Showing posts with label skating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skating. Show all posts

May 3, 2011

From 1991: Tonya Harding Lands The Triple Axel In Competition

The first U.S. woman to do so, and it must be said, it was a MASSIVE triple axel. Tonya always had wonderfully high, fast jumps.

God bless you, Tonya. You always have mad props and the utmost respect from me.



Let's have another look at that triple axel, this time in 1992.



Massive. Look at the screen capture...the HEIGHT that chick got up from the ice, and her body perfectly straight up and down.

April 20, 2010

From 1979: The Heartbreak Kids

Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner
In 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.