Nicole Bobek

[Alexa]

Seeing Nicole in two competitions recently, I am really surprised at her lack of technical content. For being as young as she is, she should certainly be able to maintain at least 2 consistent triple jumps and a double axel.

Unless I remember incorrectly, her performances in these recent competitions included only one triple jump (if that) and she was doing single axels instead of double axels in some of the performances.

I think she is a wonderful artistic skater, but she really should not be asked to these competitions with such low technical content. I think skating tours/shows would be more appropriate.

Anyone know why she is doing so few jumps these days? Injury? Not training much? Just curious, because she used to seem to have more attack in her programs.

Even Oksana has taken a lot of time off and is going out there and attempting more than one triple jump.

[bcskater]

Nicole Bobek is one of my favourite skaters and always has been so i, for one, am very glad she is skating/competing as much as she is! there are probably MANY reasons for the lack of technical content ... but its really not that much different than the other girls who are only doing one or two triples in their programs... im not sure if she's injured.. or lack of motivation (her sense of drive is probably gone seeminghow those competitors get large sums of money just for showing up and skating)... and im sure all the travel has taken a toll on all the skaters.... her competitive days are over and she seems to be using this time in her career to experiment artistically... which im enjoying highly.. i thought her numbers at World Team Challenge were awesome... give her a break.. shes still wonderful and definetely not out-classed.

[Oracle]

IMO she is too lazy to keep these skills up.

[jp1andOnly]

just wondering how you came to the conclusion that she is too lazy? Do you know her personally and know for a fact she doesn't train? Perhaps she doesn't want to damage her body, perhaps she has an old nagging injury, and she might indeed just not want to do the jumps.

I take offense to what you posted. It is purely speculation and could have been worded in a more appropraite fashion.

[bcskater]

Originally posted by jp1andOnly
just wondering how you came to the conclusion that she is too lazy? Do you know her personally and know for a fact she doesn't train? Perhaps she doesn't want to damage her body, perhaps she has an old nagging injury, and she might indeed just not want to do the jumps.

I take offense to what you posted. It is purely speculation and could have been worded in a more appropraite fashion.
LMAO! :P ahmen to that!

[Suzanne]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Nicole who was upset after her skate in the Olympics, saying that she trained soooooo hard for three weeks??

[Figureskates]

Nicole Bobek is one of my absolute favorites and has been since 1995. She has the best spiral of any skater in my opinion.

That being said, Nicole had the flu at the Olympics. If you saw pictures of her during practice she was so flush and red and it was obvious she wasn't feeling great.

I had a chance to talk to her backstage a few years back and I asked her about it. She said that she had a fever of 102 just before the SP but decided to skate anyway.

If I had a fever of 102 I don't think I could even lace my skates up.

[Alexa]

Originally posted by bcskater
Nicole Bobek is one of my favourite skaters and always has been so i, for one, am very glad she is skating/competing as much as she is! there are probably MANY reasons for the lack of technical content ... but its really not that much different than the other girls who are only doing one or two triples in their programs... im not sure if she's injured.. or lack of motivation (her sense of drive is probably gone seeminghow those competitors get large sums of money just for showing up and skating)... and im sure all the travel has taken a toll on all the skaters.... her competitive days are over and she seems to be using this time in her career to experiment artistically... which im enjoying highly.. i thought her numbers at World Team Challenge were awesome... give her a break.. shes still wonderful and definetely not out-classed.

I guess I did not choose the correct words in my post....I do like Nicole, and thought her programs were beautiful, and was glad to see her at the competitions.

It just surprised me that she has gone from trying the most difficult triples, to doing only one, and doing single axels. She has always had more attack than that, so I was really surprised.

Especially since it was a competition format. I know these aren't the most important competitions, but most of the teammates feel the pressure to have good programs and decent technical content. I guess what I meant by saying she should not be asked to the comps is that it really hurts the team, because she has little chance to defeat the other ladies in the comp (it makes the teams not balanced) Even if she is wonderful artistically, the other ladies often are also, and if they include even one or two jumps more they are sure to win.

[Suzanne]

figureskate -- I just found it odd that a top athlete would consider training soooo hard for three weeks to be enough, that's all.

[skatepixie]

I dont think shes lazy. Nicole has always kept trying, no matter what. My Proof:

*When the press dissed her and the whole "brass-knuckles" thing happened, guess what? She kept going.

*In '95 when people said she had no chance. She skated wonderfully and won the Nationals, as well as a bronze at the Worlds.

*When her coach died, she just kept skating in tribute to him. She didnt place high, but she TRIED.

*When she got the infamous "Nagano Flu," she STILL kept trying.

*When her height made the jumps harder, she kept going.

Even now, shes still trying. She might not have perfectly consistant jumps, but her artisry has actually improved. I think she realizes that artistry will set her apart, because her will never have the best jumps. Also, artistry doesnt leave, jumps do.

[gandalf]

Originally posted by Oracle
IMO she is too lazy to keep these skills up.

For the most part, I agree with you. Nicole Bobek has never been known for her work ethic and I agree with Suzanne, the "I trained sooo hard for 3 weeks" comment before the Olys was laughable and quite frankly embarassing.

[Rogue]

Maybe she's just having difficulty adjusting to hew new shape.

[RobinA]

I don't know if Nicole is lazy, but once I went to my first live event where I could attend practice I had all my questions answered as to Nicole's lack of results. The girl simply did not put much seriousness or hard work into her practices, and appeared to prefer to flounce around interacting with the audience then get down to work.

[susan6]

I miss Nicole Bobek in the eligible ranks too. She was one of my favorite skaters, but that's not going to make me ignore the known fact that she was not exactly a nose-to-the-grindstone trainer. Her best performances occurred when she had Callahan cracking the whip and making her train hard. She's one of those people who have phenomenal natural ability and therefore probably learned the basics really easily, and IMHO never really developed the work ethic needed to reach the top of the eligible ranks.

In addition to the spiral that pretty much set off the US ladies spiral craze and the fast, powerful, strong edges, one of Nicole's best features was her intuitive musicality. She could do that thing that Witt used to do--skate an improptu program to other people's music during practice...and have it look better than the original skaters choreographed program.

The pro ranks would seem to be made for a skater like Nicole, who can rely on her charisma and musicality. However, it does seem she might be relying on these features a little TOO much. I agree that she should try to muster up at least a couple triples. And I sincerely hope that rumor about certain recent enhancements isn't true....she didn't need them; she looked fantastic the way she was!

[icedancer2]

Enhancements?

Well, I liked her hair a lot this year!!

[icyboid]

ITA with those who commented on Nicole's lack of a work ethic. It's embarassing for pro competitions that used to have Kristi Yamaguchi landing four different types of triple jumps (despite winning the gold all the way back in '92) to having someone do single axels as a serious jump attempt.

I still think Nicole's got the best spiral in the world and the one of the best Bielmanns ever (Swiss ladies excluded). But I don't know why she gets invited to these competitions where she's almost guaranteed to finish last individually or drag her "team" down.

[Alexa]

Originally posted by icyboid
ITA with those who commented on Nicole's lack of a work ethic. It's embarassing for pro competitions that used to have Kristi Yamaguchi landing four different types of triple jumps (despite winning the gold all the way back in '92) to having someone do single axels as a serious jump attempt.

I still think Nicole's got the best spiral in the world and the one of the best Bielmanns ever (Swiss ladies excluded). But I don't know why she gets invited to these competitions where she's almost guaranteed to finish last individually or drag her "team" down.

Thanks, that was exactly my point...you worded it very well!