Birmingham, England, GREAT BRITAIN - 1995 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Short Program - First, a profile on Nicole Bobek of the United States, followed by her Short Program, where she placed 1st.
There’s sooo much to love about this program from the height and distance of her jumps to the spiral sequence, the variety of her spins, and the choreography especially the way she used her hands.
She was the Christopher Bowman of ladies figure skating. So much potential. She had it ALL, but life got in the way. Her spiral is unmatched in figure skating. Sasha Cohen's spiral was great too, but Nicole being taller with a longer line and more womanly presence, her spiral strikes a slightly stronger pose to me. I don't know why more women don't do it.
Her Double Axel is like a genre of axels unto itself. Also, Cohen had a more perfect spiral but Nicole’s had heft to it and character and breathed throughout it.
I agree about the spiral, Nicole usually has deeper edges into her spirals with almost the same level of extension, so it's technically more difficult to hold it
Love nicole. U were the best and sweetest. My fav time in skating. U were everything. Dont forget that girl if you ever read this. That girl. The one we watch. You cant train that without that spark. You have it.
This let's you know how far the sport has come where Sandra calls her combo "perfect" LOL. I still don't mind her Flutz. The edge is wrong and very bad but, the height and distance, they count for something to me. I feel like under the existing scoring system, this program would still be in the lead
I would say Tara Lipinski's and Sarah Hughes' were the worst, Nicole's level of flutzing was similar to Zhenya Medvedeva. Michelle flutzes as well, though not to the same extent. I'm only now noticing that people had been flutzing since the 20th century, but it was just that the judges almost never call it out
I have no idea why her coaching team couldn't fix that flutzing early on. No wonder her programs always had her lutz jump done in that corner where the judging panel couldn't see the flutzing as much.
She could've been a very successful skater. Unfortunately, she had a lot more going on outside of skating. She parties too hard. I know because I've seen how she parties with Rudy Galindo when they were once in my home town. They had a show but she and Rudy were out drinking at night. Oh well.
Sandra Bezic has to be one of the most annoying commentators on the planet....maybe second only to Tara Lipinski. No one else noticed her foot slip at 7:15?
I have to agree with you about Sandra Bezic. She does know her sport but I hate it when she speaks. Annoying as hell! (Much more prefer Peggy Fleming, Dick Button, Scott Hamilton and Terry Gagon).
Simply breathtaking. The report on her life that came before the skate was also great and insightful. She is truly one of figure skating's treasures. Even though she was never Olympic champion, she raised the bar in the spiral category. Michelle Kwan, who had mediocre spirals in the beginning, even raised her game. Then you had Sasha Cohen, Sarah Hughes, and others. Before Nicole, not even Jill Trenery, Karyn Cadavy, or even Debi Thomas could match Nicole's extension. So Nicole is sort of like a cult classic movie. While she may not have been that great all the time, the true followers can always find something good in her skating, and that is the sign of a great skater. I never get tired of watching her.
Stunningly beautiful perfection. She was so happy and it was wonderful to see the joy on her face. My favorite skater of all time. Love you and miss you Nicole 💜
What I imagine the real Sleeping Beauty would look as, Nicole Bobeck. Skating is far more than technical merit. The presence she made on the ice to me has never been equaled. When I first heard her speaking I was blown away, I thought for sure she was Austrian.
Actually it was Russian folk music. She was so good when she was on. Just a joy to watch her. Shame she never really reached her full potential. I was always rooting for her.
I never knew Jana Bobek had such a heavy accent. That said, this program makes clear what "could have been". Had she been able to uphold what she demonstrated this season. Had she been able to better hide or correct her "flutz". It was very obvious the judges were always willing to give her the right scores, she just had to live up to it. Unfortunately, she had far too many performances that looked like she had never been on skates before in her life. There had been competitions where she was clearly overmarked just based on her fantastic jump height, obvious personality influence and her spiral sequence (the 97 Nationals comes to mind). ISU judges loved her because of her clear natural ability and abundant personality that could possibly ensure that they would move forward with Nicole as their star that could convince media presence. She could have, and should have, been the new Katarina Witt. Everything was aligned for her: the beauty, the charisma, the spot-on choreography, the technical merit slightly lower than her peers offset by the fact that she could ignite a crowd (had she held up the 3 Lutz, 3 Toe, there would be no question beyond). Nicole had an edge on all that, which was the spiral sequence -- that every skater was determined to replicate. She eeked it out a couple of times after this at Nationals, but never impressed on a world stage again. That's a shame. I feel like the marks and reputation were always waiting for her.
I so agree. Too many people look back at these older videos and complain about all the "flutzes" not realizing the judges didn't take off for that, so no one really focused on it.
So sad to have learned that Nicole Bobek had been plagued with drug addiction problems for years, most likely to cope with the stress of being a World Class level skater. It would explain why she never reached her full potential as a skater in her Amateur years.
Her drug problem was long after her amateur career. It was in the late 2000s when she got arrested and told the truth about her problem, and then fixed her life. She worked really hard from the bottom and has become a wonderful professional skater, but also reinvented her skating in the process. She didn't fulfill her potential in the amateurs, but she became an example to all about being able to fight for your life, believe in yourself and in God, and reinvent your career.
@@madelyn4158 cigarettes are not the same as addiction to drugs. I don’t believe for a second that she was using in the 90s. Champion skaters are constantly drug tested. Her problems with drugs, specifically meth didn’t come until years later.
I loved that aspect; it seemed to fit her classical style and distinguished her from other female skaters of the time. It was something different, something special. It's better than having to hear Carmen AGAIN.
It's worth noting that her mother was a Slovakian immigrant. Perhaps she identified with more Eastern European music as it was part of her immediate heritage.
