Based on the poll, the winner of Skater of the Decade is Johnny Weir!
He even got to ring in the next decade in style with a blow out in New York. Check out Susan's blog at lifeskate.com for photos and video of the event.
I'll give his sit spin variation a whirl at the rink tomorrow to see if I've still got it.
Good luck at Nationals this week Johnny!
Showing posts with label Skater of the Decade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skater of the Decade. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Skater of the Decade - Michelle Kwan
I saw a credit card commercial around the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics that showed clips of great American Olympic Champions from both the Summer and Winter Games. The commercials showed a figure skater spinning and receiving a medal. Interestingly, the skater in the clips was neither the 2002 champ, Sarah Hughes, or the 1998 champ, Tara Lipinski. The skater stood next to them on the podium in those Games and the medal shown in the clip was bronze. The skater was Michelle Kwan.
She won nine Nationals titles, 5 World titles, and two Olympic medals. Three of her World titles and six of the Nationals titles came this past decade. Perhaps this is why she was the skater in the showcase of great American Olympic champions. She's the skater most associated with success and championships. She's the most decorated American skater.
Despite her record of success and golden moments, she often entered competitions written off while the media was hyping one of Dick Button's "baby ballerinas" or a mighty jumper from Russia. She shifted some of her focus to college at the dawn of the decade. She quit competing in the fall during the Grand Prix Series. Yet, she loved being the underdog and she relished being able to put those prematurely writing her retirement to shame. She took the time off from competion in the fall to seriously train while she pursued her education goals and come to the competitions that matter healthy and hungry.
She never quite mastered the shift in scoring to IJS by missing the Grand Prix events. She received the last 6.0 ever at the 2004 Worlds, but she didn't immediately set record scores under IJS.
There were coaching shifts for her as well, most controversial before the 2002 Salt Lake City Games when she left Frank Carroll. She worked with Scott Williams and then Rafael Artunian to ramp up her technical content. By 2005, she won her ninth US Championship. She tied Maribel Vinson Owen's record of titles, the legend who had coached Frank Carroll in a bit of cosmic connection in the small world of figure skating.
Despite the changes in skating, coaches and life, Michelle entered 2006 season as an Olympic medal favorite for the third time. As usual she missed the GP events but this time there were reports of a hip injury. Then came an abdominal injury that pushed her out of Nationals and filing a petition to receive a medical waiver. She was named to the Olympic team and set off for Torino after successful monitoring session from US Figure Skating. She walked in the Opening Ceremonies and then went to practice on the Olympic ice the next day... and skating into a new injury, this time a pulled groin. She graciously withdrew instead of hiding her pain or fighting on. She know she wouldn't skate well and allowed another skater to take her place.
She continued school, earning a degree at the University of Denver and then acceptance to Tufts University's, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She even became an American Public Diplomacy Envoy during the Bush Administration. Even though the public hadn't seen her skate since 2005, as she completed her undergraduate degree there was buzz she would be coming back ala Cohen, Plushenko, and Lambiel. NBC invited her to provide color commentary during the 2009 Worlds in which she seriously scoped out the competition. The USFSA kept a spot open for her at Skate America. Once again, she graciously stepped aside so others could focus on their training and goals.
Always graceful. Always a champion. Michelle Kwan, a skater of the decade.
She won nine Nationals titles, 5 World titles, and two Olympic medals. Three of her World titles and six of the Nationals titles came this past decade. Perhaps this is why she was the skater in the showcase of great American Olympic champions. She's the skater most associated with success and championships. She's the most decorated American skater.
Despite her record of success and golden moments, she often entered competitions written off while the media was hyping one of Dick Button's "baby ballerinas" or a mighty jumper from Russia. She shifted some of her focus to college at the dawn of the decade. She quit competing in the fall during the Grand Prix Series. Yet, she loved being the underdog and she relished being able to put those prematurely writing her retirement to shame. She took the time off from competion in the fall to seriously train while she pursued her education goals and come to the competitions that matter healthy and hungry.
She never quite mastered the shift in scoring to IJS by missing the Grand Prix events. She received the last 6.0 ever at the 2004 Worlds, but she didn't immediately set record scores under IJS.
There were coaching shifts for her as well, most controversial before the 2002 Salt Lake City Games when she left Frank Carroll. She worked with Scott Williams and then Rafael Artunian to ramp up her technical content. By 2005, she won her ninth US Championship. She tied Maribel Vinson Owen's record of titles, the legend who had coached Frank Carroll in a bit of cosmic connection in the small world of figure skating.
Despite the changes in skating, coaches and life, Michelle entered 2006 season as an Olympic medal favorite for the third time. As usual she missed the GP events but this time there were reports of a hip injury. Then came an abdominal injury that pushed her out of Nationals and filing a petition to receive a medical waiver. She was named to the Olympic team and set off for Torino after successful monitoring session from US Figure Skating. She walked in the Opening Ceremonies and then went to practice on the Olympic ice the next day... and skating into a new injury, this time a pulled groin. She graciously withdrew instead of hiding her pain or fighting on. She know she wouldn't skate well and allowed another skater to take her place.
She continued school, earning a degree at the University of Denver and then acceptance to Tufts University's, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She even became an American Public Diplomacy Envoy during the Bush Administration. Even though the public hadn't seen her skate since 2005, as she completed her undergraduate degree there was buzz she would be coming back ala Cohen, Plushenko, and Lambiel. NBC invited her to provide color commentary during the 2009 Worlds in which she seriously scoped out the competition. The USFSA kept a spot open for her at Skate America. Once again, she graciously stepped aside so others could focus on their training and goals.
Always graceful. Always a champion. Michelle Kwan, a skater of the decade.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Skater of the Decade: Sasha Cohen
Sasha, you helped push the IJS towards rewarding bendy-girls like you. You could capture the gold during the Grand Prix season and maximize your points with your Gumby-like limbs. You were also proclaimed as the next great American skater, but when Nationals and Worlds came around it didn't quite pan out. Despite racking up the points for those spirals and spins, the jumps didn't also seem stable or focused on while entering the jump.
You hit the senior stage with a fabulous 2nd place finish at the 2000 U.S. Nationals when Dick Button was touting "baby ballerinas." You were too young for worlds that year and injuries held back your international senior debut until the 2002 Olympics. It takes a certain amount of gusto to debut at the Olympics, and you came in fourth!
Then came 2006 and the next Olympics in Torino. You battled the flu and won the U.S. title, wearing a gold dress and skated to Nino Rota's Romeo & Juliet beautifully. Shaun White, snowboarding's Flying Tomato, said he wanted to leave the Games with a medal and date with you. You crushed the competition in the short program. Then came the long.... a fall on the opening jump and hands down on the next. You battled through the rest of the program and skated away with a silver.
You toured and gave acting a whirl. (The jock-strap scene in Blades of Glory, what range you demonstrated!) Without ever winning many major titles, you were still the most recognizable name on the remaining professional champions' tours. However, you always said you planned to be back competing for 2010.
Finally, this season you entered Grand Prix events and then withdrew before each one. Your silver medal from Torino provides a bye to Nationals every year. Will we see you in Spokane?
Then came 2006 and the next Olympics in Torino. You battled the flu and won the U.S. title, wearing a gold dress and skated to Nino Rota's Romeo & Juliet beautifully. Shaun White, snowboarding's Flying Tomato, said he wanted to leave the Games with a medal and date with you. You crushed the competition in the short program. Then came the long.... a fall on the opening jump and hands down on the next. You battled through the rest of the program and skated away with a silver.
You toured and gave acting a whirl. (The jock-strap scene in Blades of Glory, what range you demonstrated!) Without ever winning many major titles, you were still the most recognizable name on the remaining professional champions' tours. However, you always said you planned to be back competing for 2010.
Finally, this season you entered Grand Prix events and then withdrew before each one. Your silver medal from Torino provides a bye to Nationals every year. Will we see you in Spokane?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Skater of the Decade: Evgeny Plushenko
This decade saw a tranisition from 6.0 scoring to the International Judging System. It was also defined by an on going debate in men's skating, "To Quad or Not To Quad." Evgeny Plushenko was able to dominate under both judging systems and always answered with a quad. Sometimes he would put an exclamation mark on his quad-toe statements with a quad-Salchow.
He entered the decade the young challenger to Alexei Yagudin and heir to the Russian skating dynasty. The rivalry between Yagudin and Plushenko became fierce. Plushenko was the only one to beat Yagudin in a few years by winning his first World Championship in 2001. They were co-favorites going into the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. Plushenko had a rare fall in the short, and Yagudin went on to some of the highest scores in the 6.0 system history securing his gold medal.
After those Olympics, Plushenko went full steam ahead to win two more World titles, 5 European titles and the 2006 Olympics. He even became the first skater to land two different quads in a program, and quadruple toe-loop and quad Salchow during a Grand Prix event.
His off-ice life has kept in the spotlight as well. He's a Russian superstar, he's been elected to city councils, has had two weddings covered extensively by Russian media and even took time to help Dima Bilan win the Eurovision Song Contest. This is like being on American Idol here, he's a Russian Ellen Degeneres, he's everywhere. I'm sure Oprah was thinking about having him a cover of some magazine...
He's coming back this season to resurrect Russian skating. He's still hitting the quads and even attempting triple axels-quad toes. His knees will probably need to be replaced next year, but he's pushing through anyways. He returned to competitive skating after four years away with a win at Cup of Russia and then got a crazy 100.09 points for a short program that featured a turn out on triple lutz. Craziness! All the points, all the quads, all the chest-thumping leads to a lot of noise about being a medal contender and wild card in Vancouver. How you can you not consider Plushenko a Skater of the Decade?
He entered the decade the young challenger to Alexei Yagudin and heir to the Russian skating dynasty. The rivalry between Yagudin and Plushenko became fierce. Plushenko was the only one to beat Yagudin in a few years by winning his first World Championship in 2001. They were co-favorites going into the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. Plushenko had a rare fall in the short, and Yagudin went on to some of the highest scores in the 6.0 system history securing his gold medal.
After those Olympics, Plushenko went full steam ahead to win two more World titles, 5 European titles and the 2006 Olympics. He even became the first skater to land two different quads in a program, and quadruple toe-loop and quad Salchow during a Grand Prix event.
His off-ice life has kept in the spotlight as well. He's a Russian superstar, he's been elected to city councils, has had two weddings covered extensively by Russian media and even took time to help Dima Bilan win the Eurovision Song Contest. This is like being on American Idol here, he's a Russian Ellen Degeneres, he's everywhere. I'm sure Oprah was thinking about having him a cover of some magazine...
He's coming back this season to resurrect Russian skating. He's still hitting the quads and even attempting triple axels-quad toes. His knees will probably need to be replaced next year, but he's pushing through anyways. He returned to competitive skating after four years away with a win at Cup of Russia and then got a crazy 100.09 points for a short program that featured a turn out on triple lutz. Craziness! All the points, all the quads, all the chest-thumping leads to a lot of noise about being a medal contender and wild card in Vancouver. How you can you not consider Plushenko a Skater of the Decade?
Skater of the Decade: Haydenettes
Consider the Haydenettes of Lexington, Massachusettes. When a synchro team wins Nationals and is selected to represent the country at Worlds, they become USA Team 1. The Haydenettes have done that eight times this decade. Eight top five finishes at the Synchro World Championships to match. The Haydenettes are US Synchronized Skating.
They're the team that gets on the Today Show to squeeze their programs onto the Rink at Rockefeller Center for the nation to see synchro. They're the team showcased on ESPN when it takes a stab at sports that don't involve a ball.
They attract the top coaches - Saga Krantz could have stayed with championship teams in Finland. Instead she choose to grow the sport in the US by continuing the tradition of excellence on the team.
While they didn't end the decade as US Champions in 2009, they've started this season strong with solid programs and massive scores at the Porter Classic. Expect the Haydenettes to continue to dominate in the US and start to attack the podium on the international stage in the new decade. Synchro will eventually be in the Olympics and you'll see the Haydenettes take the mantel of USA Team 1 on Olympic ice!
They attract the top coaches - Saga Krantz could have stayed with championship teams in Finland. Instead she choose to grow the sport in the US by continuing the tradition of excellence on the team.
While they didn't end the decade as US Champions in 2009, they've started this season strong with solid programs and massive scores at the Porter Classic. Expect the Haydenettes to continue to dominate in the US and start to attack the podium on the international stage in the new decade. Synchro will eventually be in the Olympics and you'll see the Haydenettes take the mantel of USA Team 1 on Olympic ice!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Skater of the Decade: Irina Slutskaya
Irina could possibly skate away with a title of "Comeback Kid" of the skating world. She'd been near hanging up her skates at the turn of the century, took time of to take care of her mom, then had to take care of herself after a bout of vasculitis. Through it all she skated those change-foot Biellmans, smiling between her rosy cheeks.
She began the decade with a friendly rivalry with Michelle Kwan. She nearly beat Kwan at the 2001 Worlds which led to media hyping a showdown between Kwan and Slutskaya at the Salt Lake City Olympics. They both made mistakes and neither won. Slutskaya skated away with the silver at those Games and won the World Championships the following month, beating Michelle both times.
Setbacks followed her the next few seasons. She choose not to compete at the 2003 Worlds due her mother taking ill. The next season, she had recurring issues that involved fatigue and swelling in the legs. She pushed through and continued to compete but did not skate well. She ended up hospitalized but came back to win her second World Championship in her hometown of Moscow in 2005.
She again went to the following Olympics as a heavy favorite with another American challenger, Sasha Cohen. She came armed with a new record behind her name, the only female skater to win seven European Championships. Again, both she and Sasha made mistakes while another captured gold. It was a bronze medal for her this time.
In the fall of 2007, she gave birth to a son, Artem. Still there were whispers that she would be back for the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Just as Irina is as sure as the triples she lands with ease, Irina was sure she was not going to making a comeback to the competitive, Olympic-eligible ranks. She still skates and wows crowds, but she doesn't need to prove herself anymore.
Irina Slutskaya earned 7 European titles, 2 World titles, and 2 Olympic medals. That's more than most skaters will ever acheive, but the whispers and desire for her to comeback once more show how much influence she had over skating in this decade.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Skater of the Decade: Johnny Weir
As we say good night to the decade without a name, I thought it would be fun to review some of the skaters that have been prominent players on the competitive landscape over the past 10 years. Let's start with Johnny Weir.
Why start with Johnny? Well, has any other skater had both a movie made about them and inspired a character in a hit movie? Johnny Weir has done both with the documentary, "Pop Star On Ice" and the figure skating spoof starring John Heder and Will Ferrell, "Blades of Glory."
Johnny also personally inspired me while I was working my first job and still coaching group lessons on the weekends. I had figured that since I was out of college my skating days were numbered. Then I watched this teenager on the Nationals broadcast at the beginning of the century who mesmerized me with his spins. Whilst sitting the in Kiss'N'Cry after his skate, Terry Gannon and Dick Button chatted about how he started skating when he was 12 and now just fa few years later he was skating a Nationals. Not Junior Nationals, not skating in the novice or junior level, but at the senior level on friggin' TV!
My 22 year-old self decided to get off the couch. I went to the last hour of the public ice that evening and taught myself the variation on the sit spin he did. That involved placing the free foot over the bent skating knee while in the sit position and then stretching the arms down to the skating foot. My bottom ended up getting a bit icy before I figured it out and got the balance over my skating foot correctly.
After debuting on the senior level, he won the first of three National titles in 2004. In each victory he showed his individuality, culminating in skating to The Swan AS a swan with a glove named Camille after the composer, Camille Saint-Saens in Torino. His comments kept the press interested, especially comparing his performance to a shot of coke and vodka... and not the bubbly type of coke.
He changed coaches a year after the Olympics. His seasons have been up and down since Torino, but he managed a bronze medal at worlds in 2008 giving the US 3 slots to compete at Worlds the following year. He's had a successful run during the Grand Prix this fall making him a strong player in the upcoming US Nationals and Vancouver Games.
Johnny Weir, definitely one of the skaters who defined this decade of competitive elite skating.
Why start with Johnny? Well, has any other skater had both a movie made about them and inspired a character in a hit movie? Johnny Weir has done both with the documentary, "Pop Star On Ice" and the figure skating spoof starring John Heder and Will Ferrell, "Blades of Glory."
Johnny also personally inspired me while I was working my first job and still coaching group lessons on the weekends. I had figured that since I was out of college my skating days were numbered. Then I watched this teenager on the Nationals broadcast at the beginning of the century who mesmerized me with his spins. Whilst sitting the in Kiss'N'Cry after his skate, Terry Gannon and Dick Button chatted about how he started skating when he was 12 and now just fa few years later he was skating a Nationals. Not Junior Nationals, not skating in the novice or junior level, but at the senior level on friggin' TV!
My 22 year-old self decided to get off the couch. I went to the last hour of the public ice that evening and taught myself the variation on the sit spin he did. That involved placing the free foot over the bent skating knee while in the sit position and then stretching the arms down to the skating foot. My bottom ended up getting a bit icy before I figured it out and got the balance over my skating foot correctly.
After debuting on the senior level, he won the first of three National titles in 2004. In each victory he showed his individuality, culminating in skating to The Swan AS a swan with a glove named Camille after the composer, Camille Saint-Saens in Torino. His comments kept the press interested, especially comparing his performance to a shot of coke and vodka... and not the bubbly type of coke.
He changed coaches a year after the Olympics. His seasons have been up and down since Torino, but he managed a bronze medal at worlds in 2008 giving the US 3 slots to compete at Worlds the following year. He's had a successful run during the Grand Prix this fall making him a strong player in the upcoming US Nationals and Vancouver Games.
Johnny Weir, definitely one of the skaters who defined this decade of competitive elite skating.
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