Jen Talks Skating, Part III: The Pairs
So, the time has come to talk about pairs - the fastest, scariest, and most dangerous of skating's four disciplines. We're talking slashed faces, concussions, skate blades stuck in heads... not to mention plain old getting dropped from ~8 feet in the air! The particular combination of speed and complicated jumps, throws, and overhead lifts (as opposed to the lower lifts of the jump-free discipline of ice dance) makes pairs really exciting to watch when done well. (Though from personal experience, you REALLY do not want to share ice with pairs, even the little ones. Best to maintain a safe distance!) Until 2010 (and excluding the very bizarre happenings of 2002), every Olympic gold in pairs was won by a Russian or Soviet team - so there's gonna be a lot of Russians up in this here list. I did have a serious debate with myself over the top spot, though... so for the first time, we're going to have a joint first position, because I love these two programs SO MUCH that I cannot decide. Cannot.
1. "Turandot" Free Skate, Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo, 2003 World Championships
This performance is flawless. Literally flawless. If, after watching this, you still don't like or "get" pairs, then I'm afraid there's no hope for you; you may also not have a soul. Shen & Zhao are one of my two favorite pairs of all time, and this was (for me) their absolute peak. (They won their first world title with this program, and are currently the reigning Olympic champions, so - I think it's safe to say the judges agree with me!)
1. "Moonlight Sonata" Free Skate, Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, 1994 Olympics
G & G, as they're known to skating fans, are perhaps the greatest pairs team in history - certainly in the top three. They are beautifully classical Russian skaters, and they are simply lovely to watch. They won their second Olympic gold with this program - and Sergei died just over a year later. (It was terrible and my mother read it in the newspaper one morning before I went to school and I cried for like an hour.) Their Rachmaninoff/Rodin program for 1994 World Pros is also a thing of beauty; I think it's actually better than any of their competitive programs.
3. Rachmaninoff #2 Free Skate, Natalia Mishkutenok & Artur Dmitriev, 1994 Olympics
Artur Dmitriev is something of a mad genius in the world of pairs; he won the Olympics with two different partners (this is pretty much not something that happens), but I always preferred Natalia - they had a rather non-traditional look about them, and she was one of my childhood idols of bendiness (along with Oksana Baiul).
4. "Impossible Dream" Free Skate, Pang Quing & Tong Jian, 2010 Olympics
I've always thought that Pang & Tong looked more like ice dancers (long and lean) than pairs skaters. That's sort of beside the point, though - this program probably should have earned them Olympic gold, because it is PERFECT. (They got a silver.) Their throws and twists are spectacular, and Pang is truly unique in that she can do a catchfoot position in a lift without looking totally hideous!
5. Free Skate, Dorota Zagorska & Mariusz Siudek, 2002 European Championships
(Terrible quality video, sorry!) Much like Denkova & Staviski in ice dance, Zagorska & Siudek were criminally undermarked during their competitive years, because the Polish figure skating federation had... well, no political power whatsoever. But these two always fascinated me for their technical prowess - they had some of the best (sometimes weirdest!) lifts in the business, and their ridiculous height difference (about a foot! most pairs have between 6-8 inches difference) made everything they did look both striking and a little strange.
6. "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" Free Skate, Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman, 2002 Olympics
It would not be a list of top pairs moments without an appearance from America's pairs HBIC, the lovely Kyoko Ina. She dominated the US pairs scene with her various partners (Jason Dungjen in the early 90s, John Zimmerman in the later 90s and early 2000s) for over a decade, but it wasn't until she found herself an equally pretty partner that she had any real international success. John Zimmerman is basically an Abercrombie model on skates, fwiw. And they had a lot of ~creative~ moves: the "candlestick" lift with John in a spread-eagle is simply breathtaking.
7. "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" Free Skate, Isabelle Brasseur & Lloyd Eisler, 1993 World Championships
(Yes, it's the same music. Skating music was EVEN MORE BORING back in the day than it is now, y'all. When I was a kid, we did't have no Bollywood and we walked uphill to school, barefoot in the snow, too.) Ahem. Where was I? Ah, yes. Contrary to popular opinion, I hold that Canada's greatest pair skaters are not, in fact, Salé & Pelletier (who you will notice are conspicuously absent from this list, because I cannot stand David Pelletier, #noregrets!), but rather Brasseur & Eisler. They're bloody brilliant - though they're at their best when performing exhibitions with INSANE moves: their signature trick (banned in competitions) is called "The Headbanger". Yeah. The Pamchenko may be scary, but that shit is fake. This? Is real.
8. "Out of Africa" Free Skate, Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy, 2009 Skate Canada
They're not quite a modern-day G&G yet, but these two are unrivalled in their technical and artistic abilities since Shen & Zhao and Pang & Tong retired - this is perhaps my favorite of their programs. (I'm also partial to their Schindler's List free skate.) Also, if you'd like to observe what can go right/wrong when you have two pairs attempting to work together, check out the four-person death spiral they did with Volosozhar & Morozov in an exhibition - the setup starts at about 2:30.
9. "Meditation" Free Skate, Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze, 2001 Grand Prix Final
Elena & Anton will probably always be remembered - unfortunately - for being the "other team" who ~wrongfully won gold at the 2002 Olympics, leading to Jamie Salé's tearstained mug being EVERYWHERE for like two years after. Two points: Salé & Pelletier did not actually deserve that gold, based purely on skating. (Though there was obviously politicking happening, too. It's skating. Duh.) And Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze are incredible. So here, have some totally uncontroversial them-being-awesome. (Also - Elena is one of those victims of a disastrous accident: with her previous partner, she was practicing side-by-side camel spins, and his skate blade GOT STUCK IN HER SKULL. YEAH. And then she got a new partner and kept skating and went on to win the Olympics. Further confirmation of my theory that you have to be kind of nuts to want to skate pairs.)
10. Free Skate, Radka Kovarikova & René Novotny, 1995 European Championships
Radka & René are more sentimental favorites of mine than anything - they were notorious headcases (well, Radka was) and few of their programs are error-free, but this one is! Which allows their uh-mayyy-zing lines to show through - they're just really lovely to watch!
1. "Turandot" Free Skate, Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo, 2003 World Championships
Click to viewThis performance is flawless. Literally flawless. If, after watching this, you still don't like or "get" pairs, then I'm afraid there's no hope for you; you may also not have a soul. Shen & Zhao are one of my two favorite pairs of all time, and this was (for me) their absolute peak. (They won their first world title with this program, and are currently the reigning Olympic champions, so - I think it's safe to say the judges agree with me!)
1. "Moonlight Sonata" Free Skate, Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, 1994 Olympics
G & G, as they're known to skating fans, are perhaps the greatest pairs team in history - certainly in the top three. They are beautifully classical Russian skaters, and they are simply lovely to watch. They won their second Olympic gold with this program - and Sergei died just over a year later. (It was terrible and my mother read it in the newspaper one morning before I went to school and I cried for like an hour.) Their Rachmaninoff/Rodin program for 1994 World Pros is also a thing of beauty; I think it's actually better than any of their competitive programs.
3. Rachmaninoff #2 Free Skate, Natalia Mishkutenok & Artur Dmitriev, 1994 Olympics
Artur Dmitriev is something of a mad genius in the world of pairs; he won the Olympics with two different partners (this is pretty much not something that happens), but I always preferred Natalia - they had a rather non-traditional look about them, and she was one of my childhood idols of bendiness (along with Oksana Baiul).
4. "Impossible Dream" Free Skate, Pang Quing & Tong Jian, 2010 Olympics
I've always thought that Pang & Tong looked more like ice dancers (long and lean) than pairs skaters. That's sort of beside the point, though - this program probably should have earned them Olympic gold, because it is PERFECT. (They got a silver.) Their throws and twists are spectacular, and Pang is truly unique in that she can do a catchfoot position in a lift without looking totally hideous!
5. Free Skate, Dorota Zagorska & Mariusz Siudek, 2002 European Championships
(Terrible quality video, sorry!) Much like Denkova & Staviski in ice dance, Zagorska & Siudek were criminally undermarked during their competitive years, because the Polish figure skating federation had... well, no political power whatsoever. But these two always fascinated me for their technical prowess - they had some of the best (sometimes weirdest!) lifts in the business, and their ridiculous height difference (about a foot! most pairs have between 6-8 inches difference) made everything they did look both striking and a little strange.
6. "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" Free Skate, Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman, 2002 Olympics
It would not be a list of top pairs moments without an appearance from America's pairs HBIC, the lovely Kyoko Ina. She dominated the US pairs scene with her various partners (Jason Dungjen in the early 90s, John Zimmerman in the later 90s and early 2000s) for over a decade, but it wasn't until she found herself an equally pretty partner that she had any real international success. John Zimmerman is basically an Abercrombie model on skates, fwiw. And they had a lot of ~creative~ moves: the "candlestick" lift with John in a spread-eagle is simply breathtaking.
7. "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" Free Skate, Isabelle Brasseur & Lloyd Eisler, 1993 World Championships
(Yes, it's the same music. Skating music was EVEN MORE BORING back in the day than it is now, y'all. When I was a kid, we did't have no Bollywood and we walked uphill to school, barefoot in the snow, too.) Ahem. Where was I? Ah, yes. Contrary to popular opinion, I hold that Canada's greatest pair skaters are not, in fact, Salé & Pelletier (who you will notice are conspicuously absent from this list, because I cannot stand David Pelletier, #noregrets!), but rather Brasseur & Eisler. They're bloody brilliant - though they're at their best when performing exhibitions with INSANE moves: their signature trick (banned in competitions) is called "The Headbanger". Yeah. The Pamchenko may be scary, but that shit is fake. This? Is real.
8. "Out of Africa" Free Skate, Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy, 2009 Skate Canada
They're not quite a modern-day G&G yet, but these two are unrivalled in their technical and artistic abilities since Shen & Zhao and Pang & Tong retired - this is perhaps my favorite of their programs. (I'm also partial to their Schindler's List free skate.) Also, if you'd like to observe what can go right/wrong when you have two pairs attempting to work together, check out the four-person death spiral they did with Volosozhar & Morozov in an exhibition - the setup starts at about 2:30.
9. "Meditation" Free Skate, Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze, 2001 Grand Prix Final
Elena & Anton will probably always be remembered - unfortunately - for being the "other team" who ~wrongfully won gold at the 2002 Olympics, leading to Jamie Salé's tearstained mug being EVERYWHERE for like two years after. Two points: Salé & Pelletier did not actually deserve that gold, based purely on skating. (Though there was obviously politicking happening, too. It's skating. Duh.) And Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze are incredible. So here, have some totally uncontroversial them-being-awesome. (Also - Elena is one of those victims of a disastrous accident: with her previous partner, she was practicing side-by-side camel spins, and his skate blade GOT STUCK IN HER SKULL. YEAH. And then she got a new partner and kept skating and went on to win the Olympics. Further confirmation of my theory that you have to be kind of nuts to want to skate pairs.)
10. Free Skate, Radka Kovarikova & René Novotny, 1995 European Championships
Radka & René are more sentimental favorites of mine than anything - they were notorious headcases (well, Radka was) and few of their programs are error-free, but this one is! Which allows their uh-mayyy-zing lines to show through - they're just really lovely to watch!