Best ice dance team that did Not win the OGM

[Vash01]

This Poll does not include ice dance teams that have not yet competed in the Olympics.

Please pick who you consider the best ice dance team that competed in an Olympics but did not win the OGM.

Sorry, team Olympic gold is not to be counted for this poll (because the Team competition included other disciplines too).

 

[Karen-W]

Not sure that P/C should be included since they are still competing.

 

[VGThuy]

I’m not going to vote P/C because their career is still going on. I mean any team who competed in Pyeongchang and prior and who did not win gold could be an option as well.

 

[thvu]

That there’s a vote for Lobacheva & Averbukh is making me cringe a little on the inside.

 

[VGThuy]

That there’s a vote for Lobacheva & Averbukh is making me cringe a little on the inside.

I STILL can’t believe it was a 5-4 split. I mean I know A/P’s FD was horrific but come on…L/A?

 

[VGThuy]

Sorry for double posting, but after much consideration, I voted for DenStavs because they were THE team that Olympic cycle for me and just had bad timing and bad politicks on their side which led them down a weird path of weird ass programs where they clearly lost confidence. But they ended up winning Worlds after losing a medal at the Olympics once Navka and her partner were out of the picture, so that tells you everything right there. I was close to voting for Usova/Zhulin but their content wasn’t even close to Klimova/Ponomarenko’s and their 1994 FD was not it. Krylova/Ovysiannikov would have been clearly a much better rival to Anissina/Peizerat and probably would have won in 2002 since A/P had issues keeping much lesser teams at bay, but I remember her Kabuki faces and it’s like never mind.

I guess I could have voted for “other” and voted for the Shibs but then my mind won’t let go of the fact that they’ll magically appear this season.

 

[Vash01]

Sorry for double posting, but after much consideration, I voted for DenStavs because they were THE team that Olympic cycle for me and just had bad timing and bad politicks on their side which led them down a weird path of weird ass programs where they clearly lost confidence. But they ended up winning Worlds after losing a medal at the Olympics once Navka and her partner were out of the picture, so that tells you everything right there. I was close to voting for Usova/Zhulin but their content wasn’t even close to Klimova/Ponomarenko’s and their 1994 FD was not it. Krylova/Ovysiannikov would have been clearly a much better rival to Anissina/Peizerat and probably would have won in 2002 since A/P had issues keeping much lesser teams at bay, but I remember her Kabuki faces and it’s like never mind.

I guess I could have voted for “other” and voted for the Shibs but then my mind won’t let go of the fact that they’ll magically appear this season.

I should have added the Shibs in place of one of the teams I listed. Sorry I forgot them.

 

[Vash01]

K&O for me. When they retired I stopped watching ice dance for a few years.

 

[VGThuy]

K&O for me. When they retired I stopped watching ice dance for a few years.

I really think we were robbed of a true rivalry between them and A/P after Krylova’s early injury-related retirement.

 

[escaflowne9282]

P/C are still here and God knows I am pulling for them to get the OGM in Beijing .I question them being on this poll and I can't vote for them.

I am torn between K&O and U&Z

Re: L&A- for me it's pretty outrageous they came so close to winning. I thought A&P's taste level was questionable enough in using MLK in the FD. L&A surpassed that. How on earth they thought it was a good idea to do a 9/11 theme not even 6 months from 9/11 complete with ash in their hair and Ilya's jumping choreography is just beyond me. Yet, they were never called out on it.
The funny thing is ,I never disliked them as a team in general ,I always preferred them to Bourne and Kraatz , but that FD

 

[Karen-W]

P/C are still here and God knows I am pulling for them to get the OGM in Beijing .I question them being on this poll and I can't vote for them.

I am torn between K&O and U&Z

Re: L&A- for me it's pretty outrageous they came so close to winning. I thought A&P's taste level was questionable enough in using MLK in the FD. L&A surpassed that. How on earth they thought it was a good idea to do a 9/11 theme not even 6 months from 9/11 complete with ash in their hair and Ilya's jumping choreography is just beyond me. Yet, they were never called out on it.
The funny thing is ,I never disliked them as a team in general ,I always preferred them to Bourne and Kraatz , but that FD

And with the Olympics in the US no less.

For me, it's K&O, only because, due to her injury, we never really got to see them battle with A&P through that entire quad.

 

[VGThuy]

I’m sure Karponosov, Linichuk, and Averbukh’s joint “taste” level working together must have made them think they were paying a beautiful tribute to those that were lost in 9/11 and everyone would obviously see that. Ashes in hair and lyrics about there being a time to die and all.

I imagine them patting themselves on the back with having such a brilliant, artistic vision.

 

[Finnice]

Denkova/Staviski for me. They had innovative programs and his edges were just the best.

 

[Kasey]

Denkova/Staviski and Delobel/Schoenfelder

 

[VGThuy]

Denkova/Staviski and Delobel/Schoenfelder

The era of three D/S where only one was competitive for medals by 2010...and just barely given Maxim Shabalin's knees. It's kind of a miracle he was able to compete given what he was going through. Of course, their programs were still God-awful.

 

[nuge]

Usova/Zhulin should have gone classical for the olympics.

 

[Vash01]

Usova/Zhulin should have gone classical for the olympics.

They would have won if they had stuck with what had worked for them over the years.

 

[VGThuy]

I can't blame them completely for 1994. That was the period where the ISU really wanted "traditional" and "ballroom". They wanted dances with danceable rhythms meant for the dance floor and not the stage. Their problem is that they went in a strange direction doing a "folksy" dance set to Fellini music (not really invoking Fellini at all) when the Blues from the year before was more their style. Also, the reason the program didn't flow as well as previous programs was because they challenged themselves with trying to do more content and skating difficulty and we realized they were pushing themselves with the difficulty they were doing....another argument in favor of Grishuk/Platov.

 

[aka_gerbil]

I read somewhere years ago that U/Z wanted to do Rachmaninov for 94, but felt they had to pick something else because of what the ISU was asking for. Zhulin was also quietly dealing with a groin injury.

 

[VGThuy]

I read somewhere years ago that U/Z wanted to do Rachmaninov for 94, but felt they had to pick something else because of what the ISU was asking for. Zhulin was also quietly dealing with a groin injury.

That would have worked well for them. I bet you the judges wouldn't have cared if it actually fit what the ISU was looking for or not, but then maybe I would be wrong and they would have gotten crazy deductions or something.

 

[gk_891]

I went with Denkova & Staviski. Ignoring P&C, I thought they were technically the strongest team out of all the options listed.

On a slightly different note, I thought both U&Z and K&O were overrated teams. U&Z were lovely and exquisite. But I was always very underwhelmed by the content of their programs. The one exception was their 1994 programs but like others have mentioned, their flow over the ice went way down that year since they clearly could not handle the content. At least in the free dance.

As for K&O, they skated very aggressively and with tremendous speed. But like U&Z, I was always very underwhelmed by the content in most of their programs as the handholds just weren't there. I actually had K&O ranked no higher than 3rd at the 1996 Worlds behind both G&P and A&P, either third or off the podium at the 1997 Worlds considering the gigantic error they made in the Golden Waltz CD (I also had both Anissina & Peizerat and Moniotte & Lavanchy ahead of them in the Rhumba CD), third or fourth at the 1998 Olympics, third at the 1998 Worlds, and second at the 1999 Worlds. Part of my biggest problem with them was her stiff back and their handholds were very tense. When comparing them to both G&P and A&P in some of the side by side comparisons that are now available on youtube, the problem seems to be that Ovsiannikov is engulfing Krylova's hand rather than actually holding it. Lobacheva & Averbukh have a similar problem.

 

[miffy]

Loving all the polls but this one is too hard to choose! I might have to sleep on it.
I don’t think anyone on the list wuzrobbed on the night but some would have been deserving if the Olys were held other years or if they had skated different programmes. I am torn between U/Z, P/C and B/K.

I wasn’t a great fan of K/O - I thought A/P wuzrobbed a few times

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

DROBIAZKO and VANAGASSSSSSSS

 

[alchemy void]

I thought A&P's taste level was questionable enough in using MLK in the FD. L&A surpassed that. How on earth they thought it was a good idea to do a 9/11 theme not even 6 months from 9/11 complete with ash in their hair and Ilya's jumping choreography is just beyond me. Yet, they were never called out on it.

Thanks to Vash's plethora of polls, I've been rewatching 02 Olympics dance tonight and I've forgotten how atrocious all the top FDs were this season! The only passable FD in the top 6 is D/V, and that was a just a lesser copy of Spente Le Stelle. Things were infinitely better in the lower ranks with Denkova, Winkler/Lohse, Navka, and Lang/Tchernyshev (wuzrobbed of top 10!) all with interesting FDs.

 

[clairecloutier]

Thanks to Vash's plethora of polls, I've been rewatching 02 Olympics dance tonight and I've forgotten how atrocious all the top FDs were this season! The only passable FD in the top 6 is D/V, and that was a just a lesser copy of Spente Le Stelle. Things were infinitely better in the lower ranks with Denkova, Winkler/Lohse, Navka, and Lang/Tchernyshev (wuzrobbed of top 10!) all with interesting FDs.

2002 was the worst ice dance event ever at the Olympics, as far as I’m concerned.

 

[escaflowne9282]

2002 was the worst ice dance event ever at the Olympics, as far as I’m concerned.

2002 had that wonderful OD though. A&P 's Flamenco was truly breathtaking.

The FD was such an anticlimactic underskated event with such terrible programs.

As far as Olympic ice dance goes,I actually think I hate 2006 more though. The OD was an absolute mess. Grushgons were on the podium. Navka won with sexy crossovers and I honestly think Kostamarov was the weakest male partner to ever be OGM in ice dance. Even a skater like Charlie White, whom I did not care for, had terrific technical ability in comparison. There is not a single performance from 2006 that I think I have ever wanted to revisit

 

[escaflowne9282]

I’m sure Karponosov, Linichuk, and Averbukh’s joint “taste” level working together must have made them think they were paying a beautiful tribute to those that were lost in 9/11 and everyone would obviously see that. Ashes in hair and lyrics about there being a time to die and all.

I imagine them patting themselves on the back with having such a brilliant, artistic vision.

I am sure they thought it was a beautiful tribute , just like I'm sure A&P thought using MLK's speech was an inspirational and artistic way of having their Olympic moment.
I think both teams missed the boat on this and I wish someone had pulled them aside and asked them to reassess things a little bit . Just utter cringeworthy stuff in retrospect.

 

[Belsornia]

I agree that, despite all the endless debates over ice dance judging, over their careers the rewards of the teams in this list broadly reflect their skating. (I'm also ignoring Papadakis/Cizeron, since they're still in the game.)

So I also voted for Usova/Zhulin, who I don't think should have won an OGM, and who were probably more great performers than great ice dancers. As others have said, their programmes didn't have the content of their main domestic rivals, but they were technically solid and had great execution and presentation. And while they had a distinct style, they had interesting and well constructed programmes across a range of music and rhythms - the disaster 1993-4 FD excepted - and still mangaged to deliver when the rhythms didn't suit them (polka Olympic OD....) Although I didn't love them at the time (U/Z programmes were not aimed at a primary school audience ) they're now one of the teams I go back to more. And they had some of the rare pro programmes I would rewatch.

Interesting that U/Z were considering a Rachmaninov FD for 1994. I think it would have been a good fit for them, although I don't generally like Rach for dance and am extremely unenthused that Zhulin is giving it to Sinitsina/Katsalapov for their Olympic FD. But maybe that's because his choreo lately has been such a snooze.

Denkova/Staviski as the best ice dance team to not win an Olympic medal.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

So I also voted for Usova/Zhulin, who I don't think should have won an OGM

I greatly preferred their programs as professionals.

25 years later I can still remember their programs they did as professionals.

 

[alchemy void]

As far as Olympic ice dance goes,I actually think I hate 2006 more though. The OD was an absolute mess. Grushgons were on the podium. Navka won with sexy crossovers and I honestly think Kostamarov was the weakest male partner to ever be OGM in ice dance.

Yes. I think that legendary trainwreck OD is the only redeeming quality of the 2006 event. Navka's crossovers weren't even that sexy by 06.