Twenty Great Skaters Who Never Won Olympic Medals (part two)
Welcome to the second half of my tribute to great skaters who never won an Olympic medal. Here's the first half, with skaters 20-11 and a more detailed explanation of how I chose the skaters for this list. My list is a sequel of sorts to this post on The Hairpin.
annaalamode is still a fab beta reader.
20 Great Skaters and Teams Who Never Won Olympic Medals
Part Two
10. Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks (Great Britain), pairs; 8th in 1948, 4th in 1952
Before John Nicks became one of the most venerable figure skating coaches in North America - he mentored Peggy Fleming, Babilonia & Gardner, and Sasha Cohen, and he just helped Ashley Wagner earn her first US national title - he was a legendary pairs skater. He competed with his sister, Jennifer, and in 1953, they became the only British pair ever to win a World championship. Very little footage of their skating still exists, and I can't find any information about why they missed the Olympic podium in 1952, a year when they earned medals at both Worlds and Europeans. What I can see from the above clip is that the Nicks were fluid, precise skaters with lovely body lines and impeccable unison - a classic case of sibling skaters who seemed to share a brain. It's clear from John Nicks's coaching that he emphasizes those qualities in his students as well. Sixty years after his competitive heyday, those fundamentals still matter.
9. Miki Ando (Japan), ladies' singles; 15th in 2006, 5th in 2010
I guess there's a snowball's chance in hell that Ando will come back for one more Olympics, but she talks like she's done. After last year's spectacular win at Worlds - following triumphs at Four Continents and Japanese Nationals - it looks like she's taken a page from the Jeff Buttle playbook and retired on a high note. Ando had a rough career; she bounced from coach to coach and trained in several countries, and at her lowest points, she looked miserable on the ice. As a result of her often disconnected on-ice demeanor, she's respected more for her technical prowess than for her artistry. Technically, she was extraordinary: she remains the only woman to land a quadruple jump in competition ever, and despite her tiny frame, she skated with tremendous power. But she was capable of grace and emotional connection as well, as she showed in a heart-wrenching show program to Christina Aguilera's "Hurt" that she dedicated to her late father.
8. Maria Jelinek & Otto Jelinek (Canada), pairs; 4th in 1960
This news clip, the only YouTube video I could find of the Jelineks, fails to convey their impact on the pairs discipline. What it does show is really cool, and the kind of skating move that doesn't fit into a scoring rubric: they start in a pairs spiral, and Maria holds her arabesque position while Otto does an axel and lowers her immediately into a death spiral. They also pioneered skills that have become standard in pairs, such as side-by-side double axels and rotational lifts. Born in Prague during World War II, they fled with their family to Canada after the war, and fittingly, Worlds were held in Prague the year they won gold, 1962. The Jelineks were expected to finish on the podium at the 1960 Olympics but made errors that cost them a medal. It was their only Olympic appearance - they went pro after winning their World title. But it seems like they were ready to move on to other ambitions: after touring with the Ice Capades through the 1960s, Otto became a member of Canadian Parliament and then the Minister of Sport, Health, and Education. In the latter position, he was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Calgary in 1988.
7. Albena Denkova & Maxim Staviski (Bulgaria), ice dance; 18th in 1998, 7th in 2002, 5th in 2006
This is the fourth and final team on this list to suffer from the great splatfest of 2006, and in my opinion, the most devastating. They were at their prime in 2006 and heavy favorites for a medal until a fall in the original dance put them out of contention. At Worlds a few weeks later, Denkova and Staviski won the first of their two consecutive World titles, but it felt like a consolation prize. Their long career - they began competing together in 1992 and appeared at fourteen world championships - is marred by its tragic end. In the summer of 2007, Staviski caused a car crash while intoxicated, killing one person and putting another in a coma. Otherwise, the team might have soldiered on to a fourth Olympics. I prefer to remember them for their distinctive, intense skating style and some of the most breathtaking lifts in the history of ice dance. Trained in the Russian tradition but not beholden to it, they skated with pure body lines and deep edges but also with a rare passion. A real-life couple whose son just celebrated his first birthday, they had a terrific talent for translating their emotional connection onto the ice.
6. Susanna Rahkamo & Petri Kokko (Finland), ice dance; 6th in 1992, 4th in 1994
If you want to work old-school ice dance fans into a lather, ask them why Rahkamo and Kokko never won an Olympic medal. Within seconds, you'll have one lady in a cat sweatshirt yelling about how they were robbed because the judges never understood them, and another lady yelling with equal conviction about how what they did wasn't even really ice dance. They definitely stand out in comparison with other top ice dance teams of their era: they're technically oriented, project giddy joy rather than romantic intensity, and have the nerve to skate to The Beatles. History has vindicated Rahkamo and Kokko to a large extent. In 2008, the ISU ratified an official competitive pattern dance, the Finnstep, based on their 1994-1995 Original Dance program. They've left a less tangible legacy, too: the top ice dance teams now look a lot more like Rahkamo and Kokko than Grishuk and Platov.
5. Yuka Sato (Japan), ladies' singles; 7th in 1992, 5th in 1994
Yuka Sato was capable of beating every other great skater of her generation - but never when it counted. At 1992 Skate America, she outskated Nancy Kerrigan and Chen Lu, but time after time at Worlds and the Olympics, she made technical errors that put her scores below her potential. Finally, in 1994, with all three newly-crowned Olympic medalists sitting out Worlds, she was vindicated, beating Surya Bonaly primarily on the strength of her artistic elements. Dick Button crows about Sato's beautiful lines and extension, and as usual, Uncle Dick is right. She's an expressive skater who connects her moves effortlessly, but she also had a strong arsenal of jumps, which she integrated into her programs so they looked like another step in the dance. Sato has also emerged as one of the most successful coaches of her generation - not surprisingly, she specializes in head cases who always seem to be an error or two away from a medal.
4. Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini (Canada), pairs; 9th in 1980, 7th in 1984
Watching Underhill and Martini, what stands out is how much their skating looks like that of top pairs teams today. Sure, their tricks are easier - double jumps, a single lateral twist lift - but they made pairs look like a gasp-inducing adventure sport. Their throw double axel was so big, I needed the commentators' reassurance that it wasn't a triple. Their height difference was a shock in the early '80s but is now standard; it's what allowed them to make their skills so dramatic. They were also unusual in that they weren't an off-ice couple, at a time when a romantic relationship was practically expected for teams who weren't siblings. Instead, they became great actors, and they developed fantastic on-ice chemistry based on their platonic affection for each other. If they hadn't gone pro after winning Worlds in 1984, they may very well have snagged an Olympic medal in 1988; they won the World Professional Championships six times in the '80s and '90s. During their pro career, they innovated graceful combination lifts that made their way into younger teams' competitive repertoires. Their influence on the discipline of pairs, artistically and athletically, has made them an enduringly fun and accessible couple to watch.
3. Denise Biellmann (Switzerland), ladies' singles; 4th in 1980
Biellmann was the worst casualty of compulsory figures in the history of the sport. At her only Olympics in 1980, she placed first in the free skate, but her lackluster school figures kept her off the podium. Her legacy to figure skating is immense: she was the first woman to land a triple lutz in competition, and she's the only skater to have a spin named after her. You know, the one where the skater arches to hold her free blade over her head - that one. To this day, Biellmann is perhaps the greatest spinner in ladies' figure skating, and she competed at a time when the scoring system didn't reward it. Watching her skating now, it's clear that she was ahead of her time both artistically and technically, with impressive flexibility and creativity in her skating as well as powerful jumps. Biellmann began her career early - she first appeared at the European Championships when she was only fourteen - and she retired from competitive skating while she was still a teenager to pursue a long, successful professional career in which she seemed to get better and better.
2. Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz (Canada), ice dance; 10th in 1994, 4th in 1998, 4th in 2002
Bourne and Kraatz were the first North American team ever to win a World title in ice dance - in goddamned 2003. That year, they were so mind-blowingly brilliant that the judges, who really wanted to give it to the Russians, had to hand them a golden ending to their long and decorated career. They earned an incredible ten Canadian national titles and collected four World bronze medals and one World silver in addition to their win. Impressive as that track record is, many fans consider them the primary example of politics that kept extraordinary Canadian and US skaters off Olympic podiums for decades. Indeed, they finished two of their three Olympics just shy of the podium, and arguably in spite of performances superior to those who beat them. Bourne and Kraatz concentrated on the athleticism of their discipline when it was just starting to matter, and their lifts were spectacularly innovative. In particular, they required great strength and control from Kraatz, who could hydroblade while lifting Bourne. Their routines were fast and difficult, and they also brought in unusual styles and rhythms, as in their famous "Riverdance" routine. At times, they seemed to be in a class by themselves technically, to the point where the judges couldn't figure out how to score them. That's the only explanation I can think of for why this team never stood on an Olympic podium.
1. Kurt Browning (Canada), men's singles; 8th in 1988, 6th in 1992, 5th in 1994
Ask longtime skating fans about the greatest skater never to win an Olympic medal, and nine out of ten will say, "Kurt Browning." His omission from the Hairpin list was what inspired me to write this entire post, in fact. At his peak - and it was a long peak! - Browning was perhaps the most complete, well-rounded skater in the history of the sport, respected equally for his artistry and his athletic ability. He's the first person ever to land a ratified quadruple jump in international competition, and his arsenal also included one of the most powerful, centered triple axels ever. But Browning took other aspects of the sport seriously, gaining a reputation for fast, intricate footwork at a time when that element, although required, barely figured into the scoring. He also developed a unique artistic style, using music and movement to create a character on the ice. Browning proved that being a charming goofball is a form of artistry, opening up a path for many subsequent skaters. Early in Browning's career, his ambivalence toward school figures kept him out of the top tier. In 1989, the ISU reduced figures to 20% of the total score, and with the numbers in his favor, Browning won the first of his four consecutive World titles. But he choked whenever the Olympic rings hung above his head, missing his jumps and stumbling with a sheepish grin. When he went pro, it was like he'd been let out of his cage, and his professional routines are unforgettably funny but also athletic and challenging. Browning has also dedicated himself to mentoring younger skaters, and his nonjudgmental encouragement of male skaters in particular has been tremendous. He might be skating's class clown, but he's classy, too. It's a shame that he never got to stand on an Olympic podium, and it's proof that the Olympics aren't an accurate measure of a skater's accomplishments, because Browning is one of the best ever.
Who's your favorite skater to never stand on the Olympic podium? Anyone who I and The Hairpin managed to overlook?
annaalamode is still a fab beta reader.
20 Great Skaters and Teams Who Never Won Olympic Medals
Part Two
10. Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks (Great Britain), pairs; 8th in 1948, 4th in 1952
Click to viewBefore John Nicks became one of the most venerable figure skating coaches in North America - he mentored Peggy Fleming, Babilonia & Gardner, and Sasha Cohen, and he just helped Ashley Wagner earn her first US national title - he was a legendary pairs skater. He competed with his sister, Jennifer, and in 1953, they became the only British pair ever to win a World championship. Very little footage of their skating still exists, and I can't find any information about why they missed the Olympic podium in 1952, a year when they earned medals at both Worlds and Europeans. What I can see from the above clip is that the Nicks were fluid, precise skaters with lovely body lines and impeccable unison - a classic case of sibling skaters who seemed to share a brain. It's clear from John Nicks's coaching that he emphasizes those qualities in his students as well. Sixty years after his competitive heyday, those fundamentals still matter.
9. Miki Ando (Japan), ladies' singles; 15th in 2006, 5th in 2010
I guess there's a snowball's chance in hell that Ando will come back for one more Olympics, but she talks like she's done. After last year's spectacular win at Worlds - following triumphs at Four Continents and Japanese Nationals - it looks like she's taken a page from the Jeff Buttle playbook and retired on a high note. Ando had a rough career; she bounced from coach to coach and trained in several countries, and at her lowest points, she looked miserable on the ice. As a result of her often disconnected on-ice demeanor, she's respected more for her technical prowess than for her artistry. Technically, she was extraordinary: she remains the only woman to land a quadruple jump in competition ever, and despite her tiny frame, she skated with tremendous power. But she was capable of grace and emotional connection as well, as she showed in a heart-wrenching show program to Christina Aguilera's "Hurt" that she dedicated to her late father.
8. Maria Jelinek & Otto Jelinek (Canada), pairs; 4th in 1960
This news clip, the only YouTube video I could find of the Jelineks, fails to convey their impact on the pairs discipline. What it does show is really cool, and the kind of skating move that doesn't fit into a scoring rubric: they start in a pairs spiral, and Maria holds her arabesque position while Otto does an axel and lowers her immediately into a death spiral. They also pioneered skills that have become standard in pairs, such as side-by-side double axels and rotational lifts. Born in Prague during World War II, they fled with their family to Canada after the war, and fittingly, Worlds were held in Prague the year they won gold, 1962. The Jelineks were expected to finish on the podium at the 1960 Olympics but made errors that cost them a medal. It was their only Olympic appearance - they went pro after winning their World title. But it seems like they were ready to move on to other ambitions: after touring with the Ice Capades through the 1960s, Otto became a member of Canadian Parliament and then the Minister of Sport, Health, and Education. In the latter position, he was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Calgary in 1988.
7. Albena Denkova & Maxim Staviski (Bulgaria), ice dance; 18th in 1998, 7th in 2002, 5th in 2006
This is the fourth and final team on this list to suffer from the great splatfest of 2006, and in my opinion, the most devastating. They were at their prime in 2006 and heavy favorites for a medal until a fall in the original dance put them out of contention. At Worlds a few weeks later, Denkova and Staviski won the first of their two consecutive World titles, but it felt like a consolation prize. Their long career - they began competing together in 1992 and appeared at fourteen world championships - is marred by its tragic end. In the summer of 2007, Staviski caused a car crash while intoxicated, killing one person and putting another in a coma. Otherwise, the team might have soldiered on to a fourth Olympics. I prefer to remember them for their distinctive, intense skating style and some of the most breathtaking lifts in the history of ice dance. Trained in the Russian tradition but not beholden to it, they skated with pure body lines and deep edges but also with a rare passion. A real-life couple whose son just celebrated his first birthday, they had a terrific talent for translating their emotional connection onto the ice.
6. Susanna Rahkamo & Petri Kokko (Finland), ice dance; 6th in 1992, 4th in 1994
If you want to work old-school ice dance fans into a lather, ask them why Rahkamo and Kokko never won an Olympic medal. Within seconds, you'll have one lady in a cat sweatshirt yelling about how they were robbed because the judges never understood them, and another lady yelling with equal conviction about how what they did wasn't even really ice dance. They definitely stand out in comparison with other top ice dance teams of their era: they're technically oriented, project giddy joy rather than romantic intensity, and have the nerve to skate to The Beatles. History has vindicated Rahkamo and Kokko to a large extent. In 2008, the ISU ratified an official competitive pattern dance, the Finnstep, based on their 1994-1995 Original Dance program. They've left a less tangible legacy, too: the top ice dance teams now look a lot more like Rahkamo and Kokko than Grishuk and Platov.
5. Yuka Sato (Japan), ladies' singles; 7th in 1992, 5th in 1994
Yuka Sato was capable of beating every other great skater of her generation - but never when it counted. At 1992 Skate America, she outskated Nancy Kerrigan and Chen Lu, but time after time at Worlds and the Olympics, she made technical errors that put her scores below her potential. Finally, in 1994, with all three newly-crowned Olympic medalists sitting out Worlds, she was vindicated, beating Surya Bonaly primarily on the strength of her artistic elements. Dick Button crows about Sato's beautiful lines and extension, and as usual, Uncle Dick is right. She's an expressive skater who connects her moves effortlessly, but she also had a strong arsenal of jumps, which she integrated into her programs so they looked like another step in the dance. Sato has also emerged as one of the most successful coaches of her generation - not surprisingly, she specializes in head cases who always seem to be an error or two away from a medal.
4. Barbara Underhill & Paul Martini (Canada), pairs; 9th in 1980, 7th in 1984
Watching Underhill and Martini, what stands out is how much their skating looks like that of top pairs teams today. Sure, their tricks are easier - double jumps, a single lateral twist lift - but they made pairs look like a gasp-inducing adventure sport. Their throw double axel was so big, I needed the commentators' reassurance that it wasn't a triple. Their height difference was a shock in the early '80s but is now standard; it's what allowed them to make their skills so dramatic. They were also unusual in that they weren't an off-ice couple, at a time when a romantic relationship was practically expected for teams who weren't siblings. Instead, they became great actors, and they developed fantastic on-ice chemistry based on their platonic affection for each other. If they hadn't gone pro after winning Worlds in 1984, they may very well have snagged an Olympic medal in 1988; they won the World Professional Championships six times in the '80s and '90s. During their pro career, they innovated graceful combination lifts that made their way into younger teams' competitive repertoires. Their influence on the discipline of pairs, artistically and athletically, has made them an enduringly fun and accessible couple to watch.
3. Denise Biellmann (Switzerland), ladies' singles; 4th in 1980
Biellmann was the worst casualty of compulsory figures in the history of the sport. At her only Olympics in 1980, she placed first in the free skate, but her lackluster school figures kept her off the podium. Her legacy to figure skating is immense: she was the first woman to land a triple lutz in competition, and she's the only skater to have a spin named after her. You know, the one where the skater arches to hold her free blade over her head - that one. To this day, Biellmann is perhaps the greatest spinner in ladies' figure skating, and she competed at a time when the scoring system didn't reward it. Watching her skating now, it's clear that she was ahead of her time both artistically and technically, with impressive flexibility and creativity in her skating as well as powerful jumps. Biellmann began her career early - she first appeared at the European Championships when she was only fourteen - and she retired from competitive skating while she was still a teenager to pursue a long, successful professional career in which she seemed to get better and better.
2. Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz (Canada), ice dance; 10th in 1994, 4th in 1998, 4th in 2002
Bourne and Kraatz were the first North American team ever to win a World title in ice dance - in goddamned 2003. That year, they were so mind-blowingly brilliant that the judges, who really wanted to give it to the Russians, had to hand them a golden ending to their long and decorated career. They earned an incredible ten Canadian national titles and collected four World bronze medals and one World silver in addition to their win. Impressive as that track record is, many fans consider them the primary example of politics that kept extraordinary Canadian and US skaters off Olympic podiums for decades. Indeed, they finished two of their three Olympics just shy of the podium, and arguably in spite of performances superior to those who beat them. Bourne and Kraatz concentrated on the athleticism of their discipline when it was just starting to matter, and their lifts were spectacularly innovative. In particular, they required great strength and control from Kraatz, who could hydroblade while lifting Bourne. Their routines were fast and difficult, and they also brought in unusual styles and rhythms, as in their famous "Riverdance" routine. At times, they seemed to be in a class by themselves technically, to the point where the judges couldn't figure out how to score them. That's the only explanation I can think of for why this team never stood on an Olympic podium.
1. Kurt Browning (Canada), men's singles; 8th in 1988, 6th in 1992, 5th in 1994
Ask longtime skating fans about the greatest skater never to win an Olympic medal, and nine out of ten will say, "Kurt Browning." His omission from the Hairpin list was what inspired me to write this entire post, in fact. At his peak - and it was a long peak! - Browning was perhaps the most complete, well-rounded skater in the history of the sport, respected equally for his artistry and his athletic ability. He's the first person ever to land a ratified quadruple jump in international competition, and his arsenal also included one of the most powerful, centered triple axels ever. But Browning took other aspects of the sport seriously, gaining a reputation for fast, intricate footwork at a time when that element, although required, barely figured into the scoring. He also developed a unique artistic style, using music and movement to create a character on the ice. Browning proved that being a charming goofball is a form of artistry, opening up a path for many subsequent skaters. Early in Browning's career, his ambivalence toward school figures kept him out of the top tier. In 1989, the ISU reduced figures to 20% of the total score, and with the numbers in his favor, Browning won the first of his four consecutive World titles. But he choked whenever the Olympic rings hung above his head, missing his jumps and stumbling with a sheepish grin. When he went pro, it was like he'd been let out of his cage, and his professional routines are unforgettably funny but also athletic and challenging. Browning has also dedicated himself to mentoring younger skaters, and his nonjudgmental encouragement of male skaters in particular has been tremendous. He might be skating's class clown, but he's classy, too. It's a shame that he never got to stand on an Olympic podium, and it's proof that the Olympics aren't an accurate measure of a skater's accomplishments, because Browning is one of the best ever.
Who's your favorite skater to never stand on the Olympic podium? Anyone who I and The Hairpin managed to overlook?