What's Old Is New Again: New Articles Re: Figure Skating History

Josh78 said:
So interesting! Maybe that's just how the expression "praying to the skate gods" got it origin? lol
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Good question... but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a Dick Button original. Whatever the case, take me to to church!

skatesindreams said:
Thanks so much for sharing this!
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You're welcome! It's definitely a gem. I had a wonderful conversation with Benjamin T. Wright earlier this week and he told me that Frances was such a nervous judge he'd hold her hand before she went out there and reassure her, "You can do it, Frannie."

The third of this week's trio of Skate Guard blogs is up... Two Tickets To Paradise: The 1980 Canadian Women's Controversy, takes a look back at the hoopla surrounding the CFSA's selection of which women were sent to the 1980 Olympics and Worlds:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/03/two-tickets-to-paradise-1980-canadian.html
 
So, politicking; and manipulating the prospects of worthy contenders who don't fit the plans of TPTB, isn't new!
My sympathy to the victims.
 
skatesindreams said:
How I wish that video of this existed!
Yet another reason why I continue to search,
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Never give up searching! It's so important! :)

The latest Skate Guard blog takes an ever so brief (and I mean brief) look at The 1931 North American Figure Skating Championships, held during The Great Depression in Ottawa:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/03/the-1931-north-american-figure-skating.html

Also of interest to history buffs...

The ISU has (finally) started releasing some of its archival video footage on their YouTube channel. So far, there are two nice pieces on speed skating and clips of Bud Wilson, Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy, Sonja Henie, Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier and Barbara Ann Scott. You can find them at
https://www.youtube.com/user/SkatingISU/videos.
 
The third of this week's trio of Skate Guard blogs looks at The Modern English School, a historically significant style of skating that reigned in Great Britain in the 30's, 40's and 50's... largely as a result of the top coaches of those times:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/03/the-modern-english-school.html

Also of interest to skating history buffs...

Wendy Toye (SK) inducted into the Humboldt and District Sports Hall Of Fame: https://discoverhumboldt.com/local/12819-toye-shocked-at-hall-of-fame-induction
Article on Torvill and Dean and the return of Dancing On Ice: http://metro.co.uk/2017/03/10/olymp...in-talks-to-return-to-dancing-on-ice-6502563/
 
N_Halifax said:
The third of this week's trio of Skate Guard blogs is up... Two Tickets To Paradise: The 1980 Canadian Women's Controversy, takes a look back at the hoopla surrounding the CFSA's selection of which women were sent to the 1980 Olympics and Worlds:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/03/two-tickets-to-paradise-1980-canadian.html
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It's interesting that 1980 Worlds had both the U.S. and Canada send skaters (Elaine Zayak and Tracey Wainman) ahead of others that placed higher at nationals (Sandy Lenz, Heather Kemkaran). Note that Ellen Burka coached both Wainman and Kemkaran in that 1979-1980 season (who knows how the dynamics were under that arrangement).

There's also the mystery why Anett Poetzsch was the only East German representative at the 1980 Olympics, as Katarina Witt was later sent to Worlds alongside Anett.
 
Seerek said:
It's interesting that 1980 Worlds had both the U.S. and Canada send skaters (Elaine Zayak and Tracey Wainman) ahead of others that placed higher at nationals (Sandy Lenz, Heather Kemkaran). Note that Ellen Burka coached both Wainman and Kemkaran in that 1979-1980 season (who knows how the dynamics were under that arrangement).

There's also the mystery why Anett Poetzsch was the only East German representative at the 1980 Olympics, as Katarina Witt was later sent to Worlds alongside Anett.
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Zayak at the 1980 Olympics and Witt at the 1980 Worlds were two things I'd never considered! Thank you for mentioning those... the timing is certainly interesting!
 
N_Halifax said:
GoErie's feature on Caryn Kadavy's 1987 bronze medal win at the World Championships in Ohio: http://www.goerie.com/news/20170315/look-back-march-15-1987
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It appears that the article assumes that the "Named Skater" rule (that was in place during those years to determine following year's berths) applied to any skater that won a medal, even if there was a skater from the same country that placed even higher. Kadavy won bronze, but I think only Debi Thomas was assured of a 1988 Olympics/Worlds berth because she was the highest placing American at 1987 Worlds, winning silver (someone please correct me if this assumption is incorrect).
 
Seerek said:
It's interesting that 1980 Worlds had both the U.S. and Canada send skaters (Elaine Zayak and Tracey Wainman) ahead of others that placed higher at nationals (Sandy Lenz, Heather Kemkaran). Note that Ellen Burka coached both Wainman and Kemkaran in that 1979-1980 season (who knows how the dynamics were under that arrangement).

There's also the mystery why Anett Poetzsch was the only East German representative at the 1980 Olympics, as Katarina Witt was later sent to Worlds alongside Anett.
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Katarina was only 14 in 1980. I have always wondered why she never competed at the Junior Worlds. I think her major international debut was at the 1979 Europeans - she would have only been 13 there.
 
N_Halifax said:
Funnily enough though, the latest Skate Guard blog just happens to focus on an event from that very season... The 1987 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Kitchener:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/03/the-1987-world-junior-figure-skating.html
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A shame about the poor attendance at some of the sessions. Given the venue's reasonably close proximity to both the highway and the downtown, logistics wouldn't be a factor.

It must be said that Kitchener has hosted many events at that Auditorium (2005 World Juniors, 2001-2 Grand Prix Final, 2009 Skate Canada), and each time out, some skaters had issues of having elements too close to the boards (during the sessions I watched live).
 
Seerek said:
A shame about the poor attendance at some of the sessions. Given the venue's reasonably close proximity to both the highway and the downtown, logistics wouldn't be a factor.
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Back in the 80's, junior competitions just didn't seem to capture the interest of as many people as they do today and that may have had something to do with it as well... I always hate reading about events with low attendance, but they've happened during every skating era... even in North American cities you might not expect. Some great skating at that year's event!
 
The focus on Finnish skating history continues on Skate Guard this week with a look at the career of World and European Medallist and 3X Olympian Marcus Nikkanen:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/03/snubbed-in-scandinavia-marcus-nikkanen.html

Also of interest to skating history buffs:

Elaine Hooper's piece on Mary Parry and Roy Mason, partners on and off the ice who passed away within a week of each other earlier this month: http://www.iceskating.org.uk/index.cfm/news/mary-parry-and-roy-mason/

PJ Kwong's piece on skater reputation, which looks back on Tara/Michelle in 1998 and Liz Manley in 1988: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figureskating/figure-skating-judges-human-factor-1.4039304
 
She starred in lavish Eisballets in Berlin, wowed thousands at The Hippodrome in New York City and starred in the silent film "The Frozen Warning"... but what became of Charlotte in her later years? Find out more in the latest Skate Guard blog, Revisiting Charlotte Oelschlägel In War-Torn Germany:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/04/revisiting-charlotte-oelschlagel-in-war.html

Also of interest to skating history buffs... Cynthia Coull and Mark Rowsom's induction to the Cambridge Sports Hall Of Fame:

https://www.cambridgetimes.ca/opini...2017-cambridge-sports-hall-of-fame-inductees/
 
The latest Skate Guard blog takes a brief look back at The 1955 North American Figure Skating Championships in Regina:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/04/the-1955-north-american-figure-skating.html

Also of interest to skating history buffs...

Scott Russell's piece on the folklore of sport in Toronto mentions Toller Cranston:
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/folklore-of-sport-in-toronto-is-indeed-rich-1.4060468

The ISU channel's video of Eva Romanova and Pavel Roman's FD from the 1962 Worlds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XtEmpTkyMo
 
Better late than never... the Reader Mail edition of Skate Guard is online:

http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard
http://skateguard1.blogspot.ca/2017/04/better-late-than-never-reader-mail.html

Also of interest to skating history buffs:

New videos from @floskate's wonderful collection are online, including rare videos of Ondrej Nepela, Janet Lynn & more: https://www.youtube.com/user/floskate/videos

A piece on the exhibit of Dick Button's collection at the Fenimore Art Museum:
https://dailygazette.com/article/2017/04/13/dick-button-exhibit-traces-history-of-ice-skating
 
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