Biggest meltdown from a leading or near leading position under pressure

Biggest meltdown in final free skate under pressure from a potential winning or leading position?

  • Total voters
    72
I voted for Debi Thomas; after that triple toe-triple toe combination went wrong, she just lost her confidence for the rest of the program. I've always thought those words spoken by her coach right before she started put way too much pressure on her. Very sad.
 
I feel like Victoria Volchkova melted down on several occasions. Did she ever skate a clean long program at a big championship? She would have a good qualifying, good short program (her lutz was huge!) and then fall apart in the free, but still hold onto bronze under "mysterious" circumstances - ordinals flip flopping, Ukrainian girls being lowballed, qualifying rounds counting etc etc;) At Euros 2000 she was second after the SP I believe, but skated a less stellar FS.....
 
Limonite said:
I voted for Debi Thomas; after that triple toe-triple toe combination went wrong, she just lost her confidence for the rest of the program. I've always thought those words spoken by her coach right before she started put way too much pressure on her. Very sad.
Click to expand...
I remember it looking to me....from the moment she stepped on the ice that she didn't care. I did not interpret it as losing her confidence.
 
In 1997 at Trophee Lalique, Todd Eldredge and Tara Lipinski both had poor free skate performances by their standards after winning the SP (Todd was 5th in the FS and dropped to 4th overall and Tara dropped behind Laetitia Hubert).
Click to expand...
IMO - there is a difference between a bad performance and a meltdown. Tara NEVER had a meltdown. Pogo - meltdown.

And, I don't recall Sasha melting down. She was a heartbreakingly inconsistent skater. At her last OLYS she had an injured groin from practice. She fell on her first jump and was wonky on her second. Knowing she had no chance of a medal (in her mind) she went on an skated the rest of the program gorgeously. I would not put that in the"Meltdown" category.
Kostner, in her first two OLYS was a mess. She had a problem with speed (too much) and she fell so much in those two free skates I am sure she wanted to crawl in a hole.
I don't remember the skate, but didn't Jonny W. have a meltdown in his OLY skate after missing a bus?

Is anyone watching the Olympic Spectacular which has been on the OLY channel. If you get a chance, record and watch. They have the free skates of the last 4 or 5 Olympics. Kostner was so gorgeous in Sochi - I had forgotten. And Plushenko's FS in Sochi - a total masterpiece titled "The best of Plushenko"
 
I don't know if this needs a different thread, but who are skaters that never had a meltdown under pressure?

Brian Boitano
(Crossing my fingers) Medvedeva
Katarina Witt
Tara Lipinski

I assume Dick Button
Irina Rodnina
 
AxelAnnie said:
I remember it looking to me....from the moment she stepped on the ice that she didn't care. I did not interpret it as losing her confidence.
Click to expand...

Actually she cared too much and put even more pressure on herself, saying she wanted to have a Boitano-like performance. When she stumbled on the 3t3t in the beginning, it was downhill from there.
 
Vash01 said:
I don't know if this needs a different thread, but who are skaters that never had a meltdown under pressure?

Brian Boitano
(Crossing my fingers) Medvedeva
Katarina Witt
Tara Lipinski

I assume Dick Button
Irina Rodnina
Click to expand...
Tara did not do well at her first senior Worlds.
 
Vash01 said:
Actually she cared too much and put even more pressure on herself, saying she wanted to have a Boitano-like performance. When she stumbled on the 3t3t in the beginning, it was downhill from there.
Click to expand...
Well, different interpretations. I saw her eyes, and thought "She is tacos".
 
Vash01 said:
M&D's meltdown came at the 94 Europeans, I think. They had problems with the lift which their coach had advised against but they insisted on doing it.
Click to expand...
Yes, the problem was in the short program were they finished in 5th place. I read that after their performace Natalia was so upset some of her fellow ladies approach her with supporting words.
 
Seerek said:
Nancy only needed to finish 4th in the free skate to hang on for bronze, the benchmark being Yuka Sato, who managed 4 triples in the free skate.

Nancy had ordinals as low as 12th and 13th for that free skate.
Click to expand...

The ordinals were all over the place for the free skate weren't they? I recall how the placements dramatically shifted after the final skater that night (Josee Chouinard) as both Kielmann and Szewczenko ended up moving ahead of both Preston and Chouinard. IIRC, the ordinals varied between Chen, Sato, Kielmann, Szewczenko, Preston, Kerrigan, Chouinard, and I think Kulovana too.
 
Limonite said:
Yes, the problem was in the short program were they finished in 5th place. I read that after their performace Natalia was so upset some of her fellow ladies approach her with supporting words.
Click to expand...

Another problem was the Czech judge made an error with her marks for their SP, putting in 4.4 and 4.7 instead of 5.4 and 5.7 (I once read that she was seen waving her arms when the marks were posted).
 
gk_891 said:
The ordinals were all over the place for the free skate weren't they? I recall how the placements dramatically shifted after the final skater that night (Josee Chouinard) as both Kielmann and Szewczenko ended up moving ahead of both Preston and Chouinard. IIRC, the ordinals varied between Chen, Sato, Kielmann, Szewczenko, Preston, Kerrigan, Chouinard, and I think Kulovana too.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Both Kerrigan and Chouinard also lost ordinals to the likes of Von Saher and Leray as well. I think every skater in the free skate in the top 12 except for Nancy and Josee landed 4 triples or more.
 
Vash01 said:
I don't know if this needs a different thread, but who are skaters that never had a meltdown under pressure?

Brian Boitano
(Crossing my fingers) Medvedeva
Katarina Witt
Tara Lipinski

I assume Dick Button
Irina Rodnina
Click to expand...

The thing with Tara, though, is that she only competed as a Senior, between ages 13-15, and she never competed as the Olympic Champion as Sarah Hughes did when she had her meltdown at 2003 worlds. Her career was very short and she was always an underdog. Even when she was national and world champion, she was never the favorite. I am sure if she had stayed until 2002 there would have been some bad performances. I do not even believe she could have made the 2002 Olympic team due to her hip. Michelle at 13-15 never had a melt down either and if Olys were in 1996 there is a good chance she would have won and had Tara's career.

The longer they stay in the sport, a skater will face more pressure. Not trying to take her accomplishment away from her as far as being known as a skater who did not flinch under pressure, but it is tough to compare a skater who competed 2 seasons between 13-15 years old vs skaters who competed much longer, into adult hood such as Mao Asada who at 15 if she could have gone to the Olympics in 2006 would have very much been viewed the same as Tara but as she got older it did not stay that way.
 
Last edited:
caseyedwards said:
Were the meltdowns ignored or explained away or justified?
Click to expand...
The one competition that really pops into my mind is Worlds in '97 when Grischuk/Platov had been out most of the season with injury and they didn't skate well at Worlds. The program wasn't put together well, the elements were all recycled, and they finished after the music and still finished first.
 
skatingguy said:
Was it actually possible to lose a major ice dance competition from a leading position in that era? I can't remember it happening.
Click to expand...

It is difficult to have a meltdown like in singles or pairs because high risk moves are not there. An occasional fall or messing up the twizzles is not a meltdown. In my memory something close to a meltdown was in the 2002 Olympics when Bourne & Kratz both fell just before the ending of their FD when the bronze was within their reach. FP & M also had a fall, but earlier in the program, and by only Margaglio (IIRC), resulting in the death stare by Barbara. That may have been close to a meltdown.
 
Vash01 said:
It is difficult to have a meltdown like in singles or pairs because high risk moves are not there. An occasional fall or messing up the twizzles is not a meltdown. In my memory something close to a meltdown was in the 2002 Olympics when Bourne & Kratz both fell just before the ending of their FD when the bronze was within their reach. FP & M also had a fall, but earlier in the program, and by only Margaglio (IIRC), resulting in the death stare by Barbara. That may have been close to a meltdown.
Click to expand...
Yes, or the carnage that was the 2006 Original Dance.
 
skatingguy said:
The one competition that really pops into my mind is Worlds in '97 when Grischuk/Platov had been out most of the season with injury and they didn't skate well at Worlds. The program wasn't put together well, the elements were all recycled, and they finished after the music and still finished first.
Click to expand...

Their Feeling begins was a very good program. Perhaps their best FD. It was great at the Euros. At worlds it was not as good as the Euros and they did finish after the music (I vaguely remember her getting caught in the dress or something like that) but it was well skated except for that flaw. It was anything but a meltdown (what we are discussing here).They deserved to win, although I loved K& O's Masquerade waltz and would have liked to see them win.
 
skatingguy said:
The one competition that really pops into my mind is Worlds in '97 when Grischuk/Platov had been out most of the season with injury and they didn't skate well at Worlds. The program wasn't put together well, the elements were all recycled, and they finished after the music and still finished first.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's how most people would characterize their "The Feeling Begins" FD, especially compared to the Linichuk programs that came before it. They did skate a bit more nervous and behind the music at Worlds whereas at Euros they got a string of 6.0s.
 
I think part of the problem with G&P's World's performance of TFB was that they changed that lift towards the end of the program (either due to an error or on purpose) and it seemed to have put them behind the music. Other than that and Oksana catching her dress coming out of the lift at the beginning, I thought their performance had better control than their performance at Europeans. And I loved how the program highlighted their amazing running edges, something that Linichuk almost never did.

skatingguy said:
The one competition that really pops into my mind is Worlds in '97 when Grischuk/Platov had been out most of the season with injury and they didn't skate well at Worlds. The program wasn't put together well, the elements were all recycled, and they finished after the music and still finished first.
Click to expand...

What I also liked about G&P in 97 was they looked much fresher relative to 95 and 96. In 96, they were starting to look a little stale in terms of their style and many of their programs had recylced moves. But that wasn't the case in 1997 with either their tango or TFB. I didn't see recylced elements in that program.

Vash01 said:
Their Feeling begins was a very good program. Perhaps their best FD. It was great at the Euros. At worlds it was not as good as the Euros and they did finish after the music (I vaguely remember her getting caught in the dress or something like that) but it was well skated except for that flaw. It was anything but a meltdown (what we are discussing here).They deserved to win, although I loved K& O's Masquerade waltz and would have liked to see them win.
Click to expand...

K&O arguably could've won the free dance at the 1997 Worlds since G&P made errors (I still had G&P in a clear first since their FD had much more ambitious content). But I can't see them winning overall because they had made a very serious error in the golden waltz CD. Towards the end of the first pattern after the right inside swing choctaw in foxtrot position, K&O failed to successfully change into a kilian position. That caused them to go off-time and lose unison for the rest of that sequence in the corner of the ice. Also, they didn't really skate the left inside swing of the open choctaw in an actual kilian position. Their left inside edge of that part of the choctaw was also very shallow, shaky, not in sync with the music, and not in unison. I personally thought they should've been 5th or lower in that dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KQIHfcznqs

But in general, I do agree with you that G&P definitely deserved their win.
 
Last edited:
gk_891 said:
Another problem was the Czech judge made an error with her marks for their SP, putting in 4.4 and 4.7 instead of 5.4 and 5.7 (I once read that she was seen waving her arms when the marks were posted).
Click to expand...

IIRC it was actually 0.4 and 0.7!
 
Is there a difference between a "melt-down" and simply skating badly? For some reason, I don't think of Michelle at SLC as having a "melt-down" (IIRC, she fought back) but she made major mistakes.
 
attyfan said:
Is there a difference between a "melt-down" and simply skating badly? For some reason, I don't think of Michelle at SLC as having a "melt-down" (IIRC, she fought back) but she made major mistakes.
Click to expand...

It was not a meltdown, just a performance with one major mistake.
 
caseyedwards said:
What was the worst meltdown in 6.0 ice dance?
Click to expand...

skatingguy said:
Was it actually possible to lose a major ice dance competition from a leading position in that era? I can't remember it happening.
Click to expand...

Anissina & Peizerat won the first CD at 2001 Euros (so technically they were leading at one point, but were 2nd entering the FD) and had a huge fall in the free dance. Although they hung on to silver overall and managed 3rd in the free dance, a majority of judges placed actually placed them 4th or 5th in the FD.
http://www.icecalc.com/events/ec2001/results/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Similar threads

AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)
Nostalgia videos
Replies
4
Views
876
sadya
sadya
Foolhardy Ham Lint
Ditch & Switch. When a skater dumps a program mid-season.
2 3
Replies
73
Views
10K
buffyfan02
B
Sylvia
"MAO RINK" has opened in Tachikawa, western Tokyo
Replies
2
Views
2K
Sylvia
Sylvia
T
Missing women at the Olympics since 1984
Replies
23
Views
7K
Seerek
S
Sylvia
Adam "Slay" SIAO Him Fa fan thread
Replies
27
Views
7K
DreamSkates
DreamSkates
Back
Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information