Revisiting the first Grand Prix Final (1995/1996 Season)

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I wonder if the ISU will eventually make Four Continents the decider for World Team selection, like Europeans seems to be.

 

[VGThuy]

That’s up to individual federations, not the ISU, right?

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

That’s up to individual federations, not the ISU, right?

Of course. But along with setting TES mimimums to keep numbers down, the ISU may implement that ruling at the world level.

 

[VGThuy]

I just wonder why would they want to do that?

 

[allezfred]

I just wonder why would they want to do that?

They don’t. The ISU is made up of the individual federations. No federation in their right mind would agree to such a measure.

 

[gkelly]

Urmanov won over Elvis Stojko with a solid but not outstanding free skate. Note the amount of jumps all awkwardly clumped together towards the end.

I thought it was effective, not awkward. Peter Carruthers seemed to enjoy it too. YMMV.

Millot's program, by the way, is so similar to that of Samuel Contesti's free skate in the 2009 season.

Heh heh. Almost sounds like you're suggesting Millot plagiarized the program 13 years in advance.

I think he was extremely lucky to finish on the podium-- but in the (almost) words of Carol Lane, "It's France."

Another thing to keep in mind about that program is that he landed a 3Lo+3Lo combination, which was the first time it was ever done in competition. (Tara Lipinski was only the first female skater to land it, the following year.) Would probably be < or << by a tech panel today, but creditable by 1996 standards and a notable first.

Check out the long pause in Stojko's short program.

Which pause were you referring to? There were so many.

What I liked about that program was the consistent, coherent theme throughout.
What I didn't like was how empty it was of skating content outside the elements.

 

[tony]

I thought it was effective, not awkward. Peter Carruthers seemed to enjoy it too. YMMV.

I loved Urmanov and his quality, but I always found the end of that program to be a little bit on the sloppy side even if he landed all of the jumps. At Worlds he fell out of the 2Lo, and the 3T & 2A either weren't planned or he had to omit them to finish on time.

[Edited: I checked. He already did 2x 3T in that program so he wouldn't have been able to do another anyways, but he definitely had to leave out the 2A].

Heh heh. Almost sounds like you're suggesting Millot plagiarized the program 13 years in advance.

Nah, I'd think Contesti, who was French himself, maybe got some ideas from this program when putting together his own

Another thing to keep in mind about that program is that he landed a 3Lo+3Lo combination, which was the first time it was ever done in competition. (Tara Lipinski was only the first female skater to land it, the following year.) Would probably be < or << by a tech panel today, but creditable by 1996 standards and a notable first.

Can't take away from that, or that he did it at the end of the program. But not having an Axel and the majority of his other jumps having a really awkward technique distracted me. I thought Kulik was better for sure, and didn't find his Aladdin program to be all that junior.

Which pause were you referring to? There were so many.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeCQWWQcS5A&t=135s

There's 15+ seconds of nothing but hip thrusts, the same arm movement, and three turns. It's so bad that it's hilarious. But it got the audience going at least. And Dorothy Hamill.

 

[VGThuy]

Oh geez, that hip thrusting section was really something...it didn't even go with the music.

 

[gkelly]

[Edited: I checked. He already did 2x 3T in that program so he wouldn't have been able to do another anyways, but he definitely had to leave out the 2A].

Both Urmanov and Kulik had at least one three-3T freeskate that season. I guess they learned to count eventually.

And a different Zayak violation might have made the difference between silver and gold at Worlds for Kulik.

 

[screech]

Buttle really got the sharp end of the stick in 2004. From memory, he had to withdraw from the Grand Prix Final due to food poisoning. It really zapped him of so much energy at Nationals, I am amazed he and his team didn't think of withdrawing, and being considered for worlds using a medical bye.

IIRC Jeff had lost about 10 lbs due to his food poisoning (which also IIRC was contracted on the flight to the GPF)
Despite having had a great GP season, Jeff hadn't fully 'proven' himself to the federation at that point. He'd been 8th, then 15th at Worlds, 1st then 4th at 4CC. Ben had also been to 2 worlds by that point, a few 4CC, and had been on a few national podiums. Though Jeff was on the upswing at that point, and overall was better received than Ben, there wasn't really enough to put an ill Jeff on the team over a healthy Ben, who rightfully earned his place.

Of course that might have helped push Jeff to win his first Canadians the next year, not to mention the silver at both GPF and Worlds.

 

[DreamSkates]

Really loved Urmanov's free skate!

One skater from the past that I miss!

 

[JJS5056]

One skater from the past that I miss!

Funny how time changes the way fans as a whole view certain skaters. Urmanov was pretty much vilified for his 94 OG win by the N/A media that seemed to revel in the fact that she never again stood on a major podium. His 1997 Worlds withdrawal was tragic in many ways; he lost his best ever shot at a major Championship post-Lillehammer, RUS lost the chance to send 3 men to 1998 OG and Worlds because of the terrible rules of the time, and who knows what Urmanov himself could have brought to Nagano, which by account of Candeloro scoring a repeat bronze, was a less-than-inspired competition. He certainly would have benefitted from seeking outside choreography as his PCS were divine, but hidden by schtick at times. I loved that he continued through 1999, and think he may have deserved a medal in Helsinki.

@Tony Wheeler I loved your ode to Shishkova/Naumov, who were essentially retired post-Edmonton because of 1 ordinal. I think they deserved the 94, 95, and 96 World titles, and like Urmanov, they really didn't get the respect they deserved for the quality of their skating. At a time when W/S were hit or miss, Berezhnaya's status was unknown, M/S lacked SBS triples, etc., they stood out as having the perfect package IMO. I could never get into either K/D or E/B, and I have always wondered why the latter was dropped like a stone in the 1998 season? They blew their chances with mistakes, but the scores and placements indicated that they were not seen as World #2 any longer.

As far as scheduling, the way things run now is ideal, IMO. Having the CS running concurrently allows it to serve as a true alternative circuit. If anything, perhaps the season could begin 1 week sooner, the GPF pushed 1 week later, and a Team competition added in tandem?