If You Had to Choose - Oly Silver/Bronze vs. World Gold

[danibellerika]

Yuzuru won the world championship in the same year he won the OGM, and he won worlds in 2017. So I don't understand your comment.

Then go back and read the portion I bolded in the quote. Dorothy did the same. The point was winning an OGM doesn't mean you don't care about worlds anymore.

And yes, I'm very well aware he won in 2017 since I was there and ing.

 

[bardtoob]

Maybe a World Championship medal would seem more special if offered only every four years or offered in a perplexingly sporadically way, like the way World Gymnastics medals used to be offered.

Maybe Olympic medals would seem more special if it did not seem like some form of the Olympics is always happening.

Maybe medals offered rarely do not seem that special when one follows a sport long enough to realize that some athletes have glorious moments of peaking athletically that only come once in their lives during the wrong time in an business cycle.

Maybe medals offered regularly do seem special when one follows a sport long enough to realize that some athletes have glorious moments of peaking athletically that only come once in their lives for a small window as a result of biological factors that are completely out of their control and they properly prepared themselves for that moment.

 

[AxelAnnie]

I don't think anyone says or thinks that the other medals are not special. And skaters often do not have their best skates on OLY ice.

But I still say there is nothing compared to bringing it on the two nights you are on that OLY ice, and there is no medal as special as an OLY medal.

 

[quartz]

I'm not competitive in the least, so y'all can have all the medals. I just want to go to all the Worlds and Olympics - that would be my choice!

 

[Rock2]

Olympic silver, cuz...well, I like silver
And because you'd be known and marketable outside of skating.

 

[tylersf]

World Champ Men's Gold
1973 - Ondrej Nepela - Gold - (Dead)
1974 - Jan Hoffman - Gold - (Doctor and Skating Judge)
1975 - Sergei Volkov - Gold - (Dead)

Toller Cranston - 1976 Olympic Bronze, 1974 World Bronze (Dead, but what a life)
Toller had a lot of things going for him (creativity, looks, artistic, personality) that kept him well-known in Canada and around the world.

If you don't know or care who the Men's Oly Bronze medalist was in 1976, that is your misfortune.
And if you can tell me who won men's Worlds gold in 73, 74 and 75 (76 being way too easy) without Google, you're smarter than me. And I will bet mucho dollars that no one outside these Boards can.
I'm sticking with the Oly bronze over Worlds gold

 

[danibellerika]

I guess another way to think of it. Would you want to be a Joannie Rochette or a Yuka Sato?

 

[snoopy]

If the question was do I want to be Rochette or Sato, I'd pick Sato because I'd want her skating skills. More than medals, I'd want to be a WOW skater.

 

[danibellerika]

If the question was do I want to be Rochette or Sato, I'd pick Sato because I'd want her skating skills. More than medals, I'd want to be a WOW skater.

Much better comparison. I'll revise my post.

 

[el henry]

World Champ Men's Gold
1973 - Ondrej Nepela - Gold - (Dead)
1974 - Jan Hoffman - Gold - (Doctor and Skating Judge)
1975 - Sergei Volkov - Gold - (Dead)

Toller Cranston - 1976 Olympic Bronze, 1974 World Bronze (Dead, but what a life)
Toller had a lot of things going for him (creativity, looks, artistic, personality) that kept him well-known in Canada and around the world.

I'm glad someone took me up on it. And changing the face of men's figure skating has something to do with Toller as well...

Dead, dead, dead, man am I that old.....

 

[Simone411]

Always Gold. Then you are a champion, even if it is 'only' world.

An Olympic silver makes just an Olympic medal winner.

Not to me. An Olympic Silver medal and an Olympic Bronze Medal means He/she represented their country and did their best with honor and sportsmanship. Those medals are nothing to spit at, and they're cherished by the skaters that won them, and their countries they represent from around the world also feel pride that their skaters got out there and did their best. It's about athletes from around the world gathering in different fields of sport whether it's the Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics ... and included in that is also the Paralympic Winter and Summer Games.

Those athletes should all be proud of themselves whether they win an Olympic Medal or not for they came together from around the world representing their countries in sportsmanship and fellowship.

 

[Vagabond]

I guess another way to think of it. Would you want to be a Joannie Rochette or a Yuka Sato?

As I mentioned before, Joannie Rochette doesn't fit your own paradigm, since she won medals at both Worlds (2009) and the Olympics. IINM, the only Ladies' Olympic Medalist who has never earned a Worlds medals is Adelina Sotnikova, and, as the gold medalist, she doesn't fit your paradigm either.

To give Sotnikova credit where credit is due, she did finish in ninth place at Worlds once.

 

[Marco]

Janet Lynn won Olympic bronze but never won World gold. She returned the following season to try to win Worlds (she won silver). Karen Magnusson did the same after winning Olympic silver (she won Worlds that year). Dorothy Hamill went to Worlds after winning Olympic gold because she wanted a World gold, too (she won). I think most Olympic medalists would want a World gold in addition to their Olympic medal, at least.

So did Sasha Cohen

 

[falling_dance]

As I mentioned before, Joannie Rochette doesn't fit your own paradigm, since she won medals at both Worlds (2009) and the Olympics.

But Rochette never won a World title. danibellerika's OP allows for a Rochette/Ando or Rochette/Sato comparison--or Lurz/Biellmann or Ivanova/Zayak or Manley/Trenary or any number of comparisons of the careers of skaters who have an Olympic medal but no World title to those who won one or more World titles but no Olympic medals.

IINM, the only Ladies' Olympic Medalist who has never earned a Worlds medals is Adelina Sotnikova

Magda Julin never won a World medal, either, but then WWI pretty much ensured that 1913 was her only chance.

ETA: Wikipedia sez that Theresa Weld and Ethel Muckelt won Olympic bronze medals without ever winning a World medal of any color. Of course, the First World War helps to explain that in their respective cases as well.

 

[Vagabond]

Ethel Muckelt did win a World Silver Medal -- in Pairs, with John Page.

Julin was pregnant when she won her Olympic Gold Medal. In those days, having a child probably spelled the end of a woman's competitive career in skating. (That suggests a necessary research project. )

Still, World War I has a lot to answer for.

ETA:

http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mu/ethel-muckelt-1.html

Muckelt was never British ladies champion although she finished runner-up to Page in 1926 which was the last year the British title was open to both sexes.... Muckelt was one of the oldest female Winter Games medallists as she was thirty-eight years old in 1924 but continued competing into her fifties.

Are you reading this, Michelle Kwan?

 

[falling_dance]

Ethel Muckelt did win a World Silver Medal -- in Pairs, with John Page.

Ah, yes. And at age 38, too.

Still, World War I has a lot to answer for.

I suppose that the organizers of the 1912 Summer Games are much more to blame for Lily Kronberger never winning the OGM, but I'll go on wondering if she could've won in 1916 all the same.

 

[Miki89]

It's hard to choose between Olympics and World Medals, given that strange things tend to happen at Olympics, esp in the ladies event. I think for certain skaters, like Yuka Sato and Daisuke Takahashi, their world wins were pretty special. For Michelle and Mao, it helped cement their legacies. One reason I advocate for keeping Worlds in an Olympics year is because there have been quite a few memorable moments from those worlds.

Judging from skaters' reputations in the long term, it's better to be a world champion,who failed to win or medal, than have a fluke win and nothing noteworthy afterwards. The best combination is to win worlds, then Olympics to cement their legacy.

 

[danibellerika]

It's hard to choose between Olympics and World Medals, given that strange things tend to happen at Olympics, esp in the ladies event. I think for certain skaters, like Yuka Sato and Daisuke Takahashi, their world wins were pretty special. For Michelle and Mao, it helped cement their legacies. One reason I advocate for keeping Worlds in an Olympics year is because there have been quite a few memorable moments from those worlds.

Judging from skaters' reputations in the long term, it's better to be a world champion,who failed to win or medal, than have a fluke win and nothing noteworthy afterwards. The best combination is to win worlds, then Olympics to cement their legacy.

Or work backwards, like Yuzuru . I actually find his way really impressive because he became a better skater than when he won. Shows amazing motivation.

 

[giselle23]

So did Sasha Cohen

Except Sasha won Oly Silver.

 

[Marco]

Except Sasha won Oly Silver.

All the other skaters in the quote in my post also won Olympic medals and still went on to try for the World title. I was simply adding another (relatively recent) example.

 

[manhn]

Kevin Reynolds has an Olympic medal and Kurt doesn't. Surely, skaters would rather have Kurt's career.

I would take Jeffrey's World title over his Olympic bronze.

I would take C&L's world title over I&K's oly bronze.

I would take D&R's two Worlds over S&K's oly silver.

I would take Carolina's world title over her bronze.

 

[Vagabond]

Kevin Reynolds doesn't have an Olympic medal. He has an Olympic "medal."

 

[MAXSwagg]

Kevin Reynolds has an Olympic medal and Kurt doesn't. Surely, skaters would rather have Kurt's career.

I would take Jeffrey's World title over his Olympic bronze.

I would take C&L's world title over I&K's oly bronze.

I would take D&R's two Worlds over S&K's oly silver.

I would take Carolina's world title over her bronze.

Some are debatable. D/R really have no legacy despite their small fan cohort's attempts. I/K had much more potential than C/L and I think many would say they have more of a legacy in their short careers than C/L do (other than C/L doing the same style over and over...and over again).

Also, shocked to see that Leonova has a World silver? I did not know that at all...

 

[RoseRed]

Or work backwards, like Yuzuru . I actually find his way really impressive because he became a better skater than when he won. Shows amazing motivation.

Same was true for Tessa and Scott. Olympic gold first, then World gold.

 

[Marco]

I would take Jeffrey's World title over his Olympic bronze.
I would take Carolina's world title over her bronze.

For me, it depends.

I am happier about Jeff's world title simply because he skated better to win it, and that's AFTER he won the Olympic medal.

I am happier about Carolina's Olympic medal than her world title because after 2 under-performed Olympic outings she finally nailed it in Sochi, and again that's AFTER she won the world title.

 

[Vagabond]

Same was true for Tessa and Scott. Olympic gold first, then World gold.

Olympic gold first, then Olympic silver.

 

[Dobre]

Grishuk & Platov, Katarina Witt, and Viktor Petrenko also won Olympic gold prior to Worlds.

 

[AquaLady]

For this topic, all I can think about is Ilinykh and Katsalapov. What a run they had. They win the Olympic Bronze in Sochi then go to Worlds as frontrunners for Gold then Katsalapov screws up in the SD... And then they end up 1st in the FD... What a shame Had the mishap not happened, they would have definitely been in the World Podium and possibly be World Champions but what happened, happened... Can't erase history.

Their finish at Worlds 2014 can never top the fact that they are Olympic Medalists in Ice Dance and Olympic Champions in the team event... How many other great teams can call themselves that?