New blog covering forgotten figure skaters from the past

[ldec]

Hello dear FSUers!

With the permission of the admin, I would like to post this thread here.

I recently made a blog called Frozen in Time, where I look at the near and distant past, and cover in-depth the careers of skaters who at one point showed immense potential and talent, but due to various reasons were never able to have the bright careers they deserved.

Here is the link: www.frozenintime.tk

There are so many wonderful blogs on the internet both by dedicated fans and professional journalists who either cover current skating competitions or the great champions in history everybody is familiar with; however, I could not find any blogs focusing specifically on lesser known talented skaters so I decided to create my own in an attempt to celebrate the forgotten and unsung skaters from past eras.

The blog is still new, but there are more articles in the planning. Meanwhile, your constructive feedback and comments on the content would be infinitely appreciated!

Or, maybe you have a skater in mind - someone you loved watching, someone with tons of potential whom you unconditionally supported, but who unfortunately never went as far as you would have liked them? Then you can either leave their name in this thread, fill in this form or contact me via PM, and I will make sure to research their career and write a nice article!

 

[gk_891]

I like your blog.

One skater I'm kind of curious about is Junko Yaginuma. I remember watching her at the 1988 Olympics and it's to my understanding that she kept competing for quite a while after that. But from what I saw of her, she kept returning year after year but didn't really improve in any significant way. I wonder if she could've achieved more if she trained under a different coach.

Another skater from that era I liked watching was David Liu. I thought he was very artistic. If only he was a better jumper!

I loved his step sequence in his 1992 SP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c3ceRk1P0Y

 

[blue_idealist]

Lesley Hawker from Canada is one I'm interested in.

 

[binbinwinwin]

I like your blog.


Another skater from that era I liked watching was David Liu. I thought he was very artistic. If only he was a better jumper!

I loved his step sequence in his 1992 SP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c3ceRk1P0Y

I loved David Liu! His one foot step sequence in 1998 is very memorable, people tend to remember Irina Slutskaya's but I will always remember David's. He had wonderful presentation skills and was also quite musical.

 

[paskatefan]

How about Katrina Hacker?

 

[skatesindreams]

What an impressive start!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

One skater I'm kind of curious about is Junko Yaginuma. I remember watching her at the 1988 Olympics and it's to my understanding that she kept competing for quite a while after that. But from what I saw of her, she kept returning year after year but didn't really improve in any significant way. I wonder if she could've achieved more if she trained under a different coach.

I had the pleasure of seeing Yaginuma live and in person at the 1988 Junior World Championships in Brisbane, Australia, where she took the silver medal behind Kristi Yamaguchi. Both Junko and the third place skater also from Japan, Yukiko Kashihara, had tremendous speed and flow across the ice.

Along with Midori Ito and Yuka Sato, they really were part of a generation that helped build the tremendous depth we know of today in Japanese singles' skating.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Lesley Hawker from Canada is one I'm interested in.

I always thought that Lesley was barely pipped for a spot on the 2006 Olympic Team over Mira Leung.

There is also a great documentary about the road to Torino made that year featuring Hawker, Joannie Rochette, Jeff Buttle, Emmanuel Sandhu, and Christopher Maybe.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I think my favourite ladies' skater who never made a world team was USA's Jeri Campbell.

 

[gk_891]

I had the pleasure of seeing Yaginuma live and in person at the 1988 Junior World Championships in Brisbane, Australia, where she took the silver medal behind Kristi Yamaguchi. Both Junko and the third place skater also from Japan, Yukiko Kashihara, had tremendous speed and flow across the ice.

Along with Midori Ito and Yuka Sato, they really were part of a generation that helped build the tremendous depth we know of today in Japanese singles' skating.

Yeah, I always thought Junko had potential. But I don't think it was harnessed all that well.

Will have to look up Kashihara.

ETA - just watched Kashihara's LP from the 1988 Jr Worlds. Wow! Does anyone know what became of her?

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Yeah, I always thought Junko had potential. But I don't think it was harnessed all that well.

Will have to look up Kashihara.

ETA - just watched Kashihara's LP from the 1988 Jr Worlds. Wow! Does anyone know what became of her?

Kashihara competed as Skate Canada in 1988 and had lost a lot of her jumping ability by then.

Here is a Wikipedia page about her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukiko_Kashihara

 

[Skate Talker]

I see lots of potential for stories about great skaters who had the misfortune of losing their national numbers games - in other words the misfortune of peaking at the same time as other even greater skaters from their own country.

Then there is the whole category of great skaters who were victims of their own federations. I'd look to France for some of those, like Moniot and Lavanchi (sp?)

Of course there are always those who for whatever reason just couldn't come across with the goods when it really counted. (Until he totally flipped the script with his Olympic medal, Paul Wylie was one of my absolute favourite skaters who just couldn't seem to believe in himself on the biggest stages. Glad he finally came through at absolutely the right time and earned himself a long and prosperous pro career.)

 

[theredpepper]

Ooh how fun!

I’d love to read about Katy Taylor.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I see lots of potential for stories about great skaters who had the misfortune of losing their national numbers games - in other words the misfortune of peaking at the same time as other even greater skaters from their own country.

Then there is the whole category of great skaters who were victims of their own federations. I'd look to France for some of those, like Moniot and Lavanchi (sp?)

Of course there are always those who for whatever reason just couldn't come across with the goods when it really counted. (Until he totally flipped the script with his Olympic medal, Paul Wylie was one of my absolute favourite skaters who just couldn't seem to believe in himself on the biggest stages. Glad he finally came through at absolutely the right time and earned himself a long and prosperous pro career.)

I'm happy that Paul was able to put it together in Albertville when it counted. But Mark Mitchell was royally screwed over at US Nationals in Orlando in 1992. I always thought he not only should have beaten Paul for silver, but Christopher Bowman for gold at that competition.

 

[ldec]

I see lots of potential for stories about great skaters who had the misfortune of losing their national numbers games - in other words the misfortune of peaking at the same time as other even greater skaters from their own country.

Then there is the whole category of great skaters who were victims of their own federations. I'd look to France for some of those, like Moniot and Lavanchi (sp?)

Of course there are always those who for whatever reason just couldn't come across with the goods when it really counted. (Until he totally flipped the script with his Olympic medal, Paul Wylie was one of my absolute favourite skaters who just couldn't seem to believe in himself on the biggest stages. Glad he finally came through at absolutely the right time and earned himself a long and prosperous pro career.)

Based on the cases I have gone through so far, I mostly distinguish the following categories among the skaters I have chosen, along with a few examples for each:

- talented skaters who were overshadowed by more successful compatriots, as the case you mention (example: there was a very beautiful soviet skater in the 70s named Yuri Ovchinnikov on whom I want to write an article soon; he had on ok career but far overshadowed by Kovalev and Volkov at the time, but examples from all eras are multiple)

- young skaters who showed amazing promise but had their careers derailed early due to injuries or growth spurts (ie Yukina Ota who's already profiled, Naomi Nari Nam, Adian Pitkeev, multiple others)

- young skaters who showed amazing promise but crushed under pressure due to early overhype and unrealistic expectations placed on them - Tracey Wainman, for example

- skaters who have been around for longer and also had great promise but for some reason could not deliver, and once the door was open for them to succeed, injuries took over (probably the saddest type of career to have ) - ie Klimkin from Russia (had one of the worst career derailments, imho, and you'll see why)

- skaters who competed a long time ago and had a decent and respectable career (maybe even influenced the sport) but are mostly forgotten now (ie, John Misha Petkevich in the 60s/70s)

- skaters from small federations with little influence who don't reach high results and get looked over - David Liu was a wonderful example presented in this thread but again, cases are numerous.

As for skaters who were victims of federations - this is an interesting category but a little tricky for me to research and write as information is usually scarce if we talk about federations which aren't USFSA, and a lot of it seems to be based on speculation and subjective opinion.

However, I do agree that it is nevertheless intriguing to look into this particular type of skaters and federation business, and I will see what i can do for the future!

Thank you very much to everyone for the suggestions; please keep them coming and I will add them to my list!

 

[gk_891]

Kashihara competed as Skate Canada in 1988 and had lost a lot of her jumping ability by then.

Here is a Wikipedia page about her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukiko_Kashihara

That's a shame. A lot of potential there.

 

[3T3T]

I was kinda shocked by all of Yebin Mok’s troubles of the ice. Nice to see that she is back skating and enjoying it. She was a lovely skater. This is another nice clip of her; https://youtu.be/GJMnYOxbbfg

I never heard of David Lee, his step sequences were brilliant, the audiences enjoyed his performances.

 

[blue_idealist]

I always thought that Lesley was barely pipped for a spot on the 2006 Olympic Team over Mira Leung.

There is also a great documentary about the road to Torino made that year featuring Hawker, Joannie Rochette, Jeff Buttle, Emmanuel Sandhu, and Christopher Maybe.

I did see that doc when it originally aired.

I was at CDN Nats when Lesley didn't get the spot and I was pretty disappointed. I didn't dislike Mira, but it seemed Lesley always narrowly missed the big teams.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I loved Yebin Mok. Thank you so much for posting that video, @3T3T!

One European skater I loved is Silvio Smalun from Germany. He didn't have the ice time and training conditions to get his jumps consistent, as he was doing multi-hour commutes to train while at university.

I will never forget John Misha Petkevich: he is my only skating crush and one of my all-time favorite American Men.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I loved Tracey Wainman. Such a wasted talent.

I also remember going to the 1994 Canadian Championships and seeing Tanya Bingert live and in person. When she was on, her skating ability was through the roof. Too bad she wasn't able to hold it together enough in the free skate to secure a spot on the Olympic Team. If she had stayed around for one more year in 1995, gold would surely have been hers in Halifax.

Other Canadian ladies I really liked were Annie Bellemare, Shannon Allison, Cynthia Phaneuf, Angela DeRochie, and Nicole Watt.

 

[LarrySK8]

Ilia Klimkin.

 

[WillyElliot]

How about Elena Pingacheva? She was impressive at JrWorlds in 95 or 96, with excellent jumps that didn't look muscled or just due to having a tiny frame. I thought she would become 'someone' in skating. One thing I remember is that she was packaged and skated almost exactly like Slutskaya, down to the odd looking crossovers. Did she have Zhana Gromova as a coach too?

ETA: I can't believe she's on Youtube!! Here she is at JrWorlds in 95. If you wear glasses, take them off, and you will think you're watching Slutskaya, her entire skating was uncannily like hers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkDFNqJ50s

And I always wondered what happened to "hammer thrower" Elena Ivanova? She was fun to watch, because she had 3Z-3T as a junior, a Bielmann, and lumbered across the ice like a pro hockey player! I think it was 96 Centennial on Ice where Peter Caruthers just couldn't stop talking about how ungraceful she was, lol. Made me fall in love with her!

 

[ldec]

Ilia Klimkin.

This one still hurts after all these years

For me personally, Klimkin is the ultimate example of a figure skater who could have had a fabulous career but was ruined entirely by injuries (and it all could have been prevented had it not been for some questionable coaching/federation decisions).

I had an in-depth essay planned on him even before creating the blog so thank you so much for mentioning his name. It's nice to see I am not the only one who remembers and cherishes his wonderful skating.

 

[ldec]

How about Elena Pingacheva? She was impressive at JrWorlds in 95 or 96, with excellent jumps that didn't look muscled or just due to having a tiny frame. I thought she would become 'someone' in skating. One thing I remember is that she was packaged and skated almost exactly like Slutskaya, down to the odd looking crossovers. Did she have Zhana Gromova as a coach too?

ETA: I can't believe she's on Youtube!! Here she is at JrWorlds in 95. If you wear glasses, take them off, and you will think you're watching Slutskaya, her entire skating was uncannily like hers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkDFNqJ50s

And I always wondered what happened to "hammer thrower" Elena Ivanova? She was fun to watch, because she had 3Z-3T as a junior, a Bielmann, and lumbered across the ice like a pro hockey player! I think it was 96 Centennial on Ice where Peter Caruthers just couldn't stop talking about how ungraceful she was, lol. Made me fall in love with her!

To be honest, I have not watched the skating of these ladies but Wikipedia tells me they were a part of a Junior Worlds podium sweep in 1996:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_World_Junior_Figure_Skating_Championships

Russia did have its fair share of unlucky young ladies in skating in the 90s and 00s - the ones you mention never managed to advance further than a few grand prix assignments. Then there were other very promising girls who again never managed to fulfill their potential - Julia Soldatova, Ludmila Nelidina and Kristina Oblasova come to mind, among others.

It looks like the Russian skating federation, for whatever reason, might have gotten too spoilt by the success of their certain champions (like Plushenko, Yagudin, Slutskaya, etc.) and always took everything for granted, not being able to nurture and develop younger or less succesful skaters in line.

I might be wrong but this is the general impression I have gotten.

 

[LarrySK8]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAfAbSWCPo0[/QUOTE]

This one still hurts after all these years

For me personally, Klimkin is the ultimate example of a figure skater who could have had a fabulous career but was ruined entirely by injuries (and it all could have been prevented had it not been for some questionable coaching/federation decisions).

I had an in-depth essay planned on him even before creating the blog so thank you so much for mentioning his name. It's nice to see I a not the only one who remembers and cherishes his wonderful skating.

What is worst is that he is forgotten, despite being a multiple quad jumper and a Nijinsky-style, modern dance artistic approach that was unique and special.

 

[Jeschke]

Tanja Szewczenko.
Besides having won worlds and euros bronze, potential was never really reached

 

[Jeschke]

Yukina Ota.
Another great example of ‚what could have been‘.

 

[ldec]

Yukina Ota.
Another great example of ‚what could have been‘.

I already have an article on Yukina - you can check it here if you haven't had the chance to read it yet.

Well, Tanja at least won some medals and skating fans still remember her... Don't want to diminish her or anything, she was a very talented skater and I am sure she could have done better under different circumstances.

Just not sure she is "forgotten" enough

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

This one still hurts after all these years

For me personally, Klimkin is the ultimate example of a figure skater who could have had a fabulous career but was ruined entirely by injuries (and it all could have been prevented had it not been for some questionable coaching/federation decisions).

I had an in-depth essay planned on him even before creating the blog so thank you so much for mentioning his name. It's nice to see I am not the only one who remembers and cherishes his wonderful skating.

What is worst is that he is forgotten, despite being a multiple quad jumper and a Nijinsky-style, modern dance artistic approach that was unique and special.

I saw Klimkin skate live at the 2006 World Championships in Calgary. Though he only finished around tenth, the jumps and spins looked very easy. Last year I saw him again at the Junior Grand Prix of Brisbane, coaching the silver medal winner in the ladies' event, Anastasiia Guiliakova.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I already have an article on Yukina - you can check it here if you haven't had the chance to read it yet.

Well, Tanja at least won some medals and skating fans still remember her... Don't want to diminish her or anything, she was a very talented skater and I am sure she could have done better under different circumstances.

Just not sure she is "forgotten" enough

Ota's short program at the 2004 Four Continents Championships was brilliant. When she was on....wow.