Doble"
Dushenay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXkeiamsCew
Buttle 2005 SP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttg2mmU8FcU and Ararat
Lambiel Flamenko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDNXgzKHT9I
Virtue-Moir "Mahler"
Costner this season LP, last season LP

Perfect competition skating
shen zhao 2004 worlds lp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40X2SIc41HY and 2007 LP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niiLSEhPR74
Yagudin 2002 SP and LP
Takahashi 2010 WCh LP

Perfect elements
Yu-Na Kim - 3 flip+3 tolope
Zagorodniuk 3A
Han Yan 3A
Fernandes 4 toloop and sal
Slutskay - bilman
D-W - twizzles
Volosozhar-Trankov 3 twist
Kwans and Cohen spirals
Arakava ina-bauer

[misskarne]

Call me silly, but I happen to believe no skater is perfect; every skater, every pair, every team has flaws.

And I struggle to reconcile Chan the human Zamboni and Kim of the unpointed toes as "perfect".

[Vash01]

Call me silly, but I happen to believe no skater is perfect; every skater, every pair, every team has flaws.

And I struggle to reconcile Chan the human Zamboni and Kim of the unpointed toes as "perfect".

Mostly true. That's why I focused more on technique, because that is less subjective than a single performance or artistry in general.

Chan's basic skating is perfect but he is inconsistent on the whole. I cut him some slack because of his superior skating skills and attention to detail. By the same token I should have included B&S for having the same qualities, but lack of consistency. However, their struggle with split triple twist took them out of consideraton. If we looked at posture, lines, speed, basic skating and unison (all technical things) they would definitely make the list.

There is no true perfection. Even the most perfect pair G&G made an occasional mistake. I would say technically G&G and K&P were perfect. Doing a few elements perfectly does not make perfection for me, but as we see from the posts, people have many different interpretations of perfection, and that's OK (even though I have a real problem with some of the examples mentioned in some posts).

[ks777]

a perfect skater for me is Yuka Sato. I can just watch her feet all day long.

[pani]

Mostly true. That's why I focused more on technique, because that is less subjective than a single performance or artistry in general.

Chan's basic skating is perfect but he is inconsistent on the whole. I cut him some slack because of his superior skating skills and attention to detail. By the same token I should have included B&S for having the same qualities, but lack of consistency. However, their struggle with split triple twist took them out of consideraton. If we looked at posture, lines, speed, basic skating and unison (all technical things) they would definitely make the list.

There is no true perfection. Even the most perfect pair G&G made an occasional mistake. I would say technically G&G and K&P were perfect. Doing a few elements perfectly does not make perfection for me, but as we see from the posts, people have many different interpretations of perfection, and that's OK (even though I have a real problem with some of the examples mentioned in some posts).

Yes, all have there own opinion. I have a lot off problems with your "perfect" skaters too, because they are so far from the perfection. Thats why i try to explane my point

Call me silly, but I happen to believe no skater is perfect; every skater, every pair, every team has flaws.

I agree - perfection is something you need to work every day and never will be there

Chan is perfection compare to all others, but not an ideal

[Aussie Willy]

Call me silly, but I happen to believe no skater is perfect; every skater, every pair, every team has flaws.

And I struggle to reconcile Chan the human Zamboni and Kim of the unpointed toes as "perfect".

Laetitia Hubert has copyright on the "Human Zamboni". So you can't use that about Chan.

No skater is perfect. They could do a perfect program without mistakes, but it is very rare for one skater to do totally flawless performances. They are human after all.

[spikydurian]

No skater is perfect. They could do a perfect program without mistakes, but it is very rare for one skater to do totally flawless performances. They are human after all.

And I struggle to reconcile Chan the human Zamboni and Kim of the unpointed toes as "perfect".

I wouldn't mind being 'human zamboni' and 'miss unpointed toes' if I can win World and Olympic gold medals!
I don't think Vash01 is talking about 'perfect skater'. If I read Vash01 post correctly, the reference is more on 'perfect technique or perfect program'. Perhaps a better adjective is 'flawless' since perfection carries a small degree of subjectivity.

[Vash01]

I wouldn't mind being 'human zamboni' and 'miss unpointed toes' if I can win World and Olympic gold medals!
I don't think Vash01 is talking about 'perfect skater'. If I read Vash01 post correctly, the reference is more on 'perfect technique or perfect program'. Perhaps a better adjective is 'flawless' since perfection carries a small degree of subjectivity.

You are correct about 'perfect technique'. It is rare. I did not refer to a perfect program or performance though; there are plenty of those. Thanks.

[mia joy]

"Perfection is not just about control. It's also about letting go"

I love this Black Swan quote. I usually use it on people who try to convince me V/M are more perfect than D/W

But in reality I kinda think perfection is still a matter of taste. Something might be technically perfect objectively, but a perfect performance or a perfect skater is in the eye of the beholder. Some people mention Mahler as perfection - well for me it was so sugary my teeth hurt and that is definitely not what I call perfection.

For me Yagudin was perfect. Volosozhar is perfect, but V/T are not. D/W's Giselle is perfect. Michelle Kwan was perfect, no matter how many times she fell or how bad her jumps were.
It all depends on a day, on a skater, on a personal opinion. I don't think there is a single thing in this world objectively perfect to everyone.

[kukkura]

Ruh & spins

[stevlin]

Jeffrey Buttle is perfect when it comes to skating beautifully. Can't take my eyes off of him.