Terry Gannon's favorite team was awarded bronze at the 2000 Worlds:
In 2002, the skaters signed a petition after Galit Chait's father "allegedly" bought off the judges to screw the Lithuanians out of a medal:
Their free dance was about "the first cries"...at birth and during one's first sexual encounter. Like the crowd, I was into it.
The original Phantom Of The Opera:
Loved Spente le Stelle from the moment I saw it and The Lithuanians were ALWAYS undermarked and the expendible team in the judges eyes. So infuriating!
ReplyDeletewhat ever happened to them? did they quit after this? Ice dancing is such a joke. Like rhythmic. When there are no enforceable rules, it becomes very very easy to eliminate this as an olympic sport. I think that ice dancing should be eliminated. How often do teams actually move? Not very often. How often do teams move during a competition? Not very often......if they are in fifth place after the first phase they will be in fifth place at the end. IT is so bogus. How often does the best team win , not very often.....oh they will win the next year based on what they did the previous year. Again borderline being a sport.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's a real pity, but Anonymous 4:45 doesn't seem to have been keeping up with the recent and current ice dancng scene...
ReplyDeletewhy didn't they medal or win? that freelance was beautiful, the edges. extensions, fabulous lifts...
ReplyDelete@ Anon 4:45 D/V retired after 2002 but returned to compete in the 2006 Olympics. Under the 6.0, teams rarely moved spots but that's less so after the introduction of IJS. Just look at the 2006 Olympics.
ReplyDeleteD/V wuzrobbed!!!
Well of course they were just "The Lithuanians". Who can pronounce those names, anyway?
ReplyDeleteI loved this team. This is one of the teams that renewed my interest. They were always robbed.
ReplyDeleteThe judging was far improved in Vancouver over 2002 & 2006. You cannot dismiss ice dancing judging as being like rhythmic until you find examples. Rhythmic is so hard to justify that it becomes pointless to try.
ReplyDeleteThe cheating does happen in ice dance. It happens because the sport is so technically subtle, and there is a complex art of cheating and deal making that goes on. In 2010, the correct programs won medals (except Tanith maybe was robbed of bronze) because the strongest teams have started executing the required elements at higher levels with greater innovation and speed. For now the artistic side of the the dancing remains first rate.
The same can't be said for rhythmic which is just anorectic, aseptically pornographic maneuvers. Where there has been technical innovation, it remains unknown and unnoticeable to 99.99% of the audience.
Ice dancing is always going to be more political and easier to cheat results than the other disciplines. It is sad that the Lithuanians were robbed (Drobiazko deserved better than to have her heart broken). But that era of ice dance is past. The Lithuanians first competed in an Olympics 1992. They came through the sport in an era when you used to wait 7-9 years for your first medal shot. Today Dave and White had to wait barely three. The sport is not as hopeless as it was.
The only thing you can say is that dance is still the epicenter of the deal making gangrene and it does merit scrutiny in this way - to make sure it does not diminish the judging results of singles and pairs.