Recently Sport's Illustrated put out a list of the Top 10 Most Thrilling. In my opinion, it's complete crap! My definition of thrilling and SI's are very different. I get the idea that whoever put this list together wasn't well informed on figure skating. So, I've decided to put together the 'Real' Top 10 Most Thrilling Skaters of all time:
10. Surya Bonaly - This nine time French National Champ, five time European Champ, and three time World Silver Medalist was always thrilling. Her jumping ability was formidable, often times attempting a quad salchow in her programs. Bonaly was also known to skate off the cuff, delivering different choreography almost every time she performed a program. She ‘thrilled’ audiences when, knowing she was out of medal contention, threw in an illegal back flip during her 1998 Olympic free skate (a trick she often landed on one foot!).
From the second I heard about "Pop Star on Ice" I wanted to see it! Unfortunately, it wasn't showing anywhere near me. I contemplated flying out to Seattle to see it. I literally logged on to Expedia and almost booked a ticket...but I didn't. Actually, now, I wish I had.
Fortunately, a fellow blogger and I'd venture as far as to say friend was able to see "Pop Star on Ice" when it premiered at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival at the Castro Theatre. Paul, the aforementioned friend and blogger, writes the blog Jumping Clapping Man, where he keeps his blog readers up to date on all things stage production, opera, figure skating, and the Arts in and around San Francisco.
This is the off season for figure skating, not much competition news but for insiders it's one of the most important times. Who's switching coaches? What music will they use next season? Who's competing where?
In an Olympic year, as next season is, there's another question...who's coming back?
Never to be shut up...figure skating's bad boy, Johnny Weir, hits the big screen this weekend at the Seattle International Film Festival with a witty documentary chronicling his attempt to ascend to the top of the figure skating pyramid.
Sasha Cohen's presumptive return to competitive skating still has the figure skating world in a bit of a buzz. It's kind of like drinking a lot of caffeine and that energy that ensues for the next few hours.
But that buzz is certain to wear off and then there is that inevitable energy crash. And that crash, for many hardcore Sasha Cohen fans, will be the actualization that this isn't in the bag...by a long shot! Of course I'm talking about her spot on the 2010 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team.
Johnny Weir has managed to land himself a piece of television real estate with an upcoming series on The Sundance Channel entitled "Be Good Johnny Weir."
How important is this damn jump? The quad is of course what I'm talking about.
Almost exclusive to men's figure skating (Miki Ando of Japan is the only women to have landed one in competition), the quad is four revolutions in the air as opposed to the usual three. The most common quad is the toe-loop, but the salchow has also been landed in competition.
South Korea's Yu-Na Kim shattered the competition Saturday Night at the Staples Center en route to winning the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships. The previous high score for a female skater was 199.52. Yu-Na posted a score of 207.71 as she became the first Korean skater to win a World Championship. Her Free Skate to Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazad"' was one of the finest programs ever put on ice, and the crowd responded with a standing ovation that seemed to last a lifetime. After her free skate she was flanked by over 20 Korean cameras, many of whom stayed in the United States after the World Baseball Classic just to see her performance. Michelle Kwan described Kim as "dominating'" as she took in the action inside the Staples Center.
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