Which beloved or highly regarded skaters do you personally NOT love or highly regard??

[Vagabond]

I love how this turned into a Michelle Kwan thread

You're new here.

 

[bardtoob]

Nathan Chen ( he does not touch me the way other skaters do)

... Tell-all book

 

[tony]

Lovacheva Averbukh
(Can autocorrect Please not mark Proper names as Wrong?)

Roslyn Sumner

Sometimes autocorrect can be helpful.

 

[Marco]

Stop bursting my balloon. Seriously, I don't recall that and prior to IJS, I didn't pay attention to URs unless it was really bad. Did she ever have a strong flip before going to RA in 04?

Anyway, I still think that 01 performance was one of her best along with 98 Nationals and 95 SA. Those would be the quintessential Kwan performances for me.

Her flip in the short at the same competition was glorious.

1995 SA was ironically her most difficult program - pure jump content wise.

 

[sonsofanarchy]

Elaine Zayak. It seems everyone loves her today and I just don't get it. I appreciate she was one of those to help elevate triple jumps in ladies skating, and that she did make an effort to improve her artistry, but she seems slow and sloppy to me overall. And she was super inconsistent too, people say she was undermarked at the 84 Games which I agree with but everyone who knows figure skating knows you can't just bomb almost each event for 2 whole seasons and show up at the Games and skate well and be fully rewarded.

I think a lot of the love for her is just people hating Sumners, which I can get since I don't care for Sumners either.

 

[olympic]

Elaine Zayak. It seems everyone loves her today and I just don't get it. I appreciate she was one of those to help elevate triple jumps in ladies skating, and that she did make an effort to improve her artistry, but she seems slow and sloppy to me overall. And she was super inconsistent too, people say she was undermarked at the 84 Games which I agree with but everyone who knows figure skating knows you can't just bomb almost each event for 2 whole seasons and show up at the Games and skate well and be fully rewarded.

I think a lot of the love for her is just people hating Sumners, which I can get since I don't care for Sumners either.

I know this is a personal opinion thread, but I have to disagree: I don't think she was anymore consistent or inconsistent than any other top U.S. skater. I recall her 'bombing' the '82 Nats LP and falling x2 during her '84 Nats LP, but that is really all that I remember.

I for one did not default to Zayak over hating Sumners, who had a ton of problems of her own holding it together in competitions. Rosalynn was 'pretty' on the ice but I would consider Zayak more dynamic

BTW, her comebacks at both '82 Worlds and '84 Worlds were for the ages, and all the more sweet when you consider that she was probably the least favored skater in the USFSA vs. Sumners and Chin. She certainly ended up w/ a bigger medal haul than Chin who never attained a world title

 

[sonsofanarchy]

I know this is a personal opinion thread, but I have to disagree: I don't think she was anymore consistent or inconsistent than any other top U.S. skater. I recall her 'bombing' the '82 Nats LP and falling x2 during her '84 Nats LP, but that is really all that I remember.

I for one did not default to Zayak over hating Sumners, who had a ton of problems of her own holding it together in competitions. Rosalynn was 'pretty' on the ice but I would consider Zayak more dynamic

BTW, her comebacks at both '82 Worlds and '84 Worlds were for the ages, and all the more sweet when you consider that she was probably the least favored skater in the USFSA vs. Sumners and Chin. She certainly ended up w/ a bigger medal haul than Chin who never attained a world title

She bombed at literally all the 81-82 competitions, and the short program at worlds. 82-83 she had subpar outings the whole season. I don't know about all her 83-84 competitions, I think she was out injured most of the season, but she had a very bad Nationals.

As for Chin she had all kinds of problems to deal with from her crazy nutjob mother, to that weird muscle alignment thing she had. She did well to achieve what she did. She also was in her brief prime during the era Witt was almost unbeatable (84-86). The previous era was a lot more wide open. And considering she was 12th in figures in Sarajevo which was way down with Zayak, and as the defending Champion her clean short program at the 86 Nationals had her only 3rd, I doubt she was this big USFSA favorite either. All I know is I enjoy watching her old programs more than I enjoy either Zayak or Sumners, I don't care which has more medals which is obviously Sumners.

 

[bardtoob]

She bombed at literally all the 81-82 competitions, and the short program at worlds.

Zayak was World Champion that season and they invented a rule named after her because she was doing more triples in a program then ever done by a female. She had some falls while changing the sport. She also had a negative bias against her going into the Olympics because of it. What of it!?!

As for Chin she had all kinds of problems . . .

Chin's problems were not unique, they were just recorded and played on national television for the first time.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Zayak was World Champion that season and they invented a rule named after her because she was doing more triples in a program then ever done by a female. She had some falls while changing the sport. She also had a negative bias against her going into the Olympics because of it. What of it!?

Slight adjustment Re the Zayak Rule:

Zayak Rule, enacted at the 1982 ISU Congress, which states that a skater may not perform the same kind of triple jump more than twice, and for it to be given full credit on both occasions, one of the two triples must be incorporated into ...

 

[syzygy]

Gracie Gold. While I understand how hard it must have been to come back after all her mental health struggles, she is no longer a top skater and fans treat her like one.

 

[bardtoob]

Gracie Gold. While I understand how hard it must have been to come back after all her mental health struggles, she is no longer a top skater and fans treat her like one.

The top skaters lack star power, so of course fans show interest in Gracie.

 

[syzygy]

The top skaters lack star power, so of course fans show interest in Gracie.

I personally think she lacks star power nowadays, but I could see that.

 

[syzygy]

and Mariah Bell - way way too jolly hockey sticks.

What does this even mean?

 

[Diane Mars]

Carolina Kostner. I know... But... I... can't.

 

[Lemonade20]

Carolina Kostner. I know... But... I... can't.

she’s a beautiful skater but somehow I never felt a connection. Not sure what it is ...

 

[Willin]

I personally think she lacks star power nowadays, but I could see that.

How the heck has she lost star power? Yeah she's lost the ice princess star power, but she's gained the much more powerful star of the underdog who speaks up for people in and out of skating who suffer from mental illness, eating disorders, and pressure to be a certain way. She's now speaking on more - and more high profile - TV shows and documentaries than she ever did as a skater. She's getting a lot of press and spreading her message so a lot of people feel less alone.

 

[sonsofanarchy]

Kostner is someone who converted me. I couldn't stand her when she was regularly making mistakes, and seemingly held up as a judges pet. Worst of all the 2008 worlds where she won silver and nearly gold after 5 mistakes in her long program. It seemed ridiculous she wound up ahead of the pre worlds favorite Yu Na Kim who had 1 major mistake on a triple lutz in both her short and long, but otherwise skated well. Over time though I totally changed my view on her. I came to appreciate more and more her qualites like amazing speed and basic skating, which she always had anyway, and her elegance and maturity grew over time too, and her quality jumps and elements when she did do them. She also became impressive by her ability to fight through dissapointments and come back strong, and her longevity in the sport. She was screwed bigtime out of a higher medal, silver or even gold at the 2014 Olympics, not to start a whole Sotni-gate topic; and it was sad to see her not take a huge opportunity to end her career with a 2nd world title on home ice.


Then again I kind of get the sense when I wasn't so big on her, was a time period many others weren't as well, so I am not sure if that qualifies for this thread in anyway.

 

[UGG]

Idk how anyone can watch MK’s short program from 1996 worlds and not be impressed that she could skate like that at 15 years old. https://youtu.be/1imuQWeIi4Q you watch the skate and then see her little girl face at the end

 

[sonsofanarchy]

Idk how anyone can watch MK’s short program from 1996 worlds and not be impressed that she could skate like that at 15 years old. https://youtu.be/1imuQWeIi4Q you watch the skate and then see her little girl face at the end

I preferred her short to her long this year to be honest. Her long was still an excellent program of course, and a complicated character for a young skater to take on and done quite well, but I just liked the short better. More enjoyable by far for me.

 

[PairSkater12345]

Sui/Han They are good, but they just don't do it for me. At all.
Ashley Wagner never was a fan. IMHO, she hit US ladies at an opportune time (which happens with a lot of skaters which is good for them) Sass didn't triumph skills as far as I was concerned. She had the sass, but not the skills.
Alysa Liu she's another Wagner to me.
Virtue/Moir I much preferred the Shib sibs and Davis/White
Most US male skaters except Nathan Chen. That's past and present. I get that Jason Brown is such an artist, but he leaves me cold and totally uninterested. Same goes for pretty much all the rest.
Duhamel/Radford I appreciated the work ethic, but that's about it with regard to their skating.

IMHO, something about a skater or a team just grabs you or it doesn't. Skills wise, all the top tier skaters are pretty much equal so it's just something about them that you like or you don't.

So Sui/Han "don't do it for you"
Duhamel/Radford You like their work ethic but not their skating.
What pairs team does it for you?