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Off-season stuff.
I began watching figure skating as a young boy when the Olympics came to Lake Placid in 1980. Naturally, I will always remember the ladies competing there who grew and came up in the 1977-80 quadrennial. I looked at past results and saw results from ladies that I don't recall watching or even hearing about before:
1. Barbie Smith (USA) - Who was she? She finished 4th at 1977 Worlds. The scores suggest she was really close to the podium and a strong competitor. I don't think I ever heard of her and she certainly wasn't in the running by the time Lake Placid rolled around.
2. Wendy Burge (USA) - She finished 5th at the same Worlds. I know who she was. She was a strong US competitor in 1975 and 1976. I think she was tough competition for a weak Dorothy Hamill at 1975 U.S. Championships. She got an SO at Innsbruck for her LP. I assume she retired after 1977 Worlds? I never saw her among the ranks of the US elite again.
3. Susanna Driano (ITA) - IIRC, she was an American who competed for Italy a la Dianne DeLeeuw? She won bronze at 1978 Worlds, and I see she competed at Lake Placid but her finish wasn't that great. Was there anything outstanding about her skating that would've put her on the podium?
4. GDR skaters, Marion Weber and Carola Weissenberg - Were they Jutta Mueller pupils? Both had top 10 finishes at 1977 and 1978/79 Worlds respectively. The GDR sent a skater to 1981 Worlds named Carola Paul. Is that the same person? It is interesting that there was talent aside from Poetzsch in the GDR, but they only sent Poetzsch and no other GDR skater to Lake Placid in 1980. A very young Witt would finish 10th at 1980 Worlds (I think). I often wonder why the GDR didn't utilize spots available to them.
5. Elena Vodorezova (USSR) - I remember her being a jumping Wunderkind at Innsbruck and at 1978 Worlds, but it looks like she did not compete at Lake Placid. I think she was injured, but what type of injury keeps you off the ice for that length of time? Were there issues with the Soviet Fed?? I see Kira Ivanova competed for the USSR in 1979 and 1980.
6. Priscilla Hill (USA) - She finished in the top 10 in 1978, but I don't recall her being in the mix at U.S. Nationals to be on the Olympic team in 1980.
7. Carrie Rugh (USA) - She was no. 3 US lady in 1979. It seems by the time the U.S. sent a team to Lake Placid, Fratianne and Lisa Marie Allen were no. 1 and 2, but there was a scrum for no. 3.
Other points of interest, Poetzsch was a jumping bean in 1976, but watered down her content as the quadrennial progressed. I think she only completed 1 triple in the LP at Lake Placid. Fratianne similarly took out harder entrances to water down her LP: I recall she did a series of split leaps into her 3toe in 1977, but that was gone later. I also recall her doing more 2A, some in combo but that was also taken out. Lurz seemed a default to bronze in the judge's minds, unless someone put together great skates: Driano edged her out in 1978 and Watanabe in 1979. I know Watanabe blew the SP at Lake Placid, so I wonder if she could've won a Bronze there had she competed cleanly. I don't have anything to say about Biellmann except she was in the mix at various Worlds prior to Lake Placid, but always seemed buried in the figures. So close. It's a shame she didn't improve her figures. I think at the time, she executed a successful 3L at one championship, as well as the 3Z, and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first lady to do a 3Z, the hardest jump until the 3A was done by Midori Ito.
As a footnote, CAN seemed to send different ladies to different championships - Lynn Nightingale, Heather Kemkaren, Janet Morrisey, and Kemkaren was sent to Lake Placid in 1980. Nightingale was the highest finisher but I assume she retired because she was part of the previous quadrennial.
I began watching figure skating as a young boy when the Olympics came to Lake Placid in 1980. Naturally, I will always remember the ladies competing there who grew and came up in the 1977-80 quadrennial. I looked at past results and saw results from ladies that I don't recall watching or even hearing about before:
1. Barbie Smith (USA) - Who was she? She finished 4th at 1977 Worlds. The scores suggest she was really close to the podium and a strong competitor. I don't think I ever heard of her and she certainly wasn't in the running by the time Lake Placid rolled around.
2. Wendy Burge (USA) - She finished 5th at the same Worlds. I know who she was. She was a strong US competitor in 1975 and 1976. I think she was tough competition for a weak Dorothy Hamill at 1975 U.S. Championships. She got an SO at Innsbruck for her LP. I assume she retired after 1977 Worlds? I never saw her among the ranks of the US elite again.
3. Susanna Driano (ITA) - IIRC, she was an American who competed for Italy a la Dianne DeLeeuw? She won bronze at 1978 Worlds, and I see she competed at Lake Placid but her finish wasn't that great. Was there anything outstanding about her skating that would've put her on the podium?
4. GDR skaters, Marion Weber and Carola Weissenberg - Were they Jutta Mueller pupils? Both had top 10 finishes at 1977 and 1978/79 Worlds respectively. The GDR sent a skater to 1981 Worlds named Carola Paul. Is that the same person? It is interesting that there was talent aside from Poetzsch in the GDR, but they only sent Poetzsch and no other GDR skater to Lake Placid in 1980. A very young Witt would finish 10th at 1980 Worlds (I think). I often wonder why the GDR didn't utilize spots available to them.
5. Elena Vodorezova (USSR) - I remember her being a jumping Wunderkind at Innsbruck and at 1978 Worlds, but it looks like she did not compete at Lake Placid. I think she was injured, but what type of injury keeps you off the ice for that length of time? Were there issues with the Soviet Fed?? I see Kira Ivanova competed for the USSR in 1979 and 1980.
6. Priscilla Hill (USA) - She finished in the top 10 in 1978, but I don't recall her being in the mix at U.S. Nationals to be on the Olympic team in 1980.
7. Carrie Rugh (USA) - She was no. 3 US lady in 1979. It seems by the time the U.S. sent a team to Lake Placid, Fratianne and Lisa Marie Allen were no. 1 and 2, but there was a scrum for no. 3.
Other points of interest, Poetzsch was a jumping bean in 1976, but watered down her content as the quadrennial progressed. I think she only completed 1 triple in the LP at Lake Placid. Fratianne similarly took out harder entrances to water down her LP: I recall she did a series of split leaps into her 3toe in 1977, but that was gone later. I also recall her doing more 2A, some in combo but that was also taken out. Lurz seemed a default to bronze in the judge's minds, unless someone put together great skates: Driano edged her out in 1978 and Watanabe in 1979. I know Watanabe blew the SP at Lake Placid, so I wonder if she could've won a Bronze there had she competed cleanly. I don't have anything to say about Biellmann except she was in the mix at various Worlds prior to Lake Placid, but always seemed buried in the figures. So close. It's a shame she didn't improve her figures. I think at the time, she executed a successful 3L at one championship, as well as the 3Z, and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first lady to do a 3Z, the hardest jump until the 3A was done by Midori Ito.
As a footnote, CAN seemed to send different ladies to different championships - Lynn Nightingale, Heather Kemkaren, Janet Morrisey, and Kemkaren was sent to Lake Placid in 1980. Nightingale was the highest finisher but I assume she retired because she was part of the previous quadrennial.
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