Reply #13: Oh yes, Shizuka Arakawa is an exquisite skater. Her performance [View All]

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

in the ladies LP at Torino last February was absolutely breathtaking... I wasn't sure if she turned pro or not.

Angela Nikidinov was another favorite of mine. She is a lovely skater, but when she was an "amatuer", she never seemed to put it all together at the right time. I remember the accident that killed her mother before the US Nationals in Portland in 2005. Absolutely tragic..

Also Brian Boitano will always be a skating icon, at least for me. His performances at the 88 Calgary Olympics were legendary. I have both his SP and LP on tape and every once in a while, I'll pop them into the VCR to watch again.

Of course, listening to Dick Button's commentary (remember The Battle of the Brians?) on each of these performances is absolutely perfect. I remember watching the Men's LP in Calgary live in February 1988 and thinking it was an absolute shame they couldn't give two gold medals that night. To be quite honest, there hasn't been an Olympic men's competition as good as that since 1988....