Great skaters who never made a world team

Tony Wheeler said:
Rohene's highest finish was 14th and only competed internationally one time. I think a lot of people will remember that there was a lot of press around him at 2006 Nationals (or at least ABC/ESPN) and I believe the story was that his family couldn't afford to attend the event, someone pitched in and they were able to see the LP, and he had a huge meltdown that dropped him from the top 10 to last place. The details may not be exact, but I remember the skate.

Glad to see he's so successful these days.
Click to expand...

That is probably the toughest irony of being involved in the sport. There are brilliant competitors (and strategists) who are adequate artists, and brilliant artists who are nervous competitors.

Glad to see Ward has been recognised for his innate gifts.
 
Last edited:
Wasn't there a year where ABC TV spent a lot of money paying for Rohene's family to attend Nationals, but it backfired because he choked/bombed and the whole set up became something really making more emphatic how sad the event was for him. He clearly had the talent to be on a World team. Sadly not the right moments at the key competitions to make it happen though.
 
DDNatalia said:
Wasn't there a year where ABC TV spent a lot of money paying for Rohene's family to attend Nationals, but it backfired because he choked/bombed and the whole set up became something really making more emphatic how sad the event was for him. He clearly had the talent to be on a World team. Sadly not the right moments at the key competitions to make it happen though.
Click to expand...

Yes. Someone upthread linked it on you tube. He was sooo good in practice and even in warm up and they made this huge deal about him and his family and he skated absolutely awful. A total disaster in the long. Honestly there were years he didn't even make it out of sectionals and he was so talented.
 
There are surely Russian dance and pairs teams that I recall watching during thr grand prix, but names escape me.

I am pretty sure Putnam and Wirtz never made the Worlds team, same for Moskovitch and Moskovitch.
 
Irina Korina and Victor Yelchin placed 3rd at The USSR nationals but were not allowed to go to the Olympics because they were Jewish. I don't know if they went to Worlds. They moved to the USA with their 6 month old son Anton who became an actor but sadly died in a freak car accident.
 
Vash01 said:
Irina Korina and Victor Yelchin placed 3rd at The USSR nationals but were not allowed to go to the Olympics because they were Jewish. I don't know if they went to Worlds. They moved to the USA with their 6 month old son Anton who became an actor but sadly died in a freak car accident.
Click to expand...

:(
 
Vash01 said:
Irina Korina and Victor Yelchin placed 3rd at The USSR nationals but were not allowed to go to the Olympics because they were Jewish. I don't know if they went to Worlds. They moved to the USA with their 6 month old son Anton who became an actor but sadly died in a freak car accident.
Click to expand...
I swear as I was scrolling down this thread I thought about them. Anton's death is an extremely tragic story.
 
Areski said:
I've never heard about her before (or at least blanked it out of my memory). Now I'll proceed to find some footage on youtube to give my opinion later on maybe too.
Click to expand...

She skated really well one year at US Nationals and finished 6th (2003?). Lovely skater. Never really had much success after that. I believe Karen Kwan coached her.
 
Yebin Mok's SP at 2003 Nationals is one of my most memorable moments live at Nationals - she was last to skate in the SP and many people had left the arena before she skated this magical performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlv6n5EQq3U
She was coached by Frank Carroll and Johnnie Bevan and was assigned to 2 Grand Prix events in the fall of 2003 but injuries prevented her from ever competing on the GP. :(

ETA that she wrote about her struggles as a figure skater after her competitive career had ended: http://www.iamkoreanamerican.com/2012/06/12/yebin-mok/
Happily, she married a fellow pro skater and they have a lovely baby son now. :)
 
Last edited:
Cleo1782 said:
She skated really well one year at US Nationals and finished 6th (2003?). Lovely skater. Never really had much success after that. I believe Karen Kwan coached her.
Click to expand...
Ok. I just watched this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlv6n5EQq3U&t=195s

It's her SP in this Nationals.

Beautiful skater, reminds me Michelle Kwan. The Lutz from proper, definite outside edge, a rare thing from American ladies esp. in that time. So smooth & graceful, skating skills are very good, esp. her crossovers that are like butter.
 
Last edited:
Areski said:
Ok. I just watched this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlv6n5EQq3U&t=195s

It's her SP in this Nationals.

Beautiful skater, reminds me Michelle Kwan. The Lutz from proper, definite outside edge, rare thing from American ladies esp. in that time. So smooth & graceful, skating skills are very good, esp. her crossovers that are like butter.
Click to expand...

Yeah. There is a bit of Michelle in her. And she was with Kwan/Oppegard part of her career although I guess not at that point. She continued to skate until 2008, but failed to make it out of sectionals.
 
Areski said:
I've never heard about her before (or at least blanked it out of my memory). Now I'll proceed to find some footage on youtube to give my opinion later on maybe too.
Click to expand...

She's an American skater who skated in the Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Sarah Hughes era.
 
I never liked how ABC handled the flying Rohene Ward’s family thing. They wanted to make it a surprise, but maybe it would have been better to let him know ahead of time that they were planning to do that rather than bombard him with the news that his family was there in front of the camera after he had bombed and then continue to film him with his mother as he was about to emotionally break down with the news and his performance.
 
Definitely Yukina Ota.

I wanna say also Nana Takeda. Beautiful skater with incredible flow, but did not have the harder jumps. She radiated such energy on the ice when she skated.

For Russia, definitely Sasha Proklova. :(
 
Cleo1782 said:
Yeah. There is a bit of Michelle in her. And she was with Kwan/Oppegard part of her career although I guess not at that point. She continued to skate until 2008, but failed to make it out of sectionals.
Click to expand...

There was Frank Caroll with her in K'n'C in 2003. Maybe some of that similar skating & touches is because of him?
 
Areski said:
There was Frank Caroll with her in K'n'C in 2003. Maybe some of that similar skating & touches is because of him?
Click to expand...

I think it's a combination of coach and skater. Tbh, I used to compete against her-same level, region, section, etc., so sometimes who coached her when gets muddled in my mind. I think she spent a lot of her career with Lu Chen's old coach. I always remember her being very lyrical, just slightly inconsistent and injury-prone. I think she just had some innate qualities that were Michelle-like naturally and those extra touches from coaches just added to it.
 
aussieSKATES said:
I was fortunate enough to attend the 1994 US Championships in Detroit, and a week later, the 1994 Canadian Championships in Edmonton.

One skater who really caught my attention was Tanya Bingert. She had huge jumps which carried a great deal of distance, and her short program from the event is a personal favourite.

Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/SGPkJBPLmd8
Click to expand...

Tanya Bingert won the 1988 Canadian Junior championship placing ahead of silver and bronze medalists Josee Chouinard and Karen Preston, but Josee and Karen would go on to win 5 of the next 6 senior national championships.

It's kind of unfortunate that British Columbia as a province hasn't been able to break through with a senior gold post-Karen Magnussen - Bingert, Keyla Ohs, Mira Leung medalled, but no golds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Similar threads

T
Missing women at the Olympics since 1984
Replies
23
Views
7K
Seerek
S
A.H.Black
2002 Olympics - Men's Short Program
Replies
10
Views
5K
Bouffantrex
Bouffantrex
TAHbKA
Bagriantseva's interview with Kvitelashvili
Replies
25
Views
7K
airgelaal
airgelaal
coppertop1
Great Skaters who never made it to the Olympics
2 3 4
Replies
94
Views
15K
skatingguy
S
TAHbKA
Interview with Kurakova
Replies
6
Views
4K
zigzig
zigzig
Back
Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information