Daisuke Takahashi decided to become an ice-dancer (with Kana Muramoto) after Jan 2020

Zemgirl said:
I brought that up, and not in my first post, because it's a challenge they'll face in addition to others. As I noted, I'm sure they're realistic about their goals, and it'll be great to see more from Dai.

(the same cannot be said about Nikolai Morozov...)
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Please let Morozov keep his hands off them!
 
ostile17 said:
He could have got a minumum score very easily, regardless of the bad skate at Nationals, which was a one time thing.
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Riiiiight. Easily. Regardless of the bad skate at Nationals. It was just a one time thing.
 
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Excited and superhappy for this switch :love: Dai is music on the ice and a born dancer. I will miss him deeply in Men's field, of course, but the rollercoaster ride as his fan goes on!! and on and on.... Giving boost to Ice Dance in Japan is just the last of Dai's many achievements on and off ice. So proud of him!! Wish Dai-chan and Kana-chan all the best ??
 
overedge said:
Just curious, has anyone else who's been a world champion in one discipline come back later to compete in a different discipline? I mean in ISU competition, not in professional or adult competitions (and yes, I am aware that there are ISU-sanctioned adult competitions).
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From a quick search of Wikipedia:

Madge Syers won the ladies world championship in 1906 and 1907 (after taking silver in the men's event in 1902); she didn't compete at 1908 Worlds but did take gold in ladies and silver in pairs at 1908 Olympics.

Herma Szabo was ladies world champion 1922-26, second in 1927, and also competed and medaled in pairs in 1925-27. So she was competing in both disciplines simultaneously but apparently was already world champion in singles when she took up pairs.

Similarly, Andree Joly Brunet and Pierre Brunet won their first of four world pair titles in 1926 and also competed in singles at 1928 (and 1924) Olympics, and Pierre at 1931 Worlds.

Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier won their first of 4 world pair titles in 1936, while also competing in singles.

It was a different era. Also, all these are examples of skaters who competed simultaneously in both singles and pairs, not who won Worlds in one discipline, retired, and then returned in a different discipline.
 
gkelly said:
It was a different era. Also, all these are examples of skaters who competed simultaneously in both singles and pairs, not who won Worlds in one discipline, retired, and then returned in a different discipline.
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I think the closest thing might be skaters who did well in one discipline and then in another - an obvious recent example being Valentina Marchei, and to a lesser extent Katarina Gerboldt and Miriam Ziegler. None of them came close to winning a world title, of course.

This seems more comparable to Michael Jordan switching to baseball, though hopefully Dai will prove better in his chosen direction :)
 
And there are examples of skaters who did two disciplines more or less simultaneously without winning in either . . . or in Kristi Yamaguchi's case (and Sonja Henie's), who won in singles after giving up also competing in pairs.
 
Zemgirl said:
I think the closest thing might be skaters who did well in one discipline and then in another - an obvious recent example being Valentina Marchei, and to a lesser extent Katarina Gerboldt and Miriam Ziegler. None of them came close to winning a world title, of course.
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Of course many pair skaters have also competed in singles before or after their pairs' careers, or between partners.

How many world champions competed internationally in singles before winning in pairs (which is less impressive than after winning Worlds)?

Jamie Sale competed singles at Junior Worlds once but not at senior level. Meagan Duhamel did have a couple of senior international appearances in singles as well as several in juniors. Both were later world champions in pairs. There may be other world pair champs with singles internationals in their pasts.

Todd Sand had an unimpressive singles career for Denmark but came back to win several world medals in pairs -- he never won Worlds, but he did come closest in 1998.

What would be more interesting would be to see if there have been any skaters who have competed at an international level in both singles and ice dancing.
 
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Zemgirl said:
I think the closest thing might be skaters who did well in one discipline and then in another - an obvious recent example being Valentina Marchei, and to a lesser extent Katarina Gerboldt and Miriam Ziegler. None of them came close to winning a world title, of course.

This seems more comparable to Michael Jordan switching to baseball, though hopefully Dai will prove better in his chosen direction :)
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Zemgirl said:
I think the closest thing might be skaters who did well in one discipline and then in another - an obvious recent example being Valentina Marchei, and to a lesser extent Katarina Gerboldt and Miriam Ziegler. None of them came close to winning a world title, of course.

This seems more comparable to Michael Jordan switching to baseball, though hopefully Dai will prove better in his chosen direction :)
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Also a switch from single to pairs seems easier than one to ice dancing.
 
ostile17 said:
Also a switch from single to pairs seems easier than one to ice dancing.
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Indeed. I mentioned upthread two skaters who did singles-to-ice dance: Alper Ucar and Fedor Andreev. Andreev was injured pretty quickly so that ended his ice dancing adventures. Ucar came a long way from where he started, but his ceiling was limited.
 
gkelly said:
What would be more interesting would be to see if there have been any skaters who have competed at an international level in both singles and ice dancing.
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You mean simultaneously? There are a couple of Canadian guys (Corey Circelli and Bruce Waddell) on the JGP circuit competing both as ice dancers and as singles skaters.

But if you're talking about singles skaters who later switch to dance, there are several Finnish skaters who have gone that route. Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluiss both competed at an international level in singles before quitting due to injury issues and later forming an ice dance team. (After Laura Lepistö retired and Kiira Korpi was out of competition due to injuries, young Juulia suddenly found herself as Finland's #1 lady and skated at several Euros & Worlds around 2011-2014. Matthias was the first Finnish skater to land a quad in competition and went to Jr Worlds a couple of times.)
 
gkelly said:
What would be more interesting would be to see if there have been any skaters who have competed at an international level in both singles and ice dancing.
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Paul Poirier competed on the JGP in singles and competed at the Canadian Championships in senior men, finishing 11th in 2009 (the same year he finished 2nd in senior dance with Vanessa Crone)
 
I am looking forward to see what he does as an ice dancer. So great that he can continue his career in another discipline that I think he will be very good at. He has such great skating skills. And if it builds interest in ice dance in Japan that is to the benefit of the sport. There are so many strong singles skaters maybe it is time to build the dance program. There is no reason why Japan couldn't produce potential world champion ice dancers.
 
Zemgirl said:
I brought that up, and not in my first post, because it's a challenge they'll face in addition to others. As I noted, I'm sure they're realistic about their goals, and it'll be great to see more from Dai.

(the same cannot be said about Nikolai Morozov...)
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I was just trying to comment on the ultra-negativity that tends to hijack these types of threads. I didn't mean to pick on your post at all but I can see how that's unclear.

I almost always agree with your FSU posts and the ones in this thread are no exception.

I appreciate that you let me clarify by bringing this up in direct response to what I posted (i.e. to my virtual face).
 
Having such an icon in the sport switch to another discipline, could do great things to boost dance interest in Japan.

There is already an amazing couple competing at the junior level this season, who are generating a lot of buzz for their performances as well. This team also has a great shot at a medal at the upcoming Junior Grand Prix in Italy.

www.youtube.com

Utana Yoshida / Shingo Nishiyama (JPN)| Ice Dance Rhythm Dance | Lake Placid 2019

Visit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Courchevel, France - August 21 to 24 Lake Placid, ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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Switching to ice dance is different than doing it in parallel with other disciplines at a young age. It isn't uncommon to see some ambitious skaters skate in all 3 (singles, pairs and dance) and then drop the ones that are not that promising for their future. I don't mean it to be insulting but I have heard skaters say that they weren't good at jumps or were intimidated by pairs and took up ice dance. They could be joking or serious. Those are very valid reasons. In any case, all disciplines require a unique set of skills which may or may not work for everyone.
Kana also switched from singles to ice dance in 2014 so she is a bit new to the discipline as well. But she picked up quickly and had a good run with Chris Reed. I'm contrasting this in comparison to those who have started skating when they were kids. Even for those who have been ice dancing as kids, a new partnership always poses challenges but there are examples of success e.g. G/P or H/D. If there is passion and determination, it is very possible. It will be interesting to see how this works out.
 
Holy smokes. That is stunning news. Good for him though, he doesn't have the jumping ability to compete in mens singles anymore for sure.
 
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