Most Memorable Olympic Moments

[ks777]

Tonya's skate lace problem.

 

[bardtoob]

Midori Ito 伊藤 みどり (JPN) - 1988 Calgary, Ladies' Long Program (HQ) . . . THE FIRST MODERN LADIES OLYMPIC LONG PROGRAM!

 

[briancoogaert]

Midori Ito 伊藤 みどり (JPN) - 1988 Calgary, Ladies' Long Program (HQ) . . . THE FIRST MODERN LADIES OLYMPIC LONG PROGRAM!

ANd her SP was also amazing !

 

[bardtoob]

ANd her SP was also amazing !

You mean where Midori:

- did the Ito 2F, which some might mistaken for a 2F with "Rippon" arms
- did a 2A from a back outside counter then rotated with her arms on hips, landing with speed on a running edge and flare in her body position
- did the jump combination with the 3Lp as the 2nd jump
- that glorious final spin

... And knowing all along she was not going to be rewarded for it the way Eteri's skaters do today because "whoring the system" had a whole different meaning and involved inspiring the ISU to require women to wear tights!

 

[Bookslut]

Tai and Randy in 1980...I was barely a fan at the time, but remember my heartbreaking for them as they skated out onto the ice, got into position...and then skated back and off. Saddest moment for me of any Olympics...

 

[briancoogaert]

You mean where Midori:

- did the Ito 2F, which some might mistaken for a 2F with "Rippon" arms
- did a 2A from a back outside counter then rotated with her arms on hips, landing with speed on a running edge and flare in her body position
- did the jump combination with the 3Lp as the 2nd jump
- that glorious final spin

... And knowing all along she was not going to be rewarded for it the way Eteri's skaters do today because "whoring the system" had a whole different meaning and involved inspiring the ISU to require women to wear tights!

Yes ! This SP !!!
Even in 1988, judges were supposed to reward technical content in the SP. There is no reason why Midori Ito didn't win the SP !!!!

 

[gk_891]

The famous stare after they finished their OD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY08tShyvAo

 

[Vash01]

1994 Olympics exhibitions:

Viktor and Oksana skating a duet to Rock around the clock.

Gordeeva-Grinkov's reverie, like poetry

Mishkutenok- Dmitriev's exhibition to flute music (one of my favorite M&D programs)

Oksana's beautiful skate to The Swan

 

[Bellanca]

I decided to list my happy, most memorable Olympic moments (just a few, mind you ) not the sad ones.

MEN

1976 Innsbruck
John Curry - Great Britain
Gold

1984 Sarajevo
Scott Hamilton - United States
Gold

1984 Sarajevo
Jozef Sabovčík - Czechoslovakia
Bronze

2002 Salt Lake City
Timothy Goebel - United States
Bronze

2006 Torino
Evgeni Plushenko - Russia
Gold

LADIES

1968 Grenoble
Peggy Fleming - United States
Gold

1976 Innsbruck
Dorothy Hamill - United States
Gold

1992 Albertville
Kristi Yamaguchi - United States
Gold

1994 Lillehammer
Oksana Baiul - Ukraine
Gold

1998 Nagano
Tara Lipinski - United States
Gold

2002 Salt Lake City
Sarah Hughes - United States
Gold

2006 Torino
Shizuka Arakawa - Japan
Gold

2010 Vancouver
Yuna Kim - South Korea
Gold

PAIRS

1984 Sarajevo
Kitty & Peter Carruthers – United States
Silver

1994 Lillehammer
Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov - Russia
2nd Gold – Sweet!

1998 Nagano
Oksana Kazakova & Artur Dmitriev - Russia
2nd Gold for Artur - Sweet!

2010 Vancouver
Pang Qing & Tong Jian - China
Silver

ICE DANCE

1992 Albertville
Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko - EUN
Gold

2014 Sochi
Meryl Davis & Charlie White – United States
Gold

 

[Vagabond]

2002: Sarah Hughes from the instant she finished her Free Skate to when her coach turned her around to take in the acclaim from the crowd. This is what every elite athlete dreams of, maybe what every person dreams of. She had no real reason to think she'd win the Olympic Gold Medal, and it didn't matter. She had had the skate of her life.

 

[Vash01]

Gordeeva Grinkov in their first Olympics in 1988, with a great LP and skating the exhibition numbers with such joy!

Katarina Witt skating to Michael Jackson's 'Bad'- wearing a shiny jacket.

Klimova- Ponomarenko's Tango OD at the 1988 Olympics

Torvill- Dean getting all 6.0s at the 1984 Olympics

M&D 's free skates in 1992 (Dream of love) and in 1994 (Rachmaninov)

 

[overedge]

Elizabeth Manley free skate in 1988. Nobody expected her to do that well, including her. Truly wonderful to see that happen.

Ladies final in Nagano. I stayed up until the middle of the night to watch it live. I so clearly remember sitting on the rec room floor, bundled in my blankets, yelling "WTF?? Are you kidding me???" at the TV

And Torvill & Dean in Sarajevo. It was a done deal that they were going to win, so no suspense there but that program is a work of art and so was their performance.

 

[Twilight1]

In order of what I remember vividly

1992- K&P FD
1994- G&P- I cracked my toe in my excitement in them winning ice dance gold, G&G LP, Oksana SP
1998- K&O FD
2002- S&P and B&S controversy
2006- Buttle SP
2010- Tessa & Scott
2014- Hanyu LP

 

[butyrskafanatic]

One of mine was Totmianina & Marinin winning in Turin with flawless performances. I know they were not the darling of many fans and many complain they were boring, but I always liked them a lot. I can readily understand why many preferred Shen & Zhao, but IMO T&M were underappreciated for the excellent and technically superb and polished team they were over many years. And their comeback from that horrendous fall at Skate America which many thought would end their career to defending their World title then winning the ultimate prize by handily crushing all 3 Chinese teams with flawless short and long performances was a great moment for me.

Shen & Zhao winning in Vancouver was great for me too, even if it wasnt with their absolute best performance. Also though Pang & Tong having just a spectacular long program and finally getting the Olympic medal they were robbed of in Turin where they should have beaten one or both of Shen & Zhao and/or Zhangs, getting silver and winning the long program, narrowly missing gold, was wonderful too. Their reaction in the kiss and cry was special. Many had them earmarked to be 4th again with Kavaguti & Smirnov's recent surge and surprise European title, and nearly everyone had Savchenko & Szolkowy and Shen & Zhao both beating them of course. Silver was a mini shock despite being former World Champions and having a good season.

Klimova & Ponomarenko finally getting the Olympic Gold after bronze and silver medals at the previous Games, and having the terrifying situation of losing their world title to their main rivals from France in a year before the Olympic would be held in France. The writing was almost on the wall for them to miss the Olympic Gold again in likely their final try (they might have gunned for 94 mind you if they did lose) but they overcame that. Especialy her reaction in the kiss-and-cry, it was wonderful to see the sheer emotion at finally achieving the one thing that had eluded them after waiting so long, and with such a spectacular performance too.

 

[screech]

Another thing I'll never forget is Ilia "Giraffe" Kulik. I loved that program and his ease across the ice, which almost looked too small for him. And that costume is iconic.

And though it wasn't a favourite of most people, I remember Plush's Carmen program in SLC, which was probably the only program of his I ever actually enjoyed.

And not so much an actual Olympic moment, I remember the discussion at the rink the next day following Stojko's loss to Urmanov, and all the opinions that came out from us pre-teens.

Bourne and Kraatz' fall at the end of their Michael Jackson FD in SLC, and everyone thinking it might have cost them a medal. And at the same Games, Sale and Pelletier's fall at the end of their SP.

 

[allezfred]

Kurt apologizing in 1994. So heartbreaking. When he commentated in Sochi, you could hear his empathy for Mao. He knew all too well how she felt.

Except Mao actually has an Olympic medal.

 

[coppertop1]

Except Mao actually has an Olympic medal.

Yes. But he knows about having to come back and skate for pride instead of a medal like Mao in 2016

 

[MR-FAN]

I was soooo nervous for Joannie leading up to her SP, which was always her weakness, and I remember how terrified I was for her.
I remember seeing a slight stumble going into the lutz, and my heart dropping.
I remember time actually slowing down once she took off for the lutz, and thinking “$hit! She didn’t get enough height. There goes the combo and her chance for a medal. She will be devastated” all while she was mid-air, and being on cloud nine that somehow she nailed the combo
I remember her face the moment her music ended, and the high I was on for the next 2 days. So that SP is my most memorable Olympics moment

Honorable mention: my heart SANK watching Kostner go into her SP combination at the Sochi Olympics, and thinking “that’s not her entry to her 3toe... what’s she doing? Oh! OH! Oh HELL NO! Is she doing a flip! She’s going for the flip WHYYYY”
Fast forward 2 seconds later, and I’m jumping off my chair screaming in joy

 

[legjumper]

Philippe Candeloro's 1994 Godfather LP and 1998 D'Artagnan LP. Oh man, it still boggles my mind that a skater with those skating skills and that jump technique managed to peak at absolutely the right time TWICE and win TWO Olympic medals, but those performances remain as thrilling today as they were at the time.

 

[Areski]

Tara Scream

 

[tony]

I was soooo nervous for Joannie leading up to her SP, which was always her weakness, and I remember how terrified I was for her.
I remember seeing a slight stumble going into the lutz, and my heart dropping.
I remember time actually slowing down once she took off for the lutz, and thinking “$hit! She didn’t get enough height. There goes the combo and her chance for a medal. She will be devastated” all while she was mid-air, and being on cloud nine that somehow she nailed the combo

I had a very similar thought process in the span of those 5 seconds. I thought for sure with the trip on the crossover that she had completely blown any chance at landing the combo and thought to myself, "Well, at least she tried.."
And then the combo ended up being a beauty.

 

[nickp]

The Battle of the Brians 1988 Sarah Hughes 2002 Evan Lysacek 2010 and Meryl Davis and Charlie White 2014

 

[topaz]

Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze 2002 SP to La Caliph.

Natalia Mishkutionok & Artur Dmietrev 1998 SP and LP performances

Johnny Weir 2006 SP “Swan” and 2010 SP

V/T – 2014 SP

Yulia L Short and Long Program in the Team event

margarita drobiazko and Vanagas 2002 long program to Quelques Cris