Tai Babilonia and Randy GardnerIn my opinion, the greatest pairs skaters in the history of the sport.
Tai and Randy win the 1979 Worlds:
Tai and Randy never realized their Olympic dreams, due to an injury Randy kept secret from his longtime skating partner. During a warmup on the ice in Lake Placid during the 1980 Winter Games, Randy suffered a devastating fall during a very simple single axel jump. He was unable to continue, and Tai, along with the rest of the world, learned soon after that Randy had been hurt for quite some time before the games and had grown dependent on muscle relaxers to enable him to skate. The injections ceased to work, and Randy literally could not feel his injured leg. Tai and Randy had to withdraw from the Olympics. Hence, they were called "The Heartbreak Kids," as they most certainly would have taken home Olympic gold had they been able to compete.
Tai and Randy win the 1979 Worlds:
Tai and Randy never realized their Olympic dreams, due to an injury Randy kept secret from his longtime skating partner. During a warmup on the ice in Lake Placid during the 1980 Winter Games, Randy suffered a devastating fall during a very simple single axel jump. He was unable to continue, and Tai, along with the rest of the world, learned soon after that Randy had been hurt for quite some time before the games and had grown dependent on muscle relaxers to enable him to skate. The injections ceased to work, and Randy literally could not feel his injured leg. Tai and Randy had to withdraw from the Olympics. Hence, they were called "The Heartbreak Kids," as they most certainly would have taken home Olympic gold had they been able to compete.
I cried when that happened. I remember watching their dreams die as they had to leave the ice. They were and are one of my favorites. Great post!
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