Class of 2018 World FS Hall of Fame: Shizuka Arakawa, Viktor Petrenko, Valova/Vasiliev, Moiseeva/Minenkov, Bin Yao, Sandra Bezic, E. Danzer, R. Porter

[Sylvia]

Same press release posted at http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/04/17/272597506 and http://www.usfsa.org/story?id=91466&type=media

Olympic champions Shizuka Arakawa (Japan) and Viktor Petrenko (Ukraine, Unified Team, Soviet Union), along with the pairs team of Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev (Soviet Union), and the two-time world champion ice dance team of Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov (Soviet Union) headline the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Coach Bin Yao of China and choreographer Sandra Bezic of Canada have also earned enshrinement.
"On behalf of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, we are astonished by the breadth of accomplishments by the Class of 2018, where all figure skating disciplines are represented," nominating chair Lawrence Mondschein said. "This is also the largest class since the first year of elections to the World Hall of Fame in 1976."

The hall's Legends Committee, which considers contributions in 1960 and prior, also selected three-time world champion Emmerich Danzer (1966-68) of Austria and the late American Richard Porter, the undisputed founder of synchronized skating, which was then known as Precision Skating.

Congratulations to all!

 

[Japanfan]

Bin Yao

What a long way he has come since being thrown into China's first pair (in 1980 and/or the early 1980s) and sent off to Worlds and Olympics.

I remember reading that his partner didn't think to empty her pockets of change before practice, and coins went flying all over the ice.

The book 'The Second Mark' states that Bin Yao remembers someone or some people in the audience laughing at him and his partner because they were just so bad. . .

He went home with the vision of building up a pairs school in China. . . .and look where Chinese pairs are today, thanks to him. We've seen Bin Yao in tears more than a few times over the years, to be sure.

Congratulations to him, and to Sandra Bezic, also worthy of the honor.

I thought Bin Yao's moment of vindication came in the 2010 Olympics, when his pairs were placed 1 and 2, with Pang/Tong having had the FS of the night with 'The Impossible Dream'.

Also, I remember him saying in an interview that he loved his wife, but he loved his skaters, too. If his wife and he have stayed together throughout his commitment to his skaters, I wish them all the peace and happiness they can find in retirement.

Bin Yao is a visionary who made the impossible possible.

 

[Seerek]

Congrats to everyone - all well deserving (and in some cases, their recognition is long overdue).

 

[Bellanca]

An impressive Class of 2018 World FS Hall of Fame! Congratulations to all!

 

[snoopysnake]

I like this group very much! I'm especially pleased to see Viktor Petrenko in there.

 

[greenapple]

Deleted

 

[greenapple]

Bin Yao was definitely a visionary. A recap of a 2008 interview with him ran in IFS magazine in 2017. He is so worthy of this honour. https://www.ifsmagazine.com/the-yao-dynasty/

 

[SCeline]

Good gosh it DOES take quite a while to earn ones way into this Hall of Fame, doesn't it. I mean, M/M were top of their discipline in the 1970s!? So ... now almost 40 years later they get inducted.

 

[VGThuy]

I'm also surprised it took Min and Mo that long to get inducted. Torvill/Dean spoke about how Min and Mo were inspirations to them.

 

[Taso]

Great group