Most Random Worlds Medalist of the 21st Century

Most Random Medalist

  • Stefan "Lime Tree" Lindemann

    Votes: 13 18.3%

  • Artur "Lil Mullet" Gachinski

    Votes: 13 18.3%

  • Alena "Pirrrrrrrrrrrrrate" Leonova

    Votes: 7 9.9%

  • Elizabet "Keep Mom in the K&C" Tursynbaeva

    Votes: 6 8.5%

  • Holly "Barrel Rolls" Cook

    Votes: 25 35.2%

  • Larry "King of the Quad Lutz" Loupolover

    Votes: 5 7.0%

  • Anastasiya "Queen of the Completed Rotation" Galustyan

    Votes: 2 2.8%
  • Total voters
    71
  • Poll closed .
essence_of_soy said:
Jill, on a great day, had an excellent triple flip as well.

Yamaguchi's technical standard at the time was higher. But her jumps never got much elevation.

At the 1990 World Championships, from memory, I believe Kristi fell twice in the free skate as well, and her frustrating 4th place result may have been one of the deciding factors to drop pairs and concentrate solely on singles skating.
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Kristi said that some judges & officials talked to her after the event, and suggested she focus on singles.
 
meggonzo said:
Kristi said that some judges & officials talked to her after the event, and suggested she focus on singles.
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It's probably not a popular opinion, but as an eligible skater, I always thought that Yamaguchi exuded more personality in pairs with Galindo than she did skating singles.

I know it's been discussed to death in other threads, but I'm sorry she didn't continue to skate in both disciplines, especially after figures were dropped from ISU competition following the 1990 season.
 
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I think if Kristi truly only had the energy and focus to reach her personal best in one discipline, then she chose wisely. If she had been able to win Worlds and the Olympics in ladies while continuing doing pairs with Galindo, then it's a shame that didn't happen. But honestly, I do see why she would have been spent doing both disciplines and it would have been better had she put her all in one. Upon choosing one, there was no way a non-Soviet pair was going to NOT win gold in 1992. Just not going to happen and M/D are one of the most deserving pairs ever even with that less-than-stellar LP skate in Albertville (that is still so gorgeous and beautiful to watch). The door was way open in Ladies and American women had a history of winning gold there. Plus, the judges simply loved her (looking at the quality of elements despite like of height on jumps and choreography content compared to her competition, it's easy to see why). With two of her biggest competitors having 3A in their repertoire and being known as jumpers, Kristi really needed all the energy and time she had to fill in that gap with 3/3s and choreographic content and presentation skills.
 
essence_of_soy said:
At the 1990 World Championships, from memory, I believe Kristi fell twice in the free skate as well, and her frustrating 4th place result may have been one of the deciding factors to drop pairs and concentrate solely on singles skating.
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True, it was not a good free skate from Kristi. Trenary had a far better night.
 
bardtoob said:
Actually, I think Holly Cook's world medal is the most explainable. There was a whole portion of the competition dedicated to slowly carving deep prescribed patterns in the ice where being robust and statuesque is an asset. That sounds exactly like something Holly could easily do for good scores.
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I think this under-sells Cook a bit. Figures were worth only 20%. Natalia Lebedeva (or Patricia Neske) would be the world medalist, not Cook, if figures were the only factor.

Cook's short program was damn good, as it usually was. She tended to be an excellent short program skater, very strong on the elements and (usually) with much better presentation than in the free skates. Her weaknesses came out more in the free skates, which tended to be random collections of music with simple choreography.
 
Louis said:
I think this under-sells Cook a bit. Figures were worth only 20%. Natalia Lebedeva (or Patricia Neske) would be the world medalist, not Cook, if figures were the only factor.

Cook's short program was damn good, as it usually was. She tended to be an excellent short program skater, very strong on the elements and (usually) with much better presentation than in the free skates. Her weaknesses came out more in the free skates, which tended to be random collections of music with simple choreography.
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I think Holly really improved her artistry by 1991. Her free skate that year, in spite of the jump errors, was very well presented. Too bad figures were no longer a factor.

It seems kind of shocking that the 1990 World Bronze Medal winner was passed over for Team USA's 1991 World Team.

But we all know how that turned out, with Yamaguchi, Harding, and Kerrigan sweeping the podium in Munich.
 
essence_of_soy said:
It seems kind of shocking that the 1990 World Bronze Medal winner was passed over for Team USA's 1991 World Team.
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Cook was sixth at that Nationals and only managed one triple in the free, if I remember correctly. It was a total bomb. Even if the judges wanted to, there was no way to hold her up. Had she been clean with a triple loop (did she ever land it?), it might have been interesting v. Kerrigan. Without the loop, I think Kerrigan for sure.
 
essence_of_soy said:
It seems kind of shocking that the 1990 World Bronze Medal winner was passed over for Team USA's 1991 World Team.
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Why? It was highly predictable that dropping Compulsory Figures from Singles would mean that some skaters who were at the World level before would be surpassed by stronger free skaters.
 
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Vagabond said:
Why? It was highly predictable that dropping Compulsory Figures were dropped from Singles, some skaters who were at the World level before would be surpassed by stronger free skaters.
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I guess because the nature of the sport makes athletes seem so disposable.

It isn't enough to acquire and maintain skills. There is that constant drive to move forward, or be left behind.
 
I'm thinking the biggest loser at the 1990 World Championships was Tonya Harding.

She decisively beat Jill Trenary to take the 1989 Skate America title, and battled through illness at the 1990 US National Championships, dropping from medal contention after the short program to 7th place overall after the free.

On the flip side, Christopher Bowman withdrew after the short program complaining of a back injury, and was still named to the world team. Granted, he was the defending world silver medalist.

Was the ruling still in place that a medal winner at the previous year's world championships would be automatically named to the world team?

Even with Body of Work somewhat taking away the 'do or die' importance of nationals, there are still times when who goes to big events or stays home have been controversial.
 
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Louis said:
Cook was sixth at that Nationals and only managed one triple in the free, if I remember correctly. It was a total bomb. Even if the judges wanted to, there was no way to hold her up. Had she been clean with a triple loop (did she ever land it?), it might have been interesting v. Kerrigan. Without the loop, I think Kerrigan for sure.I'm thinking the biggest loser at the 1990 World Championships was Tonya Harding.
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I’m not sure even a loop would have been enough for Holly to beat Nancy in 1991. After bombing the opening double axel and her usual double flip, Nancy landed 4 clean triples, including a lutz. First 30 seconds aside, that was one of Nancy’s best performances of that program. I think the lutz would have been the deciding factor even if Holly had skated better.

essence_of_soy said:
She decisively beat Jill Trenary to take the 1989 Skate America title, and battled through illness at the 1990 US National Championships, dropping from medal contention after the short program to 7th place overall after the free.

On the flip side, Christopher Bowman withdrew after the short program complaining of a back injury, and was still named to the world team. Granted, he was the defending world silver medalist.

Was the ruling still in place that a medal winner at the previous year's world championships would be automatically named to the world team?

Even with Body of Work somewhat taking away the 'do or die' importance of nationals, there are still times when who goes to big events or stays home have been controversial.
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1990 was the last year that the previous year’s medal winners were guaranteed a spot at Worlds.
 
VGThuy said:
It's what I deserved after having to watch Holly Cook's 1990 Worlds LP. That sort of suffering requires analysis.
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Coincidentally, I also watched that LP for the first time last night. It was an experience that, in my opinion, neither requires nor deserves analysis, but I will grant that my opinion is arguable.

Also arguable--whether Holly Cook had better or worse hair than Jill Trenary. In my opinion, that argument is also not deserving of serious analysis. However, I would consider photoshopping both hairstyles onto myself and sending them out as holiday cards next year.
 
essence_of_soy said:
I'm thinking the biggest loser at the 1990 World Championships was Tonya Harding.

She decisively beat Jill Trenary to take the 1989 Skate America title, and battled through illness at the 1990 US National Championships, dropping from medal contention after the short program to 7th place overall after the free.
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Tonya at 1990 Worlds is very interesting to consider.

Apparently she was landing the 3Axel in practices and, knowing she would be competing with Midori, she very well may have included it in her long program.

As for figures, Tonya usually placed pretty well by that point. Kristi did not. And, of course, Midori almost fell down doing a loop (figure), which put her into 10th after compulsories.

Tonya could have made the podium that year... and based on Midori and Jill's difficulties (in figures and the short, respectively), not to mention Kristi's (in figures and the long), Tonya just might have been the champion.
 
skateboy said:
Tonya at 1990 Worlds is very interesting to consider.

Apparently she was landing the 3Axel in practices and, knowing she would be competing with Midori, she very well may have included it in her long program.

As for figures, Tonya usually placed pretty well by that point. Kristi did not. And, of course, Midori almost fell down doing a loop (figure), which put her into 10th after compulsories.

Tonya could have made the podium that year... and based on Midori and Jill's difficulties (in figures and the short, respectively), not to mention Kristi's (in figures and the long), Tonya just might have been the champion.
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It is interesting that Tonya could have done quite well at both 1989 and 1990 Worlds if she had made either team. The reasons she didn’t are understandable to me, but she could have beat Yamaguchi at both Worlds and I wonder what that might have done for things like endorsements for her.

I doubt that it would have changed anything for 1991 Worlds. Tonya was already US champ and made too many mistakes for even any political benefit of being a former world medallist. And unlikely there would have been any impact for 1992 either. But interesting to contemplate.
 
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VGThuy said:
This inspired me to watch 1990 Worlds for the first time in like 10 or more years. Even with two falls, Kristi was already clearly a better skater than Trenary. Sure Trenary had more elevation, but Kristi had everything else and more difficulty. I even think she was clearly more “artistic” than Trenary. I usually find Yamaguchi having a more choreographed artistry but Trenary was more “stylish” than actually artistic. Trenary’s artistry was like what I’d find at Miss America.
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I think at the time, height and distance of jumps was very important to judges. It took them a while to accept smaller jumps.
 
Frau Muller said:
Emi Watanane’s bronze at the 1979 Worlds was quite the surprise, that I recall.
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From memory, her free skate wasn't clean. I think there was a great deal of ordinals flip-flopping to create that result, too.

Too bad she didn't medal at the 1980 World Championships. Watanabe's long program that year was pretty darn spectacular.
 
I was at 1990 worlds, and Holly Cook was an absolute joy to watch. I remember that during the figures she did one figure that was superb, and as she skated over to her coach, this huge beaming smile emerged as she realized that she'd really done well and that she'd done it at Worlds. And then during the short and the long she was so thrilled and excited.

She was so happy to be there, and the audience loved her because she was so happy. From what I was told, she was very level-headed about winning a medal. She knew she had worked hard to get to that level, but she really didn't expect to do that well, and she was grateful. And her ego didn't get blown out of proportion by suddenly becoming a medallist. She was gracious and kind to the event volunteers, the arena staff, and anyone who congratulated her or asked for an autograph.

So yes, she was an unlikely medallist and didn't have the best programs ever at Worlds, but IMO she would be the first to agree with that.
 
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Leonova had an amazing two years! How would she be random?!?! Look at her two years!! 2011-2012. She was amazing. So with her being amazing she would maybe have to fall under most surprising period of amazing skating that was unexpected but also lasting.
 
Yeah, Leonova was having a series of good seasons before she won silver at Worlds, and I think even many of the FSU crowd thought she deserved bronze over Kostner in 2011.

Lindemann was insanely talented and so good when he was on. Both of those Worlds programs (especially the SP) are amazing.

For me, it's Gachinski. I know there were a few strange moments that got him to the medal (Takahashi skate malfunction, Cinquanta mocking it, Oda not counting yet again, etc) but I still can't believe Artur won a medal. That SP quite possibly has the least ice coverage I've seen in an elite-level program. Technically he was decent, but there was just nothing else there.
 
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From the 21st Century : Gachinsky !
Really nothing in his skating, besides jumps.

I agree that Holly Cook's medal is a mystery !
 
overedge said:
I was at 1990 worlds, and Holly Cook was an absolute joy to watch. I remember that during the figures she did one figure that was superb, and as she skated over to her coach, this huge beaming smile emerged as she realized that she'd really done well and that she'd done it at Worlds. And then during the short and the long she was so thrilled and excited.

She was so happy to be there, and the audience loved her because she was so happy. From what I was told, she was very level-headed about winning a medal. She knew she had worked hard to get to that level, but she really didn't expect to do that well, and she was grateful. And her ego didn't get blown out of proportion by suddenly becoming a medallist. She was gracious and kind to the event volunteers, the arena staff, and anyone who congratulated her or asked for an autograph.

So yes, she was an unlikely medallist and didn't have the best programs ever at Worlds, but IMO she would be the first to agree with that.
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Your story only makes me love Holly even more. Thank you for sharing.
 
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