Which skaters do you wish you'd seen/could see live?

[RCF]

Watching skaters in person gives a completely different impression from watching them on television. I wish I'd been able to see Gordeeva and Grinkov and Robin Cousins live.

Also, purely for historical curiosity, I wish I'd seen Dick Button during his peak years, Janet Lynn and the pairs team of Tamara Moskvina and Alexei Mishin. In the few bits of film I've seen of Dick and Janet, they both look very light on their feet and graceful. I'd like to see M&M just because I have a hard time imagining them skating together.

Among the current crop of eligibles, Yagudin stands out for me as someone to see live. I've watched "Winter" many times on television this past year, but none of the perfomances matched the electricity and excitement of seeing him do the program in person at this season's Skate Canada.

And I was never very enthusiastic about Michelle Kwan until I saw her compete at Worlds in 1998. She took my breath away and I've been a fan ever since.

[summertime]

I would have liked to have seen Gordeeva and Grinkov and Paul Wylie.

[marlyn]

I wish I could have seen Gordeeva/Grinkov live.(amateur or pro)

Pros I wish I had seen live in their amateur days:
Orser
Boitano
Browning
Ito
Brasseur/Eisler
Underhill/Martini

[RoseAugust]

I wish I would have seen Janet Lynn the most. Icing on the cake would be to have seen John Curry, Toller Cranstron, and Irina Rodnina (with both partners).

(RCF - I saw Robyn Cousins in Oakland a long time ago, while he was still an "amateur." It must have been a Tom Collins tour. He skated two programs. One was to rock music and the audience screamed with every little hip movement. The electricity in the air took me by surprise. He also skated a slow program in which every movement melted into the next. I remember holding my breath through the entire thing - it was so beautiful.)

[Oracle]

John Curry, Dorothy Hamill, Toller Cranston, Torvill & Dean, Rudi Cerne, Daniel Weiss, Janet Lynn, Blumberg & Seibert, Gordeeva & Grinkov, Caryn Kadavy. (I have seen Naomi Nari Nam live!!)
I'm looking forward to seeing in the future: Sasha Cohen, AP McDonough, Jenny Kirk, Johnny Weir, Matt Savoie, Tim Goebel, Evan Lysacek, Ryan Bradley, Evgeny Plushenko, Emanuel Sandhu, Ben Ferreira, Takeshi Honda, Fumie Suguri, Shizuka Arakawa.

[SShaste]

I wish I could have seen Elvis Stojko skate live during a competition. I came close in 2001 when Canadians were in Winnipeg but then 2 weeks before I found out he wouldn't be attending due to injury. I've seen him skate live a few times in tours but I really would've loved to see him compete live.

[SKfan]

Robin Cousins

[pittypat]

[b:66d225b6e1]Paul Wylie[/b:66d225b6e1]

Janet Lynn

Laurence Owen

[NorthernLite]

I'm fortunate in that I have seen some skaters other posters have mentioned.

Robin Cousins would be near the top of my list of those I never saw in person. And yes, Laurence Owen. Man, if she makes that much of an impression in just a few seconds of B & W videotape (Kinescope?), imagine what she was like in person. And one of the male skaters who was lost in the crash, Doug Ramsey, was also supposed to be an incredibly promising youngster. (I still have to get my hands on a tape of 61 Nats. Anyone here able to help?)

My mind is blanking, but I know there are quite a few pairs as well as singles. (I'd like to go in the Waaay Back machine and get a glimpse of Salchow or even Jackson Haines while we're at it.)

And forget about wishing I could have seen Janet Lynn -- I missed the chance to *skate* with her a few years ago. Some folks I know saw her with one of her kids at an Open Skate at a nearby rink!

[Bailey]

For skaters like Gordeeva and Grinkov - TV didn't ever do them justice. I remember being in awe of their live performances.

I have never seen Michelle Kwan of B/S skate in person. Those are probably the two that I would like to see most.

[lwatt]

I was lucky to see Elvis live in competition his very last time at 2002 Nationals in Hamilton. My very first competion I attended was 2000 Skate Canada and he had to withdraw because of injury. I was so disappointed. It all worked out anyway because it was the first time to see Alexi Yagudin live and that was great!!

If you ever have a chance to see Emanuel Sandhu skate live to his Purple Rain exhibition program. Be sure to go. He is so into the program and it's just electric!!

Linda

[Rachael]

Dick Button
Carol Heiss
G and G
Tenley Albright

[Jenny]

Moskvina & Mishin for sure, and also Tatiana Tarasova in her skating days. Ditto for Natalia Linichuk.

I guess pretty much anyone who has continued with the sport in new roles - Dick Button, Courtney Jones, Debbi Wilkes, Sandra Bezic, etc.

A few years ago there was an event celebrating Canadian skating at the ACC. What a thrill to see Osborne Colson and Toller Cranston skate, and so many others. At one point, they introduced every Canadian champion who was there (which was all of them except B&K and Kurt), and most came on the ice in their skates, some even doing a small move. Sandra and her brother did a death spiral for example, and Tracy Wilson came out together with Rob McCall's previous partner. Even if just for a few seconds, it was wonderful to see them all on skates.

Jenny

[ILoveAllSkaters]

Gordeeva and Grinkov
Michelle Kwan (only once, did I see her live :()

[centerstage01]

I would have loved to have seen Kristi Yamaguchi, Paul Wylie, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Lu Chen, Naomi Nari Nam, G/G, and several of the dance teams (whose names are escaping me at the moment as I don't really follow dance that closely) when they were eligible.

But the one person I'm dying to see live, Michelle Kwan, will be at the COI tour in my city in early August and I can't wait!! I wish Sasha and Fumie were going to be there, too, but they're not listed.